Cluster 13: Video Game Programming and Game AI Design

Week 3

Friday

We worked on finalizing our ethics essays and games during class time. Additionally, we received a lecture from Dr. Porter regarding the basics of real-time strategy games (RTS) and a basic overview of stacks to better handle game states.

After dinner, we went on a relaxing picnic on the grass in front of Muir College to relieve stress! During a COSMOS Kahoot game, Ariana placed 2nd overall. We're so proud of her!

Saturday - Zoo Day!

On Saturday we woke up ready to go to the zoo. After a hearty breakfast, we got on the bus and headed for the San Diego Zoo. We saw many animals, from giraffes to monkeys to reptiles. It was a very exciting experience for everyone, and we grew closer together than ever!

Python the snake or Python the language?

While visiting the snake exhibit, we interacted with Python a bit differently than they do normally!

Cluster 13 Zoo?

Now, we can open our own zoo back at COSMOS!

Best Check-in Photo?

We checked in with our RAs every hour with a funny photo of our selves!

POLAROIDS?

We took many polaroid photos to remember this day!

Sunday - Casino Night!

We had casino night in which we gambled fake money and had super delicious “mocktails." One of the highlights of the night was when Roy made around 1000 fake dollars in a few minutes with roulette. At the end of the night, we could use the fake money in exchange for raffle tickets. Summer won a huge plushie! Featured: Calvin and Hastin split an all-in final jackpot with a royal straight!

Monday

Today we prepared the layout of our RTS game. The daily lecture included a trivia video game contest, which Aggie again won (solo). The presentation, by Deian Stefan, was about security and how to protect against hackers. He introduced new ways to view security and prepared us for future large projects.

In lab time, we presented our tower defense games from last week. We listened to each others' presentations and saw creativity in each presentation. The winners were both sushi themed, and we immediately dived into designing our RTS game.

Tuesday

Due to the ethics essay being finished, our routine ethics presentation was replaced by Henrik Christensen's presentation on vehicles and robots. We got an expert analysis of robots. Did you know that robots still only operate about 10% of the work due to accuracy concerns?

During lab time, we continued to work on our RTS games.

Wednesday

Before leaving for the Sony Electronics field trip, we squeezed in a quick lecture from Professor Geoff Woelker. He talked about one of the most important concepts in games: networking. He answered our questions about multiplayer systems and helped us find a secure and efficient method of networking programs.

We then rode a bus to the Sony Electronics building. We experienced 360° sound, the experiences of working for electronics as well as the schedule of a summer intern. We joined a meeting with UCSD alumni and learned about how they did what they did. Soon enough, the 5 hours allotted already passed.