When: Monday/Wednesday noon - 1:50pm
Where: CFA 242
Instructor: Dave Pape
e-mail: depape at buffalo.edu
Office: CFA 250
Office hours: M/W 11-noon, Tues 11-1, or by appointment
Website: http://resumbrae.com/d/DMS462
This is a course in game design. We will learn about both practical and theoretical aspects of designing a game. Important aspects are how to create something that will be both meaningful and fun to play, and how the rules and other elements of the game affect that. Central to this course are two things: understanding the fundamental formal structures of games, and learning the overall process of designing and developing new games.
In our exploration of game design, we will look at several game types, from traditional board games to the various major movements in videogame design. We will consult critical texts to illuminate our discussions of these games, as well as to provide us with direction in our own game experiments.
Students will divide into game design teams to complete the major semester project. The teams are expected to consist of 3-4 students. Some of the other assignments will be done individually.
Students in this course are expected to possess a great deal of personal initiative. You will depend greatly on your existing skills and the skills of your teammates. At the end of the course, you are expected to have a design document for a full scale game, and a finished, playable game or game demo representing some subset of the design document.
Tracy Fullerton, Game Design Workshop: A Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games (Third Edition), 2014 (ISBN 978-1482217162)
Not required, but useful:
| Week 1 | Introduction; Fundamental structures of board games |
| Week 2 | text Chapter 2 - Structure of Games |
| Week 3 | text Chapter 6 - Conceptualization / brainstorming |
| Week 4 | text Chapter 7 - Prototyping |
| Week 5 | text Chapter 3 - Formal Elements |
| Week 6 | text Chapter 4 - Dramatic Elements |
| Week 7 | text Chapter 5 - Systems |
| Week 8 | text Chapter 8 - Digital Prototyping |
| Week 9 | text Chapter 9 - Playtesting |
| Week 10 | text Chapter 10 - Functionality & Completeness |
| Week 11 | text Chapter 11 - Fun and Accessibility |
| Week 12 | Project testing by outside recruits |
| Week 13 | text Chapter 14 - Design Documents |
| Week 14 | |
| Week 15 | Present projects |
| Outcome | Assessment |
|---|---|
| Students will be able to name and define the formal structural elements of games, such as game types, players' roles, game space, resources, etc | in class discussions |
| Students will be able to analyze an existing game, identifying the structural elements and how they contribute (or not) to the success of the game | textbook exercises, presentation of a game |
| Students will understand and be able to apply the basic iterative design process for a game, including prototyping and testing | In class design activities and semester project |
Regular attendance is expected - you are allowed up to two free absences; after that, each absence will cost you 3% of your overall grade. Being more than 10 minutes late, sleeping through class, or using phones/tablets/computers (except as part of specific class activities) will also count as an absence.
I will send any e-mail relating to this course to your official buffalo.edu address. Be sure that you check this address. Do not ask me to send e-mail to another address instead - if you don't want to use the buffalo.edu mail system, forward your mail from there to whatever system you do use.
Also, be warned that mail from free services like Hotmail or Yahoo has a strong chance of being caught by spam filters. Hence, I recommend not sending me e-mail from such an address, if you want to be certain that I'll receive it.
This course carries a lab fee of $100.
See http://undergrad-catalog.buffalo.edu/policies/course/integrity.shtml for UB's official academic integrity policy.
Be aware that rules regarding plagiarism, cheating, etc, apply to program code in the same way as to an academic paper.
If you have a disability (physical, learning or psychological) which may make it difficult for you to carry out the course work as outlined, and/or requires accommodations such as recruiting note takers, readers, or extended time on exams and assignments, please contact the Office of Disability Services, 25 Capen Hall, 645-2608, and also your instructor during the first two weeks of class. ODS will provide you with information and will review appropriate arrangements for reasonable accommodations. See http://www.student-affairs.buffalo.edu/ods/ for more information.
See http://undergrad-catalog.buffalo.edu/policies/grading/explanation.shtml#incomplete for UB's policy on 'Incomplete' grades.
If you are planning a student production which involves using any prop which could be interpreted to be a weapon [toy gun, BB gun, knife, etc.] and you are planning to shoot on the UB campus or any other public place, you must obtain written permission from Campus Security or the equivalent authority before you shoot. If you do not, you will face serious problems including possible expulsion from the university.
Sexual Harassment of employees and students, as defined below, is contrary to University policy and is a violation of federal and state laws and regulations.
Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when:
No university employee of either gender shall impose a requirement of sexual cooperation as a condition of employment or academic advancement, or in any way contribute to or support unwelcome physical or verbal sexual behavior.
Any member of the university community who requires additional information or who wishes to make a complaint or receive a copy of the University procedures to be followed for complaints arising from matters related to the policies outlined above should contact the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Affirmative Action Administration, 406 Capen Hall, 716-645-2266. See http://equity.buffalo.edu/sexual_harass_stu_brochure.htm for more information.