lindeman’s lectures: introduction to game...

Lindeman’s Lectures:Introduction to Game

Development

Robert W. LindemanAssistant Professor

Interactive Media & Game DevelopmentHuman Interaction in Virtual Environments (HIVE) Lab

Department of Computer ScienceWorcester Polytechnic Institute

[email protected]

R.W. Lindeman - WPI Dept. of Computer ScienceInteractive Media & Game Development

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Five-Lecture Structure July 15

Introduction to Game Development

July 16 Game Design

July 23 Serious Games

July 29 Virtual Reality

July 30 Future Gaming (Natural Interaction, MMOs, Mobile)


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But First, Who Am I?B.A. in Computer Science from Brandeis

University (1987)M.S. in Systems Management from

University of Southern California (1992)Sc.D. in Computer Science from The

George Washington University (1999)Ass. Prof. at GW (1999-2005)Ass. Prof. at WPI (2005-)


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What Else?1987-1992 Project Manager repas GmbH

in Germany Real-time factory automation systsms User Interface designer

Two big events in Germany during thattime Can you name them?


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Summer Collaborations1997: NSF Summer Institute in Japan

Dr. Yukio Fukui (AIST/Tsukuba University)

1998-2000: Naval Research Labs (DC) Dr. Jim Templeman

2002-2006: ATR International (Kyoto) Dr. Haruo Noma & Dr. Yasuyuki Yanagida

2008: Osaka University Dr. Yoshifumi Kitamura

2009: Osaka University Dr. Haruo Takemura


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A Few Words about my University WPI = Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Like ウスターソース (Woostah sosu) Location: 40 miles West of Boston, MA, USA

Private University Traditional engineering school Founded in 1865

Population 3,000 undergraduate & 1000 graduate students 220 faculty members

Founded on the principle of ”Theory & Practice””理論　&　実践” (Riron & Jissen) Students build a solid foundation of basic principles, and

then apply these to solve real-world problems.


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WPI Undergraduate Education Prepares "technological humanists" for

leadership and citizenship

International exposure WPI sends more engineering and technology

students abroad than any other university in theUS

Second in the US for doctoral institutions insending students abroad

Relatively few required courses

Focus on outcomes and abilities

Three required projects


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Academic StructureUndergraduate

Four seven-week terms per academic year

Students take three courses per term

Graduate Two semesters per academic year

SpringFall

A

B

C

D


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WPI Undergraduate Projects 2nd year: Humanities Project

One course equivalent Research paper, play, musical performance, ... Usually done on campus

3rd year: Society-Technology Project Three course equivalent Problem at interface between society and technology Usually done off campus

4th year: Major Discipline Project (capstone) Three course equivalent Senior design or research problem Often done off campus


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Expected Student Outcomes Ability to address real-world, open-ended

problems Ability to work in multidisciplinary teams Strong written and verbal communication Connections between

Classroom and experiential learning Impact of decisions of the profession on

culture and community Impact of culture and community on decisions

of the profession

Professional and personal growth


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WPI Global Perspective ProgramAbout 75% of students do one project at an

off-campus Project CenterOver 50% do one project at an overseas

Project CenterProject Centers

A single term with 25-30 students and 2 residentfaculty advisors

A faculty director to provide continuity andlogistical support

Projects are sponsored by local organizations:public, private, non-profit, NGOs, and universities


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Fourth-Year ProgramsThird-Year Programs

Second-Year ProgramsExchange Programs

Off-Campus Project Centers


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Current Project Center Locations Hong Kong, PRC Bangkok, Thailand Melbourne, Australia Zürich, Switzerland Limerick, Ireland London, UK San Jose, Costa Rica Venice, Italy Windhoek, Namibia Copenhagen, Denmark Nancy, France Madrid, Spain

Budapest, Hungary Wuhan, China Kansai, Japan San Juan, Puerto Rico Worcester Boston MIT Lincoln Laboratories Washington, DC Wall Street NASA Goddard SFC Silicon Valley


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Interactive Media & GameDevelopment (IMGD) Interdisciplinary major started in Fall 2005

Joint program between CS and Humanities & Arts Four-year Bachelor of Science degree Students take a common core of courses, then

choose between technical and artistic tracks Project-based approach Half of faculty from CS, half from Humanities & Arts Program growth

20 new students in Sept. 2005 50 new students in Sept. 2006 40 new students in Sept. 2007 30 new students in Sept. 2008


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Interactive MediaApplications that respond in real time to

user actions Virtual environments , e.g., SecondLife Interactive advertisement Groupware Telepresence Free-viewpoint video Hand-held device interaction Performance-based media


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Computer Games A subset of interactive media Entertainment

