We will work together this semester to create an original educational video game in collaboration with The Indianapolis Children's Museum. This will require an immersion in game design, educational theory, and software production in a collaborative environment: you will play to your strengths while also stretching your boundaries.
Creating an original video game in fifteen weeks is ambitious, to say the least. You are expected to commit 18 hours of effort per week to the project, the majority of which will be in our dedicated studio space, RB368. Our minimum whole-team meeting times will be MWF at 9AM, and early in the semester we will identify other ideal times for collocated work.
The semester is expected to proceed in three phases. First is a pre-production phase during which we study the fundamentals of game design and educational theory. This is expected to last two to three weeks. The majority of the semester is the second phase—production—during which we build our game in an incremental and iterative approach. The very end of the semester, after our game ships, we will turn the third phase: a reflection on the fifteen weeks we spent together.
As an academic experience, our inquiry will be guided be these essential questions:
The Seven Properties of Highly Successful Projects guide our interactions this semester, regardless of the methodological details we agree upon. In summary, these are:
You, the students, will have a significant voice in the structure of the semester. The evaluation plan below assumes that we follow my recommended format. We will collaboratively adjust the evaluation plan in case a different structure is used.
There are expected to be six evaluation periods: at the end of the pre-production phase; at the end of each of four anticipated production iterations; and during the final, post-production phase. During each evaluation period, I will provide a brief written evaluation of your participation and award from zero to three points following my triage grading rubric. You will also have the opportunity during each evaluation period to write a personal reflection essay, addressing one of the essential questions that frames our academic inquiry. The essays need to be submitted through Blackboard, and you are welcome to share them with the studio if you desire.Of course, the time spent on these essays contributes to your obligations for the week, and so you should budget your time accordingly.
If you are a Computer Science major earning CS315 or CS345 credit, at least three of these essays must correspond to themes of game programming or human-computer interaction, respectively. If you are earning credit in both courses, that means three on each theme. Feel free to consult with me before writing to ensure that your topic is appropriately framed within the relevant context.
Your final grade will be determined according to the following table:
| Letter Grade | Minimum Reflection Points | Minimum Participation Points |
|---|---|---|
| F | 0 | 0 |
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