CS4343
GAME DEVELOPMENT PROJECT (2008/2009, Semester 2) 

 MODULE OUTLINE   Created: 27-Dec-2006, Updated: 14-Nov-2008
 
Module Code CS4343
Module Title GAME DEVELOPMENT PROJECT
Semester Semester 2, 2008/2009
Modular Credits 8
Faculty School of Computing
Department Computer Science
Teaching Staff
DR Golam, Ashraf Lecturer
CNMV3 Co-Lecturer
Weblinks
http://www.igf.com/php-bin/entries2007_student.php
IGF 2007 Student Category entries		 Very useful resource.Very useful resource.Very useful resource.
http://slamdance.com/games/
2007 Slamdance Guerilla Gamemaker Competition finalists		 Very useful resource.Very useful resource.Very useful resource.


Aims & Objectives | Prerequisites | Teaching Modes | Schedule | Synopsis | Syllabus | Practical Work | Assessment | References


 AIMS & OBJECTIVES Top

 

1)      To bring diverse disciplines and skill sets to complement each other and work constructively in a team

2)      To reiterate and build upon important concepts covered in the prerequisite modules of each stream

3)      To expose students to the full range of skill sets and production pipeline required to produce an entertaining game

4)      To explore new and creative design and technology for games

5)      To apply concepts and skills in a large project that reflects a strong symbiosis between technology and art

 

Informal Paraphrase:

1)      Excel or be very good at what you are specializing in (acquire deeper domain knowledge)

2)      Know about and appreciate the big picture (acquire breadth knowledge)

3)      Work well in teams comprising of people with different strengths (manage time, skills, goals, biases)

4)      Look beyond current tools, technology and practice

 


 PREREQUISITES Top

Prerequisites: SoC students: CS4213 and CS2103 and preferably have completed NM3216For FASS students: Read and pass a minimum of 80MC, including NM3216.Preclusions: Nil

 Coverage in Prerequisites

CNM stream (Game Design)

  1. Game Design: Definition (conflict, roles, artificiality), structure
  2. Narrative in Games: Story vs. Interactivity
  3. Games as Dynamic Systems: Balancing (strength of units, challenge difficulty, motivation/reward), fun factor
  4. Social behavior: multiplayer interactions, conflicts
  5. Serious games: education
  6. Design documentation: concept/functional documentation, game mechanics, prototyping
  7. Digital games: technologies, input and output devices, experimental games, MODs

 

SoC stream (Game Development)

1.      Game Structure: software and hardware platforms, game loop, development pipeline

2.      Game AI: Path planning, navigation, behavior, perception, communication, learning and decision models (neural networks and genetic algorithms)

3.      Animation concepts: Characters and camera

4.      Data Structures: Spatial and Object partitioning

5.      Real time algorithms: collision, visibility culling, lighting, shadows

6.      Basic Game Design: characters, levels, documentation (To be discontinued)

7.      Content creation: modeling, deformation, animation, texturing, exporting and use with game engine (To be pushed to CS4343)

 


 TEACHING MODES Top
No new materials will be taught, except on group demand. No lab assignement, formal lectures or class tests. Group discussions, and prototype presentations for focussed development.


 SCHEDULE Top

 

Pls. form your teams as early as possible. Hopefully before semester starts you should have formed your teams and have a good idea what you will work on. Try to finish bulk of implementation and try-out phase before mid-semester break. Leave the latter 5-6 weeks for polishing, testing and user feedback.

Schedule Updated (21/01/2009)

Week

Class Activity

Team activity

Deliverables

1

12-16 Jan

Introduction and team formation – based on students’ individual interests, group into teams

Brief project pitch

 

2

19-23 Jan

Pitch – teams present their concepts in detail.

Discuss individual explorations, game design, platforms, technical problem overviews. Finish platform/pipeline explorations here.

Concept

3

26-30 Jan

Individual  consultations

Finalize project ideas, content sources and platforms. Should have small snippets of test code by now. Start user survey. Setup code framework and task deadlines.

Schedule, framework, collaboration forum/wiki/etc

4

2 – 6 Feb

Individual  consultations

Preliminary survey should be finished and analyzed. Continue prototyping and integration here.

