| Instructor | Prof. Chris GauthierDickey |
| Office | John Greene Hall 321 |
| Office Hours | By Appointment |
| Time & Location | T,H 12:00 - 1:50, Location: JGH 318 (the Windows Game Lab) |
| Prerequisite | COMP 2370 (Intro to Algorithms and Data Structures) |
| Credits | 4 |
I've set up the Course Wiki for the class so that we can post information about the class, C# and XNA programming, and the game project.
Note that you can't get to the wiki off-site, unless you have the VPN up (zeus isn't accessible to the outside world). You will need to go to the UTS VPN site.Understanding the fundamentals of game design and programming is essential for building your foundation as a future game designer or programmer. In this course, you will do just that, using Microsoft's XNA (and C#) to allow you to rapidly prototype your game ideas without the complexity of lower-level languages. One of the biggest advantages of using XNA is that we can upload the games you make to the XBox 360, allowing everyone to experience your games in all the splendor of this highly advanced console.
While this course does require you to learn how to program, part of the emphasis in this course is coming up with game ideas and understanding game design. As such, your grade will not only be determined by your game project, but also on game design exercises and a final exam to see if you've understood the concepts covered in this course.
Note that all projects in the class require that you use the Microsoft Visual Studio toolset, including C# and XNA. By far, most game companies use Visual Studio, so you might as well learn it early! In addition, C# lets you have some of the programming power of C/C++ and high-level programming abstractions without the hassle of memory management.