IMGD 4600 (C 15) - Serious Games

Serious Games
IMGD 4600 - C Term 2015


Student Work:	Serious Game Prototypes Ticket, Police (bad driving habits) - concept document / presentation (with video) Tasker (procrastination) - concept document / presentation (with video) Detextive (texting while driving) - concept document / presentation (with video) The Rising Tides (water safety) - concept document / presentation (with video) Give It Your Best Shot (fear of doctor's needles) - concept document / presentation (with video) Tollerzanz (social tolerance) - concept document / presentation (with video) 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, 11:00am - 12:50pm

Class Location:	Higgins Laboratories, Room 114

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. (Also available online to WPI students from Gordon Library.)

Other Resources:	Books Companies Organizations/Web sites Conferences

Detailed Schedule:	Html version with links for playable games --- Pdf version for printing Schedule is subject to change! Bibliography of readings -- see downloads on course website on myWPI under "Course Materials". There will be a 5-minute pass/fail quiz at the start of every class with reading and/or game play preparation (see schedule). The quiz will consist of a few simple short-answer questions which should be easy to answer if you actually read the assigned reading(s) and/or played the game. See grading.

Presentation Instructions (in Pairs):	All presentations will be 20 minutes (followed by 5 minutes for questions and discussion). Both partners must participate roughly equally in the presentation and will get the same grade (except in unusual circumstances). [Optional] Sunday, Jan 18 (11:5pm via turnin): Submit plain text file (please!) with your 1st, 2nd and 3rd choice of a paper to present and a game to analyze and present. You may also request a specific partner if desired. (You do not need to have the same partner for both the game analysis and the paper presentation.) We will do our best to satisfy as many requests as possible, but in the end all papers and games will be assigned. Tuesday, Jan 20: Notification of assigned paper, game and partner for each presentation (see schedule). Scientific paper presentation: Either Powerpoint or PDF may be used. Download ppt or pdf template. Game analysis presentation: HTML must be used (for later posting on course web site). 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 presentation as a single zip file (containing all data) via turnin by midnight of the day before presentation.

Group Project Deadlines:	Final project presentations will be 20 minutes (not including questions and discussion following). All group members must participate roughly equally in the presentation and will get the same grade (except in unusual circumstances). Sun, Jan 25 (via turnin 11:59pm): Form project groups (4 students per group) Sun, Feb 1 (via turnin 11:59pm): Needs/task analysis due Tue, Feb 10 (in class): Concept document progress reports Sun, Feb 15 (via turnin 11:59pm): Concept document due Mon, Feb 23 (via turnin 11:59pm): Final prototype presentation slides due (1) Tues, Feb 24 (in class): Final prototype presentation (1) Thu, Feb 26 (via turnin 11:59pm): Final prototype presentation slides due (5) Fri, Feb 27 (in class): Final prototype presentations (5) There is no template or required format for these presentations. However, a video is highly recommended. And bring your paper protype to class. See examples of presentations from prior years here: 2013, 2011.

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% final prototype presentation) 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.