WHAT’S IN A GAME? Digital Humanities 350 (Spring 2015) at UVic Taught by Jentery Sayers ([email protected]) http://jentery.github.iO/dhum350/ DESCRIPTION What we call a videogame is not a product. It's the creation of an author and her accomplice, the player; it is handmade by the former and personally distributed to the latter. The videogame is a zine. -- Anna Anthropy For many of us, games are central to our leisure time. They are objects we purchase, play, and consume. But how are they made, and how do they help us think critically? In this course, you will prototype a game of your own, starting with a paper prototype and transitioning into a videogame prototype. Throughout the semester, you will also share your prototype, read research in game studies, and study gaming cultures. This course is ideal for undergraduates interested in new media, game design, electronic publishing, and cultural studies. No previous experience with any of these four fields is required. Students from across the disciplines are welcome. OBJECTIVES By the conclusion of this course, you should learn to: • Iteratively develop, revise, share, discuss, and formally present an indie game prototype, • Prototype an indie game that makes an argument about culture, • Combine critical thinking about power, systems, and social relations with basic technical competencies in computing and materials design, • Approach indie games as social systems (not bundles of unrelated component parts), and • Demonstrate an awareness of various strategies used by practitioners to prototype games with social justice issues in mind. Student work will be evaluated based on a gaming "manual" (three marks), a presentation (one mark), and a prototype (one mark). Please note: this course is an introduction to game development and game studies. By the semester's end, students are not expected to be experts in game-making, and they are also not expected to build a complete game. ASSIGNMENTS Game Manual (3 marks, each 20% Of yOur final grade) Throughout the semester, you will contribute to a game manual, which will correspond with the game prototype you are iteratively developing. The manual requires weekly entries (except reading break), routinely prompting you to build the prototype instead of waiting until the last minute. While, during the first half of the semester, it should consist of thought pieces, sketches, and other preliminary work, by the semester's end it should be an off-screen guide to how your game was made, how to play it, and how it's culturally embedded. The manual will be assessed three times, with each mark comprising 20% of your final grade. Although the final instantiation of the manual must be an off-screen guide (e.g., printed or analog), the first two instantiations can be screen-based or off-screen (print, handmade, or digital). Your choice. All prompts for the manual are included in the course schedule. Please think of the manual as a way to represent how this became that, or how to persuasively account for the process of building a game prototype. I expect the first two instantiations (especially the first) to be quite "drafty." The point is to inscribe and share your ideas and then refine them for the final mark (i.e., mark three). All that said, I do ask that you keep your contributions concise. Articulate your ideas as concretely and cogently as possible, with thorough evidence (e.g., sketches, screengrabs, observations about other indie games, and references to game studies research). You will receive the first mark for your manual during the middle of the semester, your second mark near the semester's end, and your final mark during or after the exam period. Final PresentatiOn (1 mark, 10% Of yOur final grade) At the semester's end, you will present your indie game prototype to the class, using a slidedeck that draws upon your prototype as evidence for an argument about culture. At this time, you will also give others in the course (including me) an opportunity to play the prototype, meaning you will need to demo it. During the second half of the semester, I will circulate a prompt for this presentation, with more specific instructions and my rubric for assessment. In the meantime, please note that the presentation + demo comprises 10% of your final grade. Final PrOtOtype (1 mark, 30% Of yOur final grade) At the semester’s end, you will submit a prototype for an indie game. While your game will not be complete, the prototype must be playable. As I mark it, I will also play it. The prototype must (if only in part) be computational. In other words, it must include a videogame (or a digital game), but it can also include other media (e.g., analog, tabletop, board, or site-specific game). The prototype comprises 30% of your final grade. During the second half of the semester, I will circulate a prompt for the prototype, with more specific instructions and my rubric for assessment. ASSESSMENT The English Department (which administers all DHUM courses at UVic) uses the following scale for grading purposes: A+ (90-100), A (85-89), A- (80-84), B+ (77- 79), B (73-76), B- (70-72), C+ (65-69), C (60-64), D (50-59), and F (0-49). I do not use plagiarism detection software when assessing student work, and final grades will be determined in accordance with the University’s official grading system. N Grades Students who have completed the following elements of the course will be considered to have completed the course and will be assigned a final grade: the final game prototype and at least one mark for the game manual. Failure to complete these elements will result in a grade of “N” regardless of the cumulative percentage on other elements of the course. An “N” is a failing grade, and it factors into a student’s GPA as 0 (the maximum percentage that can accompany an “N” on a transcript is 49). CirculatiOn Of Marks and Feedback I will not, at any time, post grades online, outside my office door, or in any other public forum. Grades will be circulated privately. Grading Rubric fOr the Game Manual A+: The content is persuasive, creative, reflexive, and supported by a significant amount of evidence. It not only meets the requirements of the prompt but also adds additional, interesting code, features, or design elements that were not required for the assignment. These additions augment the overall quality of the manual and demonstrate that you are learning more than what is being taught during class meetings. A- or A: The content is persuasive, creative, reflexive, and supported by evidence. It not only meets the requirements of the prompt but also adds additional, interesting code, features, or design elements that were not required for the assignment. These additions augment the overall quality of the manual and demonstrate that you are learning what is being taught during class meetings. B- thrOugh B+: The content is persuasive and supported by evidence. It meets the requirements of the prompt and demonstrates that you are learning what is being taught during class meetings. C or C+: The content is not persuasive, and it is not supported by evidence. It meets some requirements of the prompt. D: The content is not persuasive, and there is no evidence. It does not meet the requirements of the prompt. F: The content is missing and/or it does not meet any requirements of the prompt. This rubric was adapted from a syllabus written by Mark Sample at Davidson College. Grading Rubric fOr the Final PresentatiOn I will circulate the rubric for the Final Presentation during the second half of the semester. Grading Rubric fOr the Final PrOtOtype I will circulate the rubric for the Final Prototype during the second half of the semester. HOw tO DO Well in this COurse · Write while you read material or play a game. For me this means annotating content as I engage it. You can annotate print and digital material. · Come to class with ideas and questions. Be curious. Seek connections between texts, between projects, between games, and between this course and others, even in other disciplines. · Take notes during class meetings. A significant portion of your game manual intersects with what we talk about in class. · Let me know when you don’t follow what I’m saying. I am not aware of what you do not know or do not understand, and I may assume more contextual knowledge on your part than you have. I find this stuff fascinating, but I will not always know what you want to investigate or know more about---so please tell me. · Persuasive work takes time. Before you submit content, consider circulating drafts. Ask friends or peers to give your prototype or writing a gander. Come chat with me during office hours. · During class and in writing, be concrete when you comment on anyone’s work (including the materials we’re discussing). Quote it. Speak to specific elements. And then respond with your own interpretations. When the work is by a peer, be sure to affirm their ideas (e.g., “I like how you…”). · Use your game manual to share ideas and discuss material (including games) outside of class. If you have a question, then ask your classmates or me. If you hear something you want to remember, then note it for later reference. If you like the work your peer’s done, then tell them so. “How to Do Well in this Course” was adapted from a syllabus written by Christopher Douglas, University of Victoria Department of English.