GAME - Games and Playable Media

GAME 200 Game Design Systems

Analyzes how games aggregate mechanics to create dynamic, interactive systems. Students analyze and design systems by general categories (e.g., movement, economy, conflict) to better understand their histories, relationships, and implementations.

Credits

5

Instructor

Noah Wardrip-Fruin, Nathan Altice, Michael John, Elin Carstendottir

Requirements

Enrollment is restricted to graduate students.

Quarter offered

Fall

GAME 201 Level Design

Level design integrates architecture, psychology, and drama with the tools of game making. Course explores both 2D and 3D level design through both analysis and construction of video game levels, along with key readings, particularly in architecture.

Credits

5

Requirements

Enrollment is restricted to graduate students.

GAME 210 Game Art Intensive

Teaches the basic vocabulary, concepts, and practices of creating 2D and 3D art assets for games, as well as their management and integration into game engines. Includes sprites, models, textures, animations, and an introduction to effects.

Credits

5

Instructor

The Staff

Requirements

Enrollment is restricted to games and playable media and serious game graduate students; others by interview.

Quarter offered

Fall

GAME 215 Audio Direction

Introduces fundamentals of digital audio and its implementation into a game project. Explores elements of acoustic audio therapy, musical theory, and digital audio theory, coupled with hands-on creation. Students work with audio software, synthesis, plug-in processing and microphones to develop and create an audio direction.

Credits

5

Instructor

The Staff

Requirements

Enrollment is restricted to games and playable media graduate students.

Quarter offered

Winter

GAME 221 Professional Development for Game Makers I

First course in a three-course sequence covering the game industry, game jobs, current thinking on games, and becoming a professional game maker. Focuses on presenting yourself and your ideas. Includes elements of writing, speaking, and designing professional communication.

Credits

2

Instructor

The Staff, Jim Whitehead, Michael John

Requirements

Enrollment is restricted to games and playable media graduate students; others by interview.

Quarter offered

Spring

GAME 222 Professional Development for Game Makers II

Second course in a three-course sequence covering the game industry, game jobs, current thinking on games, and becoming a professional game maker. Focus on design considerations and methodologies employed in the game industry with emphasis placed upon the student's ability to develop designs beyond mere ideas through to execution.

Credits

2

Instructor

Jim Whitehead, Michael John

Requirements

Enrollment is restricted to games and playable media graduate students.

GAME 223 Professional Development for Games Makers III

The third course in a three-course sequence covering the game industry, game jobs, current thinking on games, and becoming a professional game maker. Focuses on the business of the game industry, including funding, corporation types and formation, budgeting and burn rates, pitch decks, and marketing.

Credits

2

Instructor

Jim Whitehead, Michael John, Erin Robinson

Requirements

Enrollment is restricted to games and playable media graduate students.

GAME 230 Fundamentals of Game Engineering

Deep introduction to technologies used in the construction of computer games. Principles of 2D game engine design, including architecture, object-oriented design patterns, collision detection, particle systems. Also examines artificial intelligence techniques including pathfinding, state machines, and behavior trees.

Credits

5

Instructor

The Staff, Jim Whitehead

Requirements

Enrollment is restricted to games and playable media graduate students.

Quarter offered

Fall

GAME 231 Game Technologies

Learn the fundamentals of at least two contemporary game engines. Develop 3D game prototypes using custom-level geometry and shaders. Understand common features of the engines and how engine-specific features shape the space games that are reasonable to implement.

Credits

5

Instructor

Adam Smith, Eddie Melcer

Requirements

Prerequisite(s): GAME 230; or GAME 235 and GAME 236. Enrollment is restricted to graduate students.

Quarter offered

Spring

GAME 232 Advanced Game Technologies

Exposes students to cutting-edge research technologies enabling the creation of games not possible with off-the-shelf techniques. Students learn how understand research to incorporate such technologies into a game. Students create rapid prototypes using several different technologies.

Credits

5

Instructor

Adam Smith, Jim Whitehead

Requirements

Prerequisite(s): GAME 230; or GAME 235 and GAME 236. Enrollment is restricted graduate students.

GAME 235 Game Development I

First in a two-course sequence providing an introduction to game programming using a modern object-oriented language. Introduces the technologies used in the construction of computer games. Introduces the principles of 2D game engine design, including architecture, object-oriented design patterns, and collision detection. Students may not receive credit for this course and GAME 230.

Credits

5

Instructor

Noah Wardrip-Fruin, Eddie Melcer

Requirements

Enrollment is restricted to graduate students.

Quarter offered

Fall

GAME 236 Game Development II

Second in a two-course sequence providing an introduction to game programming using a modern object-oriented language. Intermediate technologies are used in the construction of computer games. Includes NPC behavior, scenes and shaders, physics, debugging, and managing game code. Students may not receive credit for this course and GAME 230.

Credits

5

Instructor

Adam Smith, Noah Wardrip-Fruin, Michael John

Requirements

Prerequisite(s): GAME 235. Enrollment is restricted to graduate students.

Quarter offered

Winter

GAME 238 Computer Graphics for Games

Advanced computer-graphics techniques for computer games. Covers a range of computer graphics techniques used in contemporary computer games, with emphasis on those that complement existing game engines. Subjects covered include: lighting for models and scenes, shader programming (including several visual effects), procedural mesh manipulation, advanced use of particle systems, and non-photorealistic rendering techniques.

Credits

5

Instructor

Angus Forbes

Requirements

Prerequisite(s): GAME 230 or GAME 235. Enrollment is restricted to graduate students.

