Game Design And Development

Course CSCI-610

Foundations of Computer Graphics

Foundations of Computer Graphics is a study of the hardware and software principles of interactive raster graphics. Topics include an introduction to the basic concepts, 2-D and 3-D modeling and transformations, viewing transformations, projections, rendering techniques, graphical software packages and graphics systems. The course will focus on rasterization techniques and emphasize the hardware rasterization pipeline including the use of hardware shaders. Students will use a standard computer graphics API to reinforce concepts and study fundamental computer graphics algorithms. Programming projects and a survey of the current graphics literature will be required. Note: students who complete CSCI-510 may not take CSCI-610 for credit. (Prerequisite: (CSCI-603 or CSCI-605 with a grade of B or better) or (CSCI-243 or SWEN-262). May not take and receive credit for CSCI-610 and CSCI-510. If earned credit for/or currently enrolled in CSCI-510 you will not be permitted to enroll in CSCI-610.) Lecture 3 (Fall, Spring).

CSCI-711

Global Illumination

This course will investigate the theory of global illumination (GI) in computer image synthesis. Seminal computer graphics papers will be used to explore the various components of the GI pipeline and explain how the path of light in a virtual scene can be simulated and used to create photorealistic imagery. The course will emphasize the theory behind various GI rendering tools and libraries available for image synthesis. The student will put theory into practice via a set of programming assignments and a capstone project. Topics will include light and color, three-dimensional scene specification, camera models, surface materials and textures, GI rendering methods, procedural shading, tone reproduction, and advanced rendering techniques. Readings and summaries of Computer Graphics literature will be required. (Prerequisites: CSCI-610 or CSCI-510 or equivalent course.) Lecture 3 (Fall, Spring).

CSCI-712

Computer Animation: Algorithms and Techniques

This course takes a look at computer animation from a programmer's perspective. It will investigate the theory, algorithms and techniques for describing and programming motion for virtual 3D worlds. Approaches that will be explored include keyframing systems; kinematics, motion of articulated figures, procedural and behavioral systems, and the use of motion capture data. This course is a programming-oriented course with major deliverables including the implementation of techniques presented in lecture as well as a final project concentrating on an area of a student's choice. Students enrolling in this course are expected to have proficiency in the use of at least one 3D API (e.G. OpenGL, DirectX, Java3D). Readings and summaries of Computer Graphics literature will be required. Offered every other year. (Prerequisites: CSCI-610 or CSCI-510 or 4005-762 or 4003-570 or equivalent course.) Lecture 3 (Fall).

CSCI-713

Applied Perception in Graphics and Visualization

The goal of this course is to introduce students to the field of applied perception in graphics and visualization and demonstrate how it has contributed to the development of better display systems and computer graphics rendering techniques. The delivery of the course material will be done primarily through lectures with biweekly programming assignments based upon the techniques presented in class. Students will also be exposed to a wide range of technical papers and be expected to make classroom presentations on selected topics in the field of applied perception in graphics and visualization. (Prerequisites: CSCI-610 or CSCI-510 or 4005-762 or 4003-571 or equivalent course.) Lecture 3 (Spring).

IGME-621

Board and Card Game Design and Development

This course explores issues pertaining to design, mechanics, development, and production of analog, tabletop "hobby" games, which include board games, card games, wargames, and other non-digital games catering to multiple players. Students will analyze and apply concepts and mechanics of modern tabletop game design, and build and test both competitive and cooperative tabletop games, designed specifically for a global audience. Students will work with development and prototyping tools, explore component design and art direction, and work with desktop publishing technologies. In addition, they will work directly with board game publishing and manufacturing technologies and services, and study factors pertaining to the business of tabletop games, and produce a professional, polished tabletop game. (Prerequisites: (IGME-602 and student is matriculated in GAMEDES-MS); or (IGME-220 and student is matriculated in GAMEDES-BS/NWMEDID-BS)) Lecture 3 (Spring).

IGME-622

Game Balance

This course is an in-depth exploration of the sub-field of game design known as balance. Topics include: transitive mechanics and cost/power curves; economic systems in games; probability and the psychology of randomness; pseudorandom numbers; situational balance; level/XP curves, advancement and pacing; tuning; statistics, metrics, and analytics; intransitive mechanics, game theory, and payoff matrices; and the applied use of spreadsheets. (This course is restricted to students in the GAMEDES-MS program.) Lecture 3 (Fall).

