Catalog

Creating Video Games

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science MIT CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 26 lectures

CMS.611J / 6.073 Creating Video Games is a class that introduces students to the complexities of working in small, multidisciplinary teams to develop video games. Students will learn creative design and production methods, working together in small teams to design, develop, and thoroughly test their own original digital games. Design iteration across all aspects of video game development (game design, audio design, visual aesthetics, fiction and programming) will be stressed. Students will also be required to focus test their games, and will need to support and challenge their game design decisions with appropriate focus testing and data analysis.

Syllabus

  1. 1 Session 1: Introduction; Guest Pablo Suarez (Red Cross/Red Crescent Climate Center); Game Engines; Meaningful Decisions in Games
  2. 2 Session 2: Project 1; Brainstorming and Low-Fidelity Prototyping
  3. 3 Session 3: Revision Control; Game Engines; Vision Statement
  4. 4 Session 4: Project 2 Intro; Project 2 Elevator Pitches; Digital Prototypes; Project 2 Team Choice
  5. 5 Session 5: Agile Software Development
  6. 6 Session 6: Agile Project Management
  7. 7 Session 7: Quality Assurance; Playtesting by Genevieve Conley (Riot Games); Focus Testing Results
  8. 8 Session 8: Project 2 Presentations; Project 3; Digital Prototype with User Interference
  9. 9 Session 9: Guest Lecture – Hidetaka “SWERY” Suehiro (Access Games)
  10. 10 Session 10: Project 3 Check-In; UI and Usability
  11. 11 Session 11: Game Development and Best Practices by Tim Cowan (EA Games)
  12. 12 Session 12: Project 3 Presentations; Project 4 Topics by Guest Pablo Suarez (Red Cross/Red Crescent Climate Center); Project 4 Brainstorming
  13. 13 Session 13: Project 4 Planning and Team Formation; Serious Games
  14. 14 Session 14: Aesthetics
  15. 15 Session 15: Freedoms of Play by Scot Osterweil (MIT Game Lab); Project 4 Playtesting; Project 4 Status Report
  16. 16 Session 16: Team Dynamics
  17. 17 Session 17: Working with Artists by Luigi Guatieri
  18. 18 Session 18: Fiction and Narrative in Video Games
  19. 19 Session 19: Working with Sound Designers by Richard Ludlow and Andy Forsberg (Hexany Audio)
  20. 20 Session 20: Writing in Games by Heather Albano and Laura Baldwin
  21. 21 Session 22: Project 4 Check-in Presentations; Scope
  22. 22 Session 23: Project 4 Feedback; Team Discussions
  23. 23 Session 24: Running a Game Studio (Guest Lecture by Michael Carriere and Jenna Hoffstein)
  24. 24 Session 25: Getting Players to Play Your Game by Sean Baptiste (Fire Hose Games)
  25. 25 Session 26: Final Presentation Rehearsal
  26. 26 Session 27: Final Presentations

Course materials