CMPUT 620 - Programming Languages and Environments for Computer Games

Student Presentation/Discussion Sessions

Each student will give one 60 minute presentation in the class. It is not sufficient to simply read material from a single source and then present a summary of this material. The goal is to make a presentation and lead a discussion that informs the class. You must present the appropriate high-level concepts such as topic motivation, topic essense, and high-level abstract view of the topic, followed by cogent examples that clearly illustrate these concepts, fundamental details about the topic and a comparison of the topic to related topics. Do not simply give a demo of the topic (although a demo or movie of a demo should probably be included). Each session must include 60 minutes of presentation material and this will be mixed with 15 minutes of class discussion. Dig deep and educate the class.

The dates listed are only tentative since these presentations will begin once my introductory sessions are done. Therefore, the actual student presentation date may be earlier or later. Once a presentation topic is selected by one student, it may not be selected by another student. To select a presentation topic, a student must send an e-mail to me with this subject line:

CMPUT 620 Presentation topic request - <Presentation topic name>

Only one topic may be named in an e-mail and only one e-mail can be sent to me. I will reserve presenation topics in the order that I receive requests and update the list as they are reserved. If the topic you have requested has been reserved by another student, I will send you a negative response and you can send me another e-mail request with a different topic.

If you would like to present a topic that is not in the table, you must meet with me to get topic approval. The topic must be relevant to both programming languages (not just programming) and computer games. If you want to request another topic, please send me an e-mail to arrange a meeting as soon as possible. No topic will be approved after January 15.

Student Presentation Topics

Here is a table of some game engines, the programming languages used to write them and the scripting languages they support.

Assessment

The entire class will assess each presentation by each student and the final marks for the presentation will be the average of the mark assigned by the class and the mark assigned by me. Here is a draft of the assessment instrument that will be used. This instrument will be updated before the student presentations begin, based on feedback from the class and the trial runs of this asssessment instrument on some of the instructors presentations.

Final Examination Question

You are responsible for preparing a candidate question for the take-home final on the topic you have presented. This question should be submitted to me electronically by Wednesday March 31. THIS DEADLINE HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO THURSDAY APRIL 1 <<--- FIRM DEADLINE. Here are the guidelines for preparing this question:

1) It should test understanding of the concepts that are most important in the presentation topic. The question should not be about finding some trivial facts buried in documentation.

2) It should be of medium difficulty (not trivial and not impossible to answer) and take about 45 to 60 minutes to complete (including any background material).

3) You must provide me with a good quality sample solution.

4) Answering the question cannot require the use of commercial software.

5) All reference material that will be needed in the form of electronic files or urls should be provided to me as well.

6) You must NOT share your question or your sample answer with any other students in the course.

7) Instead of receiving marks on the final examination for answering your own question, you will be assigned 10% of your final exam mark, based on the quality of the examination question you provide. I will evaluate the quality based on how well it meets the criteria listed above, especially criteria 1, 2 and 3.