VectorForce: A Video Game Project

In an era where videogames are beginning to surpass the film industry's gross product, it was no surprise that including a game design degree helped to bolster our own school's declining computer science enrollment. However, theories on game design alone did not prepare students for future employment. It became apparent that we needed to create an actual game in order to solidifystudents' understanding of game design principles. While there is a swath of scholarly work on game design theory and specialized technical areas, there is little work about how one actually proceeds in creating an entire game, much less how to structure a curriculum that will actually allow instructors to teach students to create a game. The intent of this paper is to provide a discussion of how one might organize a team of students to create a videogame and the logistics required for such an undertaking. The task is accomplished by outlining the creation of Vector Force, which was published in the Microsoft Xbox Marketplace on 23 Sep 2009.