Computer Science 420: Game Engineering



David Galles
Computer Science
Univerisity of San Francisco
Spring 2013 Syllabus

Time: MWF 9:30-10:20
Location: HR 235
Professor: David Galles
    Office: HR 542
    Office Hours: MW 1:00 - 2:00, T 10:00-11:30, or by appointment
                        Though these are my stated office hours, I am in my office most of the day.
                        If my door is open (and it usually is), I am happy to talk with students.
    Phone: 422-5951
    Email: galles@usfca.edu

Text:
     Jesse Schell The Art of Game Design: A book of lenses

Required Equipment:
      Wired xbox 360 controller. Eihter the PC or X360 controller are fine -- they are identical -- but the 360 branded controllers are cheaper. You can get them on ebay (with shipping) for under $20.

Prerequisites:
        CS 245 - Data Structures and Algorithms
        Math 201/202 Discrete Mathematics
      
Grading Policy:
      Grades will be given according to scores on programming assignments, a midterm and a final, according to the following percentages.

Assignment Percentage Date
Project 1: Shooter 15%
Project 2: Platformer 20%
Project 3: Student Choice 25%
Bug Hunts / Final Presentation 5% Various
Midterm 15% 4/03/2013
Final 20% 5/15/2013  Wednesday 10:00 a.m.


     Grades will be on a straight scale, with approximately:

A  90% and above
B  80%-89%
C  68%-79%
D  62%-67%
F   61% and below

     These are percentages are upper limits -- thus a score of 90 is guaranteed to get at least an A-, 80 is guaranteed to get at least a B-, and so on. I reserve the right to move these down, but I will not move them up.  

Finals and Midterms
The midterm and the final will be closed notes. If you have a conflict with the midterm date, see me now to see if we can work something out.

Projects
This is a heavy programming course. The assignments should be a lot of fun, but you will be spending more time coding than in other CS classes. There wil be 3 projects -- a warm-up project that each person will need to do on his or her own, and two group projects. Each project will have some required elements, but you will also have a fair amount of latitude to be creative. While the majority of the grade for the projects will be the technical aspects of the programs, there will be some weight towards artistic expression -- how fun are your games to play, do your games have a consistent aesthetic, and so on. For projects 2 and 3, part of your grade also will be the feedback you give to other students during "focus testing" -- more on that when projects 2 and 3 are assigned.

Topics To be Covered (Somewhat tentative list)

Univeristy of San Francisco Department of Computer Science