Prerequisite: CSCI-C 243 or CSCI-C 343 or INFO-I 254 or INFO-I 308 or INFO-C 307 or CSCI-A 594 or CSCI-C 310.

Reference Books:

• A. Davis, T. Baptiste, R. Craig (2022): Unity 3D Game Development: Designed for passionate game developers Engineered to build professional games. Packt Publishing, or any recent Unity book.
• D. Vrajitoru (2013): The 2D Games Journey, Creative Space. Kindle edition Print edition.
• K. Salen, E. Zimmerman (2003): Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals, MIT Press.
• E. Angel (2008): Interactive Computer Graphics: A Top-Down Approach Using OpenGL, 5th edition, Addison Wesley, or any recent computer graphics reference book.

Grading system:

• About 10 homework assignments     20 points each
• Midterm essay     30 points
• Project or Final     50 points
• Class participation items     up to 30 points
• Achievements     up to 12 extra credit points

Note. Taking a final exam can be requested no later than the last lecture of the semester. Otherwise, an end of semester project will be expected.

Guidelines for assignments:

• •Game Engine: Unity using C#.
• The assignments, slides, and quizes will be posted to Canvas.
• The assignments are due at midnight of the due date.
• All assignments must be submitted to Canvas. Written homework can be scanned or typed using MS Word or other appropriate applications.
• No homework accepted after 1 week from the due date. A late homework loses 10% of the points per day, up to 50% of the points.
• Reasonable expectations concerning the program structure and clarity: functions should be commented and should not contain more than 20 lines of code. Multiple source files are expected when appropriate.
• All the assignments are individual. Consulting with colleagues is acceptable, but programs that are too similar can be penalized or rejected. No credit will be given for programs obtained from external sources unless explicitly allowed. Do not share significant parts of the assignments with classmates. Please consult my extended plagiarism policy in the general campus syllabus.

Course Outline

• Review of game terminology
• Introduction to Unity and C#
• Game structure, event loop, timers
• Game development cycle
• Introduction to game design
• Graphical User Interfaces in Unity
• Storyline, game controls, play mode
• Motion generation, collision detection
• Introduction to Blender, Unity integration
• Autonomous characters and behavior, animation techniques
• Elements of artificial intelligence in games
• Multi-player and persistent state games, networking aspects

More Documentation

M. Morrison (2004): Beginning Game Programming, Sams.

A. Kirmse (2004): Game Programming Gems 4, Charles River Media.

M. Collins (2001): Linux game programming, Prima Tech.

J. R. Hall, Loki Software (2001): Programming Linux Games, Loki Software Inc., No Starch.

J. D. Funge (2004): AI for Games and Animation, A. K. Peters, Natick, Massachusetts.

J. H. Conway (2000): On Numbers and Games, 2^nd edition, A. K. Peters, Wellesley, Massachusetts.

G. Maestri (1999): Digital Character Animation 2, New Riders.