IT-Universitetet

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Game Development, Spring 2009

Lectures: Tuesdays 10:00-12:00 @ 3A12

Lab sessions: Tuesdays & Fridays 13:00-15:00 @ GameLab

EXAM SCHEDULE 

Teachers: Georgios Yannakakis (yannakakis[at]itu[dot]dk) (office: 4B09, phone: 7218 5078) & Aki Järvinen (aki[dot]jarvinen[at]itu[dot]dk) (office: 4B02, phone 7218 5288)
Teaching assistants: Michael Schmidt (michael[at]thefuture[dot]dk) and Lawrence Johnson (lkj[at]itu[dot]dk)

Course Description: The objective of this course is to give you a practical & conceptual introduction to game development as well as the relevant theory behind game technologies. The focus of the course is on the development of a 3D game and working within a formal team context.

After successful completion of the course you should be able to:

  • explain phases in game development (from idea to product)
  • discuss the various team roles on a development project
  • produce a method and schedule for a production
  • describe basic game system architecture
  • discuss level, story, and character design
  • integrate 3D games engines into your production process
  • address the issue of AI, character design and animation, for a game production

 

Course Format: Teaching consisting of lectures and lab sessions. Lectures take place on Tuesdays from 10:00-12:00 and lab sessions take place on Tuesdays and Fridays from 13:00-15:00. There will be occasional additional lectures on Fridays from 10:00-12:00. Lectures will be given by a variety of teachers who specialize on various aspects of game development.

The hand-in: The final product for this course is a written project that includes:

  • Design document
  • Development plan
  • Final report on the development process
  • The game
  • A website promoting the game, including a marketing trailer for the game that includes game-play footage. Website must be accessible online, at least up to the end of the exam period.

The game:

  • Must be graphically 3D.
  • Created in the Unreal game engine, or a game engine of the team’s choice, provided that the team can show evidence – e.g., a previous production – that they can deliver with the engine. Please note that technical assistance will be provided for the Unreal Engine 3 only.
  • Should be of the size and scope of a game entered into the Independent Games Festival.
  • Should be able to be put on the web and could get feedback on it beyond "this is not playable".
  • Should be playable for at least 20 minutes (can be quick sessions but then repeatability becomes a factor)
 
Literature: Handouts.

Examination: External examiner, 7-point marking scale, B4: Oral examination with written work but without time for preparation at the exam. The hand-in must be submitted by May 20th at the Exam Office no later than 3 PM. Exams then take place in June.

Course Blog

Unreal Game Engine Resources: Lawrence's Unreal webpage

Course E-mail: MSU_F2009@itu.dk

Course plan
(subject to changes; last updated: 14/03-09)

Jan 27 – Week 1: Introduction - Lecturers: Georgios Yannakakis & Aki Järvinen

Lecture

  • Go over class content.
  • Explain difference between this course and game design.
  • Explain what is possible on this course and expectations for final projects.
  • Show examples of work that can serve as inspiration for design.

Lab exercises

  • None (begin to familiarize yourself with Unreal; get a Gamasutra account if you don't have one)

Feb 3 – Week 2: Development Methodology & Teams (and Eye/Brain controlled game presentation) - Lecturer: Miguel Sicart

Readings

  • "Team Roles and the Pipeline" from Game Level Design (handout)
  • Chapter 2 from Mastering Unreal Technology (optional reading)
  • Game ideas developed through the lab exercise session

Lab exercises (GameLab)

  • Getting in teams and assigning roles (lead designer, lead programmer, etc and someone on the team taking on project management).
  • Team name, member names, email addresses, and roles (making sure to specify who is handling project management) sent to Aki before Feb 10.

Feb 10 – Week 3: Introduction to the Unreal Engine (GameLab) - Lecturer: Michael Schmidt

Readings

Lab exercises

  • Teams begin to work in Unreal, with guidance from TAs.

Production tasks

  1. Make a 1-page game concept document (See Tim Ryan's "Guidelines for a Game Concept".)
  2. Begin exploration of tool and possibilities for the design, evaluate the viability of the game concept in terms of engine functionalities
  3. Make a development plan for the production (schedule, tasks, etc.)
  4. Send concept document and development plan as a pdf - with your team name clearly stated - to Aki before next Tuesday (17/2). (Note if you have not finalized a team name you need to do so.) - Hand-in guidelines

Feb 17 – Week 4: Unreal Engine in More Detail (GameLab) - Lecturer: Michael Schmidt

Readings

Optional readings

Production tasks

  1. Really get a Gamasutra account if you haven't already.
  2. It is recommended that you have Wiki and CVS/SVN in place.
  3. All team members try working with the tools they are going to work with.

