Game Development

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

This course will engage computer game development at both critical and practical levels. At the theoretical level, this course will examine games as a procedural media form, akin to film or television, but reliant on programmed interactions. Class time will typically begin with a 30-45 minute lecture on a topic in a related discipline that could range from the purely functional (how to organize assets in your workflow, commenting code) to the technical (how does collision detection work?) to the theoretical (what do games have in common with other media and designed artifacts). The remainder of class time will be devoted to questions, demonstrations, and tutorial exercises. Students will be required to demonstrate steady progress in the development of audio and 3D assets, programming, and design methods for unique games, by hitting agreed-upon development milestones. Grades will be given based on the complexity of the tasks achieved and overall progress in understanding and utilizing the development pipeline. The course will be directed toward beginning students with the potential for advanced students to work ahead. The Unity development environment is an industry standard game development platform that allows game makers to deploy games on a wide range of devices and media including mobile, web, and VR. Unity is free for students and students will be expected to use and maintain their own Unity installation (computers will not be provided). Because of the compressed summer schedule, students should expect to commit a minimum of two hours per day outside of class time to complete assignments.