Game Architecture And Design By Rollins And Morris

This course discusses the process of game development. It examines the roles of different participants in the development process and how the technical development and the artistic development proceed in tandem. Group work is emphasized, especially the importance of collaboration between technical and artistic efforts. Students are expected to participate in game development using appropriate game development tools.

class: imgd1001-all at cs.wpi.edu

Time and Place

Day: Mo, Tu, Th, Fr
Time: 10:00am - 10:50am
Place: Salisbury Labs (SL) 105

Books

Required:

Introduction to Game Development, edited by Steve Rabin, copyright Charles River Media Incorporated, 2005. ISBN: 1-58450-377-7
http://www.charlesriver.com/Books/BookDetail.aspx?productID=99109
The best book I've found for (nearly) comprehensive coverage of the material in this course. The chapters are individually authored, giving the book rather uneven levels of detail and tone from chapter to chapter, but many of the selected chapters are quite good. At nearly 1000 pages, it has considerably more material than will covered in a term, but it should make a good reference beyond the course.

Also, here are some good textbooks for Game Development related work you may want to read:

Game Architecture and Design - A New Edition, by Andrew Rollings and Dave Morris. New Riders, 2004. ISBN: 0735713634
http://www.peachpit.com/title/0735713634
A close a book to the "Game Development Process", but missing artistic content creation and programming. A bit wordy, but with good information and examples on the areas of Game Design, Team Management, and Game Architecture.
On Game Design, by Andrew Rollings and Ernest Adams. New Riders, 2003. ISBN: 1-5927-3001-9
http://www.informit.com/title/1592730019
A good book for a "Critical Studies of Games" course, but with some solid game design material for a "Game Development" course.
Gameplay and Design, by Kevin Oxland. Addison Wesley, 2004. ISBN: 0-231-20467-0
http://www.aw-bc.com/catalog/academic/product/0,1144,0321204670,00.html
Includes easy-to-read descriptions of the game development process in two phases: components of a game design and the process of creating and formatting design documents. Examples of a Norbot game are worked throughout the text.
On Game Design, by Chris Crawford. New Riders, 2003. ISBN: 0131460994
http://www.informit.com/title/0131460994
If you can look past Crawford's arrogance, there are a lot of good war stories about game development and some good, general game design tips.
Creating the Art of the Game, by Matthew Omernick. New Riders, 2004. ISBN: 0735714096
http://www.peachpit.com/title/0735714096
An informative, easy-to-read book on creating 3D art for games.
Designing Arcade Computer Game Graphics, by Ari Feldman. Out of Print, 2000.
http://www.cs.uu.nl/people/markov/gmaker/feldman.html
Emphasizes the development of 2D graphics for computer games, including animation, proper color usage, and fonts.
Audio for Games - Planning, Process and Production, by Alexander Brandon. New Riders, 2004. ISBN: 0735714134
http://www.informit.com/title/0735714134
Information on audio technology and how it fits in with the game development process.
Game Coding Complete, by Mike McShaffry. Paraglyph Press, 2003. ISBN: 1-932111-75-1
http://www.mcshaffry.com/GameCode/
On the process of programming computer games, including tips and tricks used by real game programmers.
Developing Games in Java, by David Brackeen. New Riders, 2004. ISBN: 1592730051
http://www.informit.com/title/1592730051
If you want to code games in Java, this book provides good examples of AI, 2d and 3d graphics, and multiplayer games, using the Java libraries.
The Indie Game Development Survival Guide, Game Development Series, by David Michael. Charles River Media, 2003. ISBN: 1-58450-214-2
http://www.charlesriver.com/titles/indiegame.html
The title sounds like it would be right on for those that want to develop games in their garage, but the content matter is a bit light weight. ... But, it does tell a complete story about developing games start to finish and has some good words of wisdom.
Awesome Game Creation - No Programming Required, Second Edition, by Luke Ahearn and Clayton Crooks. Charles River Media, 2002. ISBN: 1-58450-223-1
http://www.charlesriver.com/titles/awesomegames2.html
Introduction to software for building games without writing code. Includes a CD with versions of many game development toolkits.

