CMPUT 299
Fall, 2006
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Winter, 2006
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Fall, 2005
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Computers and Games:
More Than Just Entertainment

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.

This course will have two themes: the role of computer games in society, and how computer games are made. We will explore how game design brings together music, film, drama, literature, and art, and how the computer enables us to combine them in powerful new ways. We will explore the relationship between the games industry and areas such as psychology [relationships, addiction], training [military, medical, corporate], education [reading, writing, typing, etc], business [movie industry], and society [communities, violence, literacy].

 

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.

Students taking this course will:
  • examine the impact of games on society
  • understand the technology of games and the games industry
  • interact with industry professionals from BioWare Corp
  • work in multi-disciplinary creative teams to get hands-on experience creating a game

This is an interdisciplinary course open to all students who have an interest in computers and computer games. Because game design combines such a broad range of talents we are looking for a balance of students in disciplines like the visual arts, music and literature, film studies, science technology and society, and others, in addition to computing.

This course is offered during the Fall 2006 term on Tu/Th at 11:00am. This course also has a weekly lab which will be scheduled during the first week of the course. (Note that there were some errors in the course catalog stating the course would be MWF.) The course will have enrollment limited to 20-30 students. Admissions for the course will be primarily based on maintaining a diverse cross-section of students, however decisions may be based on other considerations as well.

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