Game Design - Game Programming School
     
 
Game Design.
Game Programming.
Game School.

 

Earn a Master’s Degree while Studying Game Production and Management-On Campus or Online

Where?
At UAT's campus in Tempe, Arizona.

When can I start?
Apply anytime. Classes on UAT's campus start three times a year: September, January and May. See start dates

Tuition

2010 Graduate Tuition Fee—Resident or Online
Graduate tuition for 2010 is $5,700.00 per semester.

Objectives of the Game Design Degree
Each project will be carried through concept design, documentation, development, testing, Q/A and deployment, and will include all aspects of a complete work including:

  • Game Design Document (with specification)
  • Q/A process document
  • Game play manual
  • Complete Game (game, cut scenes or Introduction materials as needed)
  • Website
  • Production materials (cover design, marketing and packaging materials, etc.)


Foundation Courses (see degree requirements).

Courses within the Game Production and Management track:
All course titles are followed by their number of credit hours. Prerequisites and co-requisites (if any) are listed below course titles.

Foundation Courses:

›MSE547 Applications in Game Programming (3)
Applications in Game Programming
Prerequisite(s): Permission of the Instructor The purpose of this course is to look at the programming practices needed for the creation of electronic games. The heart of every game project is the code base and this course will address what is needed to bring a game project to life. Fundamentally the topics addressed here are similar to traditional computer science and programming (mathematic, algorithms, coding practices) but this course will also look at other programming challenges that are more game specific (real time rendering, game AI).
›MSE585 Applied Game Design (3)
Applied Game Design
Prerequisite(s): MSE501 or MSE502 or MSE545 The purpose of this course is to communicate the fundamental concepts of game design. This course is designed to give the basics of game design, level design, character design, interaction design, interactive storytelling, game balancing and game testing, and how to incorporate these elements into the user’s experience. This course will also cover the integration of the visual, audio, programming and creative elements of game production. The interdisciplinary nature of a game project makes these topics essential to the creation of a gaming vocabulary. Finally this course will touch on the practical aspects of game design, from game documentation to the game development process.
›MSE586 Game Aesthetics (3)
Game Aesthetics
Prerequisite(s): instructor approval The purpose of this course is to look at the visual design elements involved in the creation of electronic games. The production of game material can range from computer-based media to more traditional creation processes. This can include but is not limited to 3D modeling, 2D texturing, painting, drawing and sculpture. This course will also consider other media design disciplines such as architecture, film and animation. This course will look at how all of this is brought together to enhance the game experience.

Elective Courses:

›MSE545 The Business of Gaming (3)
The Business of Gaming
Pre-Requisite(s): None This course addresses the economics of the game industry. This includes the ways games are funded, marketed and sold and the relationships between publishers, developers, retailers and other companies. Other topics to be covered include legal issues of gaming, intellectual property laws, the social forces that impact games and the governmental and legislative forces that impact game content.
›MSE596 PC Game Production (3)
PC Game Production
Prerequisite(s): Permission of the Instructor Using a completed Game Design Document, students will execute this design within an industry-standard game engine. The emphasis of this class is building a complete PC game, utilizing assets from the entire game design program. This project will use modelers, animators, programmers and level designers to create a finished PC title that would be suitable for a graduate portfolio.
›MSE597 Console Game Project (3)
Console Game Project
Prerequisite(s): instructor approval Console Game Project is a course focusing on console video game system development using the professional software development kits. Console development has its own nuances, and this course will take the student from design to completed game in order to experience the differences in this style of development. The end result will be a fully realized, playable console game. The process allows the student to explore the subtle differences related to development on different platforms.
›MSE598 Handheld Game Project (3)
Handheld Game Project
Prerequisite(s): instructor approval Handheld Game Project tasks the student with development on a current handheld platform. The development limitations of the handheld platform have not stopped it from becoming a fast-growth market segment. Games based on handheld technology face a unique set of design and production challenges ranging from interface design to technical limitations. Through the completion of a handheld title, the student will see the challenges faced with the handheld platform and see how great games can be created within the constraints of the system.
›MSE671 Making Physics Real (3)
Making Physics Real
Pre-Requisite(s): None A tour through physics based animation methods with a focus on enhancing computer-generated graphics. Rigid body dynamics for modeling bones, articulated rigid bones and constraints for modeling joints, 3D deformable models and mesh generation for tissue (fat, muscle, etc.) including contractile forces for muscles, 2D deformable models for skin and clothing, 1D models for hair, etc. Emphasis will be on algorithms, e.g. ordinary differential equations, collision detection and modeling, etc.