IGME-623

Theory and Design of Role Play and Interactive Narrative

Role playing games (RPGs) are among the most popular game forms. RPG design incorporates elements from most game genre. This course will address all aspects of design relevant to role play, both digital and analog, and the course will focus on the underlying theory of role play as a practice. We will talk about popular games, but will also spend time on experimental and innovative role play. Students should expect to study playing styles, RPG structure, and to both study and produce effective interactive narrative. (Prerequisites: IGME-220 or IGME-602 or equivalent courses.) Lab 3 (Spring).

IGME-624

Tabletop Role-Playing Game Design and Development

This course explores the concepts and mechanics of analog role-playing games, such as tabletop "pencil-and-paper" and live-action role-playing games, from a practical, hands-on perspective. In this project-based course, students will develop their own rule systems to facilitate various facets of role-playing and associated game mechanics, then playtest and publish their games. Students will also use desktop publishing tools to produce game rules and supplemental materials suitable for publication. By the end of the course, students will have written and published a fully-realized RPG book. Note that this course assumes that students have extensive experience in playing tabletop role-playing games. (Prerequisites: (IGME-602 and student is matriculated in GAMEDES-MS); or (IGME-220 and student is matriculated in GAMEDES-BS/NWMEDID-BS)) Lecture 4 (Fall).

IGME-670

Digital Audio Production

Technologies and techniques for producing and manipulating digital audio are explored. Topics include digital representations of sound, digital audio recording and production, MIDI, synthesis techniques, real-time performance issues, and the application of digital audio to multimedia and Web production. (Students must be in GAMEDES-MS or GAMEDES-BS and have taken IGME-202. Undergraduate students may not take and receive credit for this course if they have already taken IGME-570.) Lec/Lab 3 (Fall).

IGME-671

Interactive Game and Audio

This course provides students with exposure to the design, creation and production of audio in interactive applications and computer games. Students will become familiar with the use of sound libraries, recording sounds in the studio and in the field, generating sound with synthesizers, and effects processing. Students will create sound designs for interactive media, integrating music, dialog, ambient sound, sound effects and interface sounds within interactive programs. (Students must be in GAMEDES-MS or GAMEDES-BS and have taken IGME-202. Undergraduate students may not take and receive credit for this course if they have already taken IGME-571.Not if IGME-571) Lec/Lab 3 (Spring).

IGME-680

IGM Production Studio

This course will allow students to work as domain specialists on teams completing one or more large projects over the course of the semester. The projects will be relevant to experiences of the interactive games and media programs, but they will require expertise in a variety of sub-domains, including web design and development, social computing, computer game development, multi-user media, human-computer interaction and streaming media. Students will learn to apply concepts of project management and scheduling, production roles and responsibilities, and their domain skill sets to multidisciplinary projects. Students will complete design documents, progress reports and final assessments of themselves and their teammates in addition to completing their assigned responsibilities on the main projects. (Prerequisites: IGME-601 or equivalent courses.) Lec/Lab 3 (Fall, Spring).

IGME-689

IGM Graduate Research Studio

This course will allow students to work as domain specialists on teams completing one or more faculty-led research projects over the course of the semester. The faculty member teaching the class will provide the research topic(s). Students will learn about research methodology to implement, test, and evaluate results of projects. Students will complete research reports and final assessments of themselves and their teammates in addition to completing their assigned responsibilities on the main projects. (Prerequisites: This course is restricted to students in the GAMEDES-BS or GAMEDES-MS programs.) Lab 3 (Fall or Spring).

IGME-690

IGM Graduate Seminar

This is intended to allow for special one-time offerings of graduate topics. Specific course details (such as the course topics, format, resource needs, and credit hours) will be determined by the faculty member(s) who propose a given seminar offering. (Varies) (This course is restricted to GAMEDES-MS students or (GAMEDES-BS or NWMEDID-BS students with at least 3rd year standing).) Lecture (Fall, Spring, Summer).

IGME-720

Social and Pervasive Game Design

This course presents students with core theories of sociology, psychology, economics, law, and politics in the context of social and pervasive (or "alternate reality") games. Students will engage in formal critique and analysis of media designs and their formal elements. (Prerequisites: IGME-602 or equivalent course and graduate standing in GAMEDES-MS.) Lec/Lab 3 (Fall).