Feb 24 – Week 5: Story Design – Lecturers: Aki Järvinen (link to slides) & Espen Aarseth (lecture material will be available as paper copies)

Readings

Production tasks

  1. Make a level, or prototype the core mechanics, try playing it. Revisit development schedule and concept document: Does it need to be changed?
  2. Try out content pipeline: Create 3d model and sound, import into engine. Identify the amount of graphics/animation/audio assets needed for the game; schedule their production.
  3. Create a story design chapter/appendix into the game design document that defines how the story element can be implemented with the editor/engine.

Feb 27 – Week 5: Computational Representation of Stories in Games – Lecturers: Arnav Jhala

Readings

March 3 – Week 6: Advanced Game Design - Lecturers: Miguel Sicart & Aki Järvinen

Readings

·         Sicart, Miguel: “The Ethics of Game Design” Chapter 7 from forthcoming book.
·         M. J. Taylor, D. Gresty, and M. Baskett: “Computer game-flow design”. Computers in Entertainment, Volume 4 , Issue 1  (January 2006)

Production tasks

  1. Make a small corner of the game, perhaps a single room with graphics, sound, and gameplay logic. (A "slice".) Schedule and concept document: Does it need to be changed?
  2. Evaluate your story design; make sure the slice selected is representative of the story design. Create game flow specifications of key scenarios or

storytelling elements and review their implementation/viability among the team.

March 6 – Week 6: Game AI (basic) - Lecturer: Georgios Yannakakis 

Readings

Optional Readings

  • A-Life resources at GameAI.com
  • Chapter 12 of Mastering Unreal Technology

March 10 – Week 7: Character Design + Critical Stage Analysis guidelines - Lecturer: Aki Järvinen

Readings

  • Chapters 1, 2 and 8 from Better Game Characters by Design 

Optional readings

  • Chapter 13 from Fullerton: Game Design Workshop "Stages of Development"

Production tasks

  1. Make a critical stage analysis.
  2. A corner of the game should be playable.

March 13 – Week 7: Game AI (advanced) - Lecturer: Georgios Yannakakis

Readings

March 17 – Week 8: Project Management & Agile Methods - Lecturer: Søren Lundgaard

Production tasks

  1. Preproduction should be complete
  2. Plan production. Reconsider schedule.
  3. Email Aki & Georgios an updated plan and design doc by Friday, March 20th.

 

March 24 – Week 9: Project Work (TAs available during class hours to assist)

Production tasks

  1. Work on game.
  2. Start working on a website design for your game.

March 31 – Week 10: Project Work (TAs available during class hours to assist)

Production tasks

1.      Work on game (and website).

2.      Prepare a group presentation for the Game Workshop – April 14

April 14 (No class April 7 – Easter week) – Week 11: Rendering and Performance / Becoming a game developer / Game Workshop - Lecturer: Michael Schmidt / Students

Production tasks

  1. Work on game & website.

April 21 – Week 12: User Testing and QA - Lecturer: Jacob Buck, Guppyworks.

Readings

  • Chapter 5 from Isbister & Schaffer: Game Usability, Henriette H.N. Hoonhout: ‘Let the Game Tester Do the Talking: Think Aloud and Interviewing to Learn about the Game Experience”.

Production tasks

  1. Make a QA & playtest plan – what are you testing? how? - & conduct the playtest.
  2. Analyse results in the team, and apply lessons learned to game.
  3. Prepare to present a build to next week’s visiting lecturer.

April 28 – Week 13: Crunchtime and working in the Games Industry – Lecturer: Jason Booth, Harmonix.

Readings

  • 3.5 from Steve Rabin: Introduction to Game Development, "Debugging Games".

Production tasks

  1. QA test your game, according to the guidelines.
  2. Present the game to visiting lecturer.

May 5 – Week 14: Game Business Development - Lecturer: Sonja Kangas, Guppyworks.

Readings

  • None

Production tasks

 

  1. Make a marketing trailer for your game. Include game-play footage.
  2. Prepare playtest session for May 12th for game group faculty members.

May 12 and 19 – Project Work (TAs available during class hours to assist)

Production tasks

  1. Polish final hand-in, including demo video and website.

May 20 before 15:00 – Hand-in due

May 29th – Play Day

June 16,17,18th – Exams (more detailed schedule to be announced)

 

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