GAME 240 Game Usability

Research approaches to game usability, from direct interaction with players to game instrumentation methods. Students learn to understand, select between, and adapt research designs and analysis approaches. Includes defining and measuring impact and effect size of serious games.

Credits

5

Instructor

Katherine Isbister

Requirements

Enrollment is restricted to graduate students.

Quarter offered

Fall

GAME 250 Foundations of Serious Games

Provides an overview of the serious games field, including projects in various domains and using various design approaches. Introduces the fundamentals of requirements analysis and efficacy measurement for the serious games field, and their connections to game and project design.

Credits

5

Instructor

Sri Kurniawan, Katherine Isbister

Requirements

Enrollment is restricted to graduate students.

Quarter offered

Winter

GAME 251 Games User Research

Research approaches to user experience of games, from direct interaction with players to game instrumentation methods. Students learn to understand, select between, and adapt research designs and analysis approaches. Includes defining and measuring impact and effect size of serious games.

Credits

5

Requirements

Enrollment is restricted to games and playable media, computational media, serious games, and human computer interaction graduate students.

GAME 255 Serious Games Studio I

Focuses on developing innovative project concepts, rapid prototyping and playtesting, and the creation of concept presentations. Students identify appropriate sources of subject matter expertise, elicit knowledge to inform a game project, and integrate that knowledge into the core gameplay experience.

Credits

5

Instructor

Jim Whitehead, Eddie Melcer

Requirements

Prerequisite(s): GAME 200, or GAME 230, or GAME 236, or GAME 250. Enrollment is restricted to graduate students.

Quarter offered

Spring

GAME 256 Serious Games Studio II

Students work in teams to develop serious games. Involves multiple aspects of game production with emphasis on initiating production and coordination between requirements and design, and preparing a game iteration for efficacy measurement. Students receive frequent critiques on emerging game projects.

Credits

5

Instructor

Jim Whitehead, Michael John

Requirements

Prerequisite(s): GAME 255. Enrollment is restricted to graduate students.

Quarter offered

Fall

GAME 257 Serious Games Studio III

Students work in teams to develop serious games. Involves multiple aspects of game production with emphasis on performing efficacy measurements and responding through iteration. Students receive frequent critiques on final game projects.

Credits

5

Instructor

Jim Whitehead, Michael John

Requirements

Prerequisite(s): GAME 256. Enrollment is restricted to graduate students.

Quarter offered

Winter

GAME 270 Games and Playable Media Studio I

First course in a three-course sequence covering the fundamentals and advanced topics in game and playable-media development. Focuses on developing innovative project concepts using methods ranging from prototyping to design documents, planning, and initiating project development.

Credits

5

Instructor

Jim Whitehead, Noah Wardrip-Fruin, Michael John, Erin Robinson, Elin Carstendottir

Requirements

Enrollment is restricted to games and playable media graduate students; others by interview.

Quarter offered

Spring

GAME 271 Games and Playable Media Studio II

The second course in a three-course sequence in which students work in teams to develop an innovative computer game. Coursework involves multiple aspects of game production, including agile methodology; game and level design; development of code to implement game behavior; art direction; and audio design. Students receive frequent critiques on emerging game projects.

Credits

5

Instructor

Jim Whitehead, Noah Wardrip-Fruin, Michael John, Erin Robinson

Requirements

Prerequisite(s): GAME 270. Enrollment is restricted to games and playable media graduate students.

Quarter offered

Fall

GAME 272 Games and Playable Media Studio III

The third course in a four-course sequence in which students work in teams to develop an innovative computer game. Coursework involves multiple aspects of game production including agile methodology; game and level design; development of code to implement game behavior; art direction; and audio design. Students receive frequent critiques on emerging game projects.

Credits

5

Instructor

Jim Whitehead, Noah Wardrip-Fruin, Michael John, Elin Carstendottir

Requirements

Enrollment is restricted to graduate students in the games and playable media program.

Quarter offered

Winter

GAME 273 Game Production Intensive

Fourth course in a four-course sequence in which students work in teams to launch an innovative computer game. Coursework involves multiple aspects of game production, including agile methodology, game and level design, development of code to implement game behavior, art direction, and audio design. The emphasis is on interacting with game media to publicize the game. Students receive frequent critiques on emerging game projects.

Credits

10

Instructor

Jim Whitehead, Noah Wardrip-Fruin, Michael John, Erin Robinson

Requirements

Enrollment is restricted to graduate students in the games and playable media program.

GAME 280A Games Proseminar

Students learn through guest speakers, design exercises, master classes, and interactive group activities. Students prepare through reading texts, playing games, and developing their own materials. Features visitors from small and large developers, game scholars, and those using games in general. Can be taken for Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory credit only.

Credits

2

Instructor

Michael John, Elin Carstendottir, Eddie Melcer

Requirements

Enrollment is restricted to graduate students.

Repeatable for credit

Yes

Quarter offered

Fall, Winter

GAME 280Y Games You Should Know

Examines games that produce novel experiences. Each session consists of game play and discussion of associated readings. Students learn to appreciate the range of possible game experiences, and understand key design ideas that enable those experiences.

Credits

2

Instructor

Daniel Shapiro

Requirements

Enrollment is restricted to graduate students.

GAME 290A Advanced Topics in Games

In-depth study of current topics in digital and non-digital games. Topics vary, but are expected to include virtual reality, augmented reality, novel game interfaces, advanced computer graphics techniques, advanced game-design techniques, advanced procedural content generation, and autonomous characters.

Credits

5

Instructor

Jim Whitehead, Michael Mateas

Requirements

Enrollment is restricted to graduate students.

Repeatable for credit

Yes