Syllabus

  • Part 1 - Intro
  • Artist’s role in the Game production pipeline Students explore specialized roles and the production lifecycle, from initial Game Design Document (GDD) writing to post-launch maintenance.
  • Part 2 - Game engine as a creative studio
  • Navigating game engine architecture Introduces the “Director’s View” via scene-graph paradigms and entity-component systems to organize visual data without deep coding.
  • The digital asset lifecycle Covers the technical journey of 3D models and textures into the engine using industry-standard formats like glTF and OpenUSD.
  • Visual logic for non-programmers Introduces visual scripting and event-driven systems to implement gameplay logic and interactive triggers without traditional programming.
  • Part 3 - Building Immersive Worlds
  • Real-Time Lighting and Atmosphere Focuses on using shaders and global illumination to set the mood while staying within the engine’s technical performance budgets.
  • Special Effects (VFX) for Artists Covers the creation of particle systems and volumetric effects to add visual details to the environment.
  • Character Life and Motion Students implement animation blending and state machines to create fluid, responsive character movement.
  • Procedural Generation Explores algorithms like Wave Function Collapse to automatically generate vast, complex environments and ecosystems.
  • Part 4 - Interaction and Player Experience
  • Narrative Design and Branching Stories Teaches the craft of dynamic storytelling where player choices influence the narrative and visual outcome.
  • UI/UX for Games Focuses on designing intuitive HUDs and menus that prioritize player accessibility and immersion.
  • Sound and Music Integration Covers 3D audio spatialization and how to link sound components to in-game events for sensory feedback.
  • Part 5 - Building the portfolio
  • Team Workflows and Version Control Introduces industry-standard collaboration tools like TeamGantt to manage multidisciplinary asset pipelines effectively.
  • Final project presentations
  • The course concludes with a showcase of a polished Vertical Slice, acting as a representative segment of the game used to demonstrate technical and creative proficiency to industry partners.

Readings

  • Schell, J. (2008). The Art of Game Design: A book of lenses. CRC press.
  • McGonigal, J. (2011). Reality is broken: Why games make us better and how they can change the world. Penguin.
  • Koster, R. (2013). Theory of fun for game design. " O’Reilly Media, Inc. .
  • Fullerton, T. (2024). Game design workshop: a playcentric approach to creating innovative games. AK Peters/CrC Press.
  • Johnson, Jeff. Godot 4 Game Development Cookbook: Over 50 solid recipes for building high-quality 2D and 3D games with improved performance. Packt Publishing Ltd, 2023. GDC Vault - Leading Educational Resource for the Game Developer Community - https://gdcvault.com/

Objectives and Competences

  • The aim of the course is for students to learn to independently plan and manage complex development processes in the field of video games, where it is necessary to effectively connect the artistic vision with technical solutions within game drives.

Competencies:

  • Ability to design and implement your own interactive content or vertical cross-section. Vertical Slice) in the modern game engine
  • the ability to coordinate and collaborate in multidisciplinary groups that combine programmatic, artistic and design aspects
  • Ability to critically analyze and optimize interactive experiences by balancing technical constraints and artistic goals

Intended Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and understanding:

  • The student knows the entire production cycle of game development from the initial plan to the working prototype, and understands the architectural principles that drive visual systems in real time.

Application:

  • The student learns to use the technical knowledge from the Concepts I courses to create visually and technically refined interactive elements using game engines.

Reflection:

  • The student has a better understanding of the impact of technological choices and optimization on the final user experience and is able to critically evaluate user feedback to improve their artistic idea.