Group Design, Characters, and Simulation

We began again with open game play. The consultants worked on their game design project. I decided to have them work as an entire group rather than break them up. It took a while for them to come up with an idea, but eventually the creative juices were flowing. With this group of consultants, they all have very different personalities and interests, therefore it took a while for them to all be on the same page.
We walked over to CMI and had a discussion with Johnathan about the different elements of game design. I think that it was the perfect time for this discussion because it tied in with the project the consultants were currently working on.
The consultants had lunch with Logan and Garret and played games with them afterwards.
I had the consultants break up into groups of 3 and they played Sims II and Roller Coaster Tycoon. They actually worked really well together and enjoyed these games much more than I though they would. When it was time to switch, neither groups wanted to because they were enjoying what they were doing. I let them play a little longer before switching because I was surprised at the enthusiasm they had for these games. With the Sims II play, the groups enjoyed making their own characters the most, which really helped lead into our next activity.
Rachel came in to introduce PhotoShop and the element of character development. The consultants caught on really quickly and I had them work in groups of 2 creating images for the game design they did as a group. Each group did not specifically work on a character, but they were able to grasp the general concept of how it is done and how PhotoShop can be an asset in this process. They each had a specific image to create and I am impressed with the time and effort that they put into this project. Most of the consultants seemed to enjoy this activity much more than the written assignments.
The consultants spent the remainder of the afternoon finishing up their presentation and with open game play. The instructions for open game play were that they could only play games in the lab that they had not yet had the opportunity to play.