Game Design BSc (Hons)

​The module Introduction to Game Design Studies explores the phenomenon of video game studies from a variety of Arts and Humanities perspectives. Therefore, the module will focus on three key interrelated contexts for the analysis and theorisation of video games as digital media culture: the text of the game itself as an aesthetic and formal virtual object, genre and system of representation; the video game player as a type of audience or user who is immersed, interactive, and embodied; the video game industry as a global media business, one with a strong Japanese presence and with a profound effect on the wider media context.

​This module introduces students to the semantics of video game design and the techniques of close reading. It examines how mechanics, environment and audio design, genre conventions and iconography can be used to create meaning, both in support and subversion of explicit narrative. Students will learn to make connections between the disparate artforms involved in game design and develop the ability to form their own readings of games. The module is taught in 2-hour workshops which involve a mixture of theory lectures and in-depth discussion of specific games, including student-led choices. Assessment consists of a 2000-word coursework essay (85%), of which there is a formative, peer-reviewed ‘pitching’ exercise in week 6, and a 5-10 minute in-class presentation or video essay (15%), delivered during the second half of the module.

This module provides an introduction to the principles and materials of game creation, highlighting available creative pathways within the Game Design Studies and Game Design programmes. Students will learn basic terminology and concepts, and critically engage with various topics within the field of game design. Comprehension of these topics is supported by lectures and seminars, and through critical engagement with texts, articles, interviews, and other resources over the course of the term. Students will then apply what they’ve learned to realize original ideas in the form of design documents.

​This module will cover practical topics related to the design of virtual spaces in games. Students will critically examine the architectural principles embedded within existing games and will apply these principles to the design of original 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional game spaces. Lectures are supported by design texts and other textual resources.​

This module introduces students to some basic algorithms and data structures. It gives some fundamental concepts of design and analysis of algorithms, and implementation of algorithms by choosing appropriate data structures.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the theory and development of machines able to perform tasks normally requiring human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages. In the 21st century, AI techniques became an essential part of the technology industry. High-profile examples include autonomous vehicles, medical diagnosis, creating art, proving mathematical theorems, playing games, search engines, and online assistants. This module provides an application driven introduction to AI through studying the basic problems most AI systems have to deal with: search problems, reasoning under uncertainty, knowledge representation, planning, and learning in intelligent systems. The module will also provide a basic introduction to the history and philosophy of AI as well as recent issues in ethics of AI.

The intention of COMP122 is to introduce students to the concepts and methodology of object-oriented programming using the Java programming language. Topics covered include hierarchical structures, polymorphism, collections and iterators, exception handling, and graphical user interface design. Basic concepts of software design methodology, testing, and version control are also included in the module. It is normally expected that students have prior programming experience.

The module provides an introduction to procedural programming using current language platforms. The module incorporates program design, problem solving, the importance of maintainable, robust software and testing as well as introducing procedural language main programming constructs. Students gain practical experience with program design, programming and testing during weekly laboratory sessions.

This module is for students that already have some programming skills. Students will learn about the two main programming paradigms: imperative programming and functional programming. Since most introductory programming courses teach imperative programming, this module will focus on the functional paradigm. Students will learn how to program in Haskell, a popular functional programming language. They will learn how to formulate programs in a functional way, and the common techniques and idioms that are used to solve problems in functional programming.

This module provides an introduction to current computer networks and communications technologies. We will use the architecture and protocols of the Internet as a primary vehicle for studying fundamental computer networking concepts. This will include an in-depth study of the key protocols that enable communications accross the Internet. You will become familiar with the various network devices and network addressing schemes. We will identify critical network security issues and study approaches towards addressing these issues.

This module introduces topics commonly present in the modern computer games from software architecture principles to advanced artificial intelligence techniques to the creation of 3D content. As part of the continuous assessment, students create a simple 3D video game using an existing game engine and an AI control procedure for a multiuser framework.

This module deals with the issues associated with the analysis, design, implementation and testing of significant computing systems (that is, systems that are too large to be designed and developed by a single person).

This module provides students with a chance to work on the development of an individual project within their chosen specialization with the appropriate member of staff. Supervisors and project specifics will be decided on a case-by-case basis.

The second-year module Immersive Media and Virtual Worlds explores the histories, theories, and industries related to the production of immersive experiences, digital technologies and virtual realities and worlds. In particular, the module will focus on video games and cinema.

This module examines the function and design of music in video games (including games-consoles, PCs, and smart-phone ‘apps’). It considers the historical development of music in gaming, the relationship between game-music and technological advance, and the role and function of music in different types of game (and how this dictates compositional choice). This is achieved via a combination of case-study analyses and engagement with appropriate literature and research. Delivery incorporates lectures, workshop/seminars, and directed activity. Assessment incorporates a discursive essay and a portfolio of case-study analyses. The module assumes the study and discussion of case-study examples, but is delivered and assessed in a manner which does not require technical music skills (ie notational literacy or formal analytical method).

