Game Programming

CSCI 3213 - Spring 2026

Instructor: Bobby Reed | Oklahoma City University

🎮 Course Overview

Welcome to Game Programming! This course teaches professional game development using Unity 2021.3.45f2 LTS and C# with industry-standard design patterns. You'll build Blade Racer (guided class project) while learning 13 essential design patterns, then create your own Unity game in our workshop-based second half.

Course Information:

Two-Phase Learning Model:

📚 Course Literature & Resources

Primary Textbook
Game Development Patterns with Unity 2021
By David Baron (2nd Edition) - Our primary reference for all design patterns
Unity Documentation
Unity Manual & Scripting API
Official Unity documentation for C# scripting and engine features
Unity Learning
Unity Learn Platform
Free tutorials, pathways, and courses for Unity development
C# Programming
C# Programming Guide
Microsoft's official C# documentation and language reference
📅
Full Schedule
Week-by-week course schedule
⬇️
Unity Hub
Download Unity 2021.3.45f2 LTS
💻
VS Code
Code editor with C# extension
🔧
GitHub
Version control for your projects
🏆
Leaderboard
Track your progress

📅 Course Schedule - Spring 2026

🚀 Course Introduction

Week 1: January 13-16 | Environment Setup & C# Fundamentals

Lecture 0
Course Introduction
📅 Tuesday, January 13
Course overview, Blade Racer game introduction, syllabus review, and environment setup instructions
Lecture 1
C# & Unity Crash Course
📅 Thursday, January 15
Advanced C# features (events, delegates, generics), Unity essentials (prefabs, ScriptableObjects, coroutines, MonoBehaviour lifecycle)

🎮 Phase 1: Unity Patterns - Intensive Learning

Weeks 2-9: January 20 - March 10 | Build Blade Racer & Master 13 Design Patterns

Lecture 2
Singleton Pattern
📅 Tuesday, January 20
Generic Singleton<T> implementation, Game Manager pattern, DontDestroyOnLoad persistence
Creational Pattern
Lecture 3
State Pattern
📅 Thursday, January 22
Finite State Machines (FSM), BikeController states (Stop/Start/Turn/Crash), Context and IState interface
Behavioral Pattern
Lecture 4
Event Bus Pattern
📅 Tuesday, January 27
Publish-subscribe architecture, RaceEventBus implementation, UnityEvent dictionary, decoupling game systems
Service Pattern
Field Trip
Motion Capture Day
📅 Thursday, January 29
Field trip to the motion capture lab. Experience professional motion capture technology used in game development and film production.
Lecture 5
Command Pattern
📅 Tuesday, February 3
Encapsulating actions as objects, recording and replay systems, Invoker and Command structure
Behavioral Pattern
Lecture 6
Object Pool Pattern
📅 Thursday, February 5
Unity 2021+ ObjectPool<T> API, drone spawning and recycling, performance optimization, garbage collection benefits
Creational Pattern
Lecture 7
Observer Pattern
📅 Tuesday, February 10
One-to-many relationships, Subject-Observer structure, BikeController → HUD/Camera/Audio notifications
Behavioral Pattern
Lecture 9
Visitor Pattern
📅 Thursday, February 12
Power-up system implementation, double dispatch technique, adding operations without modifying classes
Behavioral Pattern
Lecture 10
Strategy Pattern
📅 Tuesday, February 17
Enemy drone AI behaviors, three attack maneuvers, interchangeable algorithms at runtime
Behavioral Pattern
Lecture 11
Decorator Pattern
📅 Thursday, February 19
Weapon system with upgrades, weapon attachments (Injector, Stabilizer, Cooler), dynamic capability extension
Structural Pattern
Lecture 12
Spatial Partition Pattern
📅 Tuesday, February 24
Level editor optimization, grid-based collision detection, stack-based segment loading, performance for large worlds
Structural Pattern
Lecture 13
Adapter Pattern
📅 Thursday, February 26
System integration and compatibility, Object Adapter vs Class Adapter, third-party inventory integration
Structural Pattern
Lecture 14
Facade Pattern
📅 Tuesday, March 3
Simplifying complex subsystems, bike engine facade example, unified interface design
Structural Pattern
Lecture 15
Service Locator Pattern
📅 Thursday, March 5
Managing dependencies globally, service registration and retrieval, Unity services integration (Analytics, Ads, Logging)
Service Pattern

📝 Midterm Exam

Tuesday, March 10, 2026 | All 13 design patterns + Blade Racer implementation

🎨 Phase 2: Personal Project Workshop

Weeks 9-16: March 12 - April 30 | Create Your Own Unity Game

Lecture 16
Personal Project Pitch Day
📅 Thursday, March 12
Present your game concept (5 min), core mechanic description, patterns you plan to use, target audience and goals
Lecture 16b
Workshop: GDD Development
📅 Tuesday, March 24
Game Design Document template, pattern selection guidance, feature prioritization, technical scope discussion
Lecture 17
Workshop: First Playable
📅 Thursday, March 26
Core mechanic implementation, basic player controls, one complete game moment, peer playtesting round 1
Lecture 18
Workshop: Core Mechanic Polish
📅 Thursday, April 3
Refine one core system, demonstrate pattern usage, improve game feel, add juice and polish, design feedback round
Lecture 19
Workshop: Vertical Slice
📅 Thursday, April 10
Beginning → middle → end of one level, complete game loop demonstration, integration of multiple systems, peer playtesting round 2
Lecture 20
Workshop: Alpha Build
📅 Thursday, April 17
All features implemented, may have bugs (that's okay), playable start to finish, code review session for pattern identification
Lecture 21
Workshop: Beta Build & Polish
📅 Thursday, April 24
Bug fixes from Alpha, visual and audio polish, performance optimization, peer playtesting round 3, presentation preparation
Lecture 22
🎉 Public Play Day - Showcase
📅 Thursday, April 30
Demo your game to the public! Other professors and students invited, professional presentations (5 min each), community celebration

📖 Final Exam

Thursday, May 8, 2026 | 8:00-10:00 AM | Comprehensive exam covering all patterns