The course material will be delivered by a mixture of traditional lectures and laboratory based lectures where learners will complete a series of incremental practical exercises towards building a game prototype. Towards the end of the semester, the students will work fulltime on a two week minor project that is undertaken in conjunction with the other second year course modules.
Module Aim:
Upon completion of this module, learners should be able to explain the main components of a game engine and use external libraries to implement a 2D game.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module the learner should be able to:
LO1
Use a game library API to develop properly architected short game prototypes.
LO2
Implement design patterns that are applicable to interactive applications.
LO3
Work as a member of a development team and use a version control system to manage source code in a team project.
Pre-requisite learning
Module Recommendations
This is prior learning (or a practical skill) that is recommended before enrolment in this module.
No recommendations listed
Incompatible Modules
These are modules which have learning outcomes that are too similar to the learning outcomes of this module.
No incompatible modules listed
Co-requisite Modules
No Co-requisite modules listed
Requirements
This is prior learning (or a practical skill) that is mandatory before enrolment in this module is allowed.
Successful completion of year 1 or equivalent
Module Content & Assessment
Indicative Content
2D Fundamentals
The game loop, event loop and timers. Textures, sprites, basic sprite tranformations.
Data serialization formats
Representing game data using data serialization formats. Using a parsing library to implement a level loader.
Input management
Handling player input.
Collisions management
Collision detection and response.
Steering behaviours
NPC navigation with collision avoidance.
Game states
Implementing game states and a HUD system.
Game design patterns
Implementing a common game design pattern, for example object pool pattern.
Version control systems
Committing, checking out, branching and merging.
Assessment Breakdown
%
Project
50.00%
Practical
50.00%
No Continuous Assessment
Project
Assessment Type
Assessment Description
Outcome addressed
% of total
Assessment Date
Project
Use a game library API to develop a short game prototype.
1
25.00
Sem 1 End
Project
Students will work as part of a team to create a playable game given a prescribed theme and gameplay specification. The assessment is staged horizontally across all 5 modules of this semester. This will be a studio style project, where teams work full time (without classes) over a period of two weeks.
1,2,3
25.00
Week 11
Practical
Assessment Type
Assessment Description
Outcome addressed
% of total
Assessment Date
Practical/Skills Evaluation
Participation in and completion of practical work. Students will work in-class on a series of practical exercises distributed over the second semester.
1,2
50.00
n/a
No End of Module Formal Examination
SETU Carlow Campus reserves the right to alter the nature and timings of assessment