US 12A — Computer Games as Art, Culture, and Technology

Who, When, Where

Instructors:	Dan Frost	frost@uci.edu	office hours Tuesdays 10:00-10:50 (Donald Bren Hall 5058)
	Peter Krapp	krapp@uci.edu	no office hours this quarter
	Bill Tomlinson	wmt@uci.edu	office hours Tuesdays, 1:00-2:00 (Donald Bren Hall 5068)
TAs:	Garnet Hertz	ghertz@uci.edu	office hours Wednesdays, 8:00-9:00 (DBH 1420)
	Josef Nguyen	josefn@uci.edu	office hours TBD
Lectures:	T Th 11:00-12:20	PSCB 120
Labs & Discussions:	M, W 9:00-9:50	ICS 192 & DBH 1420
	M, W 10:00-10:50	ICS 192 & DBH 1420
	M, W 11:00-11:50	ICS 192 & DBH 1420
	M, W 12:00-12:50	ICS 192 & DBH 1420

The Tao of FIP

FIP sequences engage students on an important topic or set of problems from the perspective of three different disciplines. Designed for and limited to a maximum enrollment of 80 freshmen, the sequences are taught by three faculty, from three departments and at least two schools with two graduate teaching assistants. Writing provides the thread that enables students to connect the various perspectives. Students who participate in all three quarters of a FIP sequence will:

• Belong to an academic learning community through their connection to three faculty, two teaching assistants and a small cohort of freshmen all of whom are engaged in similar topics .
• Be able to articulate some differences in the way three different disciplines approach the issues or problems and have some perspective on how viewing this topic through a variety of lenses can enrich conversation about it.
• Have been introduced to and had opportunities to practice and demonstrate their skills in several broad areas of written communication.
  1. Evidence: Students will improve their information literacy and research skills.
     • They will locate, evaluate and summarize discipline-appropriate sources.
     • They will successfully integrate these sources into their writing.
     • They will use an appropriate citation style for the discipline.
  2. Writing: Students will improve their written expression.
     • They will demonstrate their ability to think critically by composing well-supported, thesis-driven essays.
     • Their essays will be clearly organized and designed for a particular audience.
  3. Research: Students will compose a research project.
     • They will locate, evaluate, synthesize, analyze and present information on an appropriate topic.
     • They will write more than one draft, participate in peer reviews, and produce a sustained argument in a final, well-written, proof-read product.

What and Why

US 12A is part of UCI's First-Year Integrated Program. Throughout the year we will be investigating computer games as artistic, cultural, and technological phenomena. At the conclusion of US 12ABC, you will be able to:

1. identify the genre of a computer game and place the game in an historical context;
2. understand how computer game technology and techniques are used for purposes other than entertainment;
3. design new computer games based on a variety of themes, patterns, and genres;
4. implement simple code, art, and sound/music within a computer game.

An important theme of this course is collaboration. All but the simplest computer games are created by more than one person. We want to promote a collaborative spirit throughout the course, while being aware of the need for each student to master the material individually and to receive a grade based on his or her own performance.

Schedule of Meetings and Assignments

Subject to change:
 

