Final Project

The final project is developed over the course of the quarter, and is intended either (a) to demonstrate significant skill in one or more generative methods, or (b) (main campus section only) make a small research contribution to the field of generative methods. Final projects are individual projects, since the intention is to develop individual skill in building and crafting experiences using generative methods. This will necessarily result in reduced scope for these projects.

For your final project, you will create one of the following:

Small procedural game. A small game where one or more elements of the game are procedurally generated, or where the game mechanics are based on a generative method. Examples include games with procedurally generated levels or puzzles, or games where the rules are procedurally generated.

Interactive art experience. An interactive art experience where one or more elements of the experience are generated. There must be some ability to interact with the experience itself, such as by walking through a space, being able to select generated artworks, alter fitness functions, etc. Examples include works by Strangethink.

Demoscene experience. A procedurally generated music video-like experience, similar to existing demoscene demos. Visual elements must be procedurally generated, while the music may (or may not) be generated. The expectation is that current generation hardware will be used, and there are no space constraints on the executable image size. See examples at Pouet.

Synthetic landscape. A video showing the approach to, and exploration of, a procedurally generated world. The world must be consistent with some backstory about the world, such as a specific alien culture, or fantasy culture. The video must show scenes in the world both from a significant elevation (from space, or thousands of meters of elevation), and also from ground (or near ground) level. The video itself should be consistent with the artistic goals of the experience, as stated in your artist statement. The project is expected to involve either creating a completely new procedural world generation algorithm (e.g., like those found in No Man's Sky), or advanced use of an off-the-shelf tool like Terragen.

Research project (main campus section only). A small research project that makes a novel contribution to the field of generative methods. Students will be who select this project option will be required to submit a paper to the 2016 Procedural Content Generation workshop.

If you have an idea for a different kind of project, feel free to discuss this idea with the instructor.

Milestones

The final project involves several milestones (research projects have different milestones):

Initial proposal. A short, 1-3 paragraph description of the kind of project you intend to perform.

Project design. A document providing details on the experience you intend to create. The goal of this deliverable is to have you explicitly design the kind of experience you wish to create. This will involve multiple elements. First, an artist statement will describe the intended expressive goals of the experience or video, and the kinds of ideas you will be exploring via the created artifact. Second is a description of the experience itself. For the small game, a game design document is expected. For the art experience and demoscene experience, either a game design document (altered to meet the needs of the art experience), or a series of storyboards will be created. 

Work-in-progress videos. Short video recordings of the current status of your project, intended to demonstrate ongoing progress.

Final demonstration. A polished final presentation and demo of your project. Final demonstrations are expected to be recorded and livestreamed. The final demonstration will involve 

Public video posting (or public website, or short research paper). Public posting of a video recording of your game or experience on Vimeo or YouTube, suitable for inclusion in a portfolio website. For projects where a video posting doesn't make sense, then produce a web page that describes the project, and provides multiple examples of what you have generated. Students performing research projects should produce a short paper following the submission guidelines for the 2016 Procedural Content Generation workshop.

Grading

Percentages in the following are of the final course grade, and should sum to 45%.

Initial proposal (3%): Grading is based on completion.

Project design (10%): Grading is based on (a) providing requested elements (varies depending on game deisgn document, storyboards, etc.), (b) how complete is the description of the game/experience, (c) internal consistency of the description of the experience, (d) interest/novelty and expression in artist statement, (e) overall subjective impression of the document.

Work-in-progress videos (10%): Grading is based on (a) posting of a video, and (b) (after the first video) demonstrating progress made since the previous video.

Final demonstration (5%): Grading is based on overall level of polish in the demonstration and quality of accompanying slides.

Public video posting (17%): Video: Grading is based on (a) being able to view the video on a public site, and (b) overall quality of the video presentation. Website: Grading is based on (a) being able to view the website on a public site, and (b) overall quality of the website's presentation of the work. Research paper: grading is based on overall assessment of the paper following typical PCG workshop evaluation standards. Note that in all cases, presentation must clearly describe the procedural content generation technique used.

Failure to do a public release AND publicly post a video will result in a failing grade for the final project (and a failing grade for the class).