Game Development
You can pursue a programming-intensive and production-oriented pathway in game development within a Bachelor’s degree in either Computer Science or Information Science by including the following papers (along with their prerequisites and the major subject requirements):
Year 2
INFO203: Human-Computer Interaction and User Experience
ENGL251: Creative Writing for Games and Interactive Media
Year 3
INFO301: Applied Project [with game design focus]
INFO305: Advanced Human-Computer Interaction and Interactive Systems
INFO310: Software Project Management [with a game-development focus]
INFO352: Pervasive Game Development
COSC342: Visual Computing: Graphics & Vision
COSC343: Artificial Intelligence
COSC345: Software Engineering [with a game-development focus]
COSC360: Computer Game Design (in Summer School)
Game Studies
The Game Studies pathway focuses on the study of games as cultural as well as technical artefacts, and takes a theoretical, historical, pedagogical, and even political approach to them. It is hosted by English and Linguistics, and currently includes the following suggested papers:
1) ENGL120: Creative Writing – How to Captivate and Persuade (S1)
Write creatively across genres and media, including a module on writing for interactive multi-linear narratives.
2) LING140: Language, Brain, and Being Human (S2)
Learn how humanity and language emerge from cooperative story-telling, and test it against modern AI.
3) DHUM201: Digital Humanities – Method and Critique (S1) [next offered in 2025]
Study digital tools and methods, including a module on game-based learning and instruction on AI.
4) ENGL251: Creative Writing for Games and Interactive Media
Write for story-driven games, with a focus on world-building, multi-threaded story development, player-character profiles, and interactive script writing
5) ENGL342: Digital Literature: Technologies of Storytelling (S2)
Study literary narratives in digital media and do some hands-on writing in digital platforms.
Contacts
For more on the Games Development pathway, email:
Dr Daniel Alencar da Costa
danielcalencar@otago.ac.nz
For more on the Games Studies pathway, email:
Associate Professor David Ciccoricco
dave.ciccoricco@otago.ac.nz