Wow! We made it to the end. This week people will wrap up projects. Instructions for final project handins and post-mortems are here.

• Tuesday, December 11 – Last Lecture! There will be a lecture. I’ll talk about some stuff like animation. Don’t forget to send your playtest feedback to the TA before class!
• Thursday, December 13 – No required class. I will go to the lecture room at class time in case someone wants to come by to talk about something (if you have questions about technical topics, the games industry, or whatever). It’s optional – feel free to use the time to work on your project, study for your other exams, or anything else.
• Friday, December 14th – Festival of Games! We’ll meet in 1358 (the lab) at 2:30 and play the final versions of the games! Show off how things turned out! Experience the cool things your classmates built! Make sure your game is handed in before the lab session starts.
• Friday, December 14th / Monday December 17th – Your final project handins are due. This includes a group post-mortem, as well as a personal reflection. We really need to get everything before noon on Monday, December 17th so we can get our grades done.

We’ve gotten into the home stretch here – just 2 weeks left to wrap up projects, and any topics we’re going to talk about. There won’t be any readings or assignments, so you can stay focused on your projects.

The big thing this week is the playtest on Friday, December 7th. As we’ve mentioned in class, this will be logistically complex. Remember to send your availability between 1:30 and 4pm to Mark (the TA) so he can schedule things. More details about how the playtests will be given in class.

• Tuesday, December 4 – We’ll talk about some more graphics tricks (shadow volumes, ambient occlusion, …), and start talking about AI.
• Thursday, December 6 – We will talk about the procedure for the playtests. We’ll talk about some other technical topics (probably AI).
• Friday, December 7 – Play test. There will be a set schedule where in scheduled 15 minute blocks you’ll be either observing someone playing your game, or playing someone else’s. You will be required to write about what you see (brief comments on the other games, and what you’ve learned about your games).

I should also note, that since we don’t have assignments and readings, the only way for you to learn what we’re talking about is by having you come to class. So for this phase of class, we’ll just have to assume that if you don’t come to class, you’re not learning the material, and the converse (if you come, you’ve learned the material – which admittedly is a crude approximation).

We’ve made it through Thanksgiving, and are now ready for that final push towards the final project! We’ll use class times for lectures (usually), but we’ll cut back on readings and assignments so you can stay focused on projects.

• Tuesday, November 27 – Lecture on Graphics. We’ll talk about lighting and shading and other graphics topics.
• Tuesday, November 29 – more discussion on Graphics. Topics depend on how much we get through on Tuesday.
• Friday, November 30 – project milestone (playable demo). This is the last major milestone before the play test (which is December 7th). Your group needs to show a playable prototype. Not all the elements need to be put together (you can have independent examples of the different technologies, you might not have levels or progression or …) – but there should be something that looks and feels like a game. The exact mechanism for us to check on this is TBD

Next week, we’ll have some tech topic lectures (probably animation and/or AI), but mainly it will be getting ready for the playtest.

This week, we’ll really get Project 3 underway. Now that you have a plan, I think everyone realizes what it is going to take to get to that all important first milestone. This week, we’ll have few other demands on you other than to focus on the project. (Note: this won’t be a recurring theme – there will be more readings!). And we still owe everyone feedback on P2.

• Tuesday, November 13 – We’ll have a lecture on some technical topics. I have a list of things I feel compelled to teach you about, and I’ll pick a subset.
• Thursday, November 15h – We’ll have a guest lecture on sound design – Prof. Joe Koykkar. This should be really useful to get you to think about how to get sound into your games.
• Friday, November 16th – Signs of life demos. We’ll have a lab session, mainly as a time for you to work with your groups. Mark and I will both check-in with each group to make sure you’re making good progress towards those first goals, and that your communication processes are in place.

The following week, we’ll have a lecture (and a reading assignment) about HCI. And Thanksgiving.

This week is mainly about getting Project 3 rolling. Hopefully, everyone is already thinking about the different potential games, and providing feedback on each of the proposals (in the forum).

OK, I can tell that at the time of writing, there has been almost no discussion. Remember that part of the assignment is to comment on other proposals.

Over the next days (Thursday 11/1-Tuesday 11/6) , there will be discussion (online in the forums) about the proposals. Each person must comment on at least half of the other games, and each team is responsible for responding to comments about their game. The idea is to have some dialog and discussion so that people can decide which games to build. Your discussion counts towards your class participation grade.

You should be commenting on other proposals, and possibly commenting on the comments on your own proposal. You should do this before class Tuesday, so that your feedback is available as teams try to decide whether to pick these projects or not.

