Syllabus and Course Intro

Instructor Dr. Dana Wortman

Email [Preferred] dwortman@uccs.edu
Phone 719-255-5158
Course Day & Time F 10:50am – 1:30pm
Location Osborne A206 (BI Lab)
Office ENG 190
Office Hours Tues & Thurs: 12:30pm – 1:30pm
*** Or by Appointment ***
 This course discusses the various game
design decisions required when targeting our
games for various diverse populations.
Students will learn how to consider gender,
ethnicity, and other diversity dimensions as
part of the game design process. Designing
games for a variety of different populations
forms a key component of the course.

 Prerequisite: GDD1100
Required Textbooks
 Gaming Representation: Race,
Gender, and Sexuality in Video
Games by Malkowski and Russworm.
 ISBN: 9780253026477

Additional Class Handouts (as we go

along)

Moodle Coursesite:
 http://games4edu.org/moodle

 Required Software:
◦ GameMaker Studio 2 – Professional
 Can Upgrade from existing GMS
Date Topic Reading
25-Aug Syllabus, Game and Industry Demographics Introduction
1-Sep Player Motivation
8-Sep Player Skill and Style Chp 2
15-Sep Players with Physical Disabilities Chp 9
22-Sep Players with Mental Disabilities
29-Sep Avatar Imagery Chp 10
6-Oct Player Race and Identity Chp 6, 8
Player Culture and Identity,
13-Oct MIDTERM REVIEW Chp 7, 11
20-Oct MIDTERM EXAM
27-Oct Player Gender and Identity Chp 1, 3, 5
3-Nov Player Gender and Gameplay Style
10-Nov Player Gender and Communication Style
17-Nov Player Sexuality and Identity Chp 12, 13
24-Nov NO CLASSES - THANKSGIVING
1-Dec Diversity in the Games Industry & Academia Chp 4, Afterword
Games as an Artistic Medium,
8-Dec FINAL REVIEW
13-Dec FINAL EXAM 3:00-5:00pm
 Design-heavy course
◦ About 10 hours per week of homework
◦ Get help when you need it:
 Textbooks, internet, tutorials, office hours, friends

 Final grades are computed using the following

weights:
◦ Class Attendance/Participation 10%
◦ Programming Assignments/Project 50%
◦ Exams 40%

 Late Work
◦ 10% per day
 I expect you to help each other
 Must complete your own work
 Do not copy code from others or internet

 When “helping” each other:

◦ Do not take a written document from the meeting
◦ Do not look at another’s or show your own code for
“inspiration”
◦ Do not send/copy code

 1st offense: zero for project/exam/assignment

 2nd offense: fail the course
 To practice your skills at designing games

 To understand how diversity affects the gameplay

experience
 To learn to think about game experiences from different
perspectives
 To motivate a wide variety of gamers

 To develop games that attract individual with diverse

interests
 To develop games that support and encourage diversity
 To develop games that support disabilities

 To develop a Portfolio-quality product worthy of showing

to future employers