International Game Developers Association

Full name: 31002 Introduction to Computer Game Design

Games Education
Course

Table of contents 1 Teachers 1.1 Instructors 1.2 Guest speakers 2 Course Background Information 2.1 Location 2.2 Classification 2.3 Student background needed 2.4 Course prerequisites 2.5 Time periods 3 Course Structure 3.1 Course description 3.2 Course learning objectives 3.3 Week by week topics 4 Course Materials & Facilities Used 4.1 Books 4.2 Other materials 4.3 Software (engines, tools) 4.4 Syllabus 4.5 Slides 4.6 Assessment materials 4.7 Digital media used in class 4.8 Case studies 4.9 Tutorial files 4.10 Other materials 5 Analysis of learning methods 5.1 What worked 5.2 What didn't work

[edit] Teachers

[edit] Instructors

• Yusuf Pisan

[edit] Guest speakers

• None

[edit] Course Background Information

[edit] Location

University of Technology, Sydney

[edit] Classification

See: Areas for classifing for your course.

Primary classification: Conceptual_Game_Design

Secondary classification: Practical Game Design

[edit] Student background needed

Mostly undergraduate students from the Faculty of Information Technology, a couple of students from Faculty of Engineering and a few graduate students.

[edit] Course prerequisites

Students should have completed 1.5 years of study.

Quota of 30 students.

[edit] Time periods

14 Week semester Weekly lecture: 1.5 hours Weekly lab: 1.5 hours

[edit] Course Structure

[edit] Course description

Designing and building computer games is a challenging task. This subject focuses on the software technologies (such as graphics, networks, software design and artificial intelligence) used in computer games and covers basic interactive design, interface design, game design documentation and play mechanics through hands-on projects.

[edit] Course learning objectives

At the end of this subject students will be able to:

1. Understand and apply principles and technologies behind the rules and play of games.

2. Understand basic interactive design, including interface design, information design and human-computer interaction.

3. Understand how games function to create experiences, including rule design, play mechanics, game balancing, social game integration and the integration of visual, audio, tactile and textual elements into the game experience.

4. Understand how character development, plot, and dialogue are developed in interactive storytelling.

5. Design and develop text based and graphical computer game prototypes.

[edit] Week by week topics

History of Computer Games Interactive Storytelling Game Elements Game Characters Gameplay Game Interfaces Gameplay Educational Games AI in Games Culture of Games Multiplayer Games Game Production

[edit] Course Materials & Facilities Used

Here you can link to and/or describe books and other materials you used for this course. Feel free to create new pages for each item here if a page for it does not yet exist.

[edit] Books

Game Development Essential: An Introduction by Jeannie Novak

[edit] Other materials

Papers

[edit] Software (engines, tools)

Software to create text based adventure games: Inform

Software for creating 2D Games: GameMaker

[edit] Syllabus

(link to an uploaded syllabus file or external storage location)

[edit] Slides

(link to each file's storage location)

[edit] Assessment materials

30% Interactive Fiction – Build a text based Interactive Fiction game that will be assessed by your classmates as well as the lecturer. Objectives: 2-4. Due Week 5

30% Game proposal – Develop a proposal for the game that includes a design document and possibly a prototype of the game. Objectives: 4-5. Due Week 9

40% Final project -- The final project can be an extended game proposal with a substantial prototype, a completed game, a tool to facilitate game development or a similar project as approved by the lecturer. All final projects will have the following components· Software or design document to be evaluated· A description of software or design document· A presentation of the project to the class

[edit] Digital media used in class

e.g. Video, Multimedia sources, Audio

(link to each file's storage location)

[edit] Case studies

(link to each file's storage location) or each respective wiki page

[edit] Tutorial files

(link to each file's storage location)

[edit] Other materials

(link to an uploaded resources -- e.g. research papers -- or external storage location)

[edit] Analysis of learning methods

[edit] What worked

Students generally enjoy the subject and are proud of their final projects. Some studetns have entered thier text-based adventure game into the IF competition.

[edit] What didn't work

The subject covers too much material.