Classroom:	SA515
Class Times:	Thu 18:05-20:55
Course Website:	https://proton.scs.carleton.ca/~jsormany/index.html

In this course, the student will learn how computer games are made, from pitching to distribution and will spend most of his time on technical issues. The course will cover mainly the production pipeline of a game. Through a project, the student will develop an understanding for how to design, create assets, build tools and build a game engine. In addition, the course will discuss how project are sold to clients and approved by them for production.

In the first part of this course, we will present an overview of the computer game industry. Students will be introduced to the different actors of the game industry. We will then study the production process of a game and describe what types of skills are required to produce a large scale game. The following weeks will be dedicated to production pipeline tools. This section will cover the following elements of a pipeline: • 3D Exporter • Game Editor • Source Control o SVN, Perforce, Alienbrain • Model viewer • Integration tools • Testing tools In addition, we will learn how C# is used for producing tools. Students will be introduced to this language and asked to create their own game editor. In the main part of the course, students will team up to work on a game. They will focus on the following aspects of a game engine • Core engine technology • Memory management • XML handling • Graphic Engine (DirectX) • Game Camera • AI Object creation • Input • Sound In addition, the course will also cover some other aspects of game engines such as animation system, networking, UI, physics and multi-threading. At the end of this part of the course, students should be fully aware of how an engine is structured and of the different modules which contribute to create game titles. Finally, practical examples will introduce students to the following good practices • DLL modules • Advance Video Debugging (Pix for Windows) • Memory profiling • Performance profiling • Debugging

This course assumes that students are familiar with C++ programming, object oriented design and basic linear algebra. The students are expected to master concepts such as pointer manipulation, matrix manipulation and singleton creation. Students will need to use Visual Studio to create both C++ and C# applications. (The C# language will be presented throughout the course).

Visual Studio (Most editions)

Students will be evaluated in this course according to the following measures.

Component	Weight	Due Date
Assignment 1	15	October 7
Assignment 2	10	October 14
Mid-Term exam	20	October 22
Assignment 3	10	October 28
Assignment 4	20	November 25
Final Exam	25	T.B.A.

The Final exam is closed book but a single page crib-sheet will be permitted as well as a standard non-programmable calculator.

The penalties for 1 day of lateness is 1% and it is doubling every day. (1 - 2 - 4 - 8 - 16 - 32 - 64 - Don't bother).

The Undergraduate Advisor for the School of Computer Science is available in Room 5302C HP, by telephone at 520-2600, ext. 4364 or by email at undergraduate_advisor@scs.carleton.ca. The undergraduate advisor can assist with information about prerequisites and preclusions, course substitutions/equivalencies, understanding your academic audit and the remaining requirements for graduation. The undergraduate advisor will also refer students to appropriate resources such as the Science Student Success Centre, Learning Support Services and the Writing Tutorial Services.