CIS 3000: Introduction to Computer Game Design

CIS 3000 Course Schedule

[Jan] [Feb] [Mar] [Apr] [May] [Dates]

Note: The schedule is subject to change.

January

Week's Objective Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri
Form Groups 19

Lecture 1: Nature of Games

 

20

Comm Lab 0: Quick Pitches

 

21

Lecture 2: Developing Ideas

 

22

Game Lab 1

 

23

Workshop: What is Gameplay?

 

Proposal & Charter 26

Lecture 3: Challenges & Genres

 

27

Comm Lab 1: Group Charter

 

28

Lecture 4: Documentation & Development

 

29

Game Lab 2

 

30

Workshop: Chance & Skill

 


February

Week's Objective Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri
Concept Document 2

Lecture 5: Parts of the Game

 

3

Comm Lab 2: Concept Document

 

4

Lecture 6: Rules & Mechanics

 

5

Game Lab 3

 

6

Workshop: Pen & Paper Modeling

 

Milestone Document 9

Lecture 6: Rules & Mechanics (cont)

 

10

Comm Lab 3: Milestone Document

 

11

Lecture 7: Prototyping

 

12

Game Lab 4

 

13

Board Game Prototypes

 

Functional Specification 16

Lecture 8: Data-Driven Design

 

17

Comm Lab 4: Functional Spec

 

18

Lecture 9: 2D Graphics I

 

19

Prototype Workday

 

20

Workshop: User Interface

 

Gameplay Prototype 23

Lecture 10: 2D Graphics II

 

24

Comm Lab 5: Documentation Follow-Up

 

25

Lecture 11: Strategic AI

 

26

Gameplay Prototypes

 

27

Workshop: Gameplay Follow-Up

 


March

Week's Objective Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri
Game Wiki 2

Lecture 12: Character AI I

 

3

Comm Lab 6: Game Wiki

 

4

Lecture 12: Character AI II

 

5

Prototype Workday

 

6

Workshop: Add. & Sub. Design

 

Technical Prototype 9

Lecture 13: Game Physics I

 

10

Comm Lab 7: Wiki Follow-Up

 

11

Lecture 14: Game Physics II

 

12

Technical Prototypes

 

13

Workshop: Technical Follow-Up

 

Spring Break 16

 

17

 

18

 

19

 

20

 

Game Website 23

Lecture 15: Tutorial Design and Player Difficulty

 

24

Comm Lab 8: Game Website

 

25

Lecture 16: User Testing Guest Lecturer: Dan Cosley

 

26

Workday

 

27

Workshop: Player Experience

 

Alpha
(Code Complete) 		30

Lecture 17: Game Balance

 

24

Comm Lab 9: Website Follow-Up

 


April

Week's Objective Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri
Alpha
(Code Complete) 		1

Alpha Demo

 

2

Workday

 

3

Alpha Demo

 

Game Manual 6

Workshop: Alpha Follow-Up

 

7

Comm Lab 10: Game Manual

 

8

Lecture 18: Dialog & Story I

 

9

Evaluation Meetings

 

10

Lecture 19: Dialog & Story II

 

Beta (Feature Complete) 13

Lecture 20: The Industry

 

14

Comm Lab 11: Presentations

 

15

Beta Demo

 

16

Workday

 

17

Beta Demo

 

Final Portfolio 20

Workshop: Beta Follow-Up

 

21

Comm Lab 11: Postmortems

 

22

Lecture 21: Networking I

 

23

Evaluation Meetings

 

24

Lecture 22: Networking II

 

Release 27

Release Demo

 

28

Release Demo

 

29

Release Demo

 

30

Release Demo

 


May

Week's Objective Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri
Release 1

Slope Day

 

Showcase 4

 

5

 

6

 

7

 

8

 


Project Schedule

Deadlines listed are the earliest possible deadline for that week. For some presentations (listed in bold), different groups may have different deadlines.

Week Task Deadline
Week 1 Form Groups 01/24/09
Week 2 Group Charter/Initial Proposal 01/31/09
Week 3 Concept Document/Final Proposal
Project Starts 		02/07/09
Week 4 Milestone Document
Boardgame Prototype 		02/13/09
Week 5 Functional Specification 02/21/09
Week 6 Gameplay Prototype 02/26/09
Week 7 Game Script/Wiki 03/07/09
Week 8 Technical Prototype 03/12/09
Spring Break
Week 9 Initial Website 03/28/09
Week 10 Alpha (Code Complete) 04/01/09
Week 11 Game Manual 04/11/09
Week 12 Beta (Feature Complete) 04/15/09
Week 13 Final Portfolio 04/25/09
Week 14 Release (Balanced and Tested) 04/27/09
Week 15 GDIAC Showcase 05/09/09