E-mail: bmaxim@umich.edu

Classroom: 1420 PEC

Meeting Time: 4:35-5:50

Office Hours: 1:30-4:30

This course is a continuation of the material studied in CIS 487/587. The focus of the course will be hands-on development of computer games and computer game development tools (e.g. game engines). Students will study a variety of software technologies relevant to computer game design, including: 3D graphics, computer animation, data-driven game design, multiplayer game programming, and game AI. Lecture topics will be taken from several areas of computer science: simulation and modeling, computer graphics, artificial intelligence, game theory, software engineering, human computer interaction, and game content development.

The term project for this course will focus on the development of a 3D computer game. The term project will require students to go through all phases of system life cycle: specification, design, implementation, and evaluation. There will be 4-6 graded assignments as part of the term project. All assignments will include design activities and students will be expected to make use of existing programming tools. Each assignment will be accompanied by an oral presentation. Your scores on the project deliverables and presentations will determine your grade in this course. The final game deliverables will count for 40% of your grade. Late work will be penalized, as will evidence of cheating in any form.

Texts: UDK Game Development

Thorn, Course Technology, 2012 (required)

The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses

Schell, MK Kaufmann, 2008 (required)

Unreal Game Development

Ashish and Okita, AK Peters, 2010 (recommended)

AI Game Development by Champandard, New Riders, 2003

Week of	Topic	Reading
01-07	Unreal Basics	UDK 1-2
01-09	Game Pitch Presentations
01-14	Teams Organiz Unreal Level Editing	UDK 3-5
01-21	Martin Luther King Birtday Terrain and Lighting Unreal Game Types	UDK 6-8 Notes
01-28	Interactive and Reactive Elements And Kismet Game Treatment Presentations	UDK 9
02-04	Unreal Karma Actors Bot Navigation	Notes Notes
02-11	User Interface and Menus Scripted Sequences	UDK 10 Notes
02-18	Team Meetings Game Alpha Release Presentation
02-25	Spring Break
03-04	Custom Cinematics Dynamic Objects and Particles	UDK 9 UDK 11
03-11	Unreal Scripting Creating Unreal Mutators and Mods	UDK 12-14 Notes
03-18	Weapons and Characters AI	Notes Notes
03-25	Team Meetings Game Beta Release Presentation
04-01	Lens Presentation Lens Presentations	Schell 7-9 Schell 10-11
04-08	Lens Presentations Lens Presentations	Schell 12-15 Schell 16-21
04-15	Lens Presentations Course Evaluation	Schell 22-29
04-26	Term Project Fair (4:00 – 8:00 pm) Gold Release Deliverables Due