Courses
Artificial Intelligence in Games
Understand the differences between traditional AI and AI applied to game development, where other factors such as playability are more relevant that the oponent’s intelligence level. Be familiar with the practical problems when developing AI for video games, and with the several techniques applied in comercial video games. Know how to design and build an AI system for a video game independently of its genre (action, sport, strategy, narrative).
Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems
To acquire general notions about agents and multi-agent systems; knowing how to identify and classify agents and environments, according to different properties. Knowing how to develop complex systems and systems from different application areas, using an agent-oriented methodology. Knowing how to define a society of agents in order to solve a specific problem. Being able to design agents with reactive, deliberative and hybrid architectures. Being able to create societies of agents that communicate, in a practical way, using suitable languages and platforms.
Computer Graphics for Games
This course covers both theory and practice of game engine software development. It delves into the different engine subsystems including, but not limited to, rendering, character animation, and physics, and details the articulation required to support gameplay development. By the end of this course, students should understand how modern game engines work, and be able to design and develop their own game engines.
Game Design
This course grants the students the opportunity to develop their skills on experience design and prototyping for games. The learning process is sustained in the discussion of what is a game, what are its components and what is its relation to the players (having in mind their differences). It is expected that the student develop design documents and prototypes to support his/her work on the course.
Game Development Methodology
Present a vision of the different methodologies and technologies involved in the development of digital games discussing the main features and issues in each one. Grant students with conceptual tools and techniques to develop user interfaces for games with special emphasis on player controls. Develop the ability to reflect and test the player experience and gameplay. Discuss the role of conceptual modelling and user testing. Highlight the importance to take a user centred approach in the exploration of the player experience.
Multimedia Content Production
Know the different types of multimédia information and how to manipulate them to poduce multimedia content. To understand the technological constraints that affect Production. To understand critical factors affect the success of a production, namely in aspects such as capture, encoding, processing and visualization of the different media. To know the different kinds of available authoring tools. To create Multimedia contents; To identify the different contexts in which multimedia can be consumed, with emphasys on online and network issues (evaluate bandwidth, latency, synchronization, etc.) and mobile devices. Introduce some advanged multimedia usages such as procedural modelling, generative art augmented reality. Apply efficient methods of multimedia content retrieval.
Thesis
Developing the Computer Version of a Board Game
Board Games have been around us for years. And although our technology has evolved and brought to us new forms of entertainment, we still play board games. If we still play them it is possibly because they are enjoyable and make us feel good. But these games have also evolved and became more complex. One of these new games is World of Warcraft ? The Board Game. Our objective is to develop the computer version of this game to reduce the game complexity, remove physical limitations and reduce the time spent. And at the same time, manage to maintain or improve the games rules, mechanisms and fun factor. The result of this work was a functional version of the World of Warcraft ? The Board Game for PC. In this version it is possible to change the game environment, through the modification of configuration files for cards, board, etc. It is also possible to change some game rules, like the number of turns, number of player actions, etc.
SLATe: Second Life Agent Toolkit
Current Agent Toolkits are too restricting, by preventing their Users to choose the Agent?s Decision Making Process and Testing/Deployment Environment. I propose a flexible Framework capable of integrating Embodied Intelligent Agents with any Virtual Environment. By maintaining a clear and abstract structure of the interaction between the Decision Making Process Centre and the Environment, Framework Users will also be able to choose each Agent?s Decision Making Process. The Agent will always maintain its full feature specification, not mattering what Environment it is. This article describes the proposed Framework?s basic concepts, architecture and several implementation approaches, and presents Use Cases that will prove the soundness of the Framework and its capabilities.