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Concepts in Game Development

Swinburne University of Technology via Open2Study

This course may be unavailable.

Overview

There are lots of different skills that go into game development. This course is about key technical concepts in game development, and has been developed for people of many different backgrounds and skills. Some programming experience would be nice but is not required.

We start by looking at the central role of game design and common development processes used in the industry. You will see how game software can be broken into parts that work together, and in particular the idea of game engines. We’ll explore the relationship between game design, balance and player experience. Lastly we’ll look at enhancing player experience though the use of AI techniques.

What will I learn?
  • Essential game design elements and the role of a game designer
  • Key game development stages and principles of agile game development
  • How games are like magic and real-time systems
  • That programming is made up of simple steps, and how procedure and object oriented programming can help us structure our game code
  • How messages and events are key concepts in games at different levels within game architecture
  • About graphs and other data structures that help represent game worlds and characters
  • How a game design can be described, modelled and implemented as simple game architecture
  • About the emergence of game engines and the relationship of games to other data-driven applications, including concurrent and distributed architectures
  • How to implement games using iterative step-by-step processes, by selecting, implementing and testing
  • That rules are central to games, and that game balance relates to fairness and bias for players
  • How physics can be used to create realistic force-based movement, for individual characters and groups
  • About AI techniques that can add interesting behaviour to game characters, including decision making, action planning and path planning

This course requires approximately 2 - 4 hours of study per week, but can vary depending on the student. This includes watching videos, and taking quizzes and assessments.

If you pass this course you'll receive a Certificate of Achievement. While this certificate isn't a formal qualification or credit, you can use it to demonstrate your interest in learning about this area to potential employers or educational institutions.

Where could this lead me?

If you're wondering what your future could look like in this area, here are some potential careers you could head towards.

  • Games programmer
  • Games developer
  • Software developer
  • Games engineer

Syllabus

MODULE 1: ESSENTIALS OF GAME DESIGN     MODULE 2: MAKING IT HAPPEN     MODULE 3: RULES, MOVEMENT AND INTERACTION     MODULE 4: AI FOR GAMES

Taught by

Dr Clinton Woodward

Reviews

3.7 rating, based on 15 Class Central reviews

Start your review of Concepts in Game Development

  • Dissuality
    Although it is marked as an intermediate course, most of the material could probably be understood by beginner software developers. The first three modules can be done with as much knowledge as while loops, conditional statements and some idea of o…
  • Short, with not much in the way of participation (short quizzes only), but fun, engaging, illuminating and inspiring. I am finding that going on to learn object oriented programming, the concepts I learned in this course make it easier to apply and understand. I enjoyed the lecturer, too.
  • Anonymous
    Pretty solid introduction to game and software design concepts. It doesn't promise to teach any programming, but encourages students to do their own research into this. However, it does point students in the direction of some languages for beginners, such as Python. Delivers exactly what is promised, and we get to see some examples of game concepts in action via short video clips inserted into the related topic.
  • I really enjoyed this course and found it worthwhile. I thought the material was interesting and engaging and I believe the course would be a good jump-off point for someone looking to delve deeper into a more specific area of game design. The course, however, is definitely a brief overview somewhat short on detail and interactivity.
  • Apostolos K.
    Nice, short, course on the topic. Follows the open2study format which at times seems constraining. Discussions are quite dependent on who else is in the course. I am wondering if the course would be a bit better if there were some programming practice involved.
  • Alexander Smith
    Great information on a lot of game design strategies and characteristics that make a game immersive, fun to play and realistic.

    I learned a LOT. Hopefully other people will be as impressed as I was after taking this course. Thanks,everyone!
  • Topics brushed upon only briefly and only in a general introductory sense. I didn't feel as though anything was covered in enough depth for me to actually apply any of it in the future.
  • Shashank Sharma
    The instructor did a great job ! The content and flow was smooth.. Gives insights into various stuff for Game Programming. Would love to take another course by the same instructor
  • Pedro Marques
  • Laurie
  • Anonymous
  • María Laura Gutiérrez Castillo

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