Wk	Date	Topic	Who	Readings	Notes and Assignments
0	9/25	Introductions	Frost, Tomlinson		Homework for Week 1
1	9/29	Lab 1: Scratch	Nguyen		Lab 1
	9/30	Ping, Pong: the archeology of interaction	Krapp	Read Poole, The Origin of Species (chapter 2); Read the UCI Policy on Academic Honesty	A-G: Where do the section headings (e.g. "Happiness is a warm gun") come from? H-M: What is meant by 'soi-disant "simulation"'? Explain the italics and quotation marks, too. N-Z: Why are sports games called "perverse-looking"? Post answers on the US 12A Noteboard before 11:00 am.
	10/1	Discussion	Hertz		Discussion notes at http://www.conceptlab.com/uci/us12a/ Fipnic! 5:00-7:00 tonight, Aldrich Park
	10/2	Action, quest, plan: games as discourse	Krapp	Read Salen and Zimmerman, Rules of Play	A-Z: Explain in your own words what the authors mean by "resistance." Post responses on the US 12A Noteboard before 11:00 am.
2	10/6	Lab 2: Scratch	Nguyen		Lab 2
	10/7	Scratch	Frost
	10/8	Discussion — Library Orientation meet today at Science Library Interactive Learning Center Classroom 164	Hertz		Discussion notes at http://www.conceptlab.com/uci/us12a/ Paper #1 Topic Proposal due.
	10/9	Machinima: playing with games	Krapp		Short diagnostic essay due electronically on Friday (10/10) at 8:00 p. m.
3	10/13	Lab 3: Scratch	Nguyen		Lab 3
	10/14	Designing Characters	Tomlinson	Read Top Ten Hurdles Facing Game Designers Today (make sure you click through to read all 10)	Which of these 10 challenges, if fully solved five years from now, would make the biggest difference in computer games. Why? Post responses on the US 12A Noteboard before 11:00 am.
	10/15	Discussion	Hertz		Discussion notes at http://www.conceptlab.com/uci/us12a/ Paper #1 List of Sources due
	10/16	Designing characters	Tomlinson	Read Lasseter, Principles of Traditional Animation Applied to 3D Computer Animation (from an on-campus computer) (local copy)	"Overlapping is critical to conveying main ideas of the story." Give an example which illustrates this. Post responses on the US 12A Noteboard before 11:00 am.
4	10/20	Lab 4: Scratch	Nguyen		Lab 4 First part of character design assignment due
	10/21	Scratch 2	Frost
	10/22	Discussion	Hertz		Discussion notes at http://www.conceptlab.com/uci/us12a/
	10/23	Animation / Programming Languages	Frost		Simple.html Scores.xls
5	10/27	Lab 5: Scratch	Nguyen		Lab 5 Second part of character design assignment due
	10/28	Artificial Intelligence	Frost		BaldursGateScript.pdf
	10/29	Discussion	Hertz		Discussion notes at http://www.conceptlab.com/uci/us12a/
	10/30	Midterm			Take a look at last year's midterm, which should not be construed as a study-guide to this year's midterm.
6	11/3	Lab 6: Scratch	Nguyen		Lab 6 Third part of character design assignment due
	11/4	Midterm Post Mortem Artificial Intelligence	Frost		Midterm notes
	11/5	Discussion	Hertz		Discussion notes at http://www.conceptlab.com/uci/us12a/ Paper #1 Draft due
	11/6	TBD	Frost
7	11/10	Lab 7: Scratch	Nguyen		Lab 7
	11/11	Veterans Day
	11/12	Discussion	Hertz		Discussion notes at http://www.conceptlab.com/uci/us12a/
	11/13	Interactivity	Tomlinson	Read Reynolds, Flocks, Herds, and Schools: A Distributed Behavioral Model	How could the "flocks" described in the paper be used in a computer game? Post responses on the US 12A Noteboard before 11:00 am.
8	11/17	Lab 8: Game Development	Nguyen		Game development project
	11/18	Game Design	Frost	Read Crawford, The Art of Computer Game Design, Chapters 1 & 2	"Accuracy is the sine qua non of simulations; clarity the sine qua non of games." Select any game you have played and, viewing it as a (partial) simulation, comment on its tradeoff between accuracy and clarity. (First look up sine qua non if you aren't sure what it means.) Post your response on the US 12A Noteboard before 11:00 am.
	11/19	Discussion	Hertz		Discussion notes at http://www.conceptlab.com/uci/us12a/ Paper #1 due
	11/20	Interactivity	Tomlinson	Read Crawford, The Art of Computer Game Design, Chapters 3 & 4	A-L: What attributes does Crawford say characterize all games? M-Z: Which of the motivations that Crawford lists for game playing is most important to you? Why? Post responses on the US 12A Noteboard before 11:00 am.
9	11/24	Lab 9: Game Development	Nguyen		Game development project
	11/25	Interactivity	Tomlinson
	11/26	Discussion	Hertz		Discussion notes at http://www.conceptlab.com/uci/us12a/
	11/27	Thanksgiving
10	12/1	Lab 10: Game Development	Nguyen		Game development project
	12/2	Game Project Reviews
	12/3	Discussion	Hertz		Discussion notes at http://www.conceptlab.com/uci/us12a/
	12/4	Game Project Reviews
F	12/9	FINAL EXAM, 10:30-12:30, PSCB 120

Assignments and Grading

The grade for the quarter will be determined based on your total points. Points are allotted as follows:

Papers   Diagnostic 3   Paper #1 17	20
Exams   Midterm 10   Final 20	30
Homeworks and Projects   Several Short Assignments 15   Game Project 20	35
Participation   Labs 5   Discussions 5   Noteboard Postings 5	15
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 Participation 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 12A.

Textbooks and Resources

For the writing portion of the class, you should have two books which are also assigned in Writing 39B:

• The Little Penguin Handbook, Faigley, L. Longman.
• A Student Guide to Writing at UC Irvine, 14th edition.

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).

Online Scratch downloads, documentation, and tutorials are at:

• http://scratch.mit.edu
• http://wiki.classroom20.com/Scratch
• Scratch wiki

Policies

Academic Honesty

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, "What is Academic Dishonesty?" and Section D "Procedures for Dealing with Incidents of Academic Dishonesty."

Add / Drop Policy

Students may add (space permitting) or drop US 12A, up to the end of the second week of classes (Oct. 10), 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.

Communication

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.

Health

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.

Special Accommodations

Any student who feels he or she may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact Prof. Frost 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.

Late Work

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.

Lunch

Not during class, please.

Computers and Cell Phones in Class

No computers or laptops may be used in lecture or discussion during the first three weeks of the quarter. After the third week, use of laptops to take notes may be permitted, subject to the rule that the wireless connection to the Internet is disabled. Breaking this rule will mean your permission to use a laptop in class is revoked for the rest of the quarter. Playing of games is, alas, strictly forbidden. Turn off cell phones during class.

Disputes on scores and grades

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. Frost. 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. Frost before the end of the first week of the Winter quarter.