[game_edu] question from the community

[Steve Graham]

On 6/29/2011 12:00 AM, Ian Schreiber wrote:

> ...

> I know in my CS classes, especially lower-division, an awful lot of 

> assignments were "here's a spec, write code to make it happen"...

That is (I would guess) all too common, and unfortunate. Software design 
has little to do with such assignments. For real software design there 
is usually no spec or the spec diverges from reality. Software designers 
spend the bulk of their time figuring out what the spec ought to be and 
then making that precise enough for a computer to understand.

> and while you could say there's "creativity" in choosing how to write 

> the code (for loop... or while loop?)

No. That is mechanical and makes negligible difference. What matters is 
how you choose to model whatever piece of reality is represented in your 
program. And, aside from trivial programs, there is a great deal of 
creativity in such modeling.


> that doesn't allow for nearly the same level of creative expression in 

> an assignment like "design the core mechanics for an original game"...

Actually, it is almost exactly the same level of creativity. A game is a 
model of some chunk of reality, just as a program is. A game is executed 
by players rather than a computer, so you don't have to be as careful in 
laying out the rules and game play.

Or we can see a game as a program written for a very accommodating computer.

One could give an assignment "design the core code for an original 
program", but it's only possible after students have developed 
sufficient fluency. And some additional constraints would make it more 
interesting.


> so on the bright side, I think there are easy fixes here, since 

> students do have innate creativity (and often a drive to do something 

> creative), we just have to give them opportunities.

>

> - Ian


and the more opportunities, the better!

cheers,
skg

-- 
steve graham
associate professor
computer game design
dakota state university
skg at dsu.edu
605-480-6603

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