Game Programming

In this course, students learn the fundamentals of a current programming language used in the Gaming Industry.  Topics addressed include; standard software design methodologies, custom design of simple 2D games, and various programming techniques. Through the use of hands-on exercises, by means of C++ programming, students create and debug games which implement variables, functions, conditions, loops and classes.

Throughout this course, students are presented with an overview of the video gaming industry. Through lecture and lab activities students discover many of the concepts involved in gaming such as types of video games, the roles of members of a gaming team, the game development life cycle and the technical components required to produce high quality video games. Other topics examined are the impact of playing video games on ones’ life, legal and ethical considerations, and professional opportunities that are available in the gaming industry.

This course introduces students to the creation of 2D digital images, 3D game assets and the design of levels using assets. Topics include; sprite sheets, character creation, polygon modeling, texturing, lighting, animations, building expansive landscape environments and exporting assets to game engines. Course learning activities center on the game development pipeline, workflow and best practices. The game art skills learned in this course are used to help enhance game projects throughout the program.

This is a web design and database development course. Using HTML5, JavaScript and CSS, students learn to design a professional web portfolio where they showcase various projects related to career applications. Using databases and server side scripting, students examine scalable data models and structures, query databases for results and create a dynamic leaderboard application during their lab activities.

Students learn C++ object programming and the creation of programs for 2D games using C++ libraries.

Prerequisite(s): GAME102

In this course, students are taught intermediate programming concepts available through the use of C++. Students learn about bitwise operations, file streaming, exception handling, and string manipulation. Students are also introduced to recursive functions and learn how to solve programming problems recursively. Through lab and class activities students create projects which interact with a game controller and save/load data from text files.

Prerequisite(s): GAME102

In this course students create web based games while studying the differences between computer and mobile hardware, design, and economics. Through a combination of labs and in class activities, students learn advanced HTML5, JavaScript and CSS to create games and format visuals to support a wide variety of device resolutions and dimensions. Students build fully functional games which include user input (touchscreen and mouse), animation of characters, 2D physics, sound effects, music and the loading of images and JSON files.

Prerequisite(s): GAME111

This course familiarizes students with the fundamental components of popular game engines in order to facilitate the making of robust games. Students learn how to create and modify properties of game objects such as models, environments, lights, cameras and sound. Students learn how to apply materials, textures and shaders to enhance the look of their game environment. Using leading edge game engines, students discover how adding gaming scripts to their game objects produces dynamic behaviour. Through a series of labs students build 2D & 3D mini-games that respond to various input devices and can run on different platforms: PC, web and mobile.

This course provides a review of fundamental laws and operations in algebra and trigonometry: linear, quadratic, exponential, logarithmic, and trigonometric functions, related graphs and equations, vectors, and their applications. Through in-class presentations, learning activities and group work, students are introduced to various math concepts which gives them the knowledge necessary for future technical courses.

In this course, students develop their ability to make strong professional impressions with the goal of acquiring employment opportunities. Learners explore professional development through the curation of an online portfolio of work. Students develop job search skills and learn how to use acquired program knowledge and language when communicating their strengths to potential employers. Finally, learners refine their ability to contribute as an individual and a member of a team to complete projects effectively.

In this course students are introduced to the concepts of artificial intelligence used to make games more engaging to players. Through lab exercises and use of a leading game engine, students bring life to enemies within games by demonstrating strategies learned in the lectures such as finite state machines, pathfinding, behaviour trees and flocking.

Prerequisite(s): GAME202 + GAME212

Throughout this course, students explore the concepts of networking and its uses within games. Through lecture and lab exercises, students will analyze the way network traffic is processed using sockets from one device to another.  Students will discuss the use of different network topologies and its effectiveness for games based on their genre. Server architecture design for security and data integrity are emphasized when implementing client server communication through Remote Procedural Calls (RPC) using HTTP requests. Students use a current game engine to communicate from clients to a server and create a multiplayer game experience.

