| Instructors: | Dan Frost | frost@uci.edu | office hours Mondays, 11:00 - 12:00 in CS 406A |
| Peter Krapp | krapp@uci.edu | office hours Mondays, 11:00 - 12:00 in HIB 212 | |
| Bill Tomlinson | wmt@uci.edu | office hours Wednesdays, 3:00 - 4:00 in Calit2 3100 (please knock loudly) | |
| TAs: | Garnet Hertz | ghertz@uci.edu | office hours Tuesdays, 3:00 - 5:00 in Calit2 4300.82 |
| Jeff Ridenour | jridenou@uci.edu | office hours Thursdays, 3:00 - 5:00 in CS 183 or by appointment | |
| Lectures: | WF 11:00-12:20 | Social Ecology II, Room 1304 | |
| Discussions and Labs: | Tu, Th 10:00-10:50 | HH 251, CS 183 | |
| Tu, Th 11:00-11:50 | HH 251, CS 183 | ||
| Tu, Th 1:00-1:50 | HH 251, CS 183 | ||
| Tu, Th 2:00-2:50 | HH 251, CS 183 |
US 12B is part of UCI's First-Year Integrated Program. This course is the second in the three-part University Studies 12 sequence in the first-year integrated program. The prerequisite for enrollment in this course is successful completion of University Studies 12A. Throughout the year we'll be investigating computer games as artistic, cultural, and technological phenomena. An important theme of this course is collaboration. All but the simplest computer games are created by more than one person, and when we study a computer game we participate in a dialog of sorts that includes the creators of the game, other players, society at large, and ourselves. We want to promote a collaborative spirit throughout the course, while being cognizant, of course, of the need for each student to master the material individually and to received a grade based on his or her own performance. At the conclusion of US 12ABC, you will be able to:
This course is the second in the three-part University Studies 12 sequence. The prerequisite for enrollment in this course is successful completion of University Studies 12A. Because US 12ABC satisfies part of your lower-division writing requirement, in each quarter you will be writing research-based, college-level papers. You will learn to:
Subject to change:
| Wk | Date | Topic | Who | Readings Due | Assignment / Notes | |
| 0 | Fri, Jan 5 | Intro to 3D worlds | Bill | |||
| 1 | Tue, Jan 9 | Discussion | Garnet | 1. Postmortem: Wideload Games'
Stubbs the Zombie, at:
http://gamasutra.com/features /20060811/seropian_01.shtml 2. Go to Gamasutra's index of Postmortem articles at: http://www.gamasutra.com/php -bin/article_display.php ?category=5 Select an article, either about a game you've played or one that sounds interesting. Read the Postmortem article, take notes, and be prepared to discuss it in discussion on Tuesday (Jan. 9) and in lecture on Wednesday. |
Discussion notes can be found at http://www.conceptlab.com/uci/us12b/ | |
| 1 | Wed, Jan 10 | Software engineering | Dan | |||
| 1 | Thu, Jan 11 | Lab | Jeff | Lab 1 available here. | ||
| 1 | Fri, Jan 12 | HCI | Dan | |||
| 2 | Tue, Jan 16 | Discussion | Garnet | Discussion notes can be found at http://www.conceptlab.com/uci/us12b/ | ||
| 2 | Wed, Jan 17 | 3D animation I: modeling geometry | Bill | http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2006 /06/_and_he_rezzed_.html |
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| 2 | Thu, Jan 18 | Lab | Jeff | Lab 2 available here. | ||
| 2 | Fri, Jan 19 | Q/A | Dan | None | ||
| 3 | Tue, Jan 23 | Discussion | Garnet | Discussion notes can be found at http://www.conceptlab.com/uci/us12b/ | ||
| 3 | Wed, Jan 24 | Music & digital audio I | Jeff | |||
| 3 | Thu, Jan 25 | Lab | Jeff | Lab 3 available here. | ||
| 3 | Fri, Jan 26 | Art practice & games | Peter | Ernest W. Adams, Will Computer Games Ever Be A Legitimate Art Form? (Game Developer's Conference 2001) & Henry Jenkins, An Art Form for the Digital Age, Technology Review (Sept.-Oct. 2000) |
Essay assignment available here. | |
| 4 | Tue, Jan 30 | Discussion | Jeff | Discussion notes can be found at http://www.conceptlab.com/uci/us12b/ | ||
| 4 | Wed, Jan 31 | Art practice & games | Robert N. | |||
| 4 | Thu, Feb 1 | Lab | Jeff | Lab 4 available here. | ||
| 4 | Fri, Feb 2 | Art practice & games | Robert N. | |||
| 5 | Tue, Feb 6 | Discussion | Garnet | Discussion notes can be found at http://www.conceptlab.com/uci/us12b/ | ||
| 5 | Wed, Feb 7 | Art Practice & games | Garnet | Perverting Technological Correctness, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Leonardo, Vol. 29, No. 1. (1996), pp. 5-15. (link must be accessed from an on-campus computer) | Essay draft due. | |
| 5 | Thu, Feb 8 | Lab | Jeff | Lab 5 available here. | ||
| 5 | Fri, Feb 9 | Midterm | ||||
| 6 | Tue, Feb 13 | Discussion | Garnet | Discussion notes can be found at http://www.conceptlab.com/uci/us12b/ | ||
| 6 | Wed, Feb 14 | Net & Web | Peter | Chip Morningstar and F. Randall Farmer, The Lessons of Lucasfilm's Habitat, Cyberspace: First Steps, ed. Michael Benedikt. MIT 1991 Press | ||
| 6 | Thu, Feb 15 | Lab | Jeff | Lab 6 available here. | ||
| 6 | Fri, Feb 16 | Internet, WWW | Dan | TBA | ||
| 7 | Tue, Feb 20 | Discussion | Garnet | Discussion notes can be found at http://www.conceptlab.com/uci/us12b/ | ||
| 7 | Wed, Feb 21 | 3D animation II: character animation | Bill |
http://www.siggraph.org/education/ materials/HyperGraph/animation/ character_animation/walking/ learning_to_walk.htm |
Essay draft returned. | |
| 7 | Thu, Feb 22 | Lab | Jeff | Lab 7 available here. | ||
| 7 | Fri, Feb 23 | Military Simulations | Peter | Mark Prensky, True Believers: Digital Game-Based Learning in the Military, Digital Game-Based Learning. New York: McGraw-Hill 2004, ch. 10 | ||
