ICS 485: Video Game Design and Development
Description: Students will team design, build, and demonstrate video games or related interactive entertainment environments and applications. Topics will include emerging computer science techniques relevant to the development of these types of environments.
Objectives: To teach students:
1. to conceptualize effective game play.
2. to develop storyboards exemplifying game play.
3. how to apply techniques to implement game play. These include: Artificial Intelligence,
Computer Graphics, User Interface Design, Psycho Acoustics, Human Perception.
4. how to manage a multi-disciplinary game development team.
5. how to evaluate game play.
Course Learning Outcomes: 1. Students will remember key rules of thumb in video game design.
2. Students will understand how video game design decisions are made.
3. Students will apply video game design rules toward the development of video games.
4. Students will analyze algorithms for constructing games.
5. Student will evaluate effective and ineffective video game design rules.
6. Students will create an entire vertical slice of a video game from concept to implementation.
Program Learning Outcomes
- a. Students can apply knowledge of computing and mathematics appropriate to the discipline
- b. Students can analyze a problem, and identify and define the computing requirements appropriate to its solution
- c. Students can design, implement, and evaluate a computer-based system, process, component, or program to meet desired needs
- d. Students can function effectively on teams to accomplish a common goal
- f. Students can communicate effectively with a range of audiences
- h. Students can recognize the need for and an ability to engage in continuing professional development
- i. Students can use current techniques, skills, and tools necessary for computing practice
- j. An ability to use and apply current technical concepts and practices in the core information technologies. [BA IT only]
- k. An ability to identify and analyze user needs and take them into account in the selection, creation, evaluation and administration of computer-based systems. [BA IT only]
Prerequisites: two ICS 300-level courses.
Textbook(s): Course notes
Grading: Project 1 - 20%
Project 2 - 80%
Schedule
- Week 1: History and Taxonomy of video games
- Week 2: Brainstorming and Designing the gameplay o Project planning
- Week 3: Presentation of game play designs
- Week 4: Introduction to game development tools
- Week 5: Introduction to 3D computer graphics and stereoscopic computer graphics o Presentation of project planning timelines
- Week 6: Software structure of a video game / real-time game loop design o In class review of project progress
- Week 7: Deconstructing a game, In class review of project progress
- Week 8: Sound and psychoacoustics, In class review of project progress
- Week 9: Physical and perceptual limits of game players o User interfaces for gaming, In class review of project progress
- Week 10: Mid-Semester Project Presentation
- Week 11: SPRING BREAK
- Week 12: Artificial Intelligence for games, In class review of project progress
- Week 13: Game physics, Techniques for special visual effects in gaming (e.g. motion blur, lens flare, real time shadows, reflections),
- Week 14: In class review of project progress
- Week 15: Issues in multiplayer and networked game development o Hardware architectures of video game platforms, In class review of project progress
- Week 16: Final Project Presentation, Final project document due