Course Description

This course focuses on the mechanics of computer games, and students will learn about the design of games, how to critically evaluate games, and about strategies for playtesting games. Design topics include consideration of narrative, game rules, collaboration, and animation.

Notes:
CMPT 106 can be taken as a science course by non-science students
CMPT 106 cannot be taken as a science course by science students.

Instructor

Name: Dr. Regan Mandryk
Office: 373.1 Thorvaldson Bldg
Office Hours: by appointment
email: regan@cs.usask.ca

Teaching Assistant

Name: Lennart Nacke
Office: 373 Thorvaldson Bldg
Office Hours: by appointment
email: lennart.nacke@usask.ca

Textbook and Lecture Notes

There is a required textbook for this course. Partial lecture notes will be provided online, via the course website; however, lecture notes are not a substitute for attending class. Class time will be used for content presentation, examples, case studies, design exercises, and group interaction. The visual nature of the course content, combined with the interactive nature of the content presentation, means that class attendance is essential to success in this course.

Required Textbook: Tracy Fullerton. Game Design Workshop, Second Edition: A Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games , 2nd Edition (2008), Morgan Kaufmann, ISBN-10: 0240809742, ISBN-13: 978-0240809748.

There is also a recommended textbook for this class:

Recommended Textbook: Casey Reas and Ben Fry. Processing: A Programming Handbook for Visual Designers and Artists (2007), MIT Press. ISBN-10: 0262182629, ISBN-13: 978-0262182621.

Course Website

The course website is on moodle and can be accessed from here. Course announcements regarding assignments and examinations as well as other information may and will be communicated to the class via this website. The student is responsible for reading this website regularly.

Lecture Topics

Please see the course schedule for a list of topics and lecture dates. The following topics may be covered but are subject to change.

• Introduction
• Critical Thinking for Games
  • Formal Elements
  • Players
  • Objectives
  • Rules
  • Procedures
  • Resources
  • Conflicts
  • Boundaries
  • Outcomes
• Dramatic Elements
  • Challenge
  • Play
  • Premise
  • Character
  • Story
  • World Building
  • The Dramatic Arc
• Working with System Dynamics
• Low-fidelity Prototyping
  • Storyboarding
• Digital Prototyping
  • Scratch
  • Physical Gaming using Pico Boards
  • Processing
• Playtesting Techniques
• Effective Interface Design in Games
• Advanced Topics
  • Functionality
  • Completeness
  • Game Balance
  • Making your Game Fun
  • Fun Killers
• Serious Games
• Casual Gaming
• Mobile Gaming
  • Google app inventor

Class Schedule

• First day of Term 2 classes: January 5th, 2011.
• Last day of Term 2 classes: April 8th, 2011.
• Lectures: Tuesday and Thursday, 2:30am – 3:50pm, Thorv 205A.
• Tutorials are on Wednesdays in S311 (11:30-12:50 or 2:30-3:50).

Computing Facilities

The programming assignments for this course will be in Scratch and Processing. These are both available in the labs in Spinks and can be freely downloaded.

Student Evaluation

All 106 students will have the following weighting of course components determine their final grade.

• Midterm Exam 15%
• Assignments 15%
• Project 30%
• Final Exam 40%

Important Regulations

• All students must be properly registered in order to attend lectures and receive credit for this course.
• Failure to write the final exam will result in failure of this course.
• To obtain a passing grade in this course, the weighted average of the student’s midterm test and final exam grades must be at least 50%.
• To be eligible to write the final examination, the student must have a standing of at least 30% in all other course work (weighted average of all assignments and midterm).

Examination Schedule and Regulations

Midterm Examination: Thursday, February, 17th, in class (tentative).

A student who misses the midterm test due to illness must contact their instructor by email on the day of the missed test explaining the reason for their absence. The student must subsequently provide appropriate medical documentation to the course instructor at which time the instructor and the student shall discuss how the missed exam will be made up.

A student who cannot attend a midterm test for religious reasons or due to a conflict with another class or examination must inform the instructor at least two weeks prior to the test date so that alternative arrangements can be made.

A student who misses the final examination for any reason, has a conflict with another final examination, or cannot attend the final examination for religious reasons must follow the appropriate procedures outlined in the University of Saskatchewan calendar.

Assignments

Assignments will be used as tool to reinforce concepts learned in class. All assignments must be completed individually, unless otherwise stated.

There will be a number of small assignments over the course, assigned as the course material dictates. Students will be given a week to complete any assignment that is expected to take more than an hour to complete. Smaller assignments may be due the following class.

Submission instructions for assignments will be given in the descriptions of individual assignments. Programming assignments will be submitted using the moodle system.

Absolutely no late assignments will be accepted.

Absolutely no extensions will be provided for assignment due dates. At the end of the course, the bottom mark for assignments will be dropped when calculating the average assignment grade.

Project

This course requires completion of a single team project which has several marked deliverables throughout the term. The goal is to provide students with practical experience in designing, implementing, and playtesting games. Students will participate in the same team throughout the course.

There are six stages to the team project, each with a milestone and deliverable. More detail for each component will become available in time. Please consult the course schedule (early and often) for timing of components.

Each project component will be graded and given a weight of the total project grade (30% of grade).

1. Proposal/Pitch (4%)
2. Paper Prototype (4%)
3. Playtesting I (2%)
4. Digital Prototype (15%)
5. Playtesting II (3%)
6. Class Presentation (2%)

Team Peer Evaluation

Group work is beneficial for the learning experience, but has the drawback that some members of a group may not carry their weight in terms of group participation. To mitigate this factor, students will perform peer evaluations of their project group members. These evaluations will be used to scale the project grade.

Submission of Project

Submission instructions for projects will be given in the descriptions of individual project components. Programming components will be submitted using the E-Handin system.

Absolutely no late project components will be accepted for grading. As the project components build upon each other, feedback will be provided on late projects, but the grade for the late component will be zero.

Project Extensions

Absolutely no extensions will be given for project components.

Class Participation

Class time will be used for content presentation, examples, case studies, design exercises, and group interaction. The visual nature of the course content, combined with the interactive nature of the content presentation, means that class attendance is essential to success in this course. All in-class activities are improved when there is sufficient class participation.

Department Policy on Academic Honesty

Students are expected to be academically honest in all of their scholarly work, including course assignments and examinations. Academic honesty is defined and described in the Department of Computer Science Statement on Academic Honesty and the University of Saskatchewan Website.

Please note that new policies and procedures governing Academic Misconduct have come into effect as of January 1, 2010