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Kursusbeskrivelse
Kursusnavn (dansk):Spildesign 
Kursusnavn (engelsk):Game Design 
Semester:Efterår 2012 
Udbydes under:cand.it., spil (games) 
Omfang i ECTS:15,00 
Kursussprog:Engelsk 
Kursushjemmeside:https://learnit.itu.dk 
Min. antal deltagere:15 
Forventet antal deltagere:41 
Maks. antal deltagere:80 
Formelle forudsætninger:This is an introductory course, but it is an advantage to be aware of different computer- and video game genres, as well as board games and other non-digital games. A wide knowledge of games is desirable but not required.

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Information about study structure

This course is part of the mandatory modules om Games.
MTG study structure 
Læringsmål:After the course, the student should be able to:

- Conceptualize, prototype, develop and test a digital game.
- Reflect on the relation between game design and interaction design, as well as other design disciplines, and how they can inform the design activity.
- Reflect on the role of the designer in the production of a game, from concept development to testing, with focus on decision making, responsibilities, group-and-schedule management, and creativity.
- Reflect on the relation between design choices and player experiences, as a central element for making innovative and engaging computer games.
- Reflect on their individual contribution to a team-oriented game development process, using the appropriate design terminology and examples.
- Evaluate the originality of a game concept based on design theories and game history.
- Evaluate game concepts through playtesting and usability methods.
- Structure the process from concept development to testing, from board to digital game.
- Practice different concept development methods.
- Practice different usability and playtesting methods.
- Perform basic programming, art, project management and/or design activities, applied to computer game development.
- Perform the basics of sketching, prototyping, iterative design and development methods applied to computer game development. 
Fagligt indhold:The course is centered on the concept development, design, implementation and testing of a computer game prototype, as well as on the critical reflection on the design process and the role of game developers as reflective practitioners.

The game can be anything from a casual game to an Alternative Reality Game, to a Facebook game. The student is free to chose genre, style, platform and technology.

We want to encourage students to create innovative, experimental games. Innovation and experimentation are understood in a broad sense: an experimental game can be defined as any game that uses either the technology, the platform, or the presence of players in a way that challenges game design conventions, explores new expressive means, addresses new mechanics or design types, or introduces input or output devices previously unused in game development. The students will have the help of the course manager in deciding on the appropriateness of a concept for the course.

The course has two areas of relevance:
- Theoretical: this course will explore the relations between game design theory and practice, and design theory and practice. To do so, students will be required to familiarize themselves with a wide selection of texts, ranging from interaction design to usability and industrial design. The goal is for the student to understand how game design as a discipline relates to the design of other media and objects.

- Practical: this course is oriented to the development of critical practice skills, that is, the capacity of creating and reflecting upon what is created. Students will have to develop a game prototype. The prototype will be developed in self-selected groups of no more than 5 people.

Besides the game prototype, students will be asked to create different types of objects, from board games to game concepts, based on key notions explored in the lectures.

The course will give the students:
- A basic understanding of game design and design methodologies, from concept development to user experience testing and evaluation.
- A familiarity with essential game design and design literature.
- The tools for developing reflective practitioner skills, and the capacity to adapt them to different creative contexts.
- The ability to improve a game design based on prototyping and testing on actual users.
- Skills on a number of game development platforms, methods, and tools.

To achieve these goals, the students will have to:
- Read and familiarize themselves with the selected design and game design literature.
- Make balanced development groups, with representation of different skills and goals.
- Create a game prototype, from concept to user testing.

All student groups will be paired with another, to maximize peer-to-peer feedback. 
Læringsaktiviteter:14 ugers undervisning bestående af forelæsninger og øvelser

The course consists of 14 weeks of teaching. Teaching is here understood as a wide array of activities:

- Lectures: lectures are typically given in the first two hours of classes. They are focused on one set of related game design issues. They are typically teacher-centric lectures, but students participation is highly encouraged.

- Practical exercises: exercises are typically conducted in the last 2 hours of class. There are two types: short exercises are performed during the first hour, and discussed and evaluated during the second. Long exercises are often proposed before a weekend, and evaluated the first day of classes afterwards, using two hours. There are also shorter exercises as part of the lectures.

- Seminars: seminars are typically conducted in the last 2 hours of class. Seminars are used to discuss in group clusters of readings from the course pensum. They are student-guided: some students will be leading the discussion, but all students are encouraged to participate.

- Group supervisions: group supervision take place in the last two months of the course, and are focused on direct interaction between the teacher and the groups developing a game, with the goal of providing early feedback on the production. Group supervisions are voluntary.

- External talks: external talks are often one hour long, and given by industry representatives, on topics that are either not addressed in class, or only superficially touched upon, and that are external to the core pensum of the course.

Students are expected to attend lectures and participate in the exercises. Seminars and group supervision are strictly voluntary. 

Eksamensform og -beskrivelse:X. experimental examination form (7-scale; external exam), 7-trins-skala, Intern censur

The course is structured around a mandatory test and a mandatory hand-in. Failure to attend or pass any of these means course failure.

Please notice that even though evaluation is individual, this course is structured around group work. All students must work in a team. Failure to join a team at the beginning of the semester will lead to failing the course. The course manager and teacher assistants will provide help for all students to find a group.

