Introduction to Game Programming

Computer games vary from serious training tools to the very frivolous; creating them involves ideas from Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, and other areas. This course looks at these ideas. Programming ideas looked at include WIN32 programming and basic game code structure in particular the games loop and the structures of different types of games from plain 2-D games to scrollers, isometric and fully 3-D games with scripting engines. Games Physics aspects studied include velocity integrators, collision physics and detection. Algorithmic ideas looked at in some depth include A* path finding, alpha-beta pruned search trees, neural networks, fuzzy logic, Bayesian trees, group movement and group intelligence. Note: Although games can be fun the ideas behind their construction involve both Mathematics and Computer Science, as it is reflected in the course prerequisites. It is also advised that you have had some exposure to Computer Games.