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DePaul GAM 224 - GAM 224 Syllabus

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GAM 224: Strategies in Game Design Professor Robin Burke Fall 2007, Section 402, Rm CS&T 216 M/W 11:50 am — 1:20 pm Office: CS&T 453 Office Hours: Tuesdays 10:30 am – 12 noon; Wednesdays 2:00 – 3:30 pm Phone: 312-362-5910 Email (preferred): [email protected] Description This course approaches the study of computer games from three angles: first, as examples of media that can be analyzed and critiqued for their thematic elements, formal structure, plot and interactive appreciation; second, as complex software artifacts subject to technological constraints and the product of a labor-intensive design and implementation process; and three as a cultural artifact with behaviors and associations comparable in import to other popular art forms. Student will study the principles of game design and use them both to analyze existing games and to develop their own original game ideas. Students will also learn about the process of game development, starting from the game's narrative concept and moving to consideration of a game's components: the representation of the player, of artifacts, the virtual world that contains them and the interaction between them and the player. Prerequisites None Course Text Salen, K. and Zimmerman, E. Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals. MIT Press. 2004. Other readings on-line. Supplies All students are required to purchase and bring to class a deck of playing cards and a pair of ordinary six-sided dice. These will be used for game design and analysis exercises. Students may also need a memory card or other storage media for their game analysis project. Resources Students in the class will have access to the CTI PC Game Lab, CS&T 920 and Console Game Lab CS&T 710. Some assignments will require that student use specific games available in this lab. Students performing assignments have priority for the use of the lab hardware and software. See http://defrag.depaul.edu/ for information on lab times. You will be required to provide your student ID when checking out game hardware and/or software. You may also use your own equipment and games. Web Site The course web site will be an important resource for all aspects of the course: http://josquin.cti.depaul.edu/~rburke/courses/f07/gam224/ The schedule and other syllabus information may change during the quarter: the web site will contain the most up-to-date information.Assignments (except for the analysis papers) will be submitted on the Course On-Line site. http://dlweb.cs.depaul.edu/ Organization and Assessment GAM 224 will meet twice a week. Generally, we will alternate our class sessions between lectures on game design topics, analysis of particular games and in-class activities designing and playing games. Students are expected to attend all classes, do the assigned reading and homework before class time. Student progress will be assessed through a combination of 3 unit quizzes, short reaction papers for selected games, an individual analysis project analyzing a particular game, homework, ,group game design projects, and participation in the class. Analysis Project (3 papers) – 30% Design Projects (2) – 20% Reaction Papers (6) – 15% Quizzes (3) – 15% Homework (3) – 10% Participation (including in-class activities) – 10% Reaction Papers Students will write six reaction papers during the quarter, based on the games in the course game syllabus below: one from each line a-f. All students will play these games over the course of the quarter and write a short reaction paper. One of these papers is due to the Course On-Line site on the assigned day more or less every week from weeks 3 through 10. (They are spaced out somewhat so they are not due when other assignments are due.) They may not be turned in late or turned in by email. You can choose which game to do during any given week. All of the games are available in the CTI game lab. a) Grand Theft Auto 3, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, or Bully b) Half-Life or Half-Life 2 c) Katamari Damacy or We Love Katamari d) Age of Mythology, Civilization IV, Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth (I or II), Total War(any) or WarCraft III e) Guitar Hero, Guitar Hero II, or Dance Dance Revolution (any) f) Gears of War, Rainbow Six: Vegas, or Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter (XBOX 360) Analysis Project Each student will perform an in-depth analysis of a single video game title of his or her choice. The following will be required: Substantial play-time with the title, sufficient to master basic game play and to encounter most of the game's components. (Playing the game all the way through would be ideal but not practical for many titles.) Researching the game's community presence through FAQ files, walk-throughs, fan sites and other documents. The analysis will follow the rubric of our book: "rules, play and culture", and will consist of three 5-page (1200-1500 word) papers analyzing the selected game through each of these perspectives. These papers will be submitted to the turnitin.com website. Design Projects Student will work in instructor-assigned teams on two separate game design projects. Each team will present its project work to the class on designated days. Contribution to the project will be assessed via a peer-assessment protocol.Tentative Class Schedule 9/5: Introduction to the course. Discussion of syllabus, grading and requirements. What is a game? Meaningful choice, interactivity and other core concepts in game design. The magic circle and the ludic attitude. Schemas for understanding games: Rules, Play, Culture. Reading: Rules of Play, Ch. 1-5 and Knizia essay. Unit 1: Rules 9/10: Game design activity. Game rules Reading: Rules of Play, Ch. 5-10, Garfield game design Assigned: Homework #1 9/12: Rules for games. Rule systems and their properties. Constituitive, operational and implicit rules. Implication for video games. Complexity and emergence in rule-based systems. Reading: Rules of Play, Ch. 11-14. Due: Analysis project (game selection) 9/17: Systems of Information. Information economies: hiding and revealing information in games. Reading: Rules of Play, Ch. 17 Due: Homework #1 9/19: Information theory and cybernetics. Information as a quantity. Signals and noise. Control theory and concepts of feedback. Positive and negative feedback loops. Reading: Rules of Play, Ch. 16, 18. Assigned: Homework #2 9/24: Conflict. Conflict in games. Systems of


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