1. ART 485 / CMSC 493
Game Project Class

2. Introduction Game programming experience Team development Adversity
Cancelled projects, reassignment
Success
Demo for professional game developers

3. Who am I? Marc Olano BS EE, University of Illinois
Plus Visualization, Theatre Lighting Design
PhD CS, University of North Carolina
First graphics hardware shading
Normal maps, Some ideas used on GPUs
4 years Silicon Graphics
Cramming shading into non-programmable hardware
Here since 2002
Sabbatical at Firaxis Games (Civilization V), Epic Games (UE4)
Work w/ 2K, Activision, Big Huge, Treyarch, Oxide

4. “In the beginning” This class in 2009 Gamebryo + WWise + Scaleform
AAA tools, AAA complexity
Gamebryo + WWise + Scaleform
All used in some real AAA games
All poorly documented, steep learning curve
1 person-month to integrate Scaleform & Gamebryo
Legal encumbrance

5. “Riding the pendulum” This class in 2010
Tiny teams, Tiny 2D games
Some awesome, some less awesome
Maybe too tiny…
Little programming complexity
I’ve seen High School students do better
OK, so they were Imagine Cup finalist HS students

6. The Goldilocks Version?
Survival of the fittest
Just like the real world :)
Best ideas get 2-3 person 2-week prototype
Best prototypes get 5-8 person team
6 weeks development
2 weeks to refine it
2 weeks to make it bulletproof
Industry demo

7. Cool Toys One project should use our 3D scanner
Creates 3D models and textures of objects & people from 94-camera rig
One project should use PI2
6x4 grid of Stereo HD displays with tracking
Crazy high-res VR (11520 x 4320)
11520 x 4320 anything!

8. How to Pitch Look at rubric, due midnight SUNDAY
Create five slide pitch in Google Docs
Share it with me
I will merge into one mondo presentation
3 minute presentations
Over 3 minutes = -10% (practice!)
+1 minute question(s)

9. Your Pitch Slide 1: Elevator pitch Slide 2: Demographics
2 sentences, 10 seconds
Slide 2: Demographics
Who is your target player, why will they like it?
Similar games that succeeded
Slide 3: Mechanic
What do your players do? Why is that fun?
Slide 4: Technical
Time and resources
Slide 5: Style
What will the game look like? (possible screen mock-up)
What is the artistic style? (images from other games or artists)

10. Considerations Can this game be finished in a semester?
Does something about it stand out
Artistic style
Unique or unusual tech
Theme or gameplay
Will it enhance your portfolio?

11. Unity3D / Unreal Engine In the lab:
Unreal (not installed, will be soon)
I’ll select the tool I think will work best for you
Unless you have a compelling reason to use something else
And can convince me

12. Ethics You can use external toolkits and code
If you have the rights
And you credit them
But you need to make your own game
The design must be yours
The art must be yours
The core game code must be yours

13. Grading Personal Team 10% Pitch 10% Portfolio & Site
Due Sunday
10% Portfolio & Site
Due 5/2
20% Perf. & Attendance
All semester
Your teammates are depending on you!
No text, no final = you must attend
10% Prototype
Due 2/19
5% URCAD
Draft 2/19, Final 2/22
Attend 4/24
35% Sprints
Every two weeks
10% Final demo
Schedule in finals week