Prerequisite(s): GAME202 + MATH10

In this course students are introduced to advanced C# programming concepts used in scripting with the Unity game engine. By carrying out a series of labs, students implement advanced programming constructs such as generics, object oriented design, interfaces, extension methods, co-routines, delegates, and more. Students learn about the singleton architectural design pattern to create game managers which control the state of their game objects. Students are familiarized to an industry standard source control software and learn to work collaboratively in groups to build small games. 

This course provides applications of mathematical concepts to calculate physics quantities such as distance, height, time, velocity and acceleration in 1D, 2D, and circular motions. Average and instantaneous rates are calculated by different methods.  Vectors and trigonometry are applied to horizontal, vertical, projectile motions, and to forces using Newton’s Laws. Work, conservation of mechanical energy, and collisions are explored to solve motion problems. Physics simulations are used to demonstrate object motion, physics laws and principles, and to compare physical quantities. 

Prerequisite(s): MATH10

This course gives students exposure to the ethics and legalities of software with respect to intellectual property protection and the implications of patents and copyright protection in game technology. Students also discuss and examine the impact that technology has on policy with respect to ethics. Controversial ethical issues in the gaming field are explored and debated during class discussions and activities. These may include AI, censorship, privacy, social issues, economics, hacking, and identity theft.

Students research and design rich User Interfaces(UI) which display dynamic content that scales to multiple resolutions. Students analyze traditional and modern interfaces as well as expectations of specific genres. Through the analysis of the User Experience (UX), students iterate on designs which provide a clean and easily navigable interface for the end user. Students work within a game engine to program and create menu systems, popups, Heads Up Displays (HUD) and various other dynamic UI components.

Students are introduced to scripting languages and learn how to use them to interface with their computer and gaming code. Students learn the basic syntax of the Python programming language by completing a series of labs. Students create python scripts to automate tasks on their computer, like controlling their keyboard and mouse, send emails, crawl websites and parse documents. Students will use Python scripts to interface with large software components and existing games. Students then learn how to write windows command scripts to help automate daily tasks involving file operations, the task scheduler, windows processes & services and the build pipeline.

Prerequisite(s): GAME202

In this course students are formed into teams and must work together to ensure a solid prototype is produced, showcasing many of the skills acquired from previous courses in the program. Students prepare game design documents (GDD’s) and create playable prototypes to prove out their games design and functionality. Students set up automated build systems for their projects and work collaboratively using online documentation, project management and source control software. Students perform peer code reviews using web interface tools to collectively provide feedback to each other as well as maintain the coding & projects standards supplied. All work performed in this course is designed to emulate a real world game development studio. The hands on lab time provides the students with an opportunity to experience, and solve, the day to day team collaboration issues that arise in development.

Prerequisite(s): GAME312

This course provides students with the essential knowledge of data structures and algorithms required to build video games which run more efficiently. Students learn how to design and implement custom data structures such as arrays, queues, stacks, linked lists, trees, and graphs.  Students gain practical experience using the standard C++ data structures and algorithms provided by the Standard Template Library (STL). In a series of labs, students recognize which data structure and algorithm are the best suited to solve a particular problem. Students evaluate the theoretical time and space complexity of algorithms and determine their actual performance using benchmarking methods.

Prerequisite(s): GAME202 + MATH10

Students are introduced to the concept of rendering programming through the use of shaders. Students explore the stages of the graphics pipeline and the communication of data between the CPU and the GPU for the purpose of creating 3D objects within game worlds. The concept of converting 3D scenes to 2D screen pixels is explained preparing the students for a greater understanding of graphics programming and the render programmer role. Students leverage internal capabilities of shaders to produce visual effects such as lighting, fog, and skyboxes. Analysis of current professional game engines assist students in understanding the impact graphics programming plays on creating virtual worlds.

Mathematics for Games Students learn the basic concepts of matrices and coordinate systems for use in 3D games.

Prerequisite(s): MATH10