This interdisciplinary minor provides students with basic
skills needed for a variety of careers in the field of game design development,
and production. Students in this minor will receive a foundation in
artistic, mathematical, psychological and computer programming tools and
techniques relevant to the design and development of computer games as well as
the basic applicable business methodologies. Legal and societal implications of
computer games will also be studied.
The
design and development of computer games is a rapidly growing academic
area. It is highly interdisciplinary and is having a major impact on all
levels of education. The gaming industry has become an important driver
for the economy and requires specialists with a variety of backgrounds. Game
companies need artists, mathematicians and computer scientists, but also writers
for story building, psychologists for creating a fun factor in games, and
business-savvy professionals, who ensure financial soundness of the endeavors.
In addition, the use of games by a growing part of the population has serious
societal and legal implications that need to be studied.
This minor is a
blend of several disciplines including Art, Business, Mathematics, Psychology and Computer
Science.
It is meant to meet the need of an interdisciplinary curriculum
that prepares students with a working knowledge necessary to pursue a career in
the game industry. As such it is consistent with the interdisciplinary mission
of CSUCI.
The
proximity of
CSUCI to
numerous movie and game production studios in the Los Angeles area makes this
program even more compelling. We constructed the program, a minor versus a
major, after consulting with the local game industry. The program is designed to
address the immediate needs for specialists trained in their respective areas,
and who can work efficiently in multidisciplinary teams that are needed for
developing games.
In addition, The Educational Game Research Institute, a new local
non-profit corporation developing games for education, hires students currently
at CSUCI and in this minor. The intent is to offer real experience in
game design and development, plus an opportunity to apply the knowledge being
learned in their majors.
The
Educational Game Research Institute is the result of a
cooperative, multidiscipline, faculty-corporate alliance at CSUCI. Through
student-faculty collaboration, curriculum topics are selected and befitting
games are designed, developed, and tested. The research and/or outcome of
the selection process and results of the testing are made available through
conferences and the corporate web site, and the games are disseminated with
curriculum usage recommendations and support to all interested educational
organizations.
Students from all majors will benefit from this minor.
Although the connection to Art, Business, Computer Science and Math are clear,
other disciplines have more subtle but important relationships with computer
games. For example, there are no good stories and scripts without English; the
Psychology of fun, color and acoustics influences game design, and Physics
defines the rules with which games are becoming increasingly realistic. There is
room for everybody in computer game design and development.
Lower-Division Requirements: Required 12 Units
Upper-Division Requirements: Required 3 Units
Lower and Upper-Division Electives: Select three upper-division
courses from the following list (9 units).
The attached
course diagram may
help to visualize the minor requirements.
| · |
COMP 105 Introduction to programming (3) |
| · |
MATH 137 Strategies and
game design or MATH 300 (3) |
| · |
ART 205 Multimedia (3)
|
| · |
ART 206 Animation (3) |
| · |
COMP 437 Foundations of
computer game development (3) |
| · |
MGT 307 Management of
organizations (3) |
| · |
ART 315 Animation media
and techniques (3) |
| · |
ART 326 Digital media
art: 3D computer animation (3) |
| · |
ART 327 Communication
Design Technology: Multimedia theory and process (3) |
| · |
MATH 437 Mathematics for
game development (3) |
| · |
COMP 337 Perspectives in
computer gaming (3) |
| · |
COMP 350 Introduction to
Software Engineering (3) |
| · |
MATH 354 Analysis of
Algorithms (3) |
| · |
COMP 425 Computer game
programming (3) |
| · |
PSY/COMP 449
Human/computer interactions (3) |
| · |
PCOMP 464 Computer
Graphics I (3) |
| · |
COMP 469 Artificial
Intelligence (3) |
| · |
MGT 471 Project
management (3) |
| · |
ART 492 / MATH 492 / COMP 492 Internship |
| · |
ART 494 / MATH 494 / COMP 494 Independent Study
|