MGTA Hardware and Software Summer 2020 ******************* Welcome to the Mason Game and Technology Academy! Thank you for considering our program to learn about exciting areas in computer game design and development. To get started with our courses, you will need a computer with the following requirements:

• Processor: o For Intel: An Intel Core i5 or above o For AMD: Ryzen, or AMD A8 or above

• Memory: 8GB Minimum (16GB Recommended) • Hard Drive: 80GB of free Hard Drive Space • Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10

o Please note that other OS’s are supported ONLY for the following clasess: § Machine Learning with Python (Windows, Mac OS, or Linux) § Intro to Python for Machine Learning and AI (Windows, Mac OS, or Linux)

• A reliable internet connection will also be needed. • (Optional) A second monitor or second device like a tablet computer to view both

applications and the tutorial or instructor at the same time. • Chrome books do not meet the minimum requirement for any of our courses and are not

supported.

In addition to the above, some of our courses require slightly higher requirements to reliably run the required software. Please check below to see if your class is listed for additional requirements.

For the following courses, a dedicated video card is required (either Nvidia or AMD):

• 3D Game Design with Unreal • Game Programming with Unity and C# • Game Design with Unity • Intro to 3D Modeling • Machine Learning with AI and Python

To check on your hardware (Windows):

Open any folder in Windows and click “This PC” on the sidebar to see if you have enough free hard drive space.

You can right click on “This PC” and select “Properties” to get hardware info on your computer

To check your graphics card, click the start menu and click on “settings”

On the page that pops up, click on “System”

On the system page, make sure you have “Display” selected on the side. Then click on “advanced display settings”

Your graphics card will be listed under “Display Information”

To Check on Your Hardware (Mac OS):

Press the Apple menu in the upper left corner and select “About this Mac”

You will see the following window listing the hardware properties of your computer:

You can select the “Storage” tab to see if you have sufficient hard drive space: