100-level

ARTH111
Contextualising Art: An Introduction to Art Theory
Description
A study of theories of art through central texts, from the 18th century to the present day.
Occurrences
Semester Two 2025
Points
15 points
Restrictions
ARTT101
PROD112
Digital Modelling for Design
Description
The goal of this course is to provide students with an opportunity to develop their digital design, 3D modelling, and prototyping skills. Students will be introduced to multiple methods for digital creation, including production of prototypes, technical drawings, and visual renderings for concept presentation. Students will experience design software and design techniques used in industry, giving insight into the digital design processes they may employ in their future career.
Occurrences
Semester Two 2025
Points
15 points
COSC121
Introduction to Computer Programming
Description
An introduction to imperative computer programming using Python. Topics include: expressions, assignment, selection and iteration, structured data (lists, dictionaries, tuples, arrays), functional decomposition, file processing, using library code, and an introduction to object-oriented programming.
Occurrences
Semester One 2025
Semester Two 2025
Points
15 points
Restrictions
COSC131

200-level

PROD221
Game Design in Context
Description
This course explores a wider view of games and society. Topics include: 1. Ethics, Social Issues, and Games: How are various segments of the population portrayed in games? Specific focus will be on the representation of women and minorities in games, discussions of violence in games, games addiction, and how design choices affect, and are affected by, society. 2. Applied Games: Games are primarily used for entertainment purposes. But many argue that they could and should also be used for other purposes where motivation is important, such as games for learning, games for training, games for health, and games for behaviour change. 3. Bi-culturalism in Games: Maori themes and motivations in games are important in the New Zealand context. How can game designers better support a Maori audience specifically, and various cultures more generally?
Occurrences
Semester One 2025
Points
15 points
Prerequisites
one of COSC101 or PROD121 or DIGI101
PROD222
Gaming Project Studio 1
Description
This course allows students to create substantial immersive experiences using techniques such as structured brainstorming, rapid prototyping (fail often, fail early), constructive critiquing, and iteration. Students will create several major works during the course, working in teams, formally presenting their ideas, and working with client constraints. Several technologies will be introduced, such as collaborative project management and tracking tools, code repositories, and presentation software.
Occurrences
Semester Two 2025
Points
30 points
Prerequisites
1) one of PROD101, PROD142 or SENG201; and 2) either PROD121 or PROD223
PROD223
Immersive Game Design
Description
This paper introduces students to the technologies and techniques used to create Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) experiences. Students will design and build games using VR and AR head-mounted displays, 6-degree-of-freedom motion controllers, depth cameras, and other leading-edge technologies, such as Arduino-controlled input and output. We will look at three main topics: 1. The Human Sensory Systems: What are the strengths and weaknesses of the main human senses of vision, audio, haptics (touch), smell and taste? 2. Multi-sensory Technologies: What technologies exist to deliver content to each of these senses? 3. Holistic Design: What are the design concerns when choosing an appropriate set of sensory "displays" for immersive experiences? Which types of cues are needed for a given user/task/environment combination?
Occurrences
Semester One 2025
Points
15 points
Prerequisites
PROD121 or COSC121 or COSC131
PROD241
Character Design
Description
In this course, students will learn about designing and developing multi-dimensional and engaging characters and creatures, ranging from animals to humans to completely alien, for games and other forms of media. The development of character begins with history, backstories and narratives, to provide context to a character’s motives, behaviours and actions. This narrative leads to the design of the visual aesthetics of a character, from their physical forms and distinguishing characteristics, to how this impacts their dynamic movements and animation, and the clothes that they wear and the accessories that they use. Students will bring these characters to life in 2D and 3D, building on the tools and techniques they have learned in PROD142, and expanding into motion and movement through rigging, animation, and motion capture. Throughout the course, students will look at famous examples of character and creature design for Maori and other cultures in both modern media portrayals as well as history and mythology.
Occurrences
Semester One 2025
Points
15 points
Prerequisites
PROD142
PROD244
Lighting and Rendering
Description
To create visually interesting and believable art assets for animation, film and games, it is important for artists to understand the underlying theory and techniques to interpret light and materials from the real world into assets for production pipelines. In this course, students will learn about lighting and rendering techniques and technologies which make visuals possible in modern day digital screen outputs, what their limitations are, and what tools and techniques can be used to make the best looking graphics while optimising for performance. This course covers surface and lighting techniques, including interpretation of real objects using techniques such as photogrammetry to capture existing 3D objects and environments. Students will also learn the theory of illumination models and rendering pipelines, and how these things can be used to create believable renders. Students will be shown how to texture 3D models, what shaders are and how they work, and time will be spent looking at how these can be optimised to maximum rendering performance. Finally, students will learn how to use industry standard tools such as parts of the Adobe suite to create the most aesthetically interesting renderings possible.
Occurrences
Semester Two 2025
Points
15 points
Prerequisites
PROD142

300-level

PROD321
Interactive Computer Graphics and Animation
Description
In this paper, students will learn about the technical aspects of how moving images are generated for use in video games. This includes topics such as geometric modeling, the rendering pipeline, the use of various texturing techniques, and programmable shaders. In addition, students will learn various techniques for making objects move, such as forward and inverse kinematics, behavioural animation, and physically-based animation.
Occurrences