CS 179N : Graphics and Electronic Games
Lecture: Fridays, 01:00 PM - 01:50 PM, Riverside Campus | Winston Chung Hall | Room 138
Instructor:
Tamar Shinar
(shinar@cs.ucr.edu)
Lab: Mondays, 11:00 AM - 01:50 PM, Riverside Campus | SOM EDUCATION I | Room G650
Lab: Wednesdays, 03:00 PM - 05:50 PM, Riverside Campus | Skye Hall | Room 171
TA: Yitong Dai (ydai055@ucr.edu)
We will use Slack for questions and discussion. Please see canvas for Slack info.
Course description
Covers the planning, design, implementation, testing, and documentation of a graphics- or electronic game-related system. Incorporates using techniques presented in previous related courses. Emphasizes professional and ethical responsibilities; the need to stay current on technology; and its global impact on economics, society, and the environment.
Course learning goals
The learning goals for the course are the following:
- Learn to work in a small team to deliver a significant project in a fixed window of time.
- Deepen your knowledge and experience in a specific area of graphics (e.g., rendering, simulation, games).
- Gain awareness of the broader societal impacts of and the issues surrounding electronic games and other computer graphics applications.
- Gain exposure to current state-of-the-art in various areas of computer graphics and electronic games.
Group Project
Students will work in groups of 3-5. Each team will develop an original video game. Teams will submit a proposal, deliver three demos to the TA/instructor throughout the course, and submit a final report and video. Students will complete surveys of team member contributions near the end of the quarter.
Technical Presentation
Each student will deliver a technical presentation to be given during lecture. The technical presentation consist of two parts:
- Presentation (~18 min). Student delivers an original presentation on a technical, economic, or social topics related to games, game development, or their project topic.
- Discussion (~5 min). Each students will write down one question for each presentation on a slip of paper. Students are strongly encouraged (but not required) to ask these questions during this time. These slips will be used to track attendance, and they will also be given to the presenters in anonymized form. While presenters are encouraged to read through the questions, they are not expected to answer them.
Attendance and Etiquette
Attendance at lectures and labs is required and counts for part of your participation grade. One unexcused absence from lecture is permitted without penalty. Otherwise, if you cannot make a lecture or lab, please email the instructors ahead of time explaining why you cannot attend. No recording by students is permitted.
Assessment
You will be assessed on the following:
- (10%) Lecture participation
- (10%) Technical presentation
- (10%) Game review
- (70%) Project
- (5%) Features/Proposal
- (15%) Demo 1 - Lab 4
- (15%) Demo 2 - Lab 7
- (20%) Demo 3 - Lab 10
- (5%) Report and Video
- (10%) Individual Contribution
Academic Integrity
Your group projects are expected to be original. You must clearly document use of all external tools and resources, including software, geometry, assets, etc. You must comply with all licenses and copyright restrictions, and adhere to attribution guidelines. Please familiarize yourself with the campus academic integrity policy which can be found here.