The goal of this course is to introduce students to computer game production. This is not necessarily a technical issue especially as game production involves mostly non-technical work like creative audio, 3D and visual design,product management and planning, story boarding & writing, and testing.
The course has already taken place in previous years, so you might take a look at the old web page. The lecture is given in German, but slides and homepage are written in English. For assignments you can choose between German and English language.
The course aims to teach in a practical as well as in a theoretical way. Throughout the lecture you will have (i) readings, (ii) practical assignments, and (iii) a final game project. The readings are specific to the lecture topic and will be referenced from the web page. Make sure you read (or watch) them. Questions might pop up in the final multiple choice test. The final gradeis based on the (i) assignments as well as the final project and a (ii) final multiple choice test.
| Day | Time | Place | Topic | Readings | Downloads & Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mo, 02.03.2015 | 12-14 | E.2.42 | Introduction & Initial project | Grounded: The Making of The Last of Us | Slides |
| Mo, 09.03.2015 | 12-14 | E.2.42 | Games Business & Age Ratings | Free To Play, The Ups and downs of the casual gaming market |
Slides |
| Mo, 16.03.2015 | 12-14 | E.2.42 | History of Computer Games | Chasing Ghosts - Beyond the Arcade | Slides |
| Mo, 23.03.2015 | 12-14 | E.2.42 | Game Project 101 | Indie Games - The Movie | Slides |
| Mo, 13.04.2015 | 12-14 | E.2.42 | Game Design part I |
Goat
Simulator Postmortem, Shadow of Mordor Postmortem, Doom's horseshoe level design |
tba. |
| Fr, 17.04.2015 | 15-15:30 | E.2.42 | Game Jam Keynotes: René Schallegger | Game Jam web page | |
| Fr, 17.04.2015 | 16-17 | HS 1 | Game Jam Keynotes: M. Zechner & J. Pirker | Game Jam web page | |
| Mo, 20.04.2015 | 12-14 | E.2.42 | Cancelled. | ||
| Mo, 27.04.2015 | 12-14 | E.2.42 | Game Design part II | Slides | |
| Mo, 04.05.2015 | 12-14 | E.2.42 | Game Development Basics | Slides, Example | |
| Mo, 11.05.2015 | 12-14 | E.2.42 | Game Development Engines & Frameworks | Slides, Examples A, B | |
| Mo, 18.05.2015 | 12-14 | E.2.42 | Game Development Toolchain & Physics | Slides | |
| Mo, 01.06.2015 | 12-14 | E.2.42 | Gastvortrag: My Work at Daedalic, Gabriel Napetschnig | Slides | |
| Mo, 15.06.2015 | 12-14 | E.2.42 | Student Presentations part I | ||
| Mo, 22.06.2015 | 12-14 | E.2.42 | Student Presentations part II |
All assignments as well as the final project are to be done in groups of three (or four) people. Please make sure you build the group asap to get running.
Your task is to program a Pong clone in a web based environment of your choice. It should support two players, count points and have some audio (close to the original is ok). The Pong clone has to be finished until Apr 12th, 2015, 11:59 pm. Please send the zipped package with a short README.md including the names and student numbers of the group members. Please also put "[Games 15]" into the subject header.
Your task is to brainstorm a game with given constraints within your group. The constraints will be handed out in the course. The resulting game concept document should be no longer than two pages and submitted as PDF by email including the names and student numbers of the group members. Deadline May 3rd, 2015, 11:59 pm. Please send the zipped package with a short README.md including the names and student numbers of the group members. Please also put "[Games 15]" into the subject header.
The final project is a game prototype of your choosing. Your group has to take care of the concept document, the implementation, the testing and the final presentation. The final presentation will be given at the end of the semester, in the course. Deliverables are:
Note that the 2nd Klagenfurt Game Jam is a great opportunity to do your final project. In these 2 days you and your group can basically be done with all of the tasks.