Programming for Designers (Autumn 2024)

Beyond the designated role of a programmer or a developer, also the other roles in a game development team benefit from a basic understanding of programming. This is particularly true to designers whose ideas need to be not only clear and well communicated but also, eventually, implementable. Understanding the basics of programming offers designers some of the vocabulary needed to communicate with programmers as well as an insight into how programmers work and why they make certain decisions. Moreover, programming as an exciting and empowering tool for creative expression offers new possibilities for designers. It is beneficial that a designer can create their own prototypes and software modifications even without a programmer.

The course addresses these needs by facilitating multiple hands-on exercises together with addressing their theoretical underpinnings. The students will learn the core concepts related to game programming (e.g. game engines, OOP vs. Entity-Component Architecture, game loops, 2D physics) as well as the key features, tools, and structures of modern game engines (e.g. game object composition, scene graphs, shaders, game loops, events). While Unity game engine will be used in class, the concepts are explained in a way that makes them transferable to other contexts. During the course, the various hands-on programming exercises will help the student to build their own portfolio of development projects.