Course Syllabus

CMPM 120: Game Development Experience
Isaac Karth (Associate In Computational Media)
Contact: ikarth@ucsc.edu


Office Hours:
In Engineering 2, room 256
Wednesday 10am - 11am
Thursday 11am - 12pm

Course Description

Teaches the concrete programming and collaboration skills associated with making a digital game from start to finish, including but not limited to: establishing a team, concepting, storyboarding, prototyping, producing, and testing a game for release. Students are organized into groups and work together to create and produce a playable game. This course is taught in conjunction with Art 120G which covers the skills required to design and critique digital games.

Concurrent enrollment in ARTG 120 is required.

The ARTG 120 Canvas site: https://canvas.ucsc.edu/courses/26559

Class Time and Location

Tuesday & Thursday
01:00 PM - 02:45 PM

Social Sciences 1, Room 161 (For July 2 or after August 8: DARC 308)

First day of class is June 24th.
Last day of class is August 29th.

Grading

Score Breakdown: 
25% Readings & Mini Projects
25% Endless Runner Midterm Project
50% Final Project

Letter Grading Scheme:
to be announced

Course Outline

Week 1 Intro, Web Dev, Phaser Intro

Week 2 Loops, States, Assets

Week 3 Objects & Prefabs, Input & Movement, Pong

Week 4 Debugging, Camera, Collision

Week 5 Tilemaps, Particles, Git

Week 6 P2 Physics, Runner Showcase

Week 7 Time, Text, Fonts, Animation, CSS

Weeks 7–10 Audio, Guest Talks, Open Topics

Policies

Attendance:

Regular attendance in lecture is recommended but not required for credit. However, some assignments, such as the Final Presentation will require in-person participation for credit.

Please respect your classmates' time and participate accordingly.

Late Work:

If you believe that you might miss the deadline for an assignment please inform your instructor. If possible, turn in what you have completed by the deadline and revise the submission afterward.

Late work without prior request or accommodation will be handled on a case-by-case basis.

Collaboration:

This class is intended to teach you how to work in a team. As such, you are encouraged to collaborate with your classmates. However, each student must submit their own work on Canvas for credit.

Please do talk to each other about the readings and the response questions.

Please do look at each others' code and help each other with debugging. You will learn the most when you are the one typing the entire program while other people read the code and give you feedback on it.

You are required to cite the source of any code that you submit that you did not type yourself.

Important Summer 2019 Deadlines:

This is a ten-week summer class. As a 5-credit class, you are expected to commit 15 hours a week on this (including lecture and office hours).

Drop: Monday, July 8
Request for “W”: Friday, July 26
Request for "I": Friday, July 26

Neither Summer Session nor instructors drop students for non-attendance or non-payment. Students must drop themselves. Dropping results in full tuition reversal/refund. Withdraw posts a W for the grade and full tuition is charged (no refund).

For all dates and deadlines, including ‘change of grade option’ (P/NP) and grades due, here is the summer academic calendar: https://summer.ucsc.edu/studentlife/index.html

For questions about dropping, requesting a W grade for a course, or withdrawing from the summer quarter, email summer@ucsc.edu.

 

Student Support:

The Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) office provides a variety of counseling services to undergraduate and graduate students including individual counseling, groups and workshops, couple counseling, crisis services, on-campus psychiatry, the Let's Talk program, ADHD assessment, referrals to off-campus therapy, on-line self-help tools such as WellTrack, as well as a wide range of links to self-help resources on topics ranging from academic success, to depression, to general life issues.

Disability Resources:

If you have special needs, we will accommodate you. The Disability Resource Center offers services that are confidential and free of charge. After you contact the Disability Resource Center, bring your Accommodation Authorization form to me after class, or during office hours and we will discuss your accommodations.

The Disability Resources Center reduces barriers to inclusion and full participation for students with disabilities by providing support to individually determine reasonable academic accommodations. If you have questions or concerns about exam accommodations or any other disability-related matter, please contact the DRC office, located in Hahn 125 or at 831-459-2089 or drc@ucsc.edu.

Academic Dishonesty:

For the official university policy on cheating, plagiarism, and other misconduct, please see the Academic Misconduct Policy for Undergraduates.

Academic integrity is the cornerstone of a university education. Academic dishonesty diminishes the university as an institution and all members of the university community. It tarnishes the value of a UCSC degree.

All members of the UCSC community have an explicit responsibility to foster an environment of trust, honesty, fairness, respect, and responsibility. All members of the university community are expected to present as their original work only that which is truly their own. All members of the community are expected to report observed instances of cheating, plagiarism, and other forms of academic dishonesty in order to ensure that the integrity of scholarship is valued and preserved at UCSC.

In the event a student is found in violation of the UCSC Academic Integrity policy, he or she may face both academic sanctions imposed by the instructor of record and disciplinary sanctions imposed either by the provost of his or her college or the Academic Tribunal convened to hear the case. Violations of the Academic Integrity policy can result in dismissal from the university and a permanent notation on a student’s transcript.

For the full policy and disciplinary procedures on academic dishonesty, students and instructors should refer to the Academic Integrity page at the Division of Undergraduate Education.

Title IX:

The university cherishes the free and open exchange of ideas and enlargement of knowledge. To maintain this freedom and openness requires objectivity, mutual trust, and confidence; it requires the absence of coercion, intimidation, or exploitation. The principal responsibility for maintaining these conditions must rest upon those members of the university community who exercise most authority and leadership: faculty, managers, and supervisors.

The university has therefore instituted a number of measures designed to protect its community from sex discrimination, sexual harassment, sexual violence, and other related prohibited conduct. Information about the Title IX Office, the online reporting link, applicable campus resources, reporting responsibilities, the UC Policy on Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment and the UC Santa Cruz Procedures for Reporting and Responding to Reports of Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment can be found at titleix.ucsc.edu.  

The Title IX/Sexual Harassment Office is located at 105 Kerr Hall. In addition to the online reporting option, you can contact the Title IX Office by calling 831-459-2462.

Lecture Notes

Week 1

01. Introduction to 120 & Web Development

02. Phaser

Week 2

03. Loops, States, Assets

04. Prototypes

Week 3

05. Input, Movement, Physics, Collisions

06. Optimization

06a. Debugging

Week 4

07. Source Code Control

07a. Git

08. Tiles

Week 5

09. Time and Randomness

10. Your Final Project

Week 6

11. Text 

12. Software Architecture

Week 7

13. The Road Ahead

Week 8

14. Data and Branching

14a. Scaling

Week 9

15. Animation and Tweening

16. Particles & Your Final Project

16a. Particles

Course Summary:

Date Details Due