CS426 Spring 2018: Game Programming 2

Information

Instructor

Course Scope

This class is a capstone class for making a functioning/complete game. Please expect this class to be a very demanding class. Most activities for this class are outside the classroom.

Projects

Prerequisites

  • Grade of C or better in CS 425.
  • You should already be:
    • experts in programming and debugging
    • understanding basic game design flow and framework
    • experts in using cvs/svn or things similar for revision control
    • understanding basic data structures and algorithms
    • working extremely hard and self-motivated

Course outcomes

  • Gain ability to complete the development of a functional game
  • Become familiar with the resources for developing games
  • Deepen the understanding of the current techniques used in the game
  • Realize the manner with which team work may be achieved in a programming environment
  • Exhibit skills that demonstrate the ability to present a video game appropriately

Required Textbook

There is no required textbook.
Reading materials will be posted.

Grading

  1. Presentations 25% (topic, progress, final presentations)
  2. Course project 75% (final software, video, and report)

List of Topics (tentative)

  • space partitioning in game (BSP, quad/octree)
  • (discrete/continuous) collision detection
  • motion capture data
  • game camera/visibility
  • physics engines
  • game state serialization
  • GPU computing (GPGPU)
  • real-time/3D sound rendering in game
  • (polygonal/bitmap) map generation
  • real-time rendering (very brief overview)
  • game-related networking

Classroom Behavior

During the lecture/resentation/demo, the students should not play games, text on your phone and surf the web. All electronic communication devices (including laptops, PDAs, cell phones) should be either turned off or silenced.

Policies

All required assignments should be completed by the stated due date and time. The total score of your finaly project score will be 10 points less every extra day after the due date (i.e., the 100 total points will become zero after 10 days pass the due date). You will be given 0 point for missing your own presentation.

Please note that plagiarizing will be penalized by maximum negative credit and cheating on the exam will earn you an F in the course. See the GMU Honor Code System and Policies at https://oai.gmu.edu/mason-honor-code/ and http://cs.gmu.edu/resources/honor-code/. You are bound by these honor codes. Any submitted work which shows too much commonality with others' work to be completely original, or any plagiarized work, will receive a grade of 0. Any code which is presented in class or provided to you as part of the project may be included in your programs.

Accommodations for Disabilities

If you have a learning or physical difference that may affect your academic work, you will need to furnish appropriate documentation to GMU Disability Resource Center. If you qualify for accommodation, the DRC staff will give you a form detailing appropriate accommodations for your instructor. If you have such a condition, you must talk to the instructor during the first week of the term about the issue.