Presentations

Each team will be responsible for a 50-minute presentation covering a class topic. (The beginning of class is used for critiques.) The topics and dates that are available are:

• procedural generation (Feb 2) TEAM 607
• level design (Feb 11) TEAM 601
• narrative and story (Feb 18) TEAM 606
• characters (Feb 23) TEAM 610
• graphics styles and implementation (Feb 25) TEAM 609
• sound and music (Mar 2) TEAM 608
• game worlds and physics (Mar 4) TEAM 603
• gender (Mar 16)
• evoking emotion and violence in games (Apr 1) TEAM 604
• AI and machine learning (Apr 6) TEAM 602
• AR and VR (Apr 13) TEAM 611
• games in education (Apr 15)
• games in health (Apr 20)

Requirements for the presentation are that the team meets with me for a planning meeting two weeks prior to the presentation and one week prior to the presntation for a walkthrough. That means that the first possible topic is the week of February 2. The planning meeting MAY be held at the the recitation if you send me the materials listed below at least 24 hours before the recitation. The walkthrough cannot be done at recitaiton time as it would consume the entire time. You can schedule the walkthrough during office hours or at other available times. (See the discussion about office hours on the ABOUT page.) There are two objectives of this assignment: to learn more about an aspect of games that interests you and to learn about the state of the literature and research available in the field.

Choosing a Topic

Each team is to submit ONE google form with your prioritized topics. You need to prioritize ALL topics, but don't sweat the differences on the lower priorities. Responses are due at 7 pm on Thursday, January 21. This will permit teams to dicuss their choices at the first week's team meetings. There is significant information about each topic on the RESOURCES page.

Planning Meeting

At the planning meeting, you are expected to cover

• the topics that you plan to cover
• at least one resource per person that you have read about the topic other than those already provided (they can be scholarly papers or "popular press" papers). The goal here is that you become aware of what is currently happening in the area. Good options for searching are Google, Google Scholar, and academia.edu.
• the games that you plan to reference as good or bad examples
• the proposed class reading and prompt (it can be a new reading or one listed on the RESOURCES page
• possible activities

Walkthrough

This is a complete content walkthrough. The charts need not be "pretty", but they should be complete (e.g., the examples that you plan to use) and at the intended level (e.g., the amount of text you expect to use).

The presentation must do the following:

1. Cover the items listed for your topic in the outlines on the RESOURCES page. For each topic, the reources page provides
   • the required topics
   • additional possible topics
   • resources that might be helpful
   • possible games of interest (take with a grain of salt)
2. Use at least 3 games that illustrate the topic and the points that you make. You need to use either screenshots or video clips to illustrate the points; that is naming a game is not sufficient. The CATALOG also has a significant number of games that you might want to use.
3. Games are about doing. As this is a course about gams, you need to engage the class in some activity.

I strongly recommend that you work on the presentation plan as early as possible. I am happy to have a preliminary meeting well before the required meeting or you can email me the plan if you want feedback on it.

Collaboration Options and Grading

In past years, the team was expected to work together and a single grade was given to the team. Because of the remote nature of the semester, I will permit students to break up into individuals, pairs, or work as a single team. The preparation meeting and walkthrough meetings must be done as a single team to assure that the class presentation is smooth.

You will be graded on both meetings and the presentation. The meetings will be graded on preparation. The presentation will be graded on presentation, content and engagement. For more presentation suggestions, look at Presentation Tips. The class will be asked to give feedback on the presentation and that feedback will be given anonymously to the team. There will only be one set of feedback for the team. The class should be unaware of how you divided the work.