Computer Games Theory and Practice 2007

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General Link: selectparks.net

3D Game Engines
Tom Betts/[nullpointer] qqq (Quake mod)

jodi untitled game (Quake mod)

Brody Condon Adam Killer (Half-Life mod) Video

Intervention / Political
Simcopter hack

Under Ash

Bush Game

Velvet Strike

Escape from Woomera / Video of Game / Video of Reality

Waco Resurrection

Night of Bush Capturing

Newsgaming

Independent / Art Games
Ocular Ink

N

Facade

Cloud / Video

Machinima
World of Warcraft

The Sims

Game Engines

http://www.mcvideogame.com/

- Grammar and slang in blog postings.

- Check in on games for mid-term presentations. Review themes. Presentations are on Monday 10/22 and Wednesday 10/24. See separate posts for order of presentations.

- For Wednesday, blog an idea for a serious game

- Andy: introduction to some serious games
* Resources: seriousgamessummit.com, seriousgamesresource.com
* America's Army
* Cultural Language and Culture Training System
* Re-Mission
* Whyville.net
* Torcs - mechanical engineering education
* Food Force
* Rawanda game (BBC segment)
* Burger King - Advergaming - Sneak King for XBox 360
* Product Placement - Massive, Inc.
* Peacemaker
* A Force More Powerful

- Class plays A Force More Powerful

TOTAL 15 MINUTES = 10 MINUTE PRESENTATIONS + 5 MINUTE QUESTIONS
4 PEOPLE BEFORE THE BREAK AND 4 AFTER THE BREAK ON EACH DAY.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 22
Marc Arthur
Boah Balmer
Christopher Chambers
Ashley Labelle
Makode Linde
Sandra Lopez
Cavlin McDermott
Michelled Mucker

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 24
Ed Ng
Anh Nguyen
Huong Nguyen
Reynaldo Raquel
Thomas Speicher
Timo Sutton
Megan Vrolijk
Emily Wagner

GRADING = 1/3 RESEARCH + 1/3 VISUAL IMAGERY + 1/3 PERFORMANCE IN CLASS

YOU ARE 100% RESPONSIBLE FOR MAKING SURE IN ADVANCE THAT YOUR PRESENTATION WORKS TECHNICALLY. FOR EXAMPLE IF YOU ARE USING YOUR OWN LAPTOP YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR CHECKING IT WORKS WITH THE CLASSROOM EQUIPMENT. I STRONGLY SUGGEST YOU CHECK IT OUT BEFORE HAND.

IT WILL NOT BE POSSIBLE TO LOAD ANY GAMES ONTO THE CLASSROOM COMPUTERS. YOU MUST SHOWN THEM ON YOUR OWN LAPTOP OR CONSOLE.

THE AIMS OF THE PRESENTATION ARE TO EXPLAIN TO THE CLASS THE STRUCTURE OF THE GAME AND HOW IT IS PLAYED, AND TO RELATE THE GAME TO THE WORLD OUTSIDE OF THE GAME. THIS REQUIRES THAT YOU ADDRESS IN DETAIL AT LEAST ONE OF THE THEMES ON THE CLASS BLOG IN ADDITION TO YOUR PERSONAL EXPERIENCES WITH THE GAME.

YOU WILL RECEIVE A POOR GRADE IF YOU JUST SHOW THE GAME WITHOUT ANY DETAILED ANALYSIS OR INTERPRETATION.

http://www.mapmsg.com/games/statetris/usa/

http://designersnotebook.com/Columns/047_The_Role_of_Architecture/body_047_the_role_of_architecture.htm

12pm - 12:30pm Discuss ideas for "serious games".

12:30pm - 1:30pm Continue playing A Force More Powerful and blog at least one improvement you would make to the game. Include at least one screenshot, preferably an image which illustrates the part you would change. When you're done, take a break.

[For screenshot press the Print Sceen key, open Photoshop > File > New > Click OK (a new file is automatically created of the correct size) > Edit > Paste. Then resize to max 480 pixels wide unless you're going to have the image appear in a popup window on your blog. File > Save for Web, once you're done. ]

2pm - 3pm Watch X-Play one hour special on the Tokyo Games Show ,07.

The turn-based strategy game A Force More Powerful (AFMP) has a great aim - the teaching of nonviolent resolutions to political problems - but after playing the game I desperately wanted to shoot something with a high powered weapon. Described as a "unique collaboration of experts", the game has the look and feel of a horse designed by a committee.

