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CS679: Computer Game Technology

Fall 2003

cs679-1@cs.wisc.edu


Instructor: Stephen Chenney

Email: schenney@cs.wisc.edu
Office: 6387 Computer Sciences and Statistics
Office Hours: Send email to arrange a time.

Project Pages


Announcements

Calendar

Most recent at the top.
Dec 9 Dec 11
  • Final Project Demos, Rm B240
Dec 2 Dec 4
  • No class
Nov 25 Nov 27
  • Thanksgiving
Nov 18
  • Collision Detection overview
  • Handling player collisions
  • Lecture notes.
Nov 20
Nov 11 Nov 13
  • Path Planning: Dynamic environments
  • Flocking
  • Particle Systems
  • Lecture notes.
Nov 4
  • Path Planning
  • Greedy planning
  • Breadth-first planning
  • A* intro
  • Lecture notes.
Nov 6
  • MIDTERM
Oct 28 Oct 30
Oct 21
  • Terrain Generation
  • Lecture notes.
  • Reading: The book Game Programming Gems has a lot to say on this topic.
Oct 23
Oct 14 Oct 16
Oct 7 Oct 9
Sept 30
  • Spatial Data Structures
  • Octrees
  • Lecture notes.
  • Reading: RTR Section 9.1
Oct 2
  • kd-trees
  • BSP-Trees
  • Bounding volume hierarchies
  • Cell-Portal structures
  • Lecture notes.
  • Reading: RTR Section 9.1
Sept 23 Sept 18
  • Vertex and Fragment Shaders
  • CG
  • Lecture notes.
  • Reading: RTR Section 6.5, 6.6 and 6.7; The Cg Tutorial
Sept 16
  • Bump Mapping
  • Multi-pass Rendering
  • Lecture notes.
  • Reading: RTR Sect 5.7.5, RTR Chapter 2, RTR Section 6.10
Sept 18
  • Reflections
  • Shadows Part 1
  • Lecture notes.
  • Reading: RTR Section 6.10, RTR Section 6.12
Sept 9 Sept 11
  • More environment mapping
  • Light mapping
  • Bump mapping
  • Lecture notes.
  • Reading: RTR Chapter 5.
Sept 2 Sept 4

Software for the Course

You are free to use whatever software you like in this course, although we can only provide assistance with C++, FLTK, OpenGL and CG. The projects must run on machines in B240, and that is where they will be graded. The machines have GeForce3 graphics cards, which limits the shading effects you can create for grading.


People Who Helped

I am indepted to Michael Garland, who provided slides for use in the LOD section of the class, and John Laird, who provided the slides for the AI tutorial he and Mike van Lent gave at the 2001 GDC.


General Course Information

This course is about the technology that goes into creating computer games and other interactive entertainment. The focus is on 3D gaming and the graphics, artificial intelligence and networking technology that is employed in games.