9/3/2010 - Registration for Fall Quarter Ends
9/6/2010 - Labor Day (School Closed)
9/24/2010 - Early Fall Classes End
10/4/2010 - Fall Classes Begin
11/15/2010 - Registration for Winter Starts
11/25/2010 - Thanksgiving (School Closed)

Video Game Development Course Descriptions

At Globe University/Minnesota School of Business, college classes in video game development prepare students for careers as game developers, designers, and computer programmers for the video game industry. Instructors are pros, classes are small, and students get personal attention as they assemble impressive portfolios of their original work.

Game development courses are only offered at the Richfield, Minnesota, campus.

Video Game Development Courses

Please check with a representative or see the current course schedule to determine course availability.

GD101 Introduction to Game Architecture (3 Credits)
Students learn fundamentals of game design and master design documents. Topics include design issues, introduction to game programming, level design and fundamental production and post-production techniques.
Prerequisites: SD110

GD150 Game Interface Design and Theory (3 Credits)
This course addresses concepts and terminology of game design, including the iterative process of design from conceptualization through prototyping and playtesting. Students learn techniques for effectively generating novel game ideas and analyzing and improving existing game implementations.
Prerequisites: GD101

GD153 Foundations of Game Development (4 Credits)
This course focuses on the concepts and terminology of game design. It covers the iterative process of design from conceptualization through prototyping and play-testing. Students learn methods for effectively generating interesting game ideas in addition to techniques for analyzing and improving existing game implementations.
Prerequisites: SD110 OR SD114

GD155 Animation for Game Development I (3 Credits)
This introduction to 3ds Max explores the user interface, viewports, objects, file management, modeling with 2d splines, polygons, compound objects, lights and cameras.
Prerequisites: CG131

GD160 Mathematics for 3D Animation and Games (4 Credits)
Students must be able to implement classes in the C++ programming language to complete exercises in this course. Students learn mathematical models that underlie design and construction of game engines, as well as the various interactions specific to animated computer games and the techniques of calculation needed to apply them. Topics include coordinate transforms, interpolation, illumination, visibility, collisions and elementary physics.
Prerequisites: GD155, AND NS216, AND SD251

GD163 Animation Fundamentals (4 Credits)
This is an introduction to 3D animation and 2D image generation. The areas of 3D study include the user interface, viewports, modeling with 2D splines, primitive objects, lights, cameras, materials and animation. The areas of 2D image generation include the user interface, painting tools, layers, filters, retouching and image manipulation for texture creation.
Prerequisites: GR131

GD200 Animation for Game Development II (4 Credits)
Students learn to create game-ready, low-polygon models and characters to use in computer games. Topics include modeling with primitives; using extrusions, mirroring and reusing models; using a high polygon mesh as a low polygon template; applying UVW mapping coordinates; using optimization techniques; and UI development and texturing.
Prerequisites: GD155

GD233 Matter and Motion (4 Credits)
This course introduces physics necessary to understand and describe the motion of objects. Topics include the study of motion in 1, 2 and 3 dimensions, forces, Newton's Laws, kinetic and potential energy conservation, center of mass, momentum conservation, heat, collisions, and rotational kinematics. Laboratory experiments reinforce learning by providing hands-on evidence of the important concepts. Mathematics is kept at the algebra level.
Prerequisites: NS216

GD235 Lighting and Textures (4 Credits)
This is an introduction to the artistic representation of digital sets including models, lights, shadows, reflections, colors, opacities, environmental effects and textures. The student integrates these elements to create the desired “look” for a scene. Students create their own textures using both photographic and 2D imaging tools.
Prerequisites: GD155 OR GD163

GD251 Flash Game Development (4 Credits)
This course covers Macromedia's Flash and Actionscript. Students learn to manipulate vector graphics, layered animation sequences and listener responses through Actionscript and the Flash development environment's GUI, and to build and deploy games for both stand-alone and web-based delivery.
Prerequisites: SD251

GD252 Game Development Using DirectX 1 (4 Credits)
This course is an overview of the uses of the DirectX library in games programming. The language used is C++. Many concepts taught in the class apply to a variety of programming languages and libraries.
Prerequisites: SD251, AND GD160

GD273 Animation Software Tools (4 Credits)
This course covers the features and use of animation software such as Adobe Flash and Actionscript. Students manipulate vector graphics, layered animation sequences, and listener responses both through Actionscript and through the Flash development environment’s GUI. Students build and deploy games for both standalone and web-based delivery.
Prerequisites: SD110 OR SD114

GD300 Human Form and Action (4 Credits)
This course examines the human form and its artistic depiction. Emphasis is on character design and on creating figures that display a full range of characteristic movement and a convincing feeling of action.
Prerequisites: GR131

