FAQ for prospective students in MART 590E (Electronic Entertainment Design)
- When and where does it meet?
- MWF, 2:30-3:20pm, 214 McMaster. Check to be sure: here is a link to the USC Master Schedule. All up to date info is there.
- What is Electronic Entertainment Design?
- Electronic Entertainment Design is an experimental Media Arts course available to undergraduate and graduate students. The course will study the design, production, history, and theory of video games.
- What are the prerequisites for MART 590E?
- The prerequisiste for the course is permission of the instructor.
- At the end of this page is the contact information to request permission for the class.
- What experience should I have if I want to take it?
- No prior experience creating videogames is necessary.
- Prospective students should be able to contribute from the start. Everyone in the course must bring something to the table. For example:
- Experience in graphics and design.
- Experience in animation.
- Experience in object-oriented programming.
- Experience in interactive programming.
- Anything other skills a prospective student should have to take the class?
- You must be able to work at a high level in a collaborative team environment.
- You must be able to acquire new skills without handholding.
- You must have absolute professionalism and a dedicated work ethic.
- What sorts of projects will there be?
- The ultimate objective of the course is to design and build a game and present it to the public at the end of the semester. The scope of these games will be determined by the class in teams of varying sizes.
- What platforms will we working with?
- The platform will be chosen based on the specifics of each project. Anything that is available to develop without a licensing agreement is fair game.
- C#/XNA (Xbox 360)
- Flash (cross-platform)
- Visual Studio (Windows)
- X-Code (Mac)
- Open Source engines
- Custom hardware
- What software will we use?
What new software will I learn?
- It depends completely on the nature of the specific projects that the class develops.
- This will not be a class in learning software. You will need to acquire new skills based on the type of game that you develop.
- I'm not a MART major or minor. Can I take it anyway?
- Absolutely.
- What are the textbooks for the class?
- The books are still under evaluation, check back later.
- Do I have to buy any software?
- No. We have everything you need in the labs. If you decide to make something that requires something that the University doesnt' have, then yes, you'll need to acquire it.
- I want to use my own computer, do I HAVE to use the lab ?
- No, you can use your own. Many of the projects can be completed using free open source software, or fully functional demos. Understand, however that even if something goes wrong with your computer, you are still resposible for the work gtting done.
- Do I have to be good at videogames?
- No. You should be interested in them, however.
- Any other unsolicited advice?
- Always!
- Though it will be worth it, this class will be a lot of work. If you can't deal with that next semester, don't bother.
If you would like to request to take the class, please fill out this form.- (the class is completely booked with a huge waiting list. Sorry, no more new applications this time around.)
Please feel free to email me at the address below should you have more questions!