Computer Games Laboratory (IN7106, IN710615)
| Time, Place: | Mo. 14:00 - ca. 16:00, room: MI 02.13.010 (Only on days with milestone submissions, see detailed schedule below) |
| Supervision: | Prof. Rüdiger Westermann |
| Begin: | Begin: Monday, May 11th., 2026 Kick-off: Wednesday, April 08th., 2026 at 10:00 hr in 02.13.010 Please read the kickoff document. Form teams of 3 to 4 members. Send email if you have not found a team, or team is too small. |
| Details: | Main wiki: https://collab.dvb.bayern/display/TUMgameslab2026summer/Home This course is open only to master students in Informatik: Games Engineering. The module comprises lectures, programming exercises, and student presentations |
| Final pres: | The final presentations of the games to the public will take place during the demo day (tba). |
| Prerequisites: | Bachelor Informatics: Games Engineering |
Description
This is a practical course which involves a hands-on approach with neither traditional lectures nor exercises. Instead, we will meet ca. once every two weeks to discuss technical issues and to track progress via milestones. Students can utilize available game engines, yet we will make sure that a considerable own programming effort will be invested. While development will take place on PCs, students are free to choose the target platform of their final game.
At the end of the course, all results will be presented to the public.
Prerequisites
- Good programming skills (course projects are written in C++ or C#).
- Students should have succesfully passed the realtime CG lecture and practical.
- This practical is open for students of Master Informatics: Games Engineering only.
Organization
Regardless the content of the game, the development process must adhere to the guidelines proposed below. Students are encouraged to design a game that has strong links to one of the areas of specialization in the curriculum of the Master program Informatik: Games Engineering.
After choosing their favorite area of specialization, the students plan the project and prototype the intended game. Then, the game is implemented and iteratively improved via playtesting until it is ready to be presented at the end of the semester. Teams from different areas can also join to create an even more complex game.
Registration
This practical course does not use the regular TUM informatics matching system you might know from other seminars and practicals. In order to attend the Computer Games Laboratory, make sure to participate in the mandatory project kick-off meeting to form groups (it might take place before the semester starts because of the tight milestone schedule), and also join the mandatory milestone meetings afterwards. If you are unable to attend the kick-off meeting, send an email to Prof. Rüdiger Westermann beforehand to discuss if you can participate nevertheless.
It is not possible to join later during the semester as the game development projects have to be planned from the first milestone at the beginning of the semester. Note that you should not sign up for this course until you are sure you will fully participate. If you drop out, this can cause significant problems for your other team members!
Timeline
The following table gives an overview of all online meetings during the semester. On all none mentioned weeks there is no class. For the contents of the report and the team presentations see the project structure document below (or have a look at the previous course instances).
| milestone / lecture | date | team presentation in class | to publish on the wiki (due sunday before presentation) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kick-off Meeting Lecture: Intro, Softskills | 08.04. | Form groups and send email with all members to westermann@tum.de by 13.04. | |
| 1. Milestone: Game idea pitch | 11.05. | Game idea pitch | Report: Game idea proposal Slides: Game idea Wiki: Mutual critiques until 19.05. |
| 2. Milestone: Interim demo | 01.06. | Interim demo | Report: Interim Report Slides: Interim demo presentation |
| 3. Milestone: Alpha release | 22.6. | Alpha release | Report: Alpha documentation Slides: Alpha release |
| 4. Milestone: Playtesting | 06.07. | Playtesting | Report: Playtesting results Slides: Playtesting results |
| 5. Milestone: Final release | 20.7. | Final release (online) | Report: Final documentation Slides: Final release Gameplay video Compiled final game version |
| Demo Day: live presentation | 21.7. | Demo day (in-person) | Details at http://in.tum.de/demoday |