Computer Game Development Dr Scott Schaefer Course Information

Computer Game Development Dr. Scott Schaefer

Course Information • Instructor: Dr. Schaefer / Dr. Srinivasan • Office: HRBB 527 B / Langford C 418 • Office Hours: by appointment • Website: http: //courses. cs. tamu. edu/schaefer/489_Spring 2010

Grading • • • In-class presentation (individual): 5% Project 1 (group): 25% Project 2 (group): 60% Class Participation: 5% Course Evaluation: 5%

In-class Presentation • Pick a topic related to game development / design • Try to pick something of interest to you or relevant to your game • Give a 20 minute talk in class • List of potential topics will be posted online • Must pick talk topic by Monday! (1/25) • Approved by us • Order of talks is randomly determined

Project 1: Initial 2 D Game • Designed to • get you working in teams • familiar with the game development process • aspects of game development • Due: 2/12

Project 1: Requirements • User Interface • Keyboard, Mouse, Gamepad • Status of game displayed on screen • Graphics • Animation • 2 D Graphics (at most 2 D game play) • Import some art asset from file • Game Play • • Single player okay No networking! Must have time constraint Must have win/lose conditions

Project 1: Grading • • Project Presentations (3): 30% Game Website: 10% Game based on previous criteria: 50% Peer Evaluation: 10%

Building a Team • Games are made up of lots of areas of CS • Graphics, networking, AI, physics, etc… • Consider building a diverse team • Come up with a name for your team • Five to six people per team • Start after this lecture

Project 2: Final Project • Due at end of semester • May choose different teams • Similar to Project 1, but more ambitious

Project 2: Grading • • • Project Presentations (6): 18% Final Presentation: 7% Game Website: 10% Game: 40% Peer Evaluation: 10% Group-defined Milestones: 15%

Game Ideas • Think small • You don’t have • • Experience Years of time Millions of dollars …

Game Ideas • Try to do one thing well • • Good graphics/animation Cool physics Excellent sounds Clever puzzles • Don’t do a mediocre job in everything • One of everything • You won’t design hundreds of levels

Game Genres • • Action 1 st Person Shooter Sports Fighting Puzzle Racing Role-Playing

The Evolution of Game Hardware • Atari 2600 - 1977 • 1. 18 MHz 6507 • 128 bytes RAM • 4 KB ROM • Atari 5200 - 1982 (incompatible cartridge with 2600) • 1. 8 MHz 6502 • 16 KB RAM

The Evolution of Game Hardware • Nintendo Entertainment System - 1985 • • 1. 79 MHz 256 x 240 pixels 2 KB RAM Mario Bros!

The Evolution of Game Hardware • Sega Genesis - 1988 • 7. 6 MHz • 64 KB RAM • Game Boy -1989 • 8 -bit 4. 2 MHz • 8 KB RAM • Tetris!

The Evolution of Game Hardware • Super NES - 1990 • 3. 58 Mhz 65 C 816 16 bit CPU • 128 KB RAM • Playstation - 1994 • 34 MHz R 3900 32 bit CPU • 2 MB RAM (CPU), 1 MB RAM (Video) • Nintendo 64 - 1996 • 94 MHz R 4300 64 bit CPU • 4 MB RAM • Reality Co-Processor – SGI • 100 K triangles/second!

The Evolution of Game Hardware Playstation 2 - 2000 • 295 MHz R 12000 CPU • 32 MB RAM • XBox - 2001 • 733 MHz Celeron • 64 MB RAM • n. Vidia Ge. Force 4 • Game. Cube - 2001 • 485 MHz Power. PC • 43 MB RAM

The Evolution of Game Hardware Playstation 3 - 2006 • 3. 2 GHz Cell CPU • 256 MB RAM + 256 MB Video RAM • XBox 360 - 2005 • 3. 2 GHz Power. PC • 512 MB RAM • Nintendo Wii - 2006 • 729 MHz Power. PC • 88 MB RAM

The Evolution of Game Hardware The PC • Different processors • Different GPUs • Different amounts of RAM