252-0570-00L  Game Programming Laboratory

SemesterSpring Semester 2016
LecturersB. Sumner
Periodicityyearly recurring course
Language of instructionEnglish
CommentIn the Master Programme max. 10 credits can be accounted by Labs
on top of the Interfocus Courses. Additional Labs will be listed on the Addendum.


AbstractThe goal of this course is the in-depth understanding of the technology and programming underlying computer games. Students gradually design and develop a computer game in small groups and get acquainted with the art of game programming.
ObjectiveThe goal of this new course is to acquaint students with the
technology and art of programming modern three-dimensional computer
games.
ContentThis is a new course that addresses modern three-dimensional computer
game technology. During the course, small groups of students will
design and develop a computer game. Focus will be put on technical
aspects of game development, such as rendering, cinematography,
interaction, physics, animation, and AI. In addition, we will
cultivate creative thinking for advanced gameplay and visual effects.

The "laboratory" format involves a practical, hands-on approach with
neither traditional lectures nor exercises. Instead, we will meet
once a week to discuss technical issues and to track progress. We
plan to utilize Microsoft's XNA Game Studio Express, which is a
collection libraries and tools that facilitate game development.
While development will take place on PCs, we will ultimately deploy
our games on the XBox 360 console.

At the end of the course we will present our results to the public.
Lecture notesOnline XNA documentation.
Prerequisites / NoticeThe number of participants is limited.

Prerequisites include:

- good programming skills (Java, C++, C#, etc.)

- CG experience: Students should have taken, at a minimum, Visual
Computing. Higher level courses are recommended, such as Introduction
to Computer Graphics, Surface Representations and Geometric Modeling,
and Physically-based Simulation in Computer Graphics.