Prepares students to enter the interactive media and game design industries as lead designers, concept artists, scripters, writers, and project managers. Students will develop requisite programming, design, and management skills with the cutting edge of development tools and dedicated studio spaces. Students will be able to choose a focus between programming and art within the track or increase the breadth of their studies within CMD and SUNY Polytechnic Institute.

Studio Courses

COM 219 • Introduction to Video Game Design and Culture
Students will relate game experiences, play games and build a game relating to their interests. Different game design frameworks will be discussed, analyzed and implemented. The course will cover table top games, serious games and gamification of different fields. Students will also complete a final project in which they will create a game mod using an existing game engine. Students will keep a game journal logging their experiences playing video games. Programming experience and artistic ability are not required.

COM 260 • Introduction to Web Site Design
Explores various processes associated with development of Web sites, including planning, analysis, design, implementation and promotion. Introduces students to basic Web design skills and tools in the context of design principles.
* Formerly COM 420. Students who have completed COM 420 may not receive credit for COM 260.

COM 309 • Machinima and 3D Animation
Machinima combines “machine” and “cinema” to form an emerging mode of digital media production. This studio course focuses on creating digital productions integrating source material from film and games utilizing computer graphics engines. Students will review and critique work created by early machinima artists, comparing machinima to traditional film techniques, and exploring opportunities emerging game and film production strategies offer to machinima artists. Legal and ethical issues associated with intellectual property will be examined. Students will be expected to produce their own independent work within this genre utilizing advanced computer graphics engines.

COM 319 • Asset Production
Focuses on the use of various digital production tools to create assets for digital games and multimedia. The course will progress from two dimensional art and textures to creating three dimensional models that can be animated or used in game production. Covers the use of tools to create audio assets such as music and sound effects.

COM 375: Designing and Writing Interactive Texts
Examines and applies techniques associated with designing and writing interactive texts, ranging from traditional web pages to wikis, social networking platforms and stand-alone works of fiction and non-fiction. Analysis of contemporary applications of interactive text in digital culture and professional environments. Emphasis on creating original works as well as reengineering existing linear texts in interactive platforms. Prerequisite: ENG 101 or permission of instructor.

COM 419 • Video Game Design Studio
Students will apply video game industry frameworks to build and “gamify” information products in areas such as health care, network security and journalism. Students will learn skills related to game creation that can be used in real world settings to design and market a full-featured product. Programming and design skills common to the video game industry will be covered. The students will be expected to engage in teamwork, promotion of their game, creation of their game’s assets and engagement into the video game industry.

COM 429 • Professional Game Production
Focuses on the business of video games, market models, and promotion in a global electronic marketplace. Examines a full spectrum of game experiences and deconstructs their systems, in the context of the global game industry. Analyzes the many facets of creating a player-centric game experience from the cultural significance of games and play to conceptualizing and proving concepts for a broad range of game media target markets and purposes.

COM 460 • Advanced Web Site Design
This course builds on the design, layout, and development principles learned in previous courses by teaching students to approach web site design and structure in a new way. Where previous courses focus on designing the front end of a static web site, COM 460 focuses on developing the back end of a dynamic web site.  Students will produce an interactive commercial web site, incorporating specific data structures, web elements, and web technologies, while employing the design principles learned in previous courses.