Grading Policy

Breakdown

Final grades will be computed as follows:

Projects: 45%
Exams: 45%
- Mid-term: 20%
- Final: 25%
Other: 10%

The grading policy for each project will be provided at the time of the assignment. In general, each assignment will have a basic objective for the majority of the assignment points. There may be an extended objective for demonstrating additional work and understanding.

Final grades will reflect the extent to which you have demonstrated understanding of the material, and completed the assigned projects. The base level grade will be a "B" which indicates that the basic objectives on assignments and exams have been met. A grade of an "A" will indicate significant achievement beyond the basic objectives and a grade of a "C" will indicate not all basic objectives were met, but work was satisfactory for credit. No incomplete grades will be assigned unless there exist exceptional, extenuating circumstances. Similarly, no makeup exams will be given unless there exist exceptional, extenuating circumstances.

Late Policy

Late projects will be be penalized 10% of total assignment value per day (with the weekend counting as one day) or partial day, and no assignments will be accepted after seven days beyond the due date. All projects are due at midnight due date. Projects turned in after that time will be counted late. Projects will be submitted as directed in class. Exceptions to these rules can be made only beforehand.

Cheating

Cheating ... don't do it. Cheating, either by taking credit for work you did not do or getting unauthorized help on projects or exams, is a serious offense. Punishment is in an automatic NR for the course. Note, discussion among students and even sanctioned group work is encouraged, but blatant copying of writing, code, art, design, etc. without attribution of sources, is not allowed. When in doubt, ask!

Topics

Here is the list of topics covered in this course:

Game Design
- Game Play
- Design Documentation
- Level Design
Artistic Content Creation
- Color and Games
- Displays
- 2D and 3D
  - Graphics
  - Animation
  - Image/File Formats
- Audio
  - Music
  - Sound Effects
Engineering
- Programming
- Game Architectures
Game Production
- Team Management
- Release
- Postmortem

Reading

Here is the list of reading, listed in the order covered in class:

Chapter 7.2, Introduction to Game Development (Required text)
Chapter 7.3, Introduction to Game Development (Required text)
Tutorial: What is a Good Game?, by Mark Overmars (Online)
Chapter 2, Game Architecture and Design, by Rollings and Morris (Library reserve)
Chapter 3, Game Architecture and Design, by Rollings and Morris (Library reserve)
Chapter 5, Game Architecture and Design, by Rollings and Morris (Library reserve)
Chapter 9, Designing Arcade Computer Game Graphics, by Ari Feldman (Online)
Chapter 6.1, Introduction to Game Development (Required text)
Chapter 6.2, Introduction to Game Development (Required text)
Chapter 6.4, Introduction to Game Development (Required text)
Chapter 6.6, Introduction to Game Development (Required text)
Chapter 6.9, Introduction to Game Development (Required text)
Enhancing the Impact of Music in Drama Oriented-Games, by Scott Morton (Online)
Chapter 3.1, Introduction to Game Development (Required text)
Chapter 3.2, Introduction to Game Development (Required text)
Chapter 3.3, Introduction to Game Development (Required text)
Chapter 3.5, Introduction to Game Development (Required text)
Chapter 5.3, Introduction to Game Development (Required text)

Slides

Slides from the in-class lectures will be available shortly after they are presented, depending upon how things go. Here is what we have so far:

Admin	pdf	ppt
Introduction	pdf	ppt
Game Design	pdf	ppt
Visual Design and Production	pdf	ppt
Audio Design and Production	pdf	ppt
Game Programming	pdf	ppt
Project 1	pdf	ppt
Project 2	pdf	ppt
Project 3	pdf	ppt
Project 4	pdf	ppt
Project 5	pdf	ppt
Project Pitch	pdf	ppt
Game Fest	pdf	ppt

