IMGD 4600 (C 13) - Serious Games

Serious Games
IMGD 4600 - C Term 2013


Student Work:	Serious Game Prototypes Bombs Away! (drone strikes) - concept document / presentation Meal Time! (vegetarian recipes) - concept document / presentation Save Sam (firearm safety) - concept document / presentation School Safety Week (school safety) - concept document / presentation Super Weight Gain (weight gain) - concept document / presentation Serious Game Analyses

Professor:	Charles Rich (See home page for office hours)

Course Description:	This course explores the application of the technologies and design principles of interactive media and game development beyond traditional entertainment. The purpose of such applications is typically to change people's behaviors, knowledge and/or attitudes in diverse areas including health care, training, education, simulation, politics, marketing and art. Students will read about, experiment with, compare and discuss examples, as well as the underlying philosophies and issues specific to this genre, such as needs analysis and rigorous evaluation. Students in groups will also research a new application and produce a concept document and prototype. Advanced programming skill is not required, but a background in game design is strongly recommended. Course Objectives and Outcomes

Recommended Background:	IMGD 1001 and either IMGD 2000 or IMGD 2001

Class Times:	Tues/Fri, 10:00am - 11:50am

Class Location:	Atwater Kent Laboratories, Room 232

Required Text:	N. Iuppa and T. Borst, End-to-End Game Development: Creating Independent Serious Games and Simulations from Start to Finish, Focal Press (Elsevier), Burlington, MA, 2010.

Other Resources:	Books Companies Organizations/Web sites Conferences

Detailed Schedule:	Html version with links for games and readings --- Pdf version for printing Schedule is subject to change! Bibliography of readings There will be a 5-minute pass/fail quiz at the start of each class with reading preparation (see schedule). The quiz will consist of one or two simple short-answer questions which should be easy to answer if you actually read the assigned reading(s). See grading.

Individual Homework Instructions:	Sunday, Jan 13 (11:5pm): Submit 1st, 2nd and 3rd choice of paper presentation and game analysis Tuesday, Jan 15 (in class): Notification of assigned paper and game (see schedule). Download scientific paper presentation template (including for case study papers): ppt pdf See game analysis template and game analysis example . Download the zipped folder that contains source files and images for the template. Modify the index.html file (using a text editor) and following instructions in file, add images to folder and re-zip to turnin. (For introduction to minimal basic html needed to modify index.hmtl file, see tutorial.) Submit each homework as a single zip file (containing all data) via turnin by midnight of the day before presentation.

Group Project Deadlines:	Sun, Jan 20 (11:59pm): Form teams Sun, Jan 27 (11:59pm): Needs/task analysis due Tue, Feb 5 (in class): Concept document progress reports Sun, Feb 10 (11:59pm): Concept document due Sun, Feb 25 (11:59pm): Prototype presentation slides due Tue, Feb 26 (in class): Prototype presentations All materials due at 11:59pm are due via turnin.

Grading:	10% Class Participation (minus 1% for every failed quiz) 20% Scientific Paper Presentation (10% completeness/accuracy; 5% original thought; 5% presentation) 20% Game Analysis Presentation (10% completeness/accuracy; 5% original thought; 5% presentation) 50% Final Project (10% needs/task analysis; 15% concept document; 25% prototype) Final grades will reflect the extent to which you have demonstrated understanding of the material and completed the assigned work. The base level grade will be a "B" which indicates that the basic objectives for presentations and project have been met. A grade of an "A" will indicate significant achievement beyond the basic objectives. 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.

Policies:	Attendance Regular class attendance (and active participation) is expected. If you have an unavoidable need to be absent from a class, please let the instructor know in advance if you want to be excused from a quiz. Late Homework All homework (presentations) should be submitted via Web Turn-In by midnight before presentation day. Homework turned up to 24 hours late will immediately be penalized 50% of total assignment value. No credit will be given for homework submitted more than 24 hours after midnight due date. Cheating Taking credit for work you did not do is cheating. If you are in doubt, ask the instructor first! Cheating is a serious offense, punishable by an automatic NR for the course. Institute policy on academic honesty will be followed in all cases.