The list of problems with the game is endless - from a poor interface, excessive text, confusing game play, gratuitous 3D scenes with no interactivity, and mind boggling complex scenarios that make you want to fire up Half Life and frag some head crabs.

If one of the ideas of the game is to make one feel completely exasperated and depressed at the process of nonviolent resolution, then I award it 5 stars. In the hands of a gaming genius such as Sid Meier or WIll Wright the game could have been great, but as it is it stands as an example of how difficult it is to make a good game even if you have a good theme.

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.04/learn.html

- Discuss A Force More Powerful blogs

- Play! Adventure / King's Quest / Zelda

- Read for Wednesday: Cybertext: Perspectives on Ergodic Literature: Introduction: Ergodic Literature.

- No Show and Tell, instead blog your understanding of "ergodic literature" and relate it to one of the narrative games played in class.

http://www.twcdc.com/games/2006/10/class_wednesday_october_18.html

Italo Calvino - If on a Winter's Night A Traveler
half in the 2nd person plus the first chapters of many different novels

Ryamond Queneau - Cent mille milliards de poèmes
10 sonnets, 14 lines per sonnet gives 10exp14 (100,000,000,000,000) possible sonnets

Adventure

Michael Joyce - Afternoon, hypertext created using Storyspace
A game of narrative?

Stuart Malthrop - Hegirascope
A false sense of interactivity?

Is "interactive fiction" just about clicking until you've learnt the rules of the game?

I will submit mid term AT and UP grades Weds 10/24.

In addition, I will email each of you with an assessment of your performance. This will include a hypothetical letter grade based on your completion of the assignments to date. The idea is to give you an idea of where you stand at mid term. I will email these grades at the end of the week, based on work you have completed by end of day Thursday.

The assignments are included on the blog and in the curriculum. For your convenience, they are listed here with the approximate percentage contriubtion to the final grade.

- Read "Games the Extensions of Man" and blog summary and/or comments. 4%

- Read "Abstraction in the Video Game" and blog applicability to a classic game. 4%

- At least 2 blogs on game culture. Total 4%

- Blog response to Half Life 2 with screenshots. 2%

- Blog on "War and Video Games". 4%

- Blog on A Force More Powerful with screenshots. 2%

- Blog on "Cybertext". 4%

- Mid Term Presentation. 20%

Total 44% of assignments have been completed. The remaining assignments are 3D Game Studio exercises for 20%, a final project for 20%, and responses to readings and blogs about another 16%.

NOTE: if you have blogged more than the above, you will recieve extra credit. It is therefore theoretically possible to achieve greater than 100% in this class!

The mid term grades will take account of all unexcused absences and lateness as detailed in the Class Expectations and Grading.

Please do not hesitate to post a comment on this post or to email me if you have any questions.

Link to blog posting with the original presentation schedule:
http://www.twcdc.com/games2007/2007/10/mid_term_presentation_schedule.html

REVISED SCHEDULE IS:
Monday
March Arthur
Christopher Chambers / Anh Nguyen (up to 20 minutes)
Ahsley LaBelle
Sandra Lopez
Michelle Mucker

Wednesday
Cavlin McDermott
Ed Ng
Huong Nguyen
Reynaldo Raquel
Thomas Speicher
Timo Sutton
Megan Vrolijk
Emily Wagner

TOTAL 15 MINUTES = 10 MINUTE PRESENTATIONS + 5 MINUTE QUESTIONS

Makode Linde is away and will present on his return.

Play Indigo Prophecy.

During class blog a review of the game which is to include at least the following:

- a general description of the game
- a discussion of the likely difference between playing this story, or reading it in a book or seeing a movie of it. You might want to reference Espen Aaseth's idea of ergodic literature
- a discussion of the game in relation to at least two of its ancestors (for example, Adventure, King's Quest I, Zelda)
- at least two properly sized screenshots (either max of 480 pixels wide or bigger in a popup window)

It's up to you how you approach this. You cold play the game solidly for two hours then spend an hour writing about it. Or, you could write about it as you play it. Either way, I suggest you make some notes as you play.

- Mid Term Presentation Debrief and (belated) Powerpoint tips
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLpjrHzgSRM&mode=related&search=

- Halloween video game feature film (TBA - Tron? Stay ALive? Resident Evil?)