  Survey1 and analysis

5

9-13 Feb

Individual  consultations

Discussion and demo of progress.

 

6

16-20 Feb

Class meets to present and critique demos.

Prototype1 formal presentations

Prototype 1

7

02-06 Mar

Class meets to present and critique topics.

Individual topic presentations

 

8

09-13 Mar

Class meets to present and critique topics.

Individual topic presentations . Survey 2 should be done here.

 Survey2 and analysis

9

16-20 Mar

Individual  consultations

Incorporate survey2 feedback  and polish

 

10

23-27 Mar

Class meets to present and critique topics.

Prototype 2 formal presentations

Prototype 2

11

30 Mar-3 Apr

Individual  consultations

Debug/refine/polish

 

12

6-10 Apr

Individual  consultations

Debug/refine/polish

 

13

13-17 Apr

 

Final presentations

Final version



 SYNOPSIS Top
This module allows student teams to apply game design principles and algorithms to create a complete 3D game for PCs. Art and technical aspects will be judged independently. Fundamentals of level & character design, storyboarding, character and level modeling, animation, texturing and lighting will be assessed for the arts component. Real time algorithms and data structures from behavioral and perception models, navigation, collision detection, animation and rendering will be assessed for the technical component. Student selection will be enforced to ensure balance of students' ability to create games.


 SYLLABUS Top

               Course Coverage

 

1.      Game Play and Game Design

2.      Marketability and Project Management

3.      Narrative, characterization and interactive fiction

4.      AI management: design and scripting, computation models

5.      Animation concepts

6.      Audio: effects and music, procedural models, psychology

7.      Asset creation and management: 2D and 3D characters and levels

8.      Shader technology: GPU architecture, pixel and vertex effects

9.      Network and mobile game development: bandwidth, compute resources, UI, distributed systems

 

 


 PRACTICAL WORK Top

Grand project could be in one of the following focus areas (but not restricted to):

  1. Story: interactive fiction, design
  2. Character: behavior, evolution, perception, learning, structure
  3. Platform: technical and design constraints (mobile, console, multiplayer)
  4. Environment: level design, special effects, procedural content

Teams of 3-4 are to be formed. Each individual must address one of the above issues (SoC students tackle technical angle, CNM students tackle design angle). Team must formulate a cohesive game idea, centric to their combined individual focus areas.

Pls. introduce yourself in the open forum, and discuss your background, strengths and areas in game development (Design or Technical) that you wish to explore for this module. Idea is to explore a design or technical area and work together as a team of 2-3, to create a polished and cohesive demo. Example:

Person A: Novel spring driven projectile game mechanics and UI (technical, algo)
Person B: Collision detection in complicated scenes with small objects (technical, algo)
Person C: Procedural shading of large number of objects on XBOX (technical, platform)
Person D: Role of Lighting and Shadow in Interesting Gameplay (design)

Demo: An arrow shooting demo to kill small birds in a forest with dense foliage.

Make sure you don't go overly ambitious and can target to finish bulk of your implementation in 6-7 weeks. Try to plan WELL in advance and form your teams/ideas. Project modules can be very deceptive in terms of apparent and real workload if you don't plan well.


 ASSESSMENT Top

Individual Topic Presentations: 15%
Prototype1: 10% (team)
Prototype2: 15% (team)
Final presentation and demo: 30% (team)
Technical(SoC)/design (FASS) contribution: 30%


 
 1. TEXT & READINGS Top
Total 3 Records
Title and AuthorEdition / Year /
*ISBN		Publisher
AI Game Programming Wisdom 2
Author:Steve Rabin		- / 2004
ISBN:1-58450-289-4		Charles River MediaReferences
Game Programming Gems 6
Author:Michael Dickheiser		1 / 2006
ISBN:1-58450-450-1		Charles River MediaReferences
Game Character Development with Maya
Author:Antony Ward		1e / 2005
ISBN:0-7357-1438-X		New RidersSupplementary
Total 3 Records


Aims & Objectives | Prerequisites | Teaching Modes | Schedule | Synopsis | Syllabus | Practical Work | Assessment | References