Course Organization - Videogame Design and Programming

Course Organization
Videogame Design and Programming
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
Awards and Coverage
http://games.ws.dei.polimi.it/vdp2010/
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Weople won the Italian Microsoft Image Cup
A Pixel Escape was one of the 20 finalists of the Microsoft 2011 Dream.Build.Play
Xenophonic has signed to be commercially distributed on iPad and iPhone
TV Coverage
RAI3 has two specials about our students
ClassTV-MSNBC hosted a special with Weople and Viva Piranha team leaders
Game Related Magazine & Blogs
Indievault
Focus Junior
Giochi per il Mio Computer
The Game Machine
Game Village
Weople appeared in 10+ online newspapers
A Pixel Escape was mentioned in 10+
Corriere della Sera
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Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
Awards and Coverage
http://games.ws.dei.polimi.it/vdp2011/
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Bad Blood
Only app in the first 100 of the Microsoft Image Cup
Winner of ShareCare competition organized by the Centro Nazionale Sangue
Special award from “Pubblicità Progresso”
Winner of the New Game Designer organized by the Università di Milano
A Pixel Escape was one of the 20 finalists of the Microsoft 2012 Dream.Build.Play
Media Coverage
RAI1 and RAI3 had two specials about our students
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7GdOd5ogBk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODXT69-uMNk
§  Gamerland special on Modena Play
§  Video interviews on radiofrequenzaludica
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IERkmSR_6U8&list=PL852AACC2DAABA792&index=2&feature=plpp_video
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http://www.livestream.com/gioconomicon/video?clipId=pla_22a70df9-b00b-451e-be15-13edefa1f467
Game Related Magazine & Blogs
iPhone Italia
IndieGames.com
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Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
Download Now!
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Bad Blood (Windows Phone)
http://www.badbloodgame.net/
http://www.windowsphone.com/it-it/store/app/badblood/cb9abd2b-0c21-461f-b547-7f9260f229a1
Color Rush (Windows Phone)
http://www.windowsphone.com/it-it/store/app/colorush/fe15bd97-1613-45ed-b275-89396df51fe9
Dirty Little Bunnies (iphone)
http://www.dirtylittlebunnies.com/
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dirty-little-bunnies/id519029146?mt=8
Doodle Willy (iphone)
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/doodle-willy/id536931422?mt=8
Graffiti Heaven (iphone/ipad/android)
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/graffiti-heaven/id527866000?mt=8
In Verbis Virtus (Windows)
http://www.indomitusgames.com/
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=92931112&searchtext=in+verbis+virtus
A Pixel Escape (Xbox Live)
http://apixelescape.com
http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/Product/A-Pixel-Escape/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d80258550b43
Coming soon: Xenophonic & Magnifico
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
Course
Organization
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
50 hours of lectures and seminars
about videogame design and development
Basic introduction to game programming using Unity,
some in-depth lecture, the rest is up to you
Evaluation based on a team project consisting
in the development of a demo computer game
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
How good should the project be?
You should aim at competing in the student
showcase of one of game competitions
http://www.igf.com/02finalists.html
You should also try to develop better games
than those developed by the past students J
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
Course Project
Structured in five deliverables: concept,
specification & storyboard, prototype, beta and final
Each deliverable has a strict deadline
Overall, the project cannot take
more than four months
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
Course Timeline
Game Concept
Game Design
Specification Document
and Storyboard
Game
Development
Unity
First Prototype
Game
Intelligence
Advanced Game
Development
Demo Prototype
Final Deliverable Demoed at Course Event
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfZ4NJG4Jp4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTY494iujdA
http://vimeo.com/6271499
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1p5XiHlGfU
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
Our goal is to create a unique experience for
students attending classes while doing the project
We asked several people from game big, small,
tiny, companies to be involved in the evaluation
They will be have access to all your deliverable,
they will be involved in the evaluation process
Gives great visibility to your work!
Past year students received coverage from
TV, Radio, Newspapers, Blogs, etc.
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
Teams & Grades
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
Team Building
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•  Each team should consist of four people
•  Each students attending classes will have to propose a one-page
game concept, describing in simple words the underlying idea
•  Students, instructors, invited speakers will vote for the best
game concepts
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students who proposed the best concepts will build up
their teams
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
Grading
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•  The final grade is the sum of 5 grades obtained for each
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deliverable (game concept, design document, prototype, beta
and final releases)
Game proposal: 3 points assigned by the instructors
Design document: 3 points assigned by the instructors
Prototype: 6 points assigned by voting
(2/3 students + 1/3 instructors)
Beta Release: 18 points assigned by voting
(2/3 students + 1/3 instructors)
Final Release: 3 points assigned by voting
(2/3 students + 1/3 guests and instructors)
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
What After the Course?
Next semester, you can enroll in the course
“Online Game Design” taught by Dario Maggiorini and
Laura Ripamonti at the Universita’ di Milano
http://onlinegamedesign.ariel.ctu.unimi.it
Computer Graphics (Gribaudo)
Data Mining and Text Mining (analysis of players’ behavior)
You can also consider doing your thesis with us!
(Car Racing, Starcraft, FPS, etc.)
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
You can still do the project outside the course
Contact the course coordinator who will
provide a basic concept for the game
Then, just meet the deadlines!
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
Which Development Tools?
There are several options and we usually
let students choose whatever they prefer
We suggest Unity, it is free and multiplatform
PC, OSX, IOS, flash, Android)
XNA is also very good, it is free and can develop for
Windows, Xbox, Windows Phone
UDK is good, it is becoming multiplatform
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
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Syllabus
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
Course Bibliography
•  Main Texts
§ Tracy Fullerton. Game Design Workshop,
Second Edition. Morgan Kaufmann 2008.
Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman.
Rules of Play. MIT Press 2003
Jesse Schell. The Art of Game Design
Morgan Kaufmann 2008
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•  Additional material
§ Gamasutra website
§ Course transparencies
§ Pointer to papers, chapters, blogs, videos,
software, etc.
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
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Indie Games Must-Play
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Super Crate Box
http://www.supercratebox.com/
SpaceChem
http://spacechemthegame.com/
Super Meat Boy
http://supermeatboy.com/
Continuity
http://continuitygame.com/
playcontinuity.html
http://continuitygame.com/
Braid
http://www.braid-game.com/
Bit Trip Beat
http://www.aksysgames.com/
bittripbeat/
World of Goo
http://www.worldofgoo.com/
Fotonica
http://www.fotonica-game.com/
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Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
Osmos
http://www.hemispheregames.com/osmos/
vvvvvvv
http://thelettervsixtim.es/
Canabalt
http://www.adamatomic.com/canabalt/
Fract
http://fractgame.com/
Frozen Synapse
http://www.frozensynapse.com/
Revenge of Titans
http://www.puppygames.net/revenge-of-thetitans/
BOH
http://www.bohthegame.com/
Minecraft
http://www.minecraft.net/
Limbo
http://limbogame.org/
Your Homework?
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•  Install STEAM on your computer
http://store.steampowered.com/
•  STEAM is a digital distribution,
digital rights management,
used to distribute games and related media online,
from small independent developers to larger software houses.
•  Install MAME (mamedev.org) and the Super Nintendo Emulator
•  Then, play, play, play, play …
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi
Readings
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•  Chapter two of the textbook
•  Chapter one of the book “The Design of Everyday Things”
•  http://www.indiegames.com/
•  http://www.indievault.com/
•  http://www.igf.com/
Prof. Pier Luca Lanzi