Brian Schrank, PhD, MET, BFA
Associate Professor
School of Design, College of Computing and Digital Media
DePaul University

Please call me Brian, he/him/his.
email: bschrank [at] gmail.com
old website: www.BrianSchrank.com

Description
Students in this course learn skills in game development by collaborating in small teams to build a game by the end of the quarter that's simple enough to finish, yet innovative and impressive. Topics include brainstorming, pitching, scheduling, collaboration, iterating, playtesting, and polish. Being open to change and putting in the effort to thrive as a team will help you complete a game that propels your career, impresses players, potential employers and festival jurors

At the start of the quarter, students will form multidisciplinary teams of 1-5 students (artist, programmer, designer, etc.) and use Unity as the game engine. Class consists of lectures, workshops, playtests, critiques, pitches, work sessions, discussions. To perform professionally, students should already have moderate expertise in these disciplines.

ARTISTS should already be skilled in the following, eager to push themselves a lot more:

• conceive of a unique, definitive look, vision, and mood board for the game.
• research art BEYOND YOUR FAN INTERESTS to discover evocative references.
• communicate your vision verbally and visually via evocative concept art.
• work within realistic technical constraints, such as poly-count or texture limits.
• create fitting content: models, rigs, textures, lighting, in Max, Maya, or appropriate tools.

DESIGNERS should already be skilled in the following, eager to push themselves a lot more:

• WORK IN ENGINE ALL THE TIME. Implement, program, iterate, MASTER UNITY.
• solve technical or conceptual design problems. Constantly playtest and iterate.
• clearly and continually communicate design with team via team chat, docs, and references.
• brainstorm novel mechanics, appealing play scenarios, that still function within constraints.

PROGRAMMERS should already be skilled in the following, eager to push themselves a lot more:

• rapidly implement, iterate prototypes to crudely test designs, engine functionality
• compromise, creatively solving problems that MOSTLY serve the game's vision
• author tools for designers and artist, enabling them to work efficiently and effectively
• program faster and better by throwing out code, posting questions online, asking for help.

AUDIO should already be skilled in the following, eager to push themselves a lot more:

• conceive of a unique, definitive audio style for the game.
• research art BEYOND YOUR FAN INTERESTS to discover evocative references.
• communicate your vision verbally and with rough audio examples
• jam, iterate, remix, try new techniques, and tools. Use ALL your resources

PRODUCERS:

Each team will designate a Producer with a dual-role of programmer, designer, artist, etc. The producer is responsible for scheduling, organizing meetings several times a week outside of class, and always ensuring that the big picture of the project is always being served.

A Strong Work Ethic is vital for success in this course.

Put in 20-30 hours of work a week in this course to be successful.

An Iterative Work Style is vital for success in this course.

Seek and use DAILY feedback on your work. Get it from me, classmates on Slack, playtesters, roommates, anyone who’ll be honest and critical.

A Robust Team Dynamic is vital for success in this course.

Never wait to be told what to do, ask what is needed. Lead. Be proactive. Always consider what YOU can do to improve the game and the run it by your team before do it.

Check in with team twice a day on team chat. Post anything, something you made/changed in game (screenshots/builds are good). Comment someone's post. Make a joke...

Your team must meet or work together at least twice a week outside of class. Meeting in regularly outside of class:

• strengthens social bonds. Feeds your communal sense of caring about the project.
• allows each of you to casually show what you've done/are doing to get casual feedback
• fuels inspiration, sparking ways to improve your game via spontaneous chatter and chilling
• helps smooth out any team tensions, happily solve challenges: technical, artistic, etc.

Attendance is required
You are expected to attend all classes and participate in class activities as scheduled. If you miss a class for any reason, you are expected to follow up with the instructor and your team and find out what was missed and make up any work. A note from a doctor or nurse will be required for an absence to be excused. The third unexcused absence and each subsequent absence will result in an automatic final grade deduction of one letter grade. Being late to class counts as 1/3 of an absence. More than 4 absences will result in automatic failure of the course.

Cell Phones and Mobile Devices should not be audible (including audible vibration) during class. Any student who answers a cell phone during instruction or student presentations will be excused for the day.

Labs and Equipment
Use this and other labs/classrooms to work as much as possible. Here's a list of labs and info. Fridays can be good for long work sessions since fewer classes run. Hardware and software for artists, designers, programmers, and musicians are installed in CDM634, CDM707, CDM725, CDM920, Daley212, Daley503, Daley505. Animation Labs with Wacom tablets are in CDM527 as well as CDM722, schedules of when labs aren't in class are available in those links. A Sound Mixing Studio in CDM600A as well as a Sound Recording Studio in CDM724 are available if you've taken the requisite course and have been trained (more info at links). Labs are available for use anytime except when the university is officially closed or another class is using it. The building and the lab may be closed during official holidays.

Technical Assistance
CDM has an excellent tech help desk who will help you with all sorts of problems. Having trouble getting software or equipment to work? Call the Help Desk at 312-362-8765 or dial extension 2-5900 from any classroom phone. There's available Monday-Thursday 8am-8pm, Friday 8am-8pm-5pm, and Saturday 8am-4pm-5pm. There's also a Genius Squad offering additional services, e.g. fixing personal computers or configuring personal phones to work with our WiFi.

Emergency Plan

An emergency can occur at any time, suddenly and without warning. Proper planning is essential to minimize the impact of any emergency on the university community, operations and facilities. The following link provides detailed information on Emergency Evacuation and Fire Alarm safety: https://resources.depaul.edu/emergency-plan/emergency-evacuation/Pages/Evacuation.aspx. The University will use the DPU Alert to announce school closing or other emergencies. In the event of an emergency evacuation, the primary outdoor assembly area for CDM will be Grant Park (Southeast corner of Jackson and Michigan Ave).

Preferred Name & Gender Pronouns

Professional courtesy and sensitivity are especially important with respect to individuals and topics dealing with differences of race, culture, religion, politics, sexual orientation, gender, gender variance, and nationalities. I will gladly honor your request to address you by an alternate name or gender pronoun. Please advise me of this preference early in the quarter so that I may make appropriate changes to my records. Please also note that students may choose to identify within the University community with a preferred first name that differs from their legal name and may also update their gender. The preferred first name will appear in University related systems and documents except where the use of the legal name is necessitated or required by University business or legal need. For more information and instructions on how to do so, please see the Student Preferred Name and Gender Policy at http://policies.depaul.edu/policy/policy.aspx?pid=332

Disabilities
Students with Disabilities Students seeking disability-related accommodations are required to register with DePaul’s Center for Students with Disabilities (CSD) enabling them to access accommodations and support services to assist with their success. There are two office locations:

• Loop Campus – Lewis Center #1420 – (312) 362-8002
• Lincoln Park Campus – Student Center #370 – (773) 325-1677

Students who register with the Center for Students with Disabilities are also invited to contact Dr. Gergory Moorhead, Director of the Center, privately to discuss how he may assist in facilitating the accommodations to be used in a course. This is best done early in the term. The conversation will remain confidential to the extent possible. Please see https://offices.depaul.edu/student-affairs/about/departments/Pages/csd.aspx for Services and Contact Information.

A student may choose to request certain accommodations by asking me directly, e.g., if sitting near the front of the room helps you see or hear better I can reserve a spot for you up front.