Holistic Game Development Curriculum

Ben Kenwright

Abstract

This article discusses the design and implementation of a holis-tic game development curriculum. We focus on a technical de-gree centred around game engineering/technologies with transfer-able skills, problem solving, mathematics, software engineering,scalability, and industry practices. In view of the fact that there isa growing skills shortage for technically minded game engineers,we must also be aware of the rapidly changing advancements inhardware, technologies, and industry. Firstly, we want a synergisticgame orientated curriculum (for a 4-year Bachelor’s programme).Secondly, the organisation and teaching needs to adapt to futuretrends, while avoiding tunnel vision (too game orientated) and sup-port both research and industry needs. Finally, we build upon col-laborations with independent experts to support an educational pro-gramme with a diverse range of skills. The curriculum discussed inthis article, connects with a wide variety of subjects (while strength-ening and supporting one another), such as, programming, mathe-matics, computer graphics, physics-based animation, parallel sys-tems, and artificial intelligence. All things considered, the develop-ment and incorporation of procedures into a curriculum frameworkto keep up with advancements in game technologies is importantand valuable.

Collaborative learning Computing education programs Contextualsoftware domains Virtual worlds software

Keywords: game development, education, curriculum, teaching,degree, technologies, holistic, learning

Concepts: •Applied computing→ Education; •Social and pro-fessional topics→ Computing education; •Software and its engi-neering→ Software organization and properties;

1 Introduction

Technical Game Skills Core skills are essential, such as, mathsand physics, which we use all the time (not just for game develop-ment). These essential skills need to be taught well from the begin-ning. This is coupled with the gaming industry’s growing technicalskills shortage. Not to mention, the game industry’s global contri-bution is predicted to reach $113 billion by 2018 [Collmus et al.2016; Cappelli 2015]. People often forget that the gaming indus-try is such a fast-paced sector that is continually changing due torapidly evolving digital technologies. Essential skills not only in-clude mathematics and computer graphics, but the ability to adaptand problem solve - technical abilities which are desperately neededby industry. In summary, when designing and teaching a technicalgame curriculum, we need to think of the future - skills needed thatwill push the next generation of entertainment, especially with the

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dawn of Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) on thehorizon [Fowler 2015; Akcayır et al. 2016].

Overview To meet tomorrows skills needs, we present a technicalgame degree with a unified structure. Modules work in ‘synergy’ tocomplement and energise the overall curriculum. We avoid piggy-backing or lumping the game syllabus onto an existing curriculum(i.e., adding a single game module onto a generic computer sciencedegree). At the same time, we want to ensure the bigger pictureis taken into account - that is, avoid being too specialised (tunnelvision) with everything having a ‘game’ focus. That is to say, in re-cent years, game development degrees have picked up a stereotype(i.e., game engineers are only able to work for game studios), whichwe want to avoid. Having said that, we want to teach transferableskills and ensure long term students employability prospects. Grad-uating students should not be bottlenecked into a game only career.For example, mathematics, good engineering practices, and com-puter graphics are valuable skills in multiple disciplines (medical,banking, engineering, and robotics) [Hoidn et al. 2014].

As shown in Figure 2, the modules have well defined dependencies- skills from each year feed-forward. This structure provides a sup-portive collaboration between otherwise independent topics. Forexample, mathematics and programming principles are essential forcomputer graphics. The course has 20+ teaching staff directly in-volved in lecturing, tutoring, and demonstrating (practical-lab ses-sions). However, the course and modules are overseen by the pro-gramme leader (high-level view). Not to mention, the course andmodules are constantly monitored through feedback from studentsand lecturers to provide insight into the overall holistic energy ofthe programme (feedback is through anonymous module question-naires, student representatives, and national student survey results).

The university is located in the capital of Scotland (Edinburgh - Cityof Culture) - an ideal learning environment for students; with inter-nationally recognised studios on the doorstep (e.g., Rockstar andDisney). Coupled with a whole range of experts involved in teach-ing and research at the university. Not to mention, the university’sactive involvement with the gaming community (events), studentunion societies, and access to specialist hardware/tools. This haspaid dividends over the years, since graduating students, in recog-nition of their hard work, have won industry prizes and publishedat conferences - as well as employability statistics, with studentsgoing onto work at internationally recognized studios; and furthereducation (research positions/PhDs).

Figure 1: Strategy - Year-by-year programme strategy.

To give a brief overview, the course includes:

• solid mathematical grounding• learning and application of the latest APIs, such as Vulkan,

OpenGL and DirectX to get the most out of the hardware

Figure 2: Flow Diagram - BSc Games Development Programme for 15/16. (Dotted lines indicating optional components for the year. Level07 indicates the 1st year and level 10 the final 4th year).

