I just realized that last week’s post had the wrong dates. Hope that wasn’t too confusing.
This coming week in 679, you’ll continue to work on Project 1. Assignment 2 is due, but there isn’t much in the way of required reading. There is a project 1 milestone at the end of the week. Hopefully, you are being active on the forum. Even if it isn’t required.
- Tuesday (Sep 18th) – We’ll talk more about programming issues related to Project 1, including spatial data structures and scalability. We’ll talk a little more about flocking algorithms and collisions. At this point, I think that all of you know more about Javascript than I, but we can discuss other questions that come up. Remember that Assignment 2 is due (although, we’ll be a little lenient on when you turn this in, since it was poorly advertised).
- Thursday (Sep 20th) – We’ll have a conversation about the role of technology in games (since that is what this class is supposed to be about). There is no required reading, but you might want to think about how better technology can be used to make better games. Use the light reading schedule to read more on Javascript (like reading some of Javascript the Good parts, which is available through UW Library).
- Friday (Sep 21st) – Lab session is scheduled to be a “show and tell” for project 1. The formal requirement is that you demonstrate to us that you at least have a working toy that involves flocking. (I actually think most teams showed that for Milestone 1). However, this is a good time to show your plans to your classmates (as well as the instructional staff) and get some feedback.
Next week, we’ll start talking about graphics. We’ll have a reading assignment (mainly to see what words people do and don’t know), talk about graphics in general, and programmable pipelines specifically (to get ready for Project 2). Project 1 is due, and we’ll have a “festival” where we play and critique each others games.