| 8 | Tue, Feb 27 | Discussion | Garnet | Discussion notes can be found at http://www.conceptlab.com/uci/us12b/ | ||
| 8 | Wed, Feb 28 | Game Politics | Peter | Kevin Parker, "Free Play: The Politics of the Videogame" Reason Magazine, April 2004. (Must be on campus or logged in to VPN.) | ||
| 8 | Thu, Mar 1 | Lab | Jeff | Work on game. | ||
| 8 | Fri, Mar 2 | 3D animation III: cinematography & textures | Bill | El-Nasr, M. and Yan, Su. 2006. Visual attention in 3D video games. ACM SIGCHI International Conference on Advances in Computer Entertainment Technology. | Essay final draft due. | |
| 9 | Tue, Mar 6 | Discussion | Garnet | Discussion notes can be found at http://www.conceptlab.com/uci/us12b/ | ||
| 9 | Wed, Mar 7 | Music & digital audio II | Jeff | Reading 1
Reading 2 |
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| 9 | Thu, Mar 8 | Lab | Jeff | Work on game. | ||
| 9 | Fri, Mar 9 | In-class game prototype presentations | Students | Final Game Assignment. Present a draft of the final game. Should include description of game design, prototypes of in-game assets, etc. | ||
| 10 | Tue, Mar 13 | Discussion | Garnet | Discussion notes can be found at http://www.conceptlab.com/uci/us12b/ | ||
| 10 | Wed, Mar 14 | Guest Lecture | Bonnie Nardi | |||
| 10 | Thu, Mar 15 | Lab | Jeff | |||
| 10 | Fri, Mar 16 | In-class final game presentations | Students | Walk through the final version of your game. |
The grade for the quarter will be determined based on your total points. Points are allotted as follows:
| Essay | 20 (5 for draft, 15 for final) |
| Game | 20 (5 for draft, 15 for final) |
| Labs | 15 |
| Discussions | 15 |
| Midterm | 10 |
| Final | 20 |
| TOTAL | 100 |
The grade will be based on the total points, using a standard "straight" scale: 90's are As, 80's are Bs, 70s are Cs, 60s are Ds, and below 60 is Failing. We reserve the right to change the precise cut-off points.
Except for the Labs and Discussion components, scores are based on the quality of the work turned in, not on the time spent or the effort expended. Also, note that there is no "extra credit" in US 12B.
For the writing portion of the class, you should have two books which are also assigned in Writing 39B:
UCI offers several kinds of assistance to writers. The website of the UCI Campus Writing Coordinator at http://www.writing.uci.edu/ has a great deal of information. We particularly recommend the Writing and Library Research Peer Tutors and the Learning and Academic Resource Center (LARC).
We are not assigning a specific textbook on Java programming, but you may find it helpful to have one. All books seem to cover much more of the language than you'll need for this class, so we recommend looking over a few in the bookstore and choosing the one that seems the clearest to you. There are also some valuable on-line resources for Java (however, most of these do assume you have a programming background):
Do not claim as your own the words or ideas of others. When you collaborate with or are helped by a classmate, give credit. When in doubt, talk with a TA or professor before turning in your work. A single act of cheating or academic dishonesty can seriously mar your career at UCI. Familiarize yourself with the UCI Policy on Academic Honesty, particularly Section C and Section D "Authority of Faculty Members."
Students may add or drop US 12B up to the end of the second week of classes (Jan 19), with the instructor's signature on an "Add" card. Students may add only if they are caught up on all readings and assignments. Students may drop after the second week only in exceptional circumstances.
Check your UCInetID email frequently; we will occasionally need to get in touch with you by email. Please feel free to send email to the course staff: use your UCInetID account, put US 12 in the subject line, and include your name in the message body. This web page syllabus will be updated over the course of the quarter, so please look at it regularly.
Even though you are young and reasonably healthy, as a user of computers you are at risk for several computer-related health problems, particularly RSI (repetitive-strain injury). Please read and follow the good advice at the Bren School's Computer Health and Safety web page.
Any student who feels he or she may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact Prof. Tomlinson privately to discuss his or her specific needs. Also contact the Disability Services Center at (949) 824-7494 as soon as possible to better ensure that such accommodations are implemented in a timely fashion.
The ten week quarter will pass very quickly, and it is essential that all work be turned in on time so you can move on to the next assignment. If possible, contact your TA as soon as you realize an assignment will be late. In general, the policy is a 10% penalty for work up to 24 hours late, 20% penalty for work 25 to 48 hours late, and later work is not accepted without approval from a professor.
Not during class, please.
In lectures and discussions, you may use a notebook computer to take notes, but you must first disable your wireless connection to the Internet. Playing of games is, alas, strictly forbidden. Turn off cell phones during class.
If you think your work has not been correctly or fairly scored, talk with your TA. If you are still not satisfied, talk with Prof. Tomlinson. All score disputes must be brought up within one week after the work is returned. If you have a concern pertaining to your final exam score or your grade, contact Prof. Tomlinson before the end of the first week of the Spring quarter.