This course will get you started with casual game development for the Web. Scripting game play for your art components is an ideal way to get used to the creative development process for video game development. In this course we will create a first project game, understand various genres, and consider different creative processes by which to create engaging game play. Attractive design is optional, but understanding how your artwork can be incorporated in video games is a key learning objective of our time together.
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Date
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Topic
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Assignment
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July 11th
morning |
Course Overview
Character Sprites
Clean Animation
Arrays and Vectors
Incorporating Rules
Automata
Artificial Intelligence
- Introduction
- Course Objectives
- Motivation
- Creating and using artwork
- Our Development Process
- Scripting versus
programming versus languages
- Ideas brainstorming session
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July 12th
morning
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Inputs and Outputs
for a Game
- The class project overview
- Driving keyboards, mice,
and other peripheral devices
- Directory hierarchies for
game resources
- Accessing resources in
Flash-based games
- Examples with discussion
- Free play time
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July 13th
morning |
Building Game Characters
- Sprites
- Personalities
- ActiveScript character
support
- The character state machine
- In class student character critique and
assessment
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- Review the character animation exercise.
- Create artwork for your character
- Map out the behaviors for character to
input devices
- Work on your game
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July 14th
morning |
Incorporating Arrays
- Scaling up to larger game component
- Evaluating memory and hard drive requirements
- In class student data structure critiques and assessment
- Coordinated play time
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July 15th
morning
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Game Lab Day
- Spend the day getting all your art work together... characters, background, level obstacles.
- Create text notes for the rules you want to add to your game.
- Play online games with other students to discuss rules you might consider for your game.
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July 18th
morning |
Scripting Animation Sequences
- Tying animation to computer peripherals (keyboard and mouse)
- Investigating Pong
- Animating chinese checkers starting with CCheckers6.fla
- In-class animation play
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- Warm up with the sixth day exercise.
- Work on your state machine diagrams
- Work on your game
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July 19th
morning
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Adding Rules to your Game
- Adding rules to Chinese Checkers
- The value of rules in good story telling
- Game learning objectives for serious games
- Example storyboard critiquing if you want to present your story
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July 20th
morning
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Advanced Physics
- Physics as a powerful gaming specialty
- In-class student rules presentation and critique
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July 21st
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Computer automata and artificial intelligence for advanced game play
- The mathematical beauty of computer automata
- Approaches to artificial intelligence
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July 22nd
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Project work day
- Putting our games on a Web server
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