CSE 788 (Game Design) Schedule

Topics

Here is a list of topics (tentative) to be covered in the class either thru lectures or individual and team assignments. I will cover topics at a high-level (gestahlt) in class. The format for the class time will consist of about 25% lectures by myself, 25% technical lectures by the students, 25% project reviews, and 25% for general discussions, quizes, and/or in-class project work. In addition to your project teams, you will also split into technical foci teams that will span all projects. For instance, each team will have a lead sound engineer, which will meet together as a group to discuss learning and comparing different sound toolkits, problems encountered using the toolkits, and resources found. Additionally, these groups will work on two class technical presentations, 3D Sound I and 3D Sound II. This does not mean that this one person from your team will work on sound. It simply provides a team resource to seek assistance from or pair program with when you are added entities that require sound behaviors.

  1. Game Genre
  2. Class format and expectations
  3. Software Engineering for games
  4. Modern Game Engine components and structure
  5. The Ogre3D game (graphics) engine
  6. Skeletal animation and tools
  7. Render-update cycle
  8. User input and control (keyboard, mouse, joystick, gamepad, ...)
  9. Three-dimensional sound
  10. Scene Managers
  11. Collision detection
  12. Testing for games
  13. Physics engines
  14. Scripting
  15. Networking and cheating
  16. Multi-threading
  17. Performance analysis
Please read the assigned reading for the day *before* class.
Week #
Topics
Readings
Project Timeline
0
 Pre-Quarter Homework Ogre Basic Tutorials 1-6
http://www.ogre3d.org		 Complete the Pre-Quarter homework before class
Install Ogre3D and additional plug-ins
1
 Introduction to Course
Game Engine components
Project Specifications
Game Design Documents
Triggers, events and timers

Sample Game Design Documents
Ogre Intermediate Tutorials 1-7

Determine game genre
Determine project team
Start writing the game design document
2

Design Patterns
Game Genre
Ogre3D overview
Team Presentations I


Ogre Practical Application
FMOD Ex

handouts

Provide a basic sketch of your game
Start collecting needed resources
Set-up project web-page and Wiki
Work on timebox #1
3

Group Structures
3D Sound overview
Game Behavior (AI) overview DSCI talk

Chapters 11 and 12
handouts

Timebox #1 due (the results are on the Game Teams page)
Construct the basic world or scene for your game
Provide screen-shots on your web-page
Update the design document
Add positional sounds to your world (always on for now)
Work on timebox #2
4

Motion Capture, Skeletal Animation and Forward and Inverse Kinematics
Tech. Group time


Game Physics overview
LOD's and billboards

Chapter 8

MilkShape and Maya
Tutorials

Add a main character (with animation)
Control the character movement and animation
Control the positional sounds.
Play music when the character reaches a particular target.
Start adding more objects to your scene
5
 Sound group presentation #1
Team Presentations II
Timebox #2 due
Milestone: Crude playable game or interactive art.
6
 AI group presentation #1
Physics group presentation #1
Scripting group presentation #1
Networking group presentation #1
Homework #1 assigned (due next Tuesday).
7

Input Control group Presentation #1
Skeletal Animation group Presentation
8
 Team Presentations III
No class on Thursday.
Timebox #3 due
work on Timebox #4
9
 Game hardware, performance and GPU counters
Trends (class discussion)
10
 Multi-threading and games
Business issues in games
11
 Team Presentations - Final

June 7, 3:30-5:30, DL 480

 Timebox #4 due

Last Modified:  Thursday, June 1, 2006