IGME-730

Game Design and Development for Casual and Mobile Platforms

This course explores the design and development of casual and mobile game applications. Students will begin by exploring the design practices relevant to casual and mobile games, including hardware constraints, player expectations, play experiences, mechanics for casual and mobile experiences, as well as the aesthetics and presentation of casual and mobile game elements. As students learn the theoretical concepts, they will also learn the development process for casual and mobile games. Development topics will include technology platforms, physical and logical interface control, graphics and interaction, tools and APIs, connectivity, data management, data persistence, delivery mechanisms, and systems integration with desktop and web-based platforms. (This course is restricted to students in the GAMEDES-MS program.) Lec/Lab 3 (Spring).

IGME-740

Game Graphics Programming

Students will explore the use of an advanced graphics API to access hardware-accelerated graphics in a real-time graphics engine context. The course will involve discussion of scene graphs, optimizations, and integration with the API object structure, as well as input schemes, content pipelines, and 2D and 3D rendering techniques. Students will also explore the advanced use of the API calls in production code to construct environments capable of real-time performance. Students will construct from scratch a fully functional graphics engine, with library construction for game development. Advanced topics will be explored, including real-time special effects, custom shading pipelines, and advanced deferred rendering techniques. (Prerequisites: IGME-601 or equivalent courses.) Lec/Lab 3 (Spring).

IGME-742

Level Design

This course introduces level design theory and best practice through game level analysis, evaluation, and creation. Students will explore the history of various game genres and the design of their levels, analyze game levels from existing games, and discuss what made those levels successful or unsuccessful. Through their analysis and hands-on experience, students will gain an understanding of overall level design including layout, flow, pacing, narrative, and balance. They will enhance their understanding of level design principles by creating their own game levels. (Prerequisites: IGME-602 or equivalent courses.) Lab 3 (Fall, Spring).

IGME-750

Game Engine Design and Development

This course will provide students with theory and practical skills in game engine design topic areas such as understanding the graphics pipeline as it influences engine design, hardware principles and the relationship to game engine construction, mathematical principles involved in game engine design, scene graph construction and maintenance, texture and materials management, collision systems, physics systems, particle systems, and control systems. Furthermore, this course will examine software and toolsets that assist game engine designers in their tasks. Students will be expected to design and implement a game engine in teams as well as properly document their design and development strategy. (This course is restricted to students in the GAMEDES-MS program.) Lec/Lab 3 (Fall).

IGME-753

Console Development

This course explores the history and modern implementation of software for game consoles. Cross-platform development will be emphasized along with software concepts such as memory management, scheduling, parallelization, graphics, and virtual reality. Programming projects are required. (Prerequisite: IGME-740 or equivalent course.) Lecture 3 (Fall).

IGME-760

Artificial Intelligence for Gameplay

This course explores artificial intelligence concepts and research through both a theoretical perspective and a practical application to game development. In particular the course focuses on AI concepts and paradigms such as search and representation, reasoning under uncertainty, intelligent agents, biologically inspired computing and machine learning to real-time situations and applications as relevant to the field of entertainment technology and simulation. (This course is restricted to students in the GAMEDES-MS program.) Lec/Lab 3 (Fall).

IGME-790

Graduate Seminar in IGM

This is intended to allow for special one-time offerings of graduate topics. Specific course details (such as the course topics, format, resource needs, and credit hours) will be determined by the faculty member(s) who propose a given seminar offering. (This course is restricted to students in the GAMEDES-MS program.) Lec/Lab (Fall, Spring, Summer).

IGME-796

Advanced Topics in Game Design*

This course examines current topics in game design. Specific course details (such as prerequisites, course topics, format, learning outcomes, assessment methods, and resource needs) will be determined by the faculty member(s) who propose a specific topics course in this area. (This course is restricted to students in the GAMEDES-MS program.) Lec/Lab 3 (Fall, Spring, Summer).

IGME-797

Advanced Topics in Game Development*

This course examines current topics in Game Development. Specific course details (such as prerequisites, course topics, format, learning outcomes, assessment methods, and resource needs) will be determined by the faculty member(s) who propose a specific topics course in this area. (This course is restricted to students in the GAMEDES-MS program.) Lec/Lab 3 (Fall, Spring, Summer).