Steven Gargolinksi, AI Programmer, Mad Doc Software. Steve began his professional game programming career in 1999 at Blue Fang Games working on the Zoo Tycoon series. Since then he has moved on to Mad Doc Software where he is currently implementing the AI for a next-generation first person shooter. (slides, code)

Ichiro Lambe, Founder and Principal Designer, Dejobaan Games. Ichiro first entered the industry in 1988, and co-founded Worlds Apart Productions in 1996. In 1999, he founded Dejobaan Games, which has developed 11 titles for handheld and desktop platforms. The company is currently developing Galaxy Rage, an open-ended first-person shooter for Windows. (screenshots, videos)

Projects

The projects are the game development related assignments you will have for the course. You should work in groups of 3 (groups of 2 or 4 are possible with permission) for the projects. Working in groups will give you valuable "real-world" experience as well as provide you with a "built in" source for help. Do remember, however, that all exams will be taken alone. Make sure each group member understands the projects completely!

Project 1: Game Inception and Design, (Jan 18, 23, 26) (Slides: ppt, pdf)
Project 2: Content Creation, (Feb 6) (Slides: ppt, pdf)
Project 3: Game Logic, (Feb 14) (Slides: ppt, pdf)
Project 4: Level Design, (Feb 22) (Slides: ppt, pdf)
Project 5: Game Evaluation and Testing, (Feb 26) (Slides: ppt, pdf)

Samples

In this section are any samples discussed in class, practice exams or any other demonstration-type class materials. Samples will be updated soon after the discussion in class begins.

Sample project 2 (zipped).

Final exam stuff:

Topic outline
Practice exam
Practice exam solution

Mid-term stuff:

Topic outline
Practice exam
Practice exam solution

Game Maker:

Compiled Game Maker Tutorial Games (zipped), showing the range of games Game Maker supports.
There is a Wiki devoted to Game Maker, that includes background information and some possibly useful links at the bottom.

In case this inspires you on what (or what not) to do, here are the the Final Games produced by the previous offering of this class.

Hotlinks

You have to work in groups for the projects. For some groups, it comes as naturally as a putting on socks before putting on your shoes. For others, it takes works. You might read (and re-read periodically) some Top 12 Tips for Groups. Some other Tips for Working Successfully in a Group that might be useful. Go over these as a group!

Top 12 Tips for Groups: http://www.cs.wpi.edu/~dcb/courses/CS3041/Group-info3.html
Tips for Working Successfully in a Group: http://www.alice.org/bvw2001/tips.html

Miscellaneous links on Game Design:

Playing the game, by Simon Larsen. Gamasutra Article and Thesis, August 2002. Article summarizing knowledge in Postmortems.
The 400 Project. The 400 Project is an ambitious attempt to collect "The 400 Rules of Game Design."
Gamedev.net's Forum on Game Design. A forum for discussing the art of game design from some in the industry.

A list (certainly, not comprehensive) of some of the tools available to help build games:

Torque
Conitec A6 Gamestudio
Blitz Basic
Dark Basic
The Games Factory (Clickteam)
gmax (Discreet)
Game Maker (Mark Overmars)
The 3D GameMaker (Actualize Limited and Dark Basic Software)
MilkShape 3D
Paint Shop Pro (Corel, was by Jasc)
Audition (Adobe, was CoolEdit 2000 by Jasc)

Some game-related industry conventions:

Electronic Entertainment Exposition
http://www.e3expo.com/
Game Developers Conference
http://www.gdconf.com/
Serious Games Summit
http://www.gdconf.com/conference/seriousgames.htm
Boston Post Mortem (includes a link to game-related companies in the New England area
http://www.bostonpostmortem.org/

Some game-related research conferences:

ACM SIGCOMM Network and System Support for Games (NetGames), 2005
http://www.research.ibm.com/netgames2005/
ACM SIGCHI International Conference on Advances in Computer Entertainment Technology (ACE), 2005
http://www.ace2005.org/
The Annual European GAME-ON conference
http://biomath.rug.ac.be/~eurosis/conf/gameon/gameon2005/