Creating Video Games

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.

1. Introduction.
2. Project 1, Low Fidelity Prototyping.
3. Game Engines.
4. Project 2, Digital Prototype with Project Management.
5. Agile Software Development.
6. Agile Project Management.
7. Testing and Guest Lecture with Genevieve Conley of Riot Games.
8. Project 2 Presentations, Project 3 (Digital Prototype II: User Interface).
9. Guest Lecture with SWERY of Access Games.
10. UI and Usability.
11. Guest Lecture (EA) on Development and Best Practices.
12. Project 3 Presentations, Project 4 Introduction (Small Game Project).
13. Serious Games, Simulation and Abstraction.
14. Aesthetics.
15. Guest Lecture (Scot Osterweil of MIT Game Lab).
16. Team Dynamics.
17. Working with Artists (Guest Lecture by Luigi Guatieri).
18. Fiction and Narrative in Video Games.
19. Working with Sound Designers (Guest Lecture by Richard Ludlow and Andy Forsberg).
20. Writing in Games (Guest Lecture by Heather Albano and Laura Baldwin).
22. Cutting Features; Scope.
23. Team Discussions.
24. Running a Game Studio (Guest Lecture by Michael Carriere and Jenna Hoffstein).
25. Getting Players to Your Game (Guest Lecture by Sean Baptiste).
26. Final Presentation Rehearsals.
27. Final Presentations.
Instructor Introduction: Philip Tan.
Instructor Introduction: Andrew Haydn Grant.
Instructor Introduction: Richard Eberhardt.
Instructor Introduction: Sara Verrilli.
Instructor Interview: Teaching Students How to Solve Creative Problems as Teams.
Instructor Interview: Sequencing Learning Experiences.
Instructor Interview: Teaching the Iterative Process.
Instructor Interview: Fostering Diversity of Voices.
Instructor Interview: Assessing Students' Projects.
Instructor Interview: Refining the Course.
Instructor Interview: Advice for Educators.
Instructor Interview: Postmortem Analysis.
Client Interview: Pablo Suarez.
Student Interview: Tej Chajed.
Student Interview: Matthew Susskind.
Student Interview: Miriam Prosnitz.
Student Interview: Lauren Merriman.
Student Interview: Lenny Martinez.
From Pitch to Product: The Development of Hello Waves.