• computer graphics and renderers (i.e., current and future tech-niques - rasterization and raytracers), so that students understandtechniques used in modern games and applications

• analysis of game engineering techniques and development - map-ping solutions to hardware while also providing a toolset for de-signers and artists

• visual and physical effects, such as, realistic real-time simulationof cloth, fur, and hair

• animation and behaviour modelling, including steering algo-rithms and crowd simulation

2 Previous & Current Programme Structure(Evolution)

The curriculum has been updated over the years to align with thegrowing industrial needs and changing technologies. What is more,while the course supports a wide range of skills, we structure andalign the subjects to complement one another. The game degreebegan its life back in 2009, and has gone from strength to strengthover the years. With the course curriculum combining both the the-oretical and practical aspects (such as, formal lectures, tutorials,workshops, and practical labs), as well as, the integration of vir-tual tools, such as Moodle.org and Progzoo.net. This is supportedby a custom game-lab where students have access to high specifica-tion computers and specialist equipment (e.g., PS4s, PS3s, PSVitas,and Oculus Rifts). All things considered, the curriculum’s designpattern has and is founded on the strategy of achieving excellenceby exploiting a holistic oriented paradigm rather than a separate ordisjunct overview of the individual components (i.e., modules).

This paper’s contribution lies in emphasising the synergistic impor-tance in game orientated curriculums for training students in tech-nical transferable skills for both video games and other industrialneeds. In light of this, there has been other research that has fo-cused on similar goals. This includes Peng [Peng 2015] who wasone of the first to presented an introductory view of video gamecourses and how they need to embrace both technical and artis-tic qualities, while Guimaraes and Murray [Guimaraes and Murray2008] presented an overview of effectively teaching game curricu-lum material in higher education. While our approach embracesboth a general and specialist view to ensure transferable and longterm skills are captured in the curriculum. For instance, we wanted

to avoid a curriculum that was too narrowly focused on games. As alarge majority of the skills and principles are applicable to multipleareas, like computer graphics, animation, physics, artificial intelli-gence, and security. In summary, our approach presents a stream-lined education solution for a game development curriculum thatwe hope will bring reform into current educational systems.

3 Programme Details

3.1 Curriculum

Our programme focuses on the technical aspect of game develop-ment (i.e., compared to the artistic or abstract). We wanted to avoidmaking the curriculum too ‘rigid’. For example, students who comeonto the course, with a solid background in mathematics, wouldbenefit more from doing other modules to enhance their knowledgeinstead of repeating the mathematics material (see Figure 2). Fur-thermore, student cohort sizes are usually limited to between 20-30students (to maintain quality).

From the beginning, a concurrent view of learning is applied (ma-terial is shared between modules to complement and enhance theabsorption). With this in mind, we encourage and develop the abil-ity to ‘problem solve’ (less spoon feeding). This is supported bythe fact that we avoid teaching a ‘single’ programming languagefor the entire degree - as the ability to work with different tools andAPI (e.g., python, Java, C++, HTML) is important (learn new lan-guages and ideas easily). Likewise, the skills taught in modules arenot just ‘game’ focused - and students need to understand that thetools and techniques in the game industry are used in multiple dis-ciplines (this gives a broader view). To put it another way, we wantto cultivate a range of essential skills.

As discussed, the programme covers a wide range of disciplines.This is supported by expert (staff who are internationally recog-nized in the field) who are able to provide resources and teachingof the latest material (consistent and up to date curriculum). Thecurriculum is split into four years as shown in Figure 4. Initial yearsform the foundation of common (or core) computing concepts, suchas, mathematics, object orientated design, and computer systems.We also run a number of short workshops for freshmen students tointegrate them into the programme (e.g., writing papers in LaTeX,

using version control, developing a website/portfolio, and readingresearch papers). Furthermore freshmen students are encouraged tojoin societies and attend events (e.g., gaming society), which pro-vides opportunities to meet and interact with other members of theuniversity (i.e., other game development students, artists, sound,and design students).

The third and fourth years of the curriculum are more specialisedand covers more game focused modules (e.g., advanced-game en-gineering). Notably, the course takes a ‘bottom-up’ approach togame development. Examining the low-level concepts and indi-vidual components separately before bringing them all together toconstruct games and tools. Compared to a ‘top-down’ approachwhich examines completed games and reverse engineers them towork downwards (i.e., pulling it apart and looking at the pieces).In addition to programming and game design, the students also dopeer review, group work, presentations, exams, and technical writ-ing on a regular basis. Students are taught to work independentlyand collaborative (i.e., group projects), while working with otherdepartments (e.g., sound, art, and creative media students) to de-velop interdisciplinary skills and promoting global understanding(sharing and learning advanced digital technology and engineeringfrom other sectors).

To name but a few of the 20+ experts directly involved in the course(teaching and supporting the students):

• Ben Kenwright - Programme Leader, Physics, Computer Graph-ics

• Prof. Kenny Mitchel (also Head Disney Research UK)• Kevin Chalmers - Programming Fundamentals, Concurrent &

Parallel Systems• Andrew Cumming - Software Development, Algorithms & Data

Structures• Kathryn Stewart - Foundation Mathematics• Neil Urquhart - Software Development, Computational Intelli-

gence• Alastair Soutar - Software Engineering Methods, Group Projects• Sally Smith - Mobile Applications Development

Figure 3: Statistics - Recent recruitment and retention numbers.

