CIS 300

Introduction to Computer Game Design

Final Grades Complete

The TAs and I have played the games, and made our assessments based on game quality and peer reviews. You can find your grades with extensive commentary in CMS.

Posted 5/14/08

Course Evaluation Instructions Posted

I have now updated the instructions for the final report to include the evaluation of the course. As you can see, I am primarily interested in ways in which I can make the course better.

Posted 5/7/08

Insomniac Games Information Session

Insomniac Games is coming to campus for a recruiting visit. Here is the formal announcement:

Insomniac Games Information Session
Date/Time: May 1st at 4 pm
Venue: Upson 205
Description: Come hear about what it's like to work at the award-winning studio in Burbank, CA that make the Ratchet and Clank and Resistance: Fall of Man series of games! Consistently rated as one of the top ten small companies to work for in America, Insomniac employees have a great time making hit games! Company representatives will be on hand for a technical talk and to answer any questions you may have. They are currently hiring, so be sure to bring your resume if you're a senior! You can learn more about Insomniac Games at their website, www.insomniacgames.com. Be sure not to miss this great event!

Check out the new Resistance 2 Trailer too!

Posted 4/29/08

Final Presentation Schedule

There will be two final presentations per class during the final week of class. It has been pointed out to me that Friday is Slope Day. While I support Slope Day, it is officially a day of class, and we need the time. However, as a compromise, I am moving the lone group to Friday (so there are two groups on Tuesday). That way, you only have to attend half a class before you head to the Slope.

Here is the final presentation schedule:

Tuesday: Symptom, AstroWar
Wednesday: Project Sweet Tooth, Forgotten Sky
Thursday: Second Law, Blob Legacy
Friday: Furdoom Fury

Posted 4/17/08

Showcase Guidelines are Posted

We have finally posted the information about the GDIAC showcase at the end of the semester. This year's showcase will be on May 7th from 3-6 pm. This is where you will turn in the final version of your game for evaluation and grading. You should check out the showcase information in the sidebar to the left to see what will be expected of you.

Posted 4/11/08

Alpha Presentation Schedule

As you may have noticed from the schedule next week, alpha presentations are scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday. This is done for two reasons. First, I want to give you more time than the usual 5-10 minutes that you spend on the presentation this time. Furthermore, I want to mix second section in with everyone else so that they are not so lonely anymore. With that said, here is the presentation schedule for next week:

Wednesday: Second Law, Blob Legacy, Forgotten Sky, Furdoom Fury
Thursday: Project Sweet Tooth, Symptom, Astrowar

Posted 3/27/08

New 2D Primitives Library

Yi Xu, one of our programming TAs, has been kind enough to create us library for drawing 2D geometric shapes without the worry of 3D details like camera position and projection matrices. Currently, this library allows you to draw the following shapes:

Points
Lines
Triangles (supports Gouraud shading)
Rectangles (supports rotation, Gouraud shading, and non-solid drawing)
Circles (supports non-solid drawing)
Ellipses (supports rotation and non-solid drawing)

Go to the XNA resources page to check it out.

Posted 3/27/08

Office Hours Now Available

After talking with the staff, we have arranged some office hours for you to help you in the labs at the beginning of the semester. These are now visible on the course staff page. These may be changed once the lab is over, in order to adapt to your group schedules.

While most of the requests have been for programming office hours, we are opening art office hours as well because we finally have access to the graphics tablets. Therefore, if you go to CL³ during office hours, you will not need to scan your work (or buy your own tablet).

Posted 2/4/08

Independent Games Festival Finalists

To see the cream of the crop for student-developed games (and give you some idea about what we mean by an innovative game), check out the finalists for the 2008 Independent Games Festival. All of these games can be downloaded and played.

Posted 1/21/08

Welcome to a new semester!

There are still some spots available in the class, so if you are not yet registered, or know someone who might be interested and has the appropriate background in music, art, or programming, you/they should come to class and check it out.

The textbook, Fundamentals of Game Design by Andrew Rollings and Ernest Adams, should be available at the campus store. The first reading assignment, due Wednesday, is Chapters 1 & 2.

Finally, everyone should make sure to complete the first assignment so that we can get you into groups.

Posted 1/20/08