{"id":31,"date":"2026-09-18T19:00:45","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T19:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/fall-2026-volume-7-issue-3\/game-design-students-build-programs-first-fighting-game\/"},"modified":"2026-10-26T22:12:29","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T22:12:29","slug":"game-design-students-build-programs-first-fighting-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/fall-2026-volume-7-issue-3\/game-design-students-build-programs-first-fighting-game\/","title":{"rendered":"Game design students build program\u2019s first fighting game"},"content":{"rendered":"

Students in San Jacinto College\u2019s simulation and game design program took their classroom skills to the digital fighting arena with Soul Resurgence: Second Strike, the program\u2019s first student-created fighting game.<\/span><\/p>\n

For David \u201cDJ\u201d Thomas, full-time lead professor of game and web development, watching students go from talking about games to building one is the best part of the job.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Soul

Game logo<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

The game features six characters battling to reclaim their lost souls, with 3D models and stages presented on a 2D plane. It started with classroom discussions about games like Mortal Kombat, Soulcalibur, and Killer Instinct as inspirations.<\/span><\/p>\n

Building the game<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019ve got an idea, no matter how far-fetched it is, trust me, we\u2019re going to give you the necessary tools and support you need to make your dreams come true,\u201d Thomas said.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the Game 2359 group project course, students turned their idea into reality. Compared to other types of games, designing a fighting game required more development.<\/span><\/p>\n

The students accepted the challenge with only 10 weeks to create three game levels.<\/span><\/p>\n

Joining forces<\/span><\/h2>\n

Determination was not limited to class time.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cStudents often meet outside regular class and lab hours to work through game elements like scripts, art, timing, and hit boxes,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cAlumni stay in close contact and maintain relationships with current students. This adds another layer of collaboration.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

To balance the workload, students took on roles equal to their strengths and interests.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"San

Game design team<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Keanu-Nikolas Figueroa-Karabanoff was the project lead. Kaleb Daniels worked as audio engineer and lead story writer, bringing experience as a producer. Eric Vela served as game design lead, programmer, and animator, with Nathan Moore as lead animator. Nikolas Rodriguez\u2019s roles were level designer and story writer. Heather Ware, San Jac alumna, volunteered her time to work as the character modeler.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe game is about a tournament hosted by Death herself, where dead fighters compete for a second chance at life,\u201d Figueroa-Karabanoff said. \u201cWhen it came to building the scenes, we wanted each stage to fit the darker feeling of the game while still giving the fighters an interesting place to battle and show their character\u2019s personality.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The team worked on elements like environment, lighting, effects, and backgrounds to help make each scene feel like it belonged in the game\u2019s world.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAll the characters are in the afterlife, which is a different plane of reality,\u201d Vela said. \u201cWe made characters from different eras, a character from the Roman gladiator era, one from present day, with different backgrounds and motivations. We made everything from scratch, no assets were used, and none of us had any 3D experience.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

More than gameplay<\/span><\/h2>\n

Studying game design means much more than simply loving to play games.<\/span><\/p>\n

Soul Resurgence: Second Strike is still in the alpha stage and moving toward beta.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thomas hopes to feature the game as a competitive title at the College\u2019s fighting game community tournament. He encourages students to dream big, perhaps working on it with the likes of Ubisoft or Bethesda someday.<\/span><\/p>\n

Leveling up<\/span><\/h2>\n

Moore\u2019s main role was animation, which he found challenging but enjoyed every moment.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBeing an artist and animator was my dream ever since I started classes here at San Jac. Now it becomes a reality, but, boy, is it difficult,\u201d Moore said. \u201cI learned that time management is more important than you think. We all start somewhere, and that\u2019s OK.\u00a0 Perfection is but a mere illusion, and that is what boosted my confidence to keep going forward.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As a competitive gamer and Superman fan, Vela dreams of making superhero games.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI would love to make superhero media eventually in all mediums, comics, games, anime, and movies,\u201d he said. \u201cAll we can do is work as hard as we can, hoping for the best.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just a regular guy who loves games, but here I am helping make a game that San Jac hasn\u2019t really seen before, and seeing people enjoy it and talk about it is just amazing.” — Keanu-Nikolas Figueroa-Karabanoff, project lead<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Figueroa-Karabanoff is finishing his last semester. Like Ware, he plans to stay connected with his \u201cawesome\u201d teammates to work on the game.<\/span><\/p>\n

Daniels felt that the course prepared him to fulfill his role on the team, while allowing him to stick to his areas of expertise.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was fun to write story and dialogue, design characters, and compose and mix the music tracks. Working on this project was the highlight of this degree for me,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Learn more about the game design program<\/a><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

By Neesha Hosein<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Students in San Jacinto College\u2019s simulation and game design program took their classroom skills to the digital fighting arena with Soul Resurgence: Second Strike, the program\u2019s first student-created fighting game. For David \u201cDJ\u201d Thomas, full-time lead professor of game and web development, watching students go from talking about games to building one is the best… read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":68,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,1],"tags":[],"article_type":[],"class_list":["post-31","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-game-design","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nGame design students build program\u2019s first fighting game - Fall 2026, Volume 7 \u2013 Issue 3<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/fall-2026-volume-7-issue-3\/game-design-students-build-programs-first-fighting-game\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Game design students build program\u2019s first fighting game\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Students in San Jacinto College\u2019s simulation and game design program took their classroom skills to the digital fighting arena with Soul Resurgence: Second Strike, the program\u2019s first student-created fighting game. For David \u201cDJ\u201d Thomas, full-time lead professor of game and web development, watching students go from talking about games to building one is the best... read more\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/fall-2026-volume-7-issue-3\/game-design-students-build-programs-first-fighting-game\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Fall 2026, Volume 7 \u2013 Issue 3\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-09-18T19:00:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-10-26T22:12:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/fall-2026-volume-7-issue-3\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2026\/09\/GameLogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1365\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"719\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cmorris\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cmorris\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/fall-2026-volume-7-issue-3\/game-design-students-build-programs-first-fighting-game\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sanjac.mycareerfocus.org\/fall-2026-volume-7-issue-3\/game-design-students-build-programs-first-fighting-game\/\",\"name\":\"Game design students build program\u2019s first fighting game - 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