USC CTIN 484/CTIN 489 Intermediate Game Design and Development
International Game Developers Association
Intermediate Game Design & Development USC School of Cinema-Television, CTIN 484/CTIN 489
| Games Education |
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| Course |
Contents |
Teachers
Instructors
Guest speakers
- To be added
Course Background Information
Location
University of Southern California
Classification
Primary classification:
Game Design
Game Programming
Secondary classification:
Student background needed
to be added
Course prerequisites
CTIN 488
CTIN 483
Time periods
Spring Semester
- Monday Wensday 4-6 PM
Course Structure
Course description
This follow up to the classes, CTIN 488 Game Design Workshop and CTIN 483 Programming for Interactivity, introduces students to more advanced concepts in game design and development such as ideation, digital prototyping, interface design, usability testing, level design, quality assurance, team work, project planning and management. The main emphasis of the class is on the conceptualization of innovative design goals and the execution of those goals in the form of a complete, polished intermediate game project.
This is a team-based studio class and a large part of the class content will focus on critique and problem-solving for individual team projects. The class will include lectures on design and development topics, however, many class days will be devoted to working on and critiquing team projects. As such, it is imperative that students treat the development of their projects professionally and bring requested milestones to class on time, ready to present. Students will be expected to participate actively in all critique sessions, giving and receiving feedback of the highest quality.
Students are responsible for forming their own teams within the first three weeks of class. Teams should preferably be two students, but no more than three. Students who do not find their own team will be assigned one by the instructors. Students may not work alone: one of the core skills required in game design and production is collaboration. You are encouraged to look outside of existing friendships to find teammates whose skills counterbalance your own: i.e. programmers should seek out artists and vice versa.
Throughout this class, you are encouraged to take risks and to look beyond the examples of existing game genres to try new and different design ideas. At the same time, you are also expected to fully complete an innovative small game, and so must take into account the timeline of the course and the resources available to you to complete the project.
You are encouraged to enlist the help of outside musicians, sound designers and/or voice-over actors. In addition, you may work with outside artists to add animation and visual style to your project, however, you and your teammate must do all of the game design and programming for your projects. Also, you may not use copyrighted material in your project unless the material has been legally cleared for use. (See Student Production Office in the lobby of the George Lucas Building for assistance with this process.)
Course learning objectives
To address Advanced topics of game Design
Week by week topics
Week/Project Schedule
- 1 Course Overview, Expectations & Schedule
Inspirations: Innovation Case Studies
Torque 2D review
Updated GG site
- Ideation Assignment
- 2 Review & Critique Ideation Assignment 1
Tile Editor
Datablocks
Physics
Review & Critique Ideation Assignment 2
Form Teams
Lists (arrays)
String Functions
- Ideation Assignment Due
- Form Production Teams
- 3 Labor Day: No Class
Setting Design Goals
Project Scope & Planning
- Plans for Digital Prototype Approved
- 4 Implementing Digital Prototypes
Implementing Digital Prototypes
Programming lessons
- 5 Implementation of Digital Prototypes
Present and Critique
Preparing for Playtest 1
- Digital Prototypes Due
- 6 Playtest 1
(Held in usability lab)
Playtest 1 (Held in usability lab)
- Playtesting of Prototypes
- 7 Revising the Digital Prototype
Integrating player feedback; analysis of playtesting
Visual Design exercise
Team status reviews w/instructors
- Playtest 1 Reports Due
- 8 Visual Design Critiques
Technical Task Breakdown for Production Phase
Production Management: Design Plans
- Visual Designs Due
- 9 Implementation of Final Projects
Implementation of Final Projects
Review Design Plans w/instructors
- Design Plans Due
Production
- 10 Implementation of Final Projects
Sound design
Implementation of Final Projects
Production
- 11 Alpha Reviews
Alpha Reviews
- Alpha Build of Final Project Due
- 12 Playtest 2
(Held in usability lab)
Playtest 2
(Held in usability lab)
Production
- 13 Prioritization of Feedback
Implementation of Final Projects
- Playtest 2 Reports Due
- QA Testing
- 14 Quality Assurance Testing Methods
Quality Assurance Testing of Projects
- Beta Build of Final Project Due
- 15 Quality Assurance Testing of Projects
Quality Assurance Testing of Projects
- “Gold Master” of Final Project Due
Course Materials & Facilities Used
Syllabus
Analysis of learning methods
What worked
Please discuss what techniques worked well
What didn't work
Please discuss what techniques didn’t work as well as you had hoped
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