IGME-799

Independent Study

The student will work independently under the supervision of a faculty adviser on a topic not covered in other courses. (Enrollment in this course requires permission from the department offering the course.) Ind Study (Fall, Spring, Summer).

Landscape Architecture Major

1. Advocacy: The articulation of personal values and ethics related to evidence-based facts to persuade and educate others in the practice of sustainable landscapes. 

2. Communications

a. Oral Communication: Clearly conveying information and ideas through speech to a variety of individuals or groups in a manner that engages the audience and helps them understand and retain the message.

b. Written Communication: Clearly expressing ideas in writing using different writing technologies and mixing texts, data, and images. 

c. Visual Communication: Clearly conveying and communicating visual information and ideas using two- or three-dimensional physical products or digital media.

3. Design Skills: The ways of thinking that support thoughtful, creative, and imaginative learning facilitated through the development of design thinking mindsets and the practice of high-quality craftsmanship.

4. Clarity of Concept: The expression of a big design idea, articulated in simple terms, recognizable as a thread through multiple design iterations.

5. Problem-Solving: The use of divergence and convergence throughout a process that includes locating a challenge or problem, gathering data, clarifying the problem, generating alternatives, recommending appropriate solutions, and developing a plan of action for implementation.

Hobo Day Parade Comes Alive

SDSU's Design 2D class contributes to the Hobo Parade.

SDSU Design 2D student's work on making wearable sculptures for the 2023 Hobo Day Parade.

This year's Hobo Day Parade, as of Sept. 29, has 75 floats in the parade with 44 of them being student entries. The Design 2D class for the past few years have been contributing to the Hobo Parade with various creative ideas. This year the class is making wearable sculptures for the parade. 

Students of the Design 2D class have been working in groups of four to five students each to design and create a large wearable sculpture form. There are two sections of this class that consists of about 65 to 70 students per section. 

The class instructors are Kristy Weaver, instructor in Studio Art, Elizabeth Tofte, assistant professor in landscape architecture, Shannon Frewaldt, lecturer in Studio Art, and Mark Stemwedel, senior lecturer in Studio Art. 

"Every year, the concept of the project evolves a little," Stemwedel said. This year's project is inspired by Nick Cave's "Soundsuits." 

Each project the class does this semester emphasizes elements and principles of design. For this project, students are focused on developing elements of texture, form, and color, along with the principles of movement, repetition, and unity in their forms. 

The objectives that are going to be achieved during this project are working collaboratively to create a wearable design, developing problem-solving and critical thinking skills, filter ideas through the creation of sketches and maquettes, which is an unfinished sculpture, and maintain a high level of craft and project engagement. 

"This class is teaching me about the many different aspects and principles of design," Kendal Kinsley, student of the Design 2D class, said. "Applying these principles through studio projects is critical for your creative growth as a designer 

in all areas within the school of design." Students have been working on this project for about a month. They have been working through many different workshops to help them create their final sculpture. For their first workshop, each student had to make small models of their ideas. Then they share those maquettes with other groups through in-progress critiques to get feedback on their designs. 

"I think that the workshops we did for the project were very helpful," Kinsley said. "Making small versions of our design really helped us to see what we like and where we may have been lacking in different areas. This gave us a chance to see what we wanted before starting on a much larger scale."  

These students also underwent many challenges which consisted of structure support and possible bad weather conditions that they had to think about. They were also required to have each form have some element that extends at least 4 feet off the body, which strained the structure support. Groups will need to consider the design of the overall form, structure, materials and textures they want to apply. 

This class's designs have a strong impact on the parade. "I think they bring a different aspect to the parade that helps break up the flow of floats within the parade," Marissa Vogt, 2023 Hobo Day Grand Pooba, said. "The students that participate in the Design 2D class project their creativity and display their hard work and dedication they have to art, and I think that is very unique." 

Thursday, Sept. 28, was the first day that all the groups started on their life size model that they will wear for the parade. They have until the Thursday before the Hobo Parade to be finished with their wearable design. There should be about 36 different sculptures walking in the parade. 

"I think people should come see the sculptures in the parade because the designs being created are super unique and interesting," Kinsley said. 

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