Proposed Minor in Game Design and Development

The IT Department has received formal approval for a new minor in GD&D, which is intended for computing majors in disciplines like Information Technology, Computer Science, Software Engineering, New Media Interactive Development, Computer Engineering, or other computing majors. The proposed minor consists of five courses (20 credits) selected from the core sequence of the BS program in Game Design and Development, and it requires a set of prerequisites in programming, Web and multimedia development, physics, and Discrete Mathemetics.

Students should meet with an academic advisor in their major to discuss how the courses in the minor and the prerequisites will fit into their major.

GD&D Minor Courses

Three of the courses in the minor (4002-330, 387, 487) come from the core programming sequence from the BS GD&D program. The other two courses (4002-380, 381) are from the core game design sequence from the BS GD&D program.

4002-330 Interactive Digital Media
4002-380 Fundamentals of Game Design and Development I
4002-381 Fundamentals of Game Design and Development II
4002-387 Data Structures & Algorithms for Game Design and Development I
4002-487 Data Structures & Algorithms for Game Design and Development II

Prerequisites for the GD&D Minor

The prerequisites for the minor are the combined prerequisites for the five courses in the minor. Some or all of these prerequisites might meet requirements in students' majors, but they all must be completed before beginning the GD&D minor.

Programming Prerequisite

Any rigorous three-course programming sequence will fulfill the programming requirement, so computing majors can use their introductory programming sequence to meet this prerequisite. Specifically, any of the following three-course programming sequences or equivalent programming experience is required:

4003-231 Computer Science I
4003-232 Computer Science II
4003-233 Computer Science III

4002-217 IT Programming I
4002-218 IT Programming II
4002-219 IT Programming III

4002-230 Intro Programming for New Media
4002-231 Programming II for New Media
4002-414 Java for Programmers

0618-231 Technical Programming I
0618-232 Technical Programming II
0618-233 Technical Programming III

Web and Multimedia Development Prerequisite

Students in the BS Information Technology, New Media Interactive Development, Medical Informatics or Applied Networking and System Administration programs take 4002-320 as a required course. Other students would have to work this course or the alternate, 4002-206, into their curriculum, in addition to the five courses in the minor.

4002-320 Introduction to Multimedia: The Internet and the Web

4002-206 Web Foundations

Physics Prerequisite

Either of the following Physics sequences will meet the prerequisite. Students in BS programs can usually count these courses as lab science requirements in their majors.

1017-211 College Physics I
1017-212 College Physics II

1017-311 University Physics I
1017-312 University Physics II

Discrete Mathematics Prerequisite

Either of the following Discrete Mathematics sequences will meet the prerequisite. Students in computing majors in the Golisano College will complete one of these two sequences as part of their their major.

1016-205 Discrete Math for Technologists I
1016-206 Discrete Math for Technologists II

1016-265 Discrete Mathematics I
1016-366 Discrete Mathematics II