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33402 Psyc 2962-01 Instructor: Marc Destefano Course Description: In this course, we will be concerned will all facets and types of gaming. We will look at games from the viewpoint of the user and the psychology it entails, as well as from the designer as they attempt to make their game appealing. This is a very broad course and will cover many different and diverse topics, such as cognition, artificial intelligence, kinesics, theater, and Human - Computer Interaction. Many guest lecturers will present during our Thursday night classes, some directly involved with the game industry. Objective: My objective is to teach the basics of game theory, but more importantly, to serve as a practical primer to anyone interested in entering the gaming industry. We will spend time dealing with game design as it is done in the real world, with big-budget games. Game design and construction is a huge topic, requiring many disciplines. Besides programming skills, it is important to understand how to get the reaction you want from the end user, how to make an interface as transparent as possible, and how to look ahead in solving the difficult problems of the future, especially those involving AI. Course Policies Preparation and Attendance: This is a lecture course. Comments and questions relevant to the course material are encouraged. Since there are few graded assignments and no required text (although there will be readings), attendance is mandatory, and is factored into your final grade as explained in the "Grading" section. Academic Honesty: Student relationships are built on mutual respect and trust. Students must be able to trust that their teachers have made responsible decisions about the structure and content of the course and that they are conscientiously making their best effort to help students learn. Teachers must be able to trust that students do their work conscientiously and honestly making their best effort to learn. Acts that violate this mutual respect and trust undermine the educational process. They counteract our very reason for being here at Rensselaer and will not be tolerated. Any student who engages in any form of academic dishonesty wiil receive an F in this course and will be reported to the Dean of Students for further disciplinary action. The Rensselaer Handbook defined various forms of Academic Dishonesty and procedures for responding to them. All of these forms are violations of trust between students and teachers. Please familiarize yourself with this portion of the handbook. Gender-fair language: Because the way we speak and write affects the way we think, everyone in this course is expected to use gender-fair language in all discussions and writing. A guide to gender-fair language is available from the Writing Center and from the Library. Grading: The graded assignments for this class will consist
of two homework assignments (1-2 pages long), a midterm project (5-6
pages long), and a final group project, which is not necessarily a paper.
Your final grade is determined as follows:
For the final project, there will be a grade assigned to the entire group. From that grade, individual member grades will be determined by factoring in your team's assessment of you. About the Instructor: I am the Technical Director of the Minds & Machines Laboratory and Program here at RPI. I've been here for a total of six years now, having received my B.S. in Computer Science and Psychology in 1998, and recently earned my M.S. in Cognitive Systems Engineering. I have been interested in gaming all my life, and programmed several games before I became a graduate student. My interests are very broad, ranging from hypnosis to origami to body language to application development to professional wrestling. Schedule:
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