Course Coordinator:Justin Carter (jcarter3@usc.edu.au) School:School of Business and Creative Industries
UniSC Sunshine Coast |
Blended learning | Most of your course is on campus but you may be able to do some components of this course online. |
Online |
Online | You can do this course without coming onto campus. |
Please go to usc.edu.au for up to date information on the
teaching sessions and campuses where this course is usually offered.
This course extends on the advanced skills and expertise of games programming acquired in SGD40. This course examines the theoretical concepts of gameplay programming through the lens of experimental practice. In response to a theme, you will work individually to develop unique ways of interacting with gamespaces by rapidly prototyping a series of game ideas. Through focused experimentation, you will employ creative programming solutions that provide unique gameplay experiences in a variety of contexts and genres. Researching and applying theoretical design concepts in your approach, you will reflect on and critique your design solutions.
Activity | Hours | Beginning Week | Frequency |
Blended learning | |||
Lecture – 1 hour online lecture content for 12 weeks (or equivalent). | 1hr | Week 1 | 12 times |
Laboratory 1 – On campus laboratory for 12 weeks (or equivalent). | 2hrs | Week 2 | 12 times |
Online | |||
Online – 3 hours online content for 12 weeks (or equivalent). | 3hrs | Week 1 | 12 times |
The experimental mindset
Creativity and gameplay programming
Experimental practice and agile production
Strategies for rapid prototyping
Problem-solving through experimentation
Exploring gameplay mechanics and spaces
Advanced gameplay systems and logic
300 Level (Graduate)
12 units
Course Learning Outcomes On successful completion of this course, you should be able to... | Graduate Qualities Completing these tasks successfully will contribute to you becoming... | |
1 | Design, research, and develop game components for distribution. | Engaged |
2 | Apply technical skills and frameworks to contribute to the development of games. | Creative and critical thinker |
3 | Communicate and implement knowledge of a programming speciality and justify its value and contribution to the game development process. | Knowledgeable |
4 | Reflect, evaluate, and justify your ability to close knowledge, skill and technology gaps in a self-directed manner. | Empowered |
Refer to the UniSC Glossary of terms for definitions of “pre-requisites, co-requisites and anti-requisites”.
SGD240
Not applicable
Not applicable
Nil
Standard Grading (GRD)
High Distinction (HD), Distinction (DN), Credit (CR), Pass (PS), Fail (FL). |
The course material is structured in a way that students are progressively working towards their assessment pieces as part of a programming team. The collaborative nature of this process will ensure consistent facilitation and feedback through the learning process.
Delivery mode | Task No. | Assessment Product | Individual or Group | Weighting % | What is the duration / length? | When should I submit? | Where should I submit it? |
All | 1 | Oral and Written Piece | Individual | 30% | 5 Work Summary Presentations + Code Documentation |
Week 9 | In Class |
All | 2 | Artefact - Technical and Scientific, and Written Piece | Individual | 40% | Code Contributions + Critical Self Reflection (2500 word equivalent) |
Week 11 | Online Assignment Submission with plagiarism check |
All | 3 | Artefact - Technical and Scientific, and Written Piece | Individual | 30% | Published Portfolio Piece |
Week 13 | Online Submission |
All - Assessment Task 1:Work Summary Presentations and Code Documentation | ||||||||||||||||
Goal: | The goal of this task is to learn and rehearse professional communication skills in a games programming setting through weekly SCRUM meetings undertaken by the team |
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Product: | Oral and Written Piece | |||||||||||||||
Format: | Rehearse professional games programming communication skills in weekly work summary presentations, where you will communicate with the rest of the team about what, why and how you solved in your programming challenges during the last week. You will be marked on your ability to communicate comprehensively and succinctly. You will also be marked on the quality of your code documentation and your professional programming practices such as task tracking and source control usage. Formative feedback provided weeks 1-4 after each presentation. Feedback provided weeks 5-9 after each presentation. |
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Criteria: |
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Generic Skills: |
All - Assessment Task 2:Code Contributions and Critical Self Reflection | ||||||||||||||||
Goal: | The goal of this task is to rehearse professional games programming practices by developing game components as part of game development team. |
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Product: | Artefact - Technical and Scientific, and Written Piece | |||||||||||||||
Format: | Working consistently throughout the semester, you should be assigning yourself to and delivering on games programming tasks as outlined in the team backlog. It is expected that you commit to and deliver on a certain number of game components through the semester. Consistently perform critical reflection on your teamwork and programming skills in a written format such as blog, markdown or website. (2500 words). Formative feedback given weekly during weeks 1-9. |
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Criteria: |
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Generic Skills: |
All - Assessment Task 3:Published Portfolio Piece | |||||||||||||
Goal: | The goal of this task is to have a working portfolio piece ready for when you finish in the program. |
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Product: | Artefact - Technical and Scientific, and Written Piece | ||||||||||||
Format: | Complete a game prototype which includes all your contributed game components. Credits to all other contributors must be included. Game prototype must be published to a public location. Associated text with the published prototype must include credits and a description of your contribution to the project. |
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Criteria: |
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Generic Skills: |
A 12-unit course will have total of 150 learning hours which will include directed study hours (including online if required), self-directed learning and completion of assessable tasks. Student workload is calculated at 12.5 learning hours per one unit.
Please note: Course information, including specific information of recommended readings, learning activities, resources, weekly readings, etc. are available on the course Canvas site– Please log in as soon as possible.
Nil
Academic integrity is the ethical standard of university participation. It ensures that students graduate as a result of proving they are competent in their discipline. This is integral in maintaining the value of academic qualifications. Each industry has expectations and standards of the skills and knowledge within that discipline and these are reflected in assessment.
Academic integrity means that you do not engage in any activity that is considered to be academic fraud; including plagiarism, collusion or outsourcing any part of any assessment item to any other person. You are expected to be honest and ethical by completing all work yourself and indicating in your work which ideas and information were developed by you and which were taken from others. You cannot provide your assessment work to others. You are also expected to provide evidence of wide and critical reading, usually by using appropriate academic references.
In order to minimise incidents of academic fraud, this course may require that some of its assessment tasks, when submitted to Canvas, are electronically checked through Turnitin. This software allows for text comparisons to be made between your submitted assessment item and all other work to which Turnitin has access.
Your eligibility for supplementary assessment in a course is dependent of the following conditions applying: The final mark is in the percentage range 47% to 49.4% The course is graded using the Standard Grading scale You have not failed an assessment task in the course due to academic misconduct.
To request an extension you must contact your course coordinator to negotiate an outcome. Late submission of assessment tasks may be penalised at the following maximum rate: - 5% (of the assessment task's identified value) for the first day (e.g. a task worth 10 marks would attract a 0.5 mark penalty) - 10% (of the assessment task's identified value) for the second day (e.g. a task worth 10 marks would attract a 1 mark penalty) - 20% (of the assessment task's identified value) for the third day (e.g. a task worth 10 marks would attract a 2 mark penalty) - 40% (of the assessment task's identified value) for the fourth day (e.g. a task worth 10 marks would attract a 4 mark penalty) - 60% (of the assessment task's identified value) for the fifth day (e.g. a task worth 10 marks would attract a 6 mark penalty) - 80% (of the assessment task's identified value) for the sixth day (e.g. a task worth 10 marks would attract a 8 mark penalty) - A result of zero is awarded for an assessment task submitted after seven days from the date identified as the due date for the assessment task. Weekdays and weekends are included in the calculation of days late. At the course coordinator's discretion and in consultation with the student, assessment tasks submitted after the fourth day may be marked but will receive a maximum mark of 50% of the assessment task's value. Minimal feedback will be given
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