This course will get you started with casual game development for the Web. Flash with ActiveScript is an ideal first technology to use for getting down the process of creative development. In this course we will create a first project game, understand various genres, and consider different creative processes by which to create engaging game play. Attractive design is optional, but understanding how your artwork can be incorporated in video games is a key learning objective of our time together.
|
Date
|
Topic
|
Assignment
|
|
July 15
morning |
Course Overview
Character Sprites
Clean Animation
Arrays and Vectors
Incorporating Rules
Automata
Artificial Intelligence
- Introduction
- Course Objectives
- Motivation
- Creating and using artwork
- Our Development Process
- Scripting versus
programming versus languages
- Ideas brainstorming session
|
|
|
July 15 afternoon
|
Inputs and Outputs
for a Game
- The class project overview
- Driving keyboards, mice,
and other peripheral devices
- Directory hierarchies for
game resources
- Accessing resources in
Flash-based games
- Examples with discussion
- Free play time
|
- Practice our second day exercises
- Investigate Storyboarding
- Look at the Flash Games on-line
- Build your resource hierarchy.
- Bring your resource files into a very
basic project structure.
- Continue to dream up a project you want
to work on.
|
|
July 16
morning |
Incorporating Arrays
- Scaling up to larger game component
- Evaluating memory and hard drive requirements
- In class student data structure critiques and assessment
- Coordinated play time
|
|
|
July 16 afternoon
|
Understanding
Games as State Machines
- Basic data structures
- Markov game theory (just a beginner's
overview)
- The testing process as suggested by the
game state machine
|
- fourth day exercises.
- Map out the state machine for your game
- Be ready to present and justify your character
as a persona
|
|
July 17
|
Building Game Characters
- Sprites
- Personalities
- ActiveScript character
support
- The character state machine
- In class student character critique and
assessment
|
- Review the fifth day exercise.
- Create artwork for your character
- Map out the behaviors for character to
input devices
- Work on your game
|
|
July 22
|
Scripting Animation Sequences
- Tying animation to computer peripherals (keyboard and mouse)
- Investigating Pong
- Animating chinese checkers starting with CCheckers6.fla
- In-class animation play
|
- Warm up with the sixth day exercise.
- Work on your state machine diagrams
- Work on your game
|
|
July 23
morning
|
Adding Rules to your Game
- Adding rules to Chinese Checkers
- The value of rules in good story telling
- Game learning objectives for serious games
- Example storyboard critiquing if you want to present your story
|
|
|
July 23 afternoon
|
Advanced Physics
- Physics as a powerful gaming specialty
- In-class student rules presentation and critique
|
|
|
July 24
|
Computer automata and artificial intelligence for advanced game play
- The mathematical beauty of computer automata
- Approaches to artificial intelligence
- Putting our games on a Web server
|
|
