When the recent coronavirus pandemic caused school closings for both the Dallas ISD and the Dallas County Community College District, a group of game development students who were working as interns for a local game developer were able to continue their internship duties online.
Magnin & Associates has been an Industry Partner with the Dallas ISD Conrad HS H-TECH collegiate game development program for the past fpir years. Ed Magnin had been meeting with students weekly at Conrad High School and the at Richland College where the seniors attend full-time.
A group of students had been helping test Magnin’s games. Recently as they enrolled in a college internship class, they transitioned into helping program or creating artwork for the project. Magnin also asked Professor Christopher Curra, the program coordinator, to help find him a few more qualified students.
Since Magnin & Associates has operated remotely since its founding back in 1993, the latest crisis was much less of an issue for them, according to Ed Magin, director of development. Students were able to participate in online discussions and group chats with him and each other via Skype.
They were able to benefit from screen sharing, to learn from Magnin’s senior programmer Willie Johnson, Jr, and get help with adjusting the settings on their game engine and 3D software. Students have asked to participate more by observing programming meetings where bugs are fixed and new versions are made ready for release.
The students play tested Magnin & Associates Extreme Bowling Challenge which was released on March 24 for iOS, Android, Apple TV, Windows PC, and Xbox. The interns are now participating more on the next project, which will remain a secret for now, but should be available before their semester ends.