Technical Game Development II

Overall

Final grades reflect the extent to which understanding of the material has been demonstrated and the assigned projects completed. The base level grade is a "B" which indicates that the basic objectives on projects and exams have been met. A grade of an "A" indicates significant achievement beyond the basic objectives. A grade of a "C" indicates not all basic objectives were met, but work was satisfactory for credit. No incomplete grades are assigned unless there exist exceptional, extenuating circumstances. Similarly, no project deadline extensions or makeup exams are given unless there are exceptional, extenuating circumstances.

Breakdown

Final grades will be computed as follows:

Quickstart Project	7%
Pathfinding Project	12%
Behavior Tree Project	12%
Game Project (Group)	45%
Mid-term	12%
Final	12%

The bulk of the course grade involves developing game technology solo, and designing and developing a complete game as a team. Development is in Unreal Engine 4, done through a combination of "Blueprints" scripting and C++.

The grading policy for each project is provided at the time of the assignment. In general, for each project there is a basic objective for the majority of the assignment points. There may be an extended objective for demonstrating additional work and understanding. Projects, including all data and source code, as appropriate, are to be turned in online as specified in the writeups.

All projects besides the game project are to be done individually, without partners. The game project, designing and developing a complete game, must be done in groups with technical programmers from IMGD 4000 and an artist from IMGD 4500. The IMGD 4000 and IMGD 4500 instructors help organize students teams the first week of class.

There are two in-class exams. These are designed to test important class concepts that may not have been adequately demonstrated in the programming projects. The mid-term exam is roughly half-way through the term, and the final exam is towards the end of the term. The final exam is non-cumulative. Exams will be closed book and closed notes, unless otherwise indicated. The majority of each exam will cover concepts presented in class with a few questions testing additional understanding and insight.

Late Policy

Exams are done, and due, in class. Projects are due online at 11:59pm on the due date, unless otherwise noted. Any late project is penalized 50% if submitted by 11:59 on the day following the due date. No credit will be given for late projects after that.

Class Conduct

This course is intended for serious students. Participants are expected to adhere to all rules of professional behavior. It is to be emphasized that knowledge of material and professional behavior are tied together; failure in one of them negates any excellence in the other.

For individual assignments, students are encouraged to discuss their program designs, bugs and and issues with each other, but are expected to do the actual programming by themselves. Taking someone else's work, even if just a part of a program, and passing it off as one's own is the definition of plagiarism and is a serious offense. Do not copy and paste or email code to other students (unless part of your team on the group project). If you do use code from somewhere else, attribute the source. When in doubt about possible "grey" areas, ask!