comp150-cis - collaborative development of interactive software systems
COMP150-04 - Spring 2009
Lectures/Labs: MW 6:00-7:15 - Halligan Hall 122
Instructor: Alexandre R.J. François
(alex@cs.tufts.edu)
Office: Halligan Hall E011
Office hours: MW 5:00-6:00 or by appointment
An Ant's Life at SIGGRAPH (posted 06/02 - updated 06/26, 07/24 and 09/04)
An Ant's
Life was
one of four finalists
in the
SIGGRAPH 2009
Research
Challenge competition.
[press release]
content
This courses addresses the collaborative design and implementation
of interactive software systems. The course centers on a class-wide
project, typically an interactive game. The lectures inform the
project design and development process. Topics include design and
human factors, project management, collaboration, software
architecture, graphics, networking. The course emphasizes creativity,
teamwork and hands-on experience.
Prerequisites: COMP 11 and COMP 15, or consent of instructor.
No required textbook, see resources
section for some recommended books and other useful material.
project
The collaborative class-wide project is the central element of the
course. Specifics will be determined in the course of the class,
based on interest and skills represented in the team. The final
software system delivery will likely be of the level of a technical
demonstration rather than a fully developed game. However, particular
emphasis will be placed on the design and development process,
including documentation.
assignments
Individual assignments related to project will help prepare for the
project, and pace the early stages of design and development. Expect
between 5 and 10 assignments over the semester.
grading
- Assignments: 40%
- Project: 50%
- Participation: 10%
Note that the participation grade is assigned individually, the
assignment grades are assigned individually or per team, the project
grade is collective (meaning everyone gets the same project grade).
academic integrity
Presenting someone else's ideas or work as your own is a violation
of academic integrity, is absolutely unacceptable, and may result in
severe disciplinary action for all parties involved. See
the Academic
Integrity booklet from the Dean of Students' office.
Always in motion is the future. -- Yoda
Wednesday January 14:
Welcome, course overview
Monday January 19:
Martin Luther King Day (no class)
Wednesday January 21:
Introduction - interactive systems
[pdf]
Project ideas (I)
Monday January 26:
Team organization, collaboration tools
[pdf]
Project ideas (II)
[wiki]
Wednesday January 28:
The Software Architecture for Immersipresence framework
[pdf]
Last day for AS&E students to add classes
Monday February 2:
Elements of design
[pdf]
Project ideas (III)
Wednesday February 4:
Elements of design
[pdf]
Project ideas (IV)
Monday February 9:
Programming with MFSM
Project ideas - convergence
Wednesday February 11:
Project planning
Project lock-in deadline
Monday February 16:
President's Day (no class)
Wednesday February 18:
Project Design
Team assignments
Last day for AS&E students (except first-year undergraduates)
to drop courses without record of enrollment
Last day for all undergraduates (including first years) to select
pass/fail Option
Thursday February 19 (Monday schedule due to President's day):
Project Design
Preliminary timeline
Monday February 23:
Project software requirements and design
Wednesday February 25:
Project software requirements and design
Last day for AS&E students to make up incomplete grades from
Fall 2008
Monday March 2:
Snowstorm - campus closed - no class
Wednesday March 4:
Project software architecture
Monday March 9:
Project coding experiments
Wednesday March 11:
Project code shell
Project coding experiments
Spring Break
Monday March 23:
Project coding
Wednesday March 25:
Project coding
Monday March 30:
Project coding
Wednesday April 1:
Project coding: first critical integration milestone
Last date for undergraduate first years to drop courses without
record of enrollment
Monday April 6:
Project coding
Wednesday April 8:
Project coding
Monday April 13:
Project coding
Wednesday April 15:
Project coding: second critical integration milestone
Monday April 20:
Patriot's Day (no class)
Wednesday April 22:
Project finishing touches and PR material preparation
Post-Mortem analysis/discussion
Monday April 27:
No class (CS Graduate/Alumni Year End Dinner)
Classes end
Last day for AS&E undergraduates to withdraw from courses and
receive a grade of W
Material for website and submission to competition
no final exam
Introduction - interactive systems
[pdf]
Teamwork
[pdf]
The Software Architecture for Immersipresence framework
[pdf]
Elements of design
[pdf]
|
An Ant's Life
In this first person interactive game, collectively designed and
prototyped by the 13 students in the class, the players experience the
world as members of an ant colony, from hatching through successive
life stages in and around the nest.
The interface maps the ant’s
dominant senses - smell, taste and touch - to a first-person
interactive audiovisual display, conveying localized and qualitative
perception. Textures and color characterize the tactile and chemical
properties of world elements such as terrain, rocks, bits of food and
other ants. The game takes place in a fully accessible and
interactive simulation of the colony and its environment, populated by
other ants and critters. In order to progress in the game, the player
must ensure her immediate well-being, interact with her sister ants,
and fulfill the tasks that characterize the roles she undertakes as
her life develops.
[website]
|
suggested/recommended readings
John P. Flynt and Omar Salem, Software Engineering for Game Developers, Muska & Lipman, 2004.
Donald A. Norman, The Design of Everyday Things, Basic Books, 2002.
(Rouse, 2001)
Richard Rouse III, Game Design - Theory and Practice, Wordware
Publishing, 2001.
Terry Winograd, Bringing Design to Software, Addison Wesley, 1996.
similar courses
Courses that followed a similar class-wide project format:
CS201G: Principles of Software Development - Games, USC, Spring 2007
[website]
Project: Crosswinds
[website]
Press: Games Students Play, and Make by Linda Davis, Viterbi News, June 7, 2007
[link]
CS599: Integrated Media Systems, USC, Fall 2002
[website]
Project: 3D Soccer
[website]