Denver youth build video games at Denver’s IdeaLAB

Most people haven’t heard of 3D modeling, and they probably have never created a video game from scratch, either, but a group of Denver students who participated in Denver Public Library’s 2014 Summer of Tech knew exactly what they were doing.

The 19 students — most not much older than 12 — met on Thursday afternoon. Almost all of them, when asked by the workshop’s leader Chris Brown, said they had heard of and used the 3D modeling and gaming software to make their own first-person video game.

The software used to build the games is free to download, which was an important aspect for the workshop’s leaders because it gave participants the opportunity to access the software outside of the lab and work on the skills on their own time, Brown said.

In class, the students spent the time creating a simple, three-dimensional world for their characters, then used different software to enable characters to interact with one another.

This was just the beginning of a month-long science, technology, engineering and math program offered at the library’s ideaLAB, a free digital media center for teens. The ideaLAB’s goal is to create a space for local teens to practice vital (and potentially lucrative) computer skills and prepare themselves for the future.

Throughout the summer, students will have the opportunity to turn their video games into movies, create songs, make mobile games and more. The program runs every Thursday from 3:30-5:30 p.m., through August 14.