Keith J. O'Hara

teaching

CMSC 335

Games Systems: Platforms, Programs & Power (S2021)

overview | logistics | schedule | assignments | github | resources

Tentative Schedule (changes frequently)

week	date	topics	readings	work assigned
1 HACKING SYSTEMS "Programming as Forgetting" by Parrish	2/2/2021	course introduction	syllabus	TIC-80 Github "Hello World!"
	2/5/2021	hacking; remaking; demaking	"Hacker" by Coleman; read about & play a demake of Halo; TIC-80 Tutorial	TIC-80 10 PRINT
2 POWERFUL BASIC PROGRAMS "The Real World of Technology" by Franklin	2/9/2021	platform study: 10: PRINT	10P pp. 1–155; vic-20 emulator	Oregon Trail/Eliza Hack/Remake
	2/12/2021	BASIC games	10P pp. 157–195; 209–242; 261–270; ELIZA by Weizenbuam (lisp); BASIC ELIZA (source); Oregon Trail (source); Apple II version & backstory; "The Gender Binary of Computing: Challenging Sexism in Technology" by Zalkikar
3 TURING'S MACHINES "The Turing Problem"	2/16/2021	simulation; emulation; automata I	Excel Turing Machines; Game of Life; snowflakes	Turing/Turmite
	2/19/2021	computers	wireworld & computers
4 VIDEO GAMES @ HOME "Jerry Lawson: The Engineer Who Changed the Game"	2/23/2021	before atari	SpaceWar (source); A Video Game by Any Other Name; Pixels in Print part 1 and part 2	Atari hack/remake/demake
	2/26/2021	platform study: Atari 2600	RtB pp. 1–42; "Untold Story of the Game Cartridge"; 10P pp. 158–208; run it!
5 6502 "High Score 1 & 2"	3/2/2021	assembly	easy 6502 tutorial	snake
	3/5/2021	chips	6502 visualization; "Indigenous Circuits: Navajo Women and the Racialization of Early Electronic Manufacture" by Nakamura; "The story of the team behind the chip that launched a revolution" by Wil Mathys and Sydney Anne Holt
	3/5/2021	guest speaker @ 7PM
6 ATARI PLATFORM STUDIES "Atari Game Over"	3/9/2021	E.T.	"Was E.T. Really the 'Worst Game Ever'?" & fixing ET; stella debugger
	3/12/2021	Adventure; Pacman; Pitfall; Donkey King; Bezerk; Yars Revenge; Missile Command; Grand Prix; Hangman; Montezuma's Revenge
7	3/16/2021	RESPITE DAYS
	3/19/2021
8 MAKING GAMES "American Hysteria #Gamergate"	3/23/2021	memory; guest speaker	"See No Evil" by Posner; "NES Memory Visualization" and plots; distellamap; TIC-80 memory map and file format	poke challenge
	3/26/2021	maps	"Game Workers of the World Unite: an Interview with an Anonymous; tilings; TIC-80 maps; TIC-80 camera
9 ART Reliving Nintendo Soundtracks with the Brickster	3/30/2021	graphics	Super Mario Clouds & I Shot Andy Warhol; Arcangel Interview; Blit Segment; BITBLT
	4/2/2021	sound; guest speaker	"The Women Who Invented Video Game Music"; sound tutorial
10 EMULATION & ARCHIVING archiving & game genie	4/6/2021	emulators	"Use of a Game Over: Emulation and the Video"; "Searching Internet Archive"	final project
	4/9/2021	randomizers	"How 'randomizers' are breathing new life into old game"
11 SIMULATION "A Rant About 'Technology'"	4/13/2021	sim city	"Model Metroplis"; Recovering Nintendo's Lost Simcity for the NES"	bardtroplis systems dynamics
	4/16/2021	modeling	"Modeling Indigenous Peoples: Unpacking Ideology in Sid Meier's Colonization"	design pattern poster
12 ARCHITECTURE	4/20/2021	entity-component system	Game Patterns; Component; Data Locality
	4/23/2021	design pattern poster: Command; Flyweight; Observer; Protoype; Singleton; State; Double Buffer; Game Loop; Update Method; Bytecode; Subclass Sandbox; Type Object; Event Queue; Service Locator; Dirty Flag; Object Pool; Spatial Partition
13 WORKSHOP	4/27/2021	project days
	4/30/2021
14 WIP	5/4/2021	ADVISING DAY
	5/7/2021	works in progress
15 NEW DIRECTIONS "Dr. Gladys West: The Mathematician Who Reshaped Our World"	5/11/2021	mobile	"Mobile Frontiers" by Fickle
	5/14/2021	proto-VR	"Sega VR Revived"; "The Story of the Power Glove"
16 PLATFORM STUDIES	5/18/2021	FINAL PROJECT PRESENTATIONS
	5/21/2021	COMPLETION WEEK
17	5/25/2021