This module provides an introduction to the design and implementation of sound and music in video games.  Students engage with game music scholarship and case studies, then apply their knowledge to create original sounds and music for premade game projects.

In the 1920s a canny advertising executive coined the phrase, ‘One Look is Worth a Thousand Words’. But the idea that pictures can be read (and that writing creates pictures in the mind’s eye) has a long pedigree. According to Plutarch, it was Simonides of Keos – the Greek lyric poet of the 5th century BC – who first formulated the equation: ‘poems are talking pictures, pictures are silent poems’. This module examines the ways in which pictures have been used to tell stories from the beginnings of widespread print culture in the seventeenth century to contemporary digital comics.

Games are ubiquitous today; even if you don’t think you play them, you do, via schemes like loyalty cards. This module examines the role of games in contemporary society, and the ways in which this has been reflected within contemporary literature. Throughout this module, we will consider the relationship between games and literature in relation to three key areas—“Ludic Literature”, “Gaming Cultures”, and “Games of the Future”—with each area involving the analysis of particular literary texts to consider what they reveal about contemporary society and its interests in games and gaming. Illustrative authors include: Raymond Queneau and members of the OuLiPo, Orson Scott Card, William Gibson, Daniel Suarez, and Ernest Cline.

​ This module introduces students to academic work that challenges the conventions of mainstream gaming, or what has been called ‘queer game studies’. It examines the relationship between queerness and play, and how the formalising of play into games, especially digital and technological games, has sustained and promoted societal norms. Themes covered include the representation of marginalised identities, queer reclamation of ‘failure’ and the ways that technology can reproduce or subvert social structures. Students will learn to reexamine the conventions of game design with a view to conceiving a wider range of possibility for games, as well as engaging with the fundamental concepts of academic queer theory. The module is taught in 2-hour design workshops, with an introductory lecture in the first week. Assessment consists of a 1000-word design sketch for a game (40%) and a 1500-word coursework essay (60%). The textbook for the module is Ruberg & Shaw eds ‘Queer Game Studies’ (2017), Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

​This module continues from the principles of spatial design covered in SOTA104 and introduces students to materials and techniques related to creating objects and complex structures within game spaces. Students will also learn about proper character rigging and state-based animation to create a range of game assets that can be used in standard game engines like Unity and Unreal Engine.​

​App Development is an exploration of the design and programming of application programs on mobile devices. It covers topics such as how to design for small displays and non-traditional input devices; what the expectations of mobile users are; how to use publicallly accessible data sources to develop innovative solutions.

Games and Algorithmic Culture investigates how videogames are responding and contributing to the current technological and cultural changes in the use of AI, data mining, procedurally generated content, metrics and automation. The module provides a fundamental knowledge of the videogame industry and its new markets and trends, such as eSports, live streaming, independent productions, casual and mobile gaming. It explores how these new social, cultural and aesthetic trends of game culture are framed around a broader algorithmic culture that pervades our contemporary technics of digital production and distribution. The module will enable students to understand the specificity of games as new media, to critically analyse the technical, economic and social factors that frame contemporary digital culture, and identify areas of intervention within the global entertainment industry.

This module introduces students to the major philosophical issues associated with play, games (especially digital games) and virtual worlds. It examines both the philosophical literature around play and contemporary concerns expressed in relationship to the growth of the video games industry, including addiction, violence, ‘gamification’ and the use of play and software for education and therapy. Students will learn to challenge common assumptions, including their own, about the triviality of play in relation to modern constructions of labour and value, and develop an understanding of how these assumptions underpin both popular and academic discussions of games.

The module is taught by lecture (1 hour per week) and seminar (1 hour per week). Assessment consists of a 3-part project: a formative pitch meeting with the module leader in the first 5 weeks of the course, a short report on that meeting (500 words, 30%) including a research plan, and a final essay (2,500 words, 70%).

This modules aims to cover advanced concepts underpinning computer games development; including game AI, content generation, graphics, physics and sound. As part of the continuous assessment, students apply those concepts to computer games development.

This module provides students with the opportunity to contribute to a large-scale design project with other members of their cohort. Students will be assessed individually, but will develop team-based skills and produce a portfolio of work within their chosen pathway of a level appropriate for professional applications.

This module provides students with the opportunity to contribute to a large-scale design project with other members of their cohort. Students will be assessed individually, but will develop team-based skills and produce a portfolio of work within their chosen pathway of a level appropriate for professional applications.