Game Design

GAME 110 FUNDAMENTALS OF GAME DESIGN

Fall, 3 credit hours

This course is a comprehensive examination of design processes and addresses the social implications, interactions and usability of game design. The course focuses on the principles and design decisions game designers make. The course also discusses the societal and cultural impact of gaming. Students learn the processes of game design from concept to completion.

GAME 130 GAME DESIGN AND PROTOTYPING

Spring, 3 credit hours

This is a studio-based course investigating the tools, material, and foundational aspects of game design and preparation for production. This course presents the process with industry-standard software used to design, develop and manufacture games.

Prerequisite/Corequisite: GAME 110 Fundamentals of Game Design, CITA 180 Introduction to Programming

GAME 210 OBJECT-ORIENTED DESIGN FOR GAME DEVELOPMENT

Fall, 3 credit hours

This course includes programming assignments and a game design project, which will give students an opportunity to practice different roles inside a game development team, and help them to gain practical knowledge of developing game projects through using object-oriented software design pipelines.

Prerequisite: GAME 130 Game Design and Prototyping

GAME 230 3D Character Modeling

Spring, 3 credit hours

GAME 230 is a character modeling class for the gaming industry. Presuming no experience with Maya, students will start with the basics of Maya and photoshop and will create a polygonal body builder character from reference images. Students will learn about simple Forward Kinematic Rigs and build one for the character. In the second half of the semester, they will design and build their own character.

Prerequisite: GAME 210 Object-Oriented Design for Game Development

GAME 240 3D ENVIRONMENTS FOR GAMES

Spring, 3 credit hours

GAME 240 is an environment modeling class for the gaming industry. Presuming no experience with Maya, Photoshop, or Unreal editor, students will start with the basics of each program and learn how to create environments with modular components that would be ready to be coded. Students will gain proficiency in modeling and UV mapping in Maya, and texturing in photoshop, and how to import meshes into Unreal to create detailed environments. Students will learn how to design different kinds of environments, model meshes and create textures and create materials and basic nodal networks.

GAME 250 GAME MECHANICS AND DYNAMICS

Spring, 3 credit hours

Students learn about the design process and project management including consumer expectations, marketing requirements and budget limitations.

Prerequisite: GAME 210 Object-Oriented Design for Game Development

GAME/GMMD 333 Sound Design & Composition for Multimedia

Fall, 3 credit hours

This course covers composition and production techniques for creating music and sounds for multimedia applications such as games, videos, films and more. Emphasis is placed on creating engaging sound environments that create emotion, mood, and/or settings across a variety of potential genres.

Prerequisite: GMMD 112 Introduction to Time Based Media

GAME 350 AESTHETICS AND IMMERSION

Fall, 3 credit hours

This course explores designing visuals, adding sound and creating experiences that are more than just functional. It focuses on artistry and design of the experience of the game. Students examine how and why the user connects to the game and how to create that connection. Students study the aesthetics of games and how to create games that immerse players.

Prerequisite: GAME 230 3D Modeling and Texturing for Games

GAME 360 Game Journalism

Fall, 3 credit hours

This course explores both the history and practical application of games journalism. The focus of the class is to help students understand how and why games journalism serves the people who play, make, market and publish games. Students will be asked to develop an understanding of the industry’s history and will have a chance to meet and interview members of the games press. Students will also practice a variety of journalistic tasks, including writing a feature, blogging news and live-streaming gameplay. Although the focus of the class is to introduce students to the perspective of a games journalist, they will also learn how to pitch stories and write self- promotional emails on behalf of their own games.

Prerequisite: GAME 110 Fundamentals of Game Design and 45 credit hours

GAME 361 Professional Practices in Game Development

Fall/Spring, 3 credit hours

In this course, students will dive deep into the contemporary state of the game industry, examining thecomplex relationship between developers, publishers and games marketing, look at the industry from theperspective of those who work within it, and examine case-studies of both successful and not-successfulindie developers. Studentswill develop professional pitches and practice delivery in a realisticenvironment. Likewise, students will structure resumes to a format typical for the games industry,practice mock-interviewing skills and practice negotiation using carefully designed case-studies.Students will also hone their craft of game design with a view to finding the elusive combination ofchallenge, competition, and interaction that players seek. Students will examine the fundamentalelements of game design, then go to work prototyping, playtesting and iterating around their own ideasusing exercises that teach essential design skills.

Prerequisite: GAME 210 Object-Oriented Design for Game Development

GAME 370 DIGITAL MEDIA AND INTERACTION

Spring, 3 credit hours

This course explores how digital media is created and utilized within computer games, virtual reality, and simulations. Students develop a video game, including storyboards, design documents, game development, and a playable demo.

Prerequisite: GAME 350 Aesthetics and Immersion

GAME 390 ORIENTATION TO CAPSTONE

Fall, 3 credit hours

This course is an orientation to the capstone experience course in the Game Design and Development program, allowing students to develop skills in group communication and teamwork as they plan, a culminating research project.

Prerequisite: GAME 370 Digital Media and Interaction, senior level students in GAME Design, or permission of instructor.

GAME 450 MOBILE GAME DEVELOPMENT

Fall, 3 credit hours

This course is an introduction to mobile application frameworks, including user interface, sensors, event-handling, data-management and network communication.

Prerequisite: GAME 370 Digital Media and Interaction

GAME 470 EMERGING GAMING

Spring, 3 credit hours

This course explores features of the future of gaming, such as immersive gaming, virtual reality, computer graphics, real-time visualization, secondary screens for gaming, smart- glass, cross-play, open-source gaming, game development, augmented reality, as well as mobile gaming and cloud gaming. Through learning the course, the students will have a big picture of the features of the future gaming and the trend of gaming industry development.

Prerequisite/Corequisites: Junior/Senior level in GAME Design Program

GAME 490 GAME CAPSTONE II

Spring, 3 credit hours

This course is a capstone experience course in the Game Design program, allowing students to develop skills in group communication and teamwork as they plan, design, develop, produce and defend a culminating research project.

Prerequisite/Corequisites: GAME 390 Orientation to Capstone