Course syllabus autumn 2018
Course syllabus autumn 2018
Title
Procedural Content Generation
Swedish title
Procedurell generering av spelinnehåll
Course code
DA273A
Credits
7.5 credits
Grading scale
UV / Fail (U), Pass (G) or Pass with Distinction (VG)
Language of instruction
English
Decision-making body
Faculty of Technology and Society
Syllabus approval date
2015-02-05
Syllabus valid from
2015-08-31
Entry requirements
- The equivalent of English 6/English B in Swedish secondary school.
- At least 60 credits in the main field of Computer Science including at least 15 credits of programming.
- Either a completed course of at least 7.5 credits in Data Structures and Algorithms, or a completed course of at least 7.5 credits in Artificial Intelligence.
Level
Basic level
Main field
Computer Science
Progression level
G2F
Progression level in relation to degree requirements
This course is included in the main field of Computer Science at level 61-90 credits, and is offered as elective or single subject course.
Course objectives
The purpose of this course is to allow the student to gain experiences and abilities to construct and evaluate different solutions to algorithmically generate game content for game worlds, game levels or items.
Course contents
The course contains the following moments:
- Introduction to Procedual Content Generation (PCG) and its role
- Search-based PCG
- Player-driven PCG
- L-systems and vegetation
- Terrain, landscapes and fractals
- Levels and their structures
- Content evaluation and expressive range
- Interactive narrative and mix-initiative design tools
Learning outcomes
Knowledge and Understanding
On completion of the course the student shall:
- have good knowledge of common PCG methods
- analyse different types of game content and suggest suitable methods for its generation
Skills and Abilities
On completion of the course the student shall:
- analyse the PCG requirements for a specific game or the intended target group
- analyse PCG methods in order to fulfil requirements for a specific game or the intended target group
- implement selected PCG algorithms
- evaluate the expressive range of content generators and compare them to each others
Judgement and approach
On completion of the course the student shall:
- reflect over the role of PCG within game design and game content
- reflect over the quality of PCG artefacts
- reflect over different methods in PCG in relation to a specific game, its content or its design
Learning activities
Lectures approximately 22 hours, laboratory work approximately 10 hours and individual studies approximately 168 hours
Assessment
Requirement for Pass (G): Passed written examination 3 credits and passed assignments 4,5 credits.
Requirement for Pass with distinction (VG): In addition to the requirement for Pass, all VG-moments must be assessed with VG.
Course literature and other study material
Recommended litterature:
- Shaker, Togelius, and Nelson (2015). Procedural Content Generation in Games: A Textbook and an Overview of Current Research, PCG Book.com (tillgänglig som PDF)
- Current research literature (10 papers) och internet sources (ref.)
Course evaluation
The university provides all students who are participating in, or have completed, a course to express their experiences and views on the course through a course evaluation which is organized at the end of the course. The university will collate the course evaluations and provide information about their results and any actions prompted by them. The results shall be made available to the students. (HF 1:14).
Interim rules
When a course is no longer given, or the contents have been radically changed, the student has the right to re-take the examination, which will be given twice during a one year period, according to the syllabus which was valid at the time of registration.