GD310 Game Development Using DirectX II (3 Credits)
This is an advanced view of the uses of DirectX in game programming. The language used is C++. Many concepts taught in this class apply to a variety of programming languages and libraries.
Prerequisites: GD252

GD320 Audio for Game Development (3 Credits)
Students create and edit soundtracks for animation, learning editing terminology and editing audio on multiple tracks. Synching audio and video, as with a character's lip-synch, is emphasized, and compositing and video post effects are introduced.
Prerequisites: GD252

GD325 Computer Graphics (4 Credits)
This course covers the mathematical models that underlie the design and application of graphics and game engines. Additionally, students learn fundamental graphics algorithm. Topics include vectors, matrices, coordinate transforms, interpolation, illumination, visibility, collisions and motion. Students will implement their work in a high-level programming language such as C++ or VPython.
Prerequisites: NS216, AND SD230 OR SD234

GD330 Game Engine Programming (4 Credits)
Students apply existing game engine technologies as they develop complex new games. They identify and utilize structures that are common to a variety of game engines. By understanding these game engine technologies, students become more efficient and better organized game programmers.
Prerequisites: GD235 OR VD135, AND SD110 OR SD114

GD350 Game Development Production (5 Credits)
Students create their own computer games, learning game engine design and Windows programming, with an emphasis on implementing a design document into a working computer game. Topics include creating game design documents, creating 2D graphics, creating 3D graphics engines, collision detection and game mechanics.
Prerequisites: GD310

GD364 Multimedia Programming I (4 Credits)
This course gives students an overview of using the DirectX library in games programming. The language used is C++. Many of the concepts implemented in this class apply across many programming languages and libraries.
Prerequisites: GD160 OR GD325

GD370 Gaming Worlds and Culture (4 Credits)
This course covers the interactions between games and the cultures that produce them. Topics include games and gender, how the culture views games, serious games or games that teach, and online worlds. In the second half of the course, students either make a serious game or design and construct an online world.
Prerequisites: GD150 OR GD153, AND CM121

GD374 Multimedia Programming II (4 Credits)
The course provides an advanced view of the use of DirectX in game programming. The language used is C++. Many of the concepts implemented in this class apply across many programming languages and libraries.
Prerequisites: GD252 OR GD364

GD380 Three-Dimensional Characters (4 Credits)
In this course, students create game-ready, low polygon models and characters to use in computer games. The areas of study include modeling with primitives, using extrusions, mirroring and reusing models, using a high polygon mesh as a low polygon template, applying UVW mapping coordinates, and optimization techniques. The course also covers user interface development and texturing.
Prerequisites: GD235 OR VD135, AND GD300 OR VD100

GD385 Simulating Physics with Software (4 Credits)
This course brings the physics of the real world into a simulation. Students simulate real-world games such as billiards, golf, or pin-ball. Additionally, students explore simulating real-world interactions between bodies and approximate the laws governing non-terrestrial environments such as outer space and fantasy worlds.
Prerequisites: GD233, AND GD325

GD394 Software Engineering for Portables (4 Credits)
This course introduces students to a development suite for creating software applications, including games, for portable devices such as cell phones, and personal digital assistants. Students learn about the limitations imposed by these devices’ processing powers and learn to operate within those constraints. Equally important, this course is a practice in software engineering as students will team up in the development of program requirements, design, development, and testing of applications.
Prerequisites: SD251 OR SD254

GD410 Storytelling and User Experience (4 Credits)
This is a creative writing course for game developers. Students learn to structure plots and design characters. They write dialog for game encounters and learn to structure conversation trees so as to create believable characters for a game. Students collaborate to create branching stories and compelling plotlines.
Prerequisites: GD153, AND CM121

GD420 Artificial Intelligence (4 Credits)
This course covers fundamental artificial intelligence techniques for games and other applications including algorithms for movement such as chasing, evading, flocking, potential function-based movement, and A* path-finding. Additionally, classical artificial intelligence topics are introduced such as finite state machines, mini-max, fuzzy logic, rule-based AI, Bayesian techniques, neural networks and genetic algorithms.
Prerequisites: GD410 OR IT305, AND SD254

GD450 Game Production (5 Credits)
Students create their own computer games. They learn game engine design and graphical user programming. Emphasis is placed on implementing a design document into a working computer game. The areas of study include creating game design documents, creating 2D graphics, and creating 3D graphics engines. The course also covers collision detection and game mechanics.
Prerequisites: GD330, AND GD420

Video Game Development and other IT careers

Is it work if you are having this much fun? Find out more about game and application development programs at Globe University/Minnesota School of Business, offered at Richfield and St. Cloud campuses. Contact us. A college representative will answer your questions and provide any assistance you need with registration.