IMED 3500 - Special Topics in Interactive Media

SPRING 2026 SPECIAL TOPICS:

SECTION 01 TABLETOP AND FANTASY CARD GAME ILLUSTRATION AND DESIGN
This course focuses on illustrating and designing artwork for collaborative Tabletop and Fantasy Card Games. Illustrate and design full color works of art based on common elements, tropes, and archetypes found in these heroic games of adventure. Coursework will place emphasis on creating representational art that combines figures, objects, and environments. Assignments will teach you the process of planning and building artwork that tells a story from the ground up using compositional elements, clearly defined preliminary drawings and color images that exhibit punch and impact.

SECTION 02 TEXTURING
Using a combination of 2D and 3D graphics applications, students will learn to create textures that are mapped onto real-time 3D models. A variety of visual styles as well as procedural texturing will be covered.

SECTION 03 DIGITAL AUDIO PRODUCTION
This course explores the fundamentals of the medium of sound and processes of sound-design, with the goal of understanding, articulating, and creating audio assets for games. Through demos and creative projects, students will experiment with the essential building blocks of sound and explore audio principles such as acoustics and perception, the use of microphones and digital recording hardware, editing, signal-processing and mixing using ProTools, Foley recording and sound-effect production, sampling and MIDI, audio synchronization to video, and applications of audio assets in digital-media and game development. The course sets a solid foundation for the understanding of sound while developing a strong toolset for working within the medium.

SECTION 04 ENVIRONMENT ART
Environment Art is a specialization within game development which straddles the line between modeling and level design. In this course, students will learn to build art assets such as modular architectural components and reusable landscape models, then construct full real-time environments in a commercial game engine.  

SECTION 05 NARRATIVE DESIGN
This course will cover the techniques and strategies of narrative design. Students will learn the elements of storytelling and character as well as how they are used specifically throughout the course of a game. Students will learn about and assume the tasks and duties of a narrative designer. Once students gain an understanding of these topics, they will undertake the responsibility of designing and writing their own narrative-driven game. 

SECTION 06 INTERMEDIATE GAME DEVELOPMENT
This course introduces students to more advanced concepts in game design and development such as ideation, digital prototyping, interface design, usability testing, teamwork, project scoping and management. The main emphasis of the class is on the conceptualization of innovative design goals and the execution of those goals in the form of a complete, polished intermediate game project.

SECTION 07 DIGITAL ORGANIC MODELING 
This course covers the techniques involved in building organic 3D models using industry standard modeling-specific applications. Emphasis is placed on human and non-human figure study, its importance the modeling process, and the utilization of application tools for an efficient production pipeline. Methodologies for building animation-ready assets from concept sculpts will also be explored.

SECTION 08 SERIOUS GAME PROJECT
This course is the capstone course for the Context component of the interactive media curriculum and is thematically connected with the experience component. Students are required to link their humanities and social science work with their interactive media studies. Teams of students work on game projects that are designed for a primary purpose other than pure entertainment. The “serious” adjective generally refers to applications that have been designed for use by industries like defense, education, scientific exploration, health care, emergency management, city planning, engineering, and politics. These projects draw heavily on the outcomes students have mastered as a result of their general education courses.

SECTION 09 CREATURES AND CHARACTERS
In this course, students will learn and put into practice the process of developing creatures and characters for story-intensive games. In addition to narrative development, students will also create art requests and develop specs for statistics, skills, special abilities, and other elements that would be implemented by systems designers and programmers.

SECTION 10  2D ART
This course covers various practical 2D art techniques and implementations for use in game development. Students will begin the course by proposing a game idea and creating accompanying concept art. Students will further expand this game concept throughout the semester by completing various 2D projects, including character design, user interface, iconography, reactive design, and in-engine implementation.

FALL 2025 SPECIAL TOPICS:

SECTION 02  2D CHARACTER DESIGN
This course will focus on the elements involved for successful 2-D character design ranging from concept to final project. These elements include, but are not limited to, research, conceptualization, synthesis and refinement. The student will develop a body of work consistent with her/his/their interests, while at the same time learning about industry methods, practices and standards. A portfolio review of student work will be required at mid-term and during the final week of regular classes.

SECTION 03  2D VEHICLE DESIGN
This course will focus on the elements involved for successful 2-D Vehicle design, an important component of Game Design, ranging from initial concepts to final projects. The three areas of focus will be: 1) Cars, Motorcycles and Trucks, 2) Boats, Ships and Trains; and 3) Airplanes, Aircraft and Spacecraft. A portfolio review of student work will be conducted during the final week of regular classes. The student will gain an understanding of successful vehicle design through projects emphasizing concept, orthographic and finished renderings that are portfolio worthy.

SECTION 05 AI FOR GAMES
This course provides an overview of the field of artificial intelligence with special attention to uses in the electronic gaming field. Students will develop logic grids for intelligent agents, discuss how learning and communication are integral elements of artificial intelligence. Philosophical discussion of such concepts as intelligence, cognition, learning, and the Turing test will be addressed.

SECTION 06 ORGANIC MODELING
This course covers the techniques involved in building organic 3D models using industry standard modeling-specific applications. Emphasis is placed on human and non-human figure study, its importance the modeling process, and the utilization of application tools for an efficient production pipeline. Methodologies for building animation-ready assets from concept sculpts will also be explored.

SECTION 07 RIGGING FOR ANIMATION
This course covers the techniques involved in preparing 3D models for the animation process. Students will design efficient and intuitive rig systems using popular industry tools such as bones, joints, control objects, and constraints. Furthermore, the process of skinning and application interoperability will be explored.

SECTION 08 MUSIC COMPOSITION FOR GAMES
The course explores advanced game music production concepts and techniques. Topics cover scoring, arranging, and orchestration. Adaptive and non-linear audio concepts are introduced in the context of gameplay, as well as subjects such as looping, branching, and randomization, transition matrices, algorithmic operations, and creating multi-layered stems. Concepts are introduced and explored through applied creative projects. Historical context is given within the development of game music.

SECTION 09 LITERARY DEVELOPMENT OF VIRTUAL WORLDS
This course looks at traditional storytelling and literary development. Students will then apply classical techniques to the development of virtual worlds, both through non-linear narrative and 3D deployment of literary creations.

May be repeatable for credit.

Anticipated Terms Offered: varies