Back to School and hit the ground running!

Ahh it feels great to not only be back at school but to be back to work!  Classes this semester look like a challenge that I can't wait to challenge.  This is my first blog post of the semester and my Intentions from this point forward I hope to do a quick overview of each class and show off what I have accomplished.  But for now since things are just starting I'll give a little overview of each class and what I have on my plate for the first week of classes!

Production II:

This will be the most creative, fun, hard, and time consuming class by far.  I've been teamed up with with 2 designers, an artist and a half with the only goal of the semester is to create a game.  We will be working in an agile production cycle most likely scrum to keep us organized and on task.  Each week  we will present to the class our current iteration and be critiqued on it so there is a lot on the line.   Our team has settled on using Unity for our project (being one of my first real attempt at making a 3D game)  and we have more ideas buzzing around in our heads then we can handle.  No spoilers yet but I'm really excited about our first project, there are a lot of seemingly hard challenges that I already have tons of Ideas on how to crack.  The most exciting part is I'll be using the techniques from AI last semester to simulate crowd behaviors, flee behaviors and chase behaviors.  It's one of the best feelings in the world to see things I learned being put to use! Expect to see a rough prototype next week!

Graphics II:

Math, math, math, and more math.  This class is going to be a struggle but one of the most beneficial ones I'm taking.  For the first half of the year I'll be working in OpenGL to create 3D graphics in C++.  My first attempt at such a thing.  The second half we will change gears and start working on DirectX  that way we will be able to experience both major ways of coding 3D graphics.  Our first assignment is to create compact disk and one other complex shape. Shouldn't be too bad just a few math equations and the computer will do the rest for me. A snapshot will be present next week. Come on Geometry don't fail me now!  

System Software Analysis and Design:  

Architecture!  Our first assignment gives the impression of a blow over class, especially since we are working in C#  however I have a hunch that this class will escalate quickly.  Our first project is to make a contact book really simple, however this class is all about following standards, good architecture,  efficient methods, and design patterns.  So this fairly simple program becomes a little more time consuming as I make sure to cross my T's and dot my I's.  Each week we will present our assignment and then the following week we will re factor them to make it better. A lot of work but by the end of the semester I'm sure my code will be looking better then ever!

Our of class Projects:

Besides class the other good news I bring is after Emailing the correct Legal Teams I've been given the green light to start on my Application!  I'm not going to share what it is just yet but I'll keep posted on any updates.  For now I'll be prototyping in Titanium, a java script based shell which promotes multi-platform production so i can hit both Android and Apple.  However if all goes well I'll end up switching from Titanium once I figure everything out!

That's all for now I gotta get to work!

See you next week!

-Ian