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Computing Science 299 |
| Lecture | Lab |
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| Prerequisites | Textbook | Lecture Schedule | Evaluation | Policies | Office Hours | Lab Page |
Projects Due: Wednesday (Nov 30) at midnight.
Evaluations: Group Evaluations and Project Evaluations
Readings: Readings for tomorrow's lecture (Nov 29). CBS article (Online pdf). Gamasutra article (Online pdf).
gMax problems in the lab! Some of you have had issues exporting your models. There is a problem with the gMax install in the lab, and we're trying to fix it. In the mean time, install gMax at home. The files can now be found on the lab page.
Course Signup for the winter term is up. Tell your friends!
Forums! The forums are up folks. Please post questions, comments, etc. here. -- posted Oct 3/05
Games are a popular form of interactive entertainment. They educate and inform us. They change the way we communicate. A computer game is the culmination of creative efforts of many different artistic and technical disciplines, integrated through the capabilities of the computer. Computer games are a new art form. They have changed the way we think about traditional activities. For example, role playing games are a new vehicle for story-telling; the reader becomes an active participant that influences the story.
While the focus of this course is not on technical details, we will touch on aspects of computing technology such as artificial intelligence, computer graphics and animation, music and sound, programming challenges, and game design. Producing a modern computer game is as complicated as producing a movie.
Topics we'll be covering:
There are no official textbooks for the course. You will be given handouts for required reading from Introduction to Game Development, Steve Rabin.
| Introduction | |||||
| Game Development Cycle | |||||
| Narrative 1 | |||||
| Narrative 2 | |||||
| Project Management 1 | |||||
| Meetings | |||||
| Project Management 2 | |||||
| In-Depth Overview of Game Types | |||||
| Natural History of Fun and Principles of Game Design | |||||
| Intro to Programming | |||||
| Game Technologies & History 3 | |||||
| Game Technologies & History 4 | |||||
| Art, Graphics, Music, and Sound 1 | |||||
| Visual Design 1 | |||||
| Visual Design 2 | |||||
| AI I -- Pathfinding | |||||
| AI II -- Other Techniques | |||||
| Post Mortems | |||||
| Midterm | |||||
| Cultural Aspects of Games |
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| High performance AI in classical games |
| Project | ||
| Team Formation | ||
| Setting | ||
| Plot/Design Document | ||
| Storyboard | ||
| Pitch | ||
| Check-off/final product | ||
| Peer Evaluation | ||
| Tutorial Labs | ||
| Assignment Labs | ||
| Midterm Lab Exam | ||
| Midterm (short-answer) |
Final letter grades from A to F (see http://www.grades.ualberta.ca for more information) will be assigned roughly in accordance with the historical distribution of similar courses at the University of Alberta.
10% will be subtracted from your final assignment mark every day (24 hours) the assignment is late.
All of this is covered in the Code of Student Behaviour, but here is the important bit:
Section: 30.3.2(1) Plagiarism
No Student shall submit the words, ideas, images or data of another person as the Student's own in any academic writing, essay, thesis, project, assignment, presentation or poster in a course or program of study.
There are several legal issues involved in "summing up" copyright issues, so here's the link to an official explanation.
T.B.A
Professor Sturtevant: MR 4:00-5:00 (or by appointment) in CSC 2-45
Matt Bouchard: T 12:30-2:00 (or by appointment) in CSC 1-21 (starting Sept. 20)