Game Programming Laboratory
The goal of this course is the in-depth understanding of the technology and programming underlying computer games.
Students gradually design and develop a computer game in small groups and get acquainted with the art of game programming.
The Game Programming Laboratory addresses modern three-dimensional computer game technology. During the course, small groups of students will design and develop a computer game. Focus will be put on technical aspects of game development, such as rendering, interaction, physics, animation, and AI. In addition, we will cultivate creative thinking for advanced gameplay and visual effects.
The "laboratory" format involves a practical, hands-on approach with neither traditional lectures nor exercises. Instead, we will meet once a week to discuss technical issues and to track progress. We will utilize MonoGame, which is a framework to create cross-platform games. The development of the final games will take place on XBox.
At the end of the course results will be presented to the public. The best projects, choosen by the audience and a jury of experts from the industry, will be awarded hard- and software prices. Information about the impressive games of the previous years can be found in the "Previous Games" section (left menu).
As a valuable component of the course, industry experts from Studio Gobo — Gioacchino Noris and Daniel Zimmermann from Gobo Zurich, along with several experts from Gobo Brighton — serve as mentors to the student teams as well as jury experts during the final project exhibition.
- Good programming skills (course projects are written in C#).
- CG experience: Students should have taken, at a minimum, Visual Computing. Higher level courses are recommended, such as Computer Graphics, Shape Modeling and Geometry Processing, Physically-based Simulation in Computer Graphics and Image Synthesis.
The number of participants for the game programming laboratory is limited. If you want to participate, make sure to sign up for the course and attend the first lectures, as this is where the teams are assembled. It is usually not possible to join later on during the semester.