3.2 Educational Resources

The course is not just about making games. There is the presenceand access to experts at the university (i.e., both professors and re-searchers). Extra curricular activities/workshops are included forstudents who want to go above and beyond (working on game con-soles or small research tasks) (see Figure 5). The programme hasa maximum permitted number of students (i.e., quota) due to lim-ited resources (i.e., size of the game lab and teaching hours). Wewanted to avoid ‘bulk’ teaching, which would sacrifice quality fornumbers - we wanted to ensure each student is supported throughtheir studies (see Figure 3). Limiting numbers enables us to avoidvoid poor-quality training and a ‘sausage factory’ like course (i.e.,

students leaving with the inability to obtain a job with their qualifi-cation). In 2015 the game-lab was extended to allow for additionalhigh-specification computers, study areas, computer and hardwareupgrades to account for the growing demand for the course. Oftenthe problem is not the number of people applying for the course,which can be quite high, but the quality of the applicants (i.e., theyneed to have a good grounding in mathematics).

3.3 Research (Honours) Projects

The final year (i.e., 4th year) honours project gives students achance to work on a substantial piece of work from start to fin-ish (involving a poster, thesis and a viva at the end). The projectlinks researching a problem, collecting data/evidence to support theproblem, building a support case, documenting and implementinga proof of concept solution/experiments. Previous project titles in-clude:

• Soft body dynamics on the GPU using shells• Game physics engine analysis and development• Poxels: polygonal voxel environment rendering• Fluid simulations in games

The honours projects are intense and challenging - however, theyprovide a solid piece of portfolio evidence (crown) for the accu-mulated students hard work over the years. On multiple occasions,students have won prizes, gone on to do publications, and been ac-cepted for talks/workshop events (share their experiences).

3.4 Academic & Industry Collaboration

Guest lecturers visit and give talks on real-world examples (i.e.,both from research and past experiences working on shipped titles).The course has an industry panel (steering committee) - a collectionof experts from industry (e.g., NVidia, AMD, and Disney), whoprovide insight and advice on current and future teaching/research.The industrial and academic collaboration is essential, as pointedout by other universities courses [Mikami et al. 2010]. For example,the course constantly engages with industry, NVidia Teaching Cen-tre [NVidia 2016], Skillset Accreditation [Skillset 2016], BritishComputer Society (BCS) [BCS 2016], Sony Playstation First [Sony2016], guest lecturers, that provide access and insight into the latesttools, technologies and state of the art techniques.

For example:

• Sony Playstation First Partnership - Access to commercial hard-ware and software (e.g., PS3/PS4/Vita)

• Nvidia Teaching Centre - Support and equipment from Nvidiaand access to Webinars and online material. Input from expertswithin Nvidia who are active within the industry, such as, PhilScott (NVidia)

• Collaborate with AMD (NDA Research Projects) - e.g., Also getsupport from experts on the course from, such as, Richard Huddywho is AMD’s - Chief Gaming Officer

4 Evaluation & Conclusion

The game industry has and will continue to grow. A strong curricu-lum that builds life-long skills (i.e., technical problem solving abil-ities) is significant and valuable. This should be supported by bothindustrial and academic collaborations (not just theoretical) withaccess to state of the art hardware and facilities. As we have dis-cussed, the atmosphere of the course is also a crucial factor. Sincea positive and supportive environment with fall-back mechanismshelps students (e.g., societies, study areas, and student support ser-vices) to cope with the work-load (i.e., steep learning curves and

Figure 4: Examples - (a) Writing technical reports (LaTeX/Citations/Writing Styles), (b) interactive simulations, (c) game labs are organisedfor social working (e.g., round clusters for events and discussion) - including white boards around all sides, high specification computers(dual-monitors), meeting areas, and (d) access to state of the art hardware, Oculus Rift [Oculus 2016], Playstation development kits [Sony2016], and Microsoft Kinect [Microsoft 2016] (integrated into games and demos).

tight deadlines). All things considered, as we have discussed inthis article, a unified view of the curriculum promotes synergy forsuccess.

The overall course attempts to provide a holistic focus to train andsupport student to be their best. While the course is constantly push-ing the bar higher, we also give students all the tools they need toget over it (rise to the challenge). Not just to teach students to mem-orize material but to develop life-long skills, such as, the ability toadapt and problem solve. This is supported through a diverse rangeof teaching techniques, both active and passive, group work, prac-tical labs, tutorial sessions, and blended learning (i.e., technologieswith traditional classroom pedagogical methods).

In conclusion, universities across the United Kingdom are reviewedbased on published statistics which evaluate the effectiveness of theuniversities as a whole, departments, and individual courses, in ar-eas, of student satisfaction, employability, research, and facilities(e.g., National Student Survey). In light of this, the course was aleader in the school of computing across all the area (typically os-cillating around the 90%).

5 Future Developments

Get students more involved in research (i.e., at an early stage) - highacademic value. Closer ties with industry (collaborative projects).Open to the public (run events and have students share their knowl-edge). Greater emphasis on ‘life-long’ skills - ability to adapt andlearn new tools and techniques. Integration of digital tools to en-hance learning (e.g., virtual reality - such as, Oculus Rift and Mi-crosoft HoloLens).

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