The exact content for the lecture times is not yet set (as of Sunday) – our plan is to allow lots of time for teams to meet to discuss the project, but also to give you some information on how to run a project like this. (At least part of one lecture will be David Gagnon talking about small game development process). There is a first project milestone on Friday (the game plans), and we want each team to be ready for it.

So this week…

• Tuesday, November 6 – it’s election day – make sure you vote. The proposal critiques are due (preferably much earlier than class, so that people can look at them). In class, we’ll announce teams, discuss development process, and give you some time to meet with your team.
• Thursday, November 8 – this class will include some more discussion on software engineering and development process, but mainly provide time for teams to work together to start on their plans, which are due the next day. In class, we’ll have a signup sheet for times to meet to discuss the plans.
• Friday, November 9 – Game plans are due. You need to turn in your plan in the morning so that we can read it before the planning meetings. In lab time, the professor and TA will meet with each group to discuss the plan. There will be a signup sheet where each of the 5 teams will pick a 15 minute slot. Ideally, all of the team would come – but we understand that this might be impossible. Please have as much of the team come as possible.

The following, project 3 will be in full force. We’ll also return to technical and artistic topics. We’ll probably have a guest lecture on sound.

This coming week in 679 we’ll switch from project 2 to project 3.

• Tuesday, October 30 – In lecture, we’ll talk about some aspects of game programming. Your project 2 post-mortem is due.
• Thursday, November 1 – In class time, we’ll have project pitches. Each design pair will give a 3-5 minute pitch for their design. Make sure that you send your materials to Mark before class time, and that you have your proposal online (preferably by Wednesday, October 31st)
• Friday, November 2 – No lab session. However, we hope that everyone will be using the Forum to discuss the various proposed project designs.

On Tuesday, November 6, we’ll announce the project teams, you can begin to think about planning your project, and we’ll have a class discussion about game building process.

The big thing this week is Project 2 – with the final demos on Friday, October 26th. Because of that, most other things are being put on hold so you can focus on finishing. However, we need to be looking ahead to Project 3.

• Tuesday (October 23rd) – we’ll have a little in class review (so I can see what I missed while traveling), and also talk about Project 3. The idea is to give you an overview of what you might expect in the next few weeks.
• Thursday (October 25th) – no lecture – use this as a time to get your project ready. I will hold an extra office hour during class time (2:30-3:30) to answer questions you might have.
• Friday (October 26th) – project 2 demos in the lab! Stay tuned for details, but we’ll play each others games

The following week, there will be an assignment due on Tuesday Oct 30 (the “post-mortem” for Project 2), and the first phase of Project 3 will happen (in class presentations on Nov. 1).

This coming week in 679 you’ll wrap up project 2 and we’ll talk about graphics. Remember that Assignment 3 is due on Monday September 24th.

• Tuesday (Sep 25th) – We’ll start to talk about graphics. We’ll review some basics, the role of graphics in games, and some of the high-level strategies in graphics performance. Please get your Assignment 3 lists to Mark before noon on September 24th so we can plan this lecture.
• Thursday (Sep 27th) – We’ll talk about how graphics hardware works and what it means to program the pipeline. This will be important to understanding how to use WebGL (when we get to that next week).
• Friday (Sept 28th) – Project 1 Festival! During lab session, we’ll play all the projects. Specific hand-in requirements will be announced beforehand (but the most important piece is to make sure a playable version of your game is in your handin directory before lab time).

The following week, we’ll have lectures on Game Design and on WebGL, and we’ll announce Project 2. (no rest between projects!)

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.

This week in 679, we’ll dive into project 1, learn more about Javacript, and try to figure out what a game is.

Don’t forget that Assignment 0 is due at the beginning of the week! Please do the course survey and the required posts on the forum. In fact, please get in the habit of looking at (and participating in) the discussion on the forum.

• Tuesday (Sep 11): In class, we’ll talk more about the Javascript object model (since it seems to puzzle most people – including me!). We’ll also talk about flocking, since you need it for the project. You’ll also get to meet your project partner. Reading 1 is “due,” but it really isn’t connected to class.
• Thursday (Sep 13): In class, we’ll talk about the basics of Game Design – addressing the question of “What is a Game?” Please do Reading 2 and Assignment 1 in order to prepare for this discussion (they are due before class).
• Friday (Sep 14): In lab time, we’ll check that people have completed Project 1 Phase 1, and use it as a time to look at some projects from last year. We may have some guest visitors to talk about their experiences making these games. It will also provide some “project work time” when you can ask questions and talk about stuff. 

Each week, expect a “Week in 679” posting to give you an overview of what is going to happen, and a reminder of the deadlines. Reading these postings is no substitute for staying current on the course web and forum, but can at least serve as a reminder of the big things. Especially because the syllabus is still a work in progress.