Synopsis
The focus of this course is an introduction of game programming techniques. We will study history of games, game programming techniques (both 2D and 3D games) and algorithms. There are two primary thrusts of this class. The first thrust is to understand the underlying concepts and algorithms of the game development & the programming process. The second thrust is a broad understanding of various state-of-the-art game engines or programming environments. Tentative environments that we will explore include HTML5/JavaScript & ImpactJS, Unity (3D gaming) and (tentatively) Python/Pygame.
The course will have a heavy programming focus. It will have a number of projects requiring the programmer to apply the learned material to develop games for a standalone laptop which consequentially will be demonstrated in class. Note that students at UGA can rent laptops. At the second half of the course there may be opportunities to develop games for mobile phone or iPad. Note: the department may have loaner iPads.
Specific topics that will be covered include: 2D, and 3D games, data representation of game elements and entities, visualization, controlling motion and behaviors, interaction control, message passing, and managing complexities.
The final project will be a 3D game using a 3D multi-player game engine (Unity).
General Information
| Lectures: | Tue/Thu: 12:30 AM -01:45 PM | Poultry Science (Bldg 1013), Rm #238 |
| Wed: 12:20 AM -01:10 PM | Boyd (Bldg 1023) Rm # 0208 | |
| Instructor: | Maria Hybinette | maria (at) cs.uga.edu |
| Office hours: | Thu: 1:45 PM-3:30 PM | Boyd 219C |
| TA: | Arash Khoshparvar | arashkh AT uga.edu |
| Office hours: | TBD | TBD |
| Mailing lists: | CS-GAME@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU | { will be set up shortly } |
Course Textbook and Materials:
The course will use a wide array of web resource, textbooks will be announced as they are needed (see schedule page). Textbook, resources and materials will be about $200.00.
Grading Policy and Evaluation:
You are evaluated via exams & quizzes, in-class tutorial and labs, presentations and implementation of software projects. The distribution is below, but is subject to change.
| Participation (web and in class) | 10% |
| Quizzes | 05% |
| Exam 1 | 10% |
| Exam 2 | 10% |
| Final | 15% |
| Projects | 30% |
| Hackathons | 20% |
The general grading philosophy is the following (the context is "programs" and "projects" but it should generalize to summaries and other required elements).
A+ (95-100) Extraordinary, goes beyond the minimum criteria both in depth and breath. Design is thorough and well thought out, code base and implementation is beautiful- modularized, complete, clear and concise. A well thought out debugging strategy is apparent. Well documented code. The evaluation plan is well executed and well thought out, goes beyond the simple cases and illustrates strong problem solving skills.
A (90-94) Superior (somewhat less than an A+, almost perfect code, beautiful, concise, minimum criteria met, not as much depth and forethought as an A+ but it is superb), goes beyond meeting the minimum criteria demonstrates depth, can apply solution to a variation of similar problems.
B (80-89) Good, minimum criteria well executed and well done, shows some depth and understanding, meets most test cases but does not demonstrate as much forethought as an A;
C (70-79) Fair, minimum criteria met, but could have been executed with more depth and forethought.
Late Policy
Homework assignments and summaries (if applicable to class) are due on the date and time specified in the assignment or the day of the presentation (email as a time stamp and hand-in hardcopy the next day). Late homework will not be accepted.
Programming assignments turned in after the due date lose 10% per day, including weekends and holidays.
There may be a time where you submit a project but it doesn't work for the TA (the TA will not fix your programs for you). If this happens, your project will be returned to you and you will be given the opportunity to fix and resubmit the project (after this point you may have to meet with the TA to demonstrate it). After the project is returned to you, every 24 hour period used to fix the project we will deduct 10% for every day late. If you feel that the project should have worked, and you are not at fault, please contact the TA immediately in order to schedule an appointment to resolve the issue.
Homework and Projects Posting
Projects and homework will be posted on the web from the scheduling page (see link top menu bar), and will be accessible from anywhere on the Internet. Assignments may be posted before they are officially assigned; however, you should not assume that an assignment on the web is in final form until the date it is assigned. In other words, assignments are subject to change before the date that they are officially assigned.
The software programming projects are of-course an important component of this course. You'll be making programs of the languages presented in class. The programming tools you'll need (Game engine, compiler, debugger, etc.) may be denoted on the project page and should be downloaded and installed on your workstation.
Presentations
You will present on 1-3 topics throughout the semester (or present tutorials). Right now the theme is envisioned to be facebook games. {2nd half o
Participation and Attendance
Class attendance is mandatory; we typically do not take attendance - but it happens, and class participation is 5% of your grade. So how do we know? Don't worry, we know.
Homework, assignments, and important dates will be posted on the scheduling page and is provided as a courtesy and is not always complete. It's your responsibility to find out what you missed if you don't attend class. You are also required to subscribe to the class email list or forum - and be aware that sometimes homework is assigned via the forum - or there are some hints posted in the forum - you probably do not want to miss that.
Office hours are of-course optional. They're your chance to ask the professor and TA questions about the material being covered, programming assignments, or anything else about operating systems (or other general computer science issues) you want to discuss.
Other Class Policies
The purpose of the assignments and projects is familiarization of concepts and details of game programming.. The assignments & projects are expected to be individual work unless other specified. However, you are encouraged to ask questions of one another, and to respond to other student's questions on the email list. Direct exchange of code is prohibited, as is line-by-line assistance from anyone or thing. This is checked for every assignments. If you do get help from other sources than book, slides, or TA you must acknowledge the source in the material that you turn in - still not copying is allowed.
Unless otherwise specified, exams are closed-book and no additional materials may be used. Missing an exam: absence due to serious illness will be an acceptable reason for missing an exam. Doctor's diagnostic note is required. The final grade will be scaled accordingly. You must subscribe to the class email list, see details HW1 listed on the schedule page. Assigned homework (if any) must be typed, you must also email a copy to the class email account.
Class Photo:
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| ~~ Spring 2013 Game Programming Class ~~ |