By RORY MOORE
Tiger Media Network
Fort Hays State University’s Department of Informatics is hosting a STEM Gaming Camp this week in Tomanek Hall to teach game development to campers through playing Minecraft. Students in grades 8-12 are invited to join Informatics Associate Professor Kevin Shaffer to expand technological skillsets and learn the fundamentals of administering a gaming module.
One of the lessons taught in the camp is how to modify a game.
“They’ve done a lot of gameplay, but they haven’t done as much game modification and design,” Shaffer said. “Minecraft is amenable to doing game design and creation. So, the camp’s a couple of days’ worth of learning all the ins and outs of the administration and design of the game. Once you start modifying the game, you can start creating versions to meet your design needs. There are all kinds of different things they can do once they start modifying the game to match their goals.”
The STEM gaming Camp gets logged in. 
Kevin Shaffer teaches campers how to gain ingenuity from administering a Minecraft mod. 
Campers watch a lesson from Shaffer. 
A Minecraft world on screen. 
Playing in a camper’s world. 
Campers enjoy playing and learning 
Shaffer aimed to teach campers how to apply their ingenuity to IT and other tech-based industries. 
Shaffer watches his campers play.
Shaffer guides his campers through technical aspects to help them achieve modifications in Minecraft.
“The game has normal parameters, and you can use in-game administrator commands to modify the standard parameters to behave differently,” he said. “Let’s say you have a big platform, and your Minecraft players are running around fighting each other. You could give them specialty items like a stick that you can hit things with. It doesn’t do anything, but you could give your stick some special powers, like knocking people 500 blocks back. So, we learn how to use the commands to adjust these normal parameters to be different or abnormal, or be some special feature.”
He enjoys seeing his campers have fun while also expanding their brain power.
“I love to see that they’re being creative and inventive about solving problems,” Shaffer said. “They’re using technical skills and knowledge to create solutions. Game developers have to plan when it comes to how the gameplay happens, and they have to consider what the bugs are, or what are the things that could break the game. They have to think about those things for unexpected circumstances, and it’s great to see all their creativity going at it.”
Shaffer hopes these lessons will apply to campers’ lives beyond school and gaming.
“Things they learn make them less afraid of using technology in general,” he said. “Once you feel like you have power over something, you can try something new. A lot of what they learn will be applicable if they go into IT or management information systems. You can tell they’re already not afraid of technology, and this is another skill to add to their tool chest.”
The camp will continue in Tomanek Hall from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. until Friday and will be offered again from July 14 to 17.