CPSC 91S: Schedule

teaching

CPSC 86

Game Systems: Platforms, Programs & Power (S2026)

week	date	topics	readings	pattern	work assigned
1 PLATFORM STUDIES (listen ahead)	9/20/2026	course introduction	syllabus; RtB and 10P forewards		10 PRINT
1 PLATFORM STUDIES (listen ahead)	9/22/2026	platform study: `10: PRINT`	10P 1–242; VIC20 and C64 emulators
2 HACKING SYSTEMS "Programming as Forgetting" by Parrish	1/26/2026	hello TIC-80; 10 PRINT; snake	TIC-80 tutorials; Pippin Barr's snakisms; 1D Games		tic 80 platform study
	1/27/2026	hacking; remaking; demaking	"Hacker" by Coleman; read about, download & play a demake of Halo; "Searching Internet Archive"; TIC-80 memory map and file format		REMAKE: reimagine an early game
	1/29/2026	before atari: arcade & mainframe: Tennis for Two; Pong; Breakout; OXO; SpaceWar (source)	RtB 1–11; A Video Game by Any Other Name; Pixels in Print part 1 and part 2; "The Gender Binary of Computing: Challenging Sexism in Technology" by Zalkikar	component (keith)	HACK: modify an existing 2600 game
3 GAMES AT HOME "Jerry Lawson: The Engineer Who Changed the Game"	2/2/2026	6502 ASM & stella	6502 tutorial; how to hack a rom (battlezone) tutorial; Atari 1–31; 10P 195–242; run it!		stella/snake
	2/3/2026	combat [src] & video olympics	RtB 12–42; "Untold Story of the Game Cartridge"	game loop ()
	2/4/2026	mos 6502; hardware; adventure [src]	RtB 43-63; "Indigenous Circuits: Navajo Women and the Racialization of Early Electronic Manufacture"	double buffer ()
4 ATARI 2600 "High Score 1"	2/9/2026	collision detection	vectors & driving tutorials		TIC-80 mini-lab
	2/10/2026	pac-man; sprites	RtB 65–79; Atari 31–53; distellamap	update method ()
	2/12/2026	yars revenge; asteroids; input	RtB 82–97; Atari 71–98	command ()
5 ATARI 2600 II "High Score 2"	2/16/2026	E.T.; bank switching	"Was E.T. Really the 'Worst Game Ever'?" & fixing E.T. Atari 195–201		fixing E.T.
	2/17/2026	pitfall [src]; procedural graphics; river raid [src]	RtB 99-117; Atari 155–164	state ()
	2/19/2026	star wars; pressure cooker; sound	RtB 119–135; Atari 171–184	singleton ()
6 SIMULATION & EMULATION I "Atari Game Over"	2/23/2026	HACK/REMAKE WORKSHOP
	2/24/2026	emulation; state; particles	scene management tutorial; "Use of a Game Over: Emulation and the Video"; RtB 137–150	flyweight ()
	2/26/2026	entombed (mazes); wabbit; timers	"Pioneer Rediscovered: The Woman who Brought Female Representation to Games"; "Entombed: An archaeological examination of an Atari 2600 game"; timers	prototype ()
7 HACK THE MAGIC CIRCLE "American Hysteria #Gamergate"	3/2/2026	REMAKE/HACK WORKSHOP
	3/3/2026	REMAKE W_I_P POSTER			play-testing
	3/5/2026	nintendo; donkey kong	Error 1–79	lazy initialization ()
8 BREAK	3/9/2026	SPRING BREAK
	3/10/2026
	3/11/2026
9 NES/FAMICOM I "Story Behind Super Mario Bros. 3"	3/16/2026	HACK/REMAKE
	3/17/2026	NES	Error 81–115; NES 55–62; signal	observer ()	DEMAKE: back-port a current game to the NES
	3/19/2026	SMB [src]; scrolling	Error 116–162; NES 63–68; 75–82	dirty flag ()
10 NES/FAMICOM II Tetris Movie	3/23/2026	pattern & name table	NES 1–53; Super Mario Clouds & I Shot Andy Warhol; "NES Memory Visualization" and plots		10 print NES remake
	3/24/2026	storage; vram buffers; zelda [src]	Error 163–196	event queue ()
	3/26/2026	controls	NES 69–84
11 SOUND Reliving Nintendo Soundtracks with the Brickster	3/30/2026	sprites & sound	NES 83–116; sound tutorial		pong NES remake
	3/31/2026	2A03; mega man	Error 249–288; "The Women Who Invented Video Game Music";	object pool ()
	4/2/2026	climber	NES 117–146
12 EXPANSION archiving & game genie	4/6/2026	mappers and interrupts	NES 147-167	thread pool ()
	4/7/2026	emulation II; expansion	dragon quest; game genie; Error 197–248	spatial partition ()	MAKE: create a new 8-bit game (2600/NES/TIC80)
	4/9/2026	randomizers; TAS	"How 'randomizers' are breathing new life into old games"; Error 289–324	bytecode ()
13 SIMULATION & EMULATION II "The Turing Problem"	4/13/2026	tetris; 6502 ASM reprised	tetris AI; NES 171-223; "34 years later, a 13-year-old hits the NES Tetris 'kill screen'"		tetris
	4/14/2026	simulation; civilization; simcity	"Modeling Indigenous Peoples: Unpacking Ideology in Sid Meier's Colonization"; "Model Metroplis"; "Recovering Nintendo's Lost Simcity for the NES"	service locator ()
	4/16/2026	slack
14 NEW DIRECTIONS "Dr. Gladys West: The Mathematician Who Reshaped Our World"	4/20/2026	DEMAKE WORKSHOP
	4/21/2026	DEMAKE W_I_P POSTER			play-testing
	4/24/2026	mobile; pokemon	"Mobile Frontiers" by Fickle; Error 325–331	type object ()
15 PATTERNS REPRISE	4/27/2026	advanced lua; turmites; game of life	lua objects; wireworld; Game of Life; Turmites	data locality (keith)	make workshop
	4/28/2026	proto-VR	"Sega VR Revived"; "Unraveling The Enigma Of Nintendo's Virtual Boy"; "The Story of the Power Glove"; early presentations; course evals; mediator	publish/subscribe ()
	4/30/2026	slack
16 FINAL	4/XY/2026	FINAL MAKE PRESENTATIONS)

Keith J. O'Hara

teaching

Game Systems: Platforms, Programs & Power (S2026)