EECS 494
Introduction to Video Game Development
A collection of game-development articles.
Bartok Wikipedia Entry The version of Bartok played during lecture isn’t quite the normal way the game is played. Paper Prototyping involves mocking up gameplay elements using cheap materials, such as paper, cards, tokens, etc, to ascertain the quality of the design before dedicating resources to expensive production processes.
Documentary The New 8-Bit Heroes Engineering (1999) Rollercoaster Tycoon was engineered by one person (Chris Sawyer) using only assembly. How “oldschool” graphics worked – Commodore and Nintendo (The 8-Bit Guy) How “oldschool” graphics worked – Apple and Atari (The 8-Bit Guy) How “oldschool” ROM cartridge games worked (The 8-Bit Guy) Building Nintendo (NES) Games (Erik …
Talks “You Are Spending Too Long Making Your Game” by Jake Birkett “How to Survive in Gamedev for Eleven Years Without a Hit” by Jake Birkett
Drivers Github Input Managers InControl
Latency Numbers Every Programmer Should Know Gallery of Processor Cache Effects What Every Programmer Should Know About Memory
Tutorials Video Game Physics Open Source Case Studies Box2D Bullet Physics Engine OGRE Chipmunk 2D Open Dynamics Engine Project Chrono
Upon discovering the course-run www.494jobs.com, students often wonder how to acquire one of the posted game-dev jobs. The games industry is well-known for being difficult to join, much like Hollywood or Broadway. Students who haven’t completed EECS 494 typically have sparse game-dev-related resumes, and may find it difficult to get interviews as a result. Here’s …
Shader Programming ShaderLabVS A Visual Studio plugin providing code-completion for shaders.
Video Documentaries (ordered by date) Earliest Records Pong (Brown Box) First Generation (1972) Pong (Atari) Second Generation (1972) Pacman (Arcades) E.T. (Atari) Third Generation (1983) Super Mario Bros (NES) Donkey Kong Country (NES) Fourth Generation (1987) Sonic the Hedgehog (Sega Genesis) Street Fighter 2 (Arcades) Fifth Generation (1993) The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time …
Game Feel and Juice are important game-dev concepts describing the nebulous idea of how a game feels to play. The following resources explore these concepts, and ways to go about implementing and experimenting with your own Game Feel and Juice. Demonstrations / Explanations Game Maker’s Toolkit: Secrets of Game Feel and Juice Juice it or Lose …