This course discusses the process of game development. It examines the roles of different participants in the development process and how the technical development and the artistic development proceed in tandem. Group work is emphasized, especially the importance of collaboration between technical and artistic efforts. Students are expected to participate in game development using appropriate game development tools.
The course uses a set of chapters on the game development process selected from various books. The note can be picked up from the campus bookstore. The list of books and chapters used is provided here for reference. The order used and read in class is different than below.
Introduction to Game Development, edited by Steve
Rabin, copyright Charles River Media Incorporated, 2005. ISBN:
1-58450-377-7
http://www.charlesriver.com/Books/BookDetail.aspx?productID=99109
The chapters are individually authored, giving the book rather
uneven levels of detail and tone from chapter to chapter, but
many of the selected chapters are quite good. At nearly 1000
pages, it has a substantial amount of material and can make a
good reference beyond the course.
Chapters: 3.1, 3.2, 3.5, 5.5, 6.2, 6.4, 6.5, 6.6, and 7.3
On Game Design, by Chris Crawford. New Riders, 2003.
ISBN: 0131460994
http://www.informit.com/title/0131460994
If you can look past Crawford's arrogance, there are a lot of
good war stories about game development and some good, general
game design tips.
Chapter: 7
Game Architecture and Design - A New Edition, by Andrew Rollings
and Dave Morris. New Riders, 2004. ISBN: 0735713634
http://www.peachpit.com/title/0735713634
A close a book to the "Game Development Process", but missing
artistic content creation and programming. A bit wordy, but with
good information and examples on the areas of Game Design, Team
Management, and Game Architecture.
Chapters: 1, 2, 3 and 5
Gameplay and Design, by Kevin Oxland. Addison Wesley, 2004.
ISBN: 0-231-20467-0
http://www.aw-bc.com/catalog/academic/product/0,1144,0321204670,00.html
Includes easy-to-read descriptions of the game development process
in two phases: components of a game design and the process of
creating and formatting design documents. Examples of a Norbot
game are worked throughout the text.
Chapter: 18
Tutorial: What is a Good Game?, by Mark Overmars. 2004.
http://www.gamemaker.nl/tutorials/goodgame.zip
A narrative describing some of the ingredients in a (good) game.
Creating the Art of the Game, by Matthew Omernick.
New Riders, 2004. ISBN: 0735714096
http://www.peachpit.com/title/0735714096
An informative, easy-to-read book on creating 3D art for games.
Chapters:Foreward, 1 and 2
Designing Arcade Computer Game Graphics, by Ari Feldman.
Out of Print, 2000.
http://www.cs.uu.nl/people/markov/gmaker/feldman.html
Emphasizes the development of 2D graphics for computer games,
including animation, proper color usage, and fonts.
Chapter: 9
Other good reference books include:
On Game Design, by Andrew Rollings and Ernest Adams.
New Riders, 2003. ISBN: 1-5927-3001-9
http://www.informit.com/title/1592730019
A good book for a "Critical Studies of Games" course, but with
some solid game design material for a "Game Development" course.
Audio for Games - Planning, Process and Production,
by Alexander Brandon. New Riders, 2004. ISBN: 0735714134
http://www.informit.com/title/0735714134
Information on audio technology and how it fits in with the
game development process.
Game Coding Complete, by Mike McShaffry. Paraglyph Press,
2003. ISBN: 1-932111-75-1
http://www.mcshaffry.com/GameCode/
On the process of programming computer games, including tips and
tricks used by real game programmers.
Developing Games in Java, by David Brackeen. New Riders,
2004. ISBN: 1592730051
http://www.informit.com/title/1592730051
If you want to code games in Java, this book provides good
examples of AI, 2d and 3d graphics, and multiplayer games, using
the Java libraries.
The Indie Game Development Survival Guide, Game Development
Series, by David Michael. Charles River Media, 2003. ISBN:
1-58450-214-2
http://www.charlesriver.com/titles/indiegame.html
The title sounds like it would be right on for those that want to
develop games in their garage, but the content matter is a bit
light weight. ... But, it does tell a complete story about
developing games start to finish and has some good words of
wisdom.
Awesome Game Creation - No Programming Required,
Second Edition, by Luke Ahearn and Clayton Crooks.
Charles River Media, 2002. ISBN: 1-58450-223-1
http://www.charlesriver.com/titles/awesomegames2.html
Introduction to software for building games without writing
code. Includes a CD with versions of many game development
toolkits.
Final grades will be computed as follows:
The grading policy for each project will be provided at the time of the assignment. In general, each assignment will have a basic objective for the majority of the assignment points. There may be an extended objective for demonstrating additional work and understanding.
Final grades will reflect the extent to which you have demonstrated understanding of the material, and completed the assigned projects. The base level grade will be a "B" which indicates that the basic objectives on assignments and exams have been met. A grade of an "A" will indicate significant achievement beyond the basic objectives and a grade of a "C" will indicate not all basic objectives were met, but work was satisfactory for credit. No incomplete grades will be assigned unless there exist exceptional, extenuating circumstances. Similarly, no makeup exams will be given unless there exist exceptional, extenuating circumstances.
Late projects will be be penalized 10% of total assignment value per day (with the weekend counting as one day) or partial day, and no assignments will be accepted after seven days beyond the due date. All projects are due at midnight due date. Projects turned in after that time will be counted late. Projects will be submitted as directed in class. Exceptions to these rules can be made only beforehand.
Cheating ... don't do it. Cheating, either by taking credit for work you did not do or getting unauthorized help on projects or exams, is a serious offense. Punishment is in an automatic NR for the course. Note, discussion among students and even sanctioned group work is encouraged, but blatant copying of writing, code, art, design, etc. without attribution of sources, is not allowed. When in doubt, ask!
Below is the list of reading from the course book, listed in the order covered in class:
Below is the list of topics covered in this course:
Slides from the in-class lectures will be available shortly after they are presented, depending upon how things go. Here is what we have so far:
| Admin | ppt | |
| Introduction | ppt | |
| Game Design | ppt | |
| Visual Design and Production | ppt | |
| Audio Design and Production | ppt | |
| Programming | ppt | |
| Game Fest | ppt | |
| Pitch | ppt |
The projects are the game development related assignments you will have for the course. You can work individually or in groups of 2 for the projects. Working in a group will give you valuable "real-world" experience as well as provide you with a "built in" source for help. If you work in a group of 2, the project size will be scaled to 1.5 times that of a project for a single person. And do remember, however, that all exams will be taken alone. Make sure each group member understands the projects completely!
Project 1: Game Inception and Design, (May 24) (Slides: ppt, pdf)
Project 2: Content Creation, (May 31) (Slides: ppt, pdf)
Project 3: Game Logic, (June 7) (Slides: ppt, pdf)
Project 4: Level Design, (June 11) (Slides: ppt, pdf)
Project 5: Game Evaluation and Testing, (June 16) (Slides: ppt, pdf)
In this section are any samples discussed in class, practice exams or any other demonstration-type class materials. Samples will be updated soon after the discussion in class begins.
Final stuff:
Mid-term stuff:
Game Maker:
In case this inspires you on what (or what not) to do, here are the final games produced by the previous offering of this class:
You have to work in groups for the projects. For some groups, it comes as naturally as a putting on socks before putting on your shoes. For others, it takes work. You might read (and re-read periodically) the below links (go over these as a group!):
Miscellaneous links on game development and design:
A list (certainly, not comprehensive) of some of the tools available to help build games:
Some game-related industry conventions:
Some game-related research conferences:
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