About the mandatory test

On week 43, students will have to pass an oral test based on the readings for the precedent lectures (lectures 0 - 12 - if a lecture was cancelled, the readings for that lecture will not be evaluated in that test). Only the main course readings will be taken into consideration. The list of questions will be made available to students on week 41.
The oral test consists of a 5 minute conversation based on a question from one topic from the course literature. The student is expected to:
- be familiar with all the literature,
- be able to critically engage with the readings,
- be able to address the exam topic using the appropriate literature, as well as the students’ own experience,
- be able to relate the topic to other texts from the course.
The student will be evaluated taking into consideration:
- the critical understanding of the literature,
- the capacity to relate the question to the course contents (literature, exercises)
- the capacity to relate the question to the students' practice as a game designer, in the context of the course.
The week 43 oral exam will account for 30% of the final grade.



Those students who, for approved reasons, have not been able to take this test will have the opportunity to take it again in weeks 47 and 48. Please notice that only medical or serious personal reasons will grant this possibility.


The final exam, which is also the mandatory hand-in consists of a written deliverable to be handed in on December XXX, no later than 15:00 in the examination office. The final deliverable consists of:

- The game developed for the course. The game will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

- It has to have at least 5 levels or equivalent, showing a set of core mechanics identifiable by players.
- The game has to have some skill and challenge progression.
- The game has to be fully playable, with a clear endstate.
- The game has to have exclusively original content. No copyrighted material is allowed.
- The game has to be either:
* a polished clone of an existing game, introducing at least one incremental innovation (eg. an eight-way shooter with cooperative gameplay), or
* an original game based on a unique mechanic, platform, or interaction model (eg. a webcam-controlled cooperative multiplayer game).
- Students will be expected to be able to explain their design decisions with respect to these requirements.

The game has to be accompanied by the formalized results of at least one playtest and one usability test. These documents should include:
* Details on the realization of the tests: how were they planned, how were the testers recruited, when did the tests take place, how were results collected and processed. Max. 800 words.
* All documentation used for/in the test: questionnaires, audio/video files, interview transcripts, gameplay logs, …

- A max. 3000 word individual reflection on the design and development process. This document is evaluated following these criteria:
- The student should identify the different parts of the game development process, as well as her/his role in each of these.
- The student should be able to reflect about her/his participation on each of the development stages, identifying critical situations and how those were addressed.
- The student should use references from the course literature to illustrate her arguments and reflections. This use includes critical readings of the literature as well as the use of the game produced as a case study.

- Technology students have to hand in a 2000 word (not including references) review of Juul, Jesper (2005), Half-Real. Videogames Between Real Rules and Fictional Worlds. The MIT Press. Reviews should follow the Game Studies book review format. Reviews are written individually. The reviews will be evaluated based on:
- the students' critical understanding of the text,
- the ability to relate the text to the contents of the course.

- Analysis and Design students have to submit a basic working digital game, developed individually. A basic digital game can be described as a game that has:
one player-controlled object
one enemy/artificial agent with different states
a score
an intro screen
an endstate screen (win/lose)
one UI element (score/life)
The game should run on a low-end modern computer.
The game can be developed on any language or platform, and has to be able to run on Mac OS, or Windows (XP, Vista or 7), or a browser.
All the code should be original, but the use of libraries is encouraged.
The course manager will provide advice with regards to which programming environments are appropriate for novice developers.
Games are evaluated based on:
- the students' capacity to reach the requirements of the basic game,
- the students' inventiveness in approaching these requirements,
- the students' capacity to write a basic game alone.

The final hand in accounts for 70% of the final grade.

The final grade will be calculated with a publicly available excel sheet.

Students who do not qualify for the final examination will be entitled to re-examination. Re-examination will consist exclusively of a deliverable consisting of:
- a 3000 words essay on one topic chosen from the readings of the first 12 lectures (evaluated with the same criteria as the oral test). Grade weight: 30%
- All the components of the final hand-in (individual reflection, game, review/game depending on track). Grade weight: 70%  

Litteratur udover forskningsartikler:The main books of the course are:
Fullerton, Tracy. Game Design Workshop. A Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games (Gama Network Series). 2nd edition. Morgan Kaufmann, 2008.

Norman, Donald A. The Design of Everyday Things. Basic Books, 2002.

Juul, Jesper. Half-Real. Videogames Between Real Rules and Fictional Worlds. The MIT Press, 2005 (only for T students) 
 
Afholdelse (tid og sted)
Kurset afholdes på følgende tid og sted:
UgedagTidspunktForelæsning/ØvelserStedLokale
Mandag 08.00-09.50 Forelæsning ITU Aud 2, GameLab
Mandag 10.00-11.50 Øvelser ITU Aud 2, GameLab
Torsdag 08.00-09.50 Forelæsning ITU Aud 1, GameLab
Torsdag 10.00-11.50 Øvelser ITU Aud 1, GameLab
Torsdag 12.00-13.50 Forelæsning ITU 2A20

Eksamen afholdes på følgende tid og sted:
EksamensdatoTidspunktEksamenstypeStedLokale
2012-12-17 Tidspunkt oplyses senere Eksamensopgave 1 ITU Lokale oplyses senere