{"id":1523,"date":"2017-04-30T23:00:12","date_gmt":"2017-04-30T23:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=1523"},"modified":"2017-04-28T21:13:54","modified_gmt":"2017-04-28T21:13:54","slug":"tstc-student-uses-skills-learned-in-music-to-study-gaming-and-programming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=1523","title":{"rendered":"TSTC Student Uses Skills Learned in Music to Study Gaming and Programming"},"content":{"rendered":"

(WACO) \u2013 Video games go beyond being the hero who uses supernatural powers to save the world — or at least an ant colony.<\/span><\/p>\n

The guts of video games are the logic, programming and mathematics that make characters, landscapes and animals come to life. Dalton Burts of Athens used all these to pay homage to ants for \u201cAntopia,\u201d his final video game project for graduation from Texas State Technical College in Waco.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou play an ant and your colony is preparing for a flood,\u201d said Burts, 26. \u201cYou have to get food and avoid evil anteaters.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Burts will receive an associate degree in Graphics Gaming and Simulation Programming Technology at Texas State Technical College\u2019s Spring Commencement on Monday, May 1, in Waco. Since Burts enrolled in 2015 at TSTC, the associate degree has now been made an advanced technical certificate, with majors having the option to earn a companion associate degree in Computer Programming Technology.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI have done tons of hands-on work,\u201d said Burts. \u201cTSTC pushes you to do the best you can. All my discipline I learned was through band and music.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Susie Watkins, an associate professor in the Computer Science program at TSTC, admires Burts\u2019 work ethic and skills.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDalton is always in here working,\u201d Watkins said. \u201cHe figures out a lot of stuff on his own. He works well in a team environment.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Burts learned about TSTC from his father, who studied aircraft pilot training technology.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI decided to further my education and come here because my father didn\u2019t have a problem getting a job,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Burts was born in Galveston and moved to Athens in Henderson County when he was 5. Some of his earliest video-game-playing experience was Super Mario Brothers when he was 12.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI liked how the games didn\u2019t specifically tell you what to do, but I had to figure it out and use my brain,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

As Burts played video games, his appreciation for music grew.<\/span><\/p>\n

Since he was 12, he has learned to play clarinet, alto saxophone and tenor saxophone and has dabbled with guitar and piano. While growing up he played in jazz and Dixieland bands, along with marching and symphonic bands.<\/span><\/p>\n

Burts graduated in 2009 from Athens High School and received an associate degree in Musical Performance in 2013 from Trinity Valley Community College in Athens. He said it was challenging finding a music job in the Athens area that did not involve tutoring or teaching.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always had a love for gaming and wanted to compose for gaming,\u201d he said. \u201cI have always embraced imagination and never saw a need to let that go.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Burts wants to work in the Austin area.<\/span><\/p>\n

Candidates for graduation from TSTC\u2019s Fort Bend County, North Texas, Waco and Williamson County campuses will gather for Spring Commencement at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, May 1, at the Waco Convention Center at 100 Washington Ave. in Waco.<\/span><\/p>\n

For more information on Texas State Technical College, go to tstc.edu.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Dalton<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(WACO) \u2013 Video games go beyond being the hero who uses supernatural powers to save the world — or at least an ant colony. The guts of video games are the logic, programming and mathematics that make characters, landscapes and animals come to life. Dalton Burts of Athens used all these to pay homage to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-waco"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1523"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1523\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1525,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1523\/revisions\/1525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}