COMP 521 Fall 2025

Course Information

Course format

Lectures: Course lectures will be in-person. Online (zoom) lecturing may be used if/when necessary, in which cases announcements in MyCourses will be made on or before the day of the lecture.

Recordings: Lectures will be recorded by the lecture recording system. Students should nevertheless plan on regularly attending class, as recordings may not be comprehensive, and no special effort will be made to ensure quality, or recover/fix/supplement recordings that experience technical issues. Low attendance rates may result in cessation of recordings without notice.

Notes: Making notes is part of the learning process. Instructor notes will not be provided; students are expected to attend class and make their own notes.

Equipment: Assignments will require Unity3D so you will need a computer capable of running that software. Unity3D is available for Windows, Mac and with some extra effort, Linux. Note that the free personal (or student edition if you prefer) of Unity3D is all you need.

Time & Place
Monday, Wednesday 14:35–15:55
ENGMC 11

Instructor Website Email
Clark Verbrugge
Office hours (starting in September): Please see my main web page for specific times.

Teaching Assistants
TBA

Pre-requisites
COMP 251 (Algorithms and Data Structures)
MATH 223 (Linear Algebra)
COMP 303 (Programming Techniques) or COMP 361 (Systems Development Project)
A beginner knowledge of Unity3D. If you do not know Unity, a basic knowledge can be acquired in a matter of hours; such as from having done one or more of the simpler online tutorials (e.g., "Roll-a-Ball", and/or "John Lemon's Haunted Jaunt").
Note that assignments will require non-trivial programming ability (C# or Java).

Textbooks
There is no required text for this course. The following recommended texts, however, provide useful background and reference for some of the material taught in the course.

Artificial Intelligence for Games, Second or Third Edition. Ian Millington.
Real-time Collision Detection. Christer Ericson.

Additionally useful but optional references include the following.

Artificial Intelligence and Games. Georgios N. Yannakakis, Julian Togelius (2nd edition). Note that a free draft version of this text is available online.
Game Physics Engine Development: How to Build a Robust Commercial-Grade Physics Engine for your Game. 2nd Edition. Ian Millington.

Description

This course will introduce students to core concepts and algorithms in modern computer game design. It covers a wide spectrum of game aspects, focusing on components essential to or common in popular computer game styles. Concepts are backed up by non-trivial programming tasks that allow students to gain practical experience in particular components of game implementation.

Note that computer graphics will not be covered in detail. Students are encouraged to take COMP 557 and/or COMP 559 for more background in that area.

Evaluation

Grading

1 Introductory Assignment:	5%
3 Actual Assignments:	45%
Midterm:	10%
Final Exam:	40%

Note that passing the exam (50.0% or better) is a necessary (but not sufficient) condition for receiving an overall course grade of D or better.

A supplemental examwill be held if required. It will have the same weight as the exam.

In accord with McGill University's Charter of Students' Rights, students in this course have the right to submit in English or in French any written work that is to be graded.

Assignment and Exam Policy

Assignments must be submitted on time. Late assignments will only be accepted in highly-exceptional circumstances and only with written permission of the instructor. Note that excessive workload in other courses, other midterms, equipment failure, etc. are not valid excuses. No assignment submissions will be accepted after marked assignments have been returned, or after solutions have been discussed in class.

McGill University values academic integrity. Therefore all students must understand the meaning and consequences of cheating, plagiarism and other academic offenses under the Code of Student Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures (see McGill's Integrity page for more information).

More specifically, work submitted for this course must represent your own efforts. Copying assignments or tests (whether from classmates or other sources), or allowing others to copy your work, in whole or part, will not be tolerated.