Desktop / console / handheld / mixed-reality FPS / RPG / Sports / Action / Platformer / Puzzle Online Casual games

Serious games Education / Training Health care / Exercise Disaster planning / Combat preparedness Corporate management


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DevelopmentAll aspects of creating computer-based

interactive media and games Game design Content creation Programming Team dynamics Project management Documentation Testing


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WPI's Approach: BalanceSuccessful creation of interactive

applications requires a balanced team ofquality people

IMGD includes A project-based approach Interdisciplinary team projects Social impact and ethical considerations Exposure to both Tech and Art aspects Significant participation by game industry


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TechnicalTrack

ArtisticTrack

General educationcourses

IGMD Corecourses

IMGD Curriculum

IMGD Area courses + crossover Electives IQP/MQP work, possibly sponsored, possibly abroad

IMGDAdvanced

IMGDAdvanced

IQP

HU&ARequirement

ElectivesMQP

TechnicalRequirement

IMGD Core

MQP

General Requirements

SocialScience


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IMGD Courses IMGD 1000: Critical Studies of Interactive Media & Games IMGD 1001: The Game Development Process IMGD 1002: Storytelling in Interactive Media & Games

IMGD 2000: Social Issues in Interactive Media & Games IMGD 2001: Philosophy & Ethics of Computer Games IMGD 2005: Machinima - Making movies from video games

IMGD 3000: Technical Game Development I IMGD 3500: Artistic Game Development I

IMGD 4000: Technical Game Development II IMGD 4500: Artistic Game Development II IMGD 400X: Artificial Intelligence in Games

Traditional CS and Humanities & Arts courses Students take either 11 CS courses or 11 Humanities/Art courses

Taught in Synch

Taught in Synch


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Synchronized Advanced Courses Unified-team concept

Work in teams of four students (2 Tech & 2 Art)

Regular status meetings / demos Follow traditional game-development process Technical Game Development I & II

Focus on designing and building technical features I: Scene graphs, state management, simple AI II: Physics, networking, particle effects, advanced AI

Artistic Game Development I & II Focus on designing and building artistic content

I: Level design, character modeling, texturing II: Scripting, advanced shading, animation


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IMGD Faculty Mark Claypool, Computer Science, (IMGD Director)

Joseph Farbrook, Humanities & Arts David Finkel, Computer Science Robert W. Lindeman, Computer Science Brian Moriarty, IMGD, Game Design Dean O'Donnell, Humanities & Arts (IMGD Assoc. Dir.)

George Phillies, Physics Chuck Rich, Computer Science Joshua Rosenstock, Humanities & Arts Britt Snyder, IMGD, Game Art


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More Opportunities All faculty have active research programs

Undergraduates can work on research projects

Related research groups in CS Graphics, HCI, Networking, AI …

Drama/Theater program Major Qualifying Projects Guest speakers from industry IMGD Speaker Series (weekly) Master Classes

Learn from Game Development "Masters"

Game Development Club


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Sample ProjectsWPI Map

Made an Unreal Tournament map of WPI 3rd-year project, two Art-track students Six months of work Movie clip


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Samples: WPIMap


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Samples: WPIMap


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Samples: WPIMap


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Sample Projects: TactaVestFeed contact cues and information using

vibrotactile feedback Grad & Undergrad.

Movie clip


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Sample Projects: JapanFree-viewpoint video

Developed at ATR International in Kyoto Internship + projectMay-October 2007

Japanese Video Game DevelopmentCurrent undergraduate IMGD-art student Internship + projectMay-October 2009


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Sample Projectsebay: Memory Dash

iPhone game Pulled data from ebay Pushed results to ebay


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Samples: Memory Dash


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Sample Projects:Petrified: Blink and You’re Dead!Half-Life 2 Mod

Valve corporation

First-person, multi-player, team-basedhorror/survival game

Two teams Humans (Mortals):

People trapped in the cemetery.Need to survive until dawn

Statues (Watchers):Tombstones.Need to convert Humans to Statues.


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Sample Projects:Petrified (cont.)Main game mechanics

Statues canMove when not being looked at by HumansOccupy another unoccupied statue anytimeSwipe at Humans (short-range attack) Lunge at Humans (long-range attack)

Humans can Look at StatuesMove freelyWork togetherUse a flash-stick to stop an attacking Statue


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Sample Projects:Petrified (cont.)Three undergraduate students

Two tech, one art

Seven months 2 months of design 3 months of development 2 months of user/balance testing

Won “Best Senior Project in IMGD 2009”Movie Clip!


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Sample Projects (cont.)Disney Alternate Reality Game

Students built a multimedia experienceDisney season pass holdersPark visitsPrior activity

Muppet story

http://disneyland.disney.go.com/media/ap/muppetlabs/experiment.html

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