Schedule (Tentative!)
- Stuff listed in bold indicates a due date of some sort, attached to a grade item that will influence your final grade. See Assessment for more details.
- Assignments are due on the day listed before lecture! Tasks that don't have a specific time attached are due before midnight that day!
- Readings from the required and recommended texts don't always "match up" with the lectures for that day. They are listed on the schedule to encourage your steady progress. For readings that do match up, reading the material before coming to lecture is highly recommended. TF is for Tracy Fullerton's book, WM if for Will McGugan's book, see Resources.
Week 1: Introduction and Overview (January 26 – February 1)
Lecture:
- Monday: Welcome to Video Game Design! (Peter Fröhlich, Joan Freedman, course staff)
- Wednesday: Making It in the Gaming Industry (Tim Train, COO @ Big Huge Games)
- Friday: A Brief (and Biased) History of Video Games (Peter Fröhlich)
Lab:
- Monday, Wednesday: Overview of Digital Media Center and Johns Hopkins Gaming Lab; Design and Planning; Time Management; Storyboarding and Flowcharting
Reading:
- Required: TF 1: The Role of the Game Designer, 2: The Structure of Games; Department Integrity Code
- Recommended: ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct; browse through all of TF to get an idea what's coming.
- Optional: Paul Graham: Good and Bad Procrastination, December 2005. See also this article on Wikipedia.
Tasks:
- Tuesday: Complete the game design skills survey!
- Friday: Introduce yourself on the course mailing list and describe the kind of game you would like to work on.
Week 2: Archetypal Games (February 2 – February 8)
Lecture:
- Monday: Sports Games, Action Games (Peter Fröhlich)
- Wednesday: Roleplaying Games: Past, Present, and Future (Ken Rolston, Lead Designer @ Big Huge Games)
- Friday: Adventure Games, Strategy Games (Peter Fröhlich)
Lab:
- Monday, Wednesday: Rules and Play; Prototyping Games
Reading:
- Required: TF 6: Conceptualization; 7: Prototyping; 8: Digital Prototyping
- Recommended: Masters of Narrative Design 6: Ken Rolston
Tasks:
- Wednesday: Email the staff a link to your development blog!
- Friday: Hand in your game review.
- Friday: Hand in your team's proposal for the game you're going to develop.
Week 3: Introduction to Graphics (February 9 – February 15)
Lecture (Michael Kazdhan):
- Monday: Raytracing
- Wednesday: Lighting and Geometry
- Friday: Textures and Mapping
Lab:
- Monday, Wednesday: Image Creation and Editing
Reading:
- Required: TF 12: Team Structures; 13: Stages of Development
- Recommended: WM 1: Introducing Python; 2: Exploring Python
Week 4: Introduction to Programming (February 16 – February 22)
Lecture (Peter Fröhlich):
- Monday: Introduction to Python, Imperative and Structured Programming, Dijkstra's Pebble Game; basics.py pebble.py
- Wednesday: Functions and Modules, Introduction to PyGame, Drawing Dots, Animated Starfield; function.py module.py dots.py stars.py
- Friday: Classes and Objects, Animated Starfield using Star Objects, Sprites and Events in PyGame, Meteoroids-ish Game; class.py game.py
Lab:
- Monday, Wednesday: Sound Effects and Basic Foley
Reading:
- Required: TF 14: The Design Document; 3: Working with Formal Elements
- Recommended: WM 3: Introducing Pygame; 4: Creating Visuals; 5: Making Things Move; 6: Accepting User Input
Week 5: Advanced Graphics (February 23 – March 1)
Lecture (Michael Kazdhan):
- Monday: pending
- Wednesday: pending
- Friday: pending
Lab:
- Monday, Wednesday: Animation
Reading:
- Required: TF 4: Working with Dramatic Elements; 5: Working with System Dynamics
- Recommended: WM 7: Take Me to Your Leader; 8: Moving into the Third Dimension; 9: Exploring the Third Dimension
Week 6: Standup Meeting, Advanced Programming (March 2 – March 8)
Lecture (Peter Fröhlich):
- Monday: Standup Meeting (briefly and informally present your game projects)
- Wednesday: pending
- Friday: pending
Lab:
- Monday, Wednesday: 3D Modeling (Part 1)
Reading:
- Required: TF 9: Playtesting; 10: Functionality, Completeness, and Balance
- Recommended: WM 10: Making Things Go Boom; 11: Lights, Camera, Action!; 12: Setting the Scene with OpenGL
Anything below this line is in a state of flux and pretty useless!
Week 7: Crunch Time! (March 9 – March 15)
Lecture:
- Monday: Patents, Copyrights, and Licensing your Game
- Wednesday: Present the ALPHA version of your project. (Live demo required!) We will probably go over the regular class period, plan for this if you have something scheduled after class.
- Friday: No lecture, prepare for Spring Break.
Lab:
- Monday, Wednesday:
Reading:
- Required:
- Recommended:
Tasks:
- Friday: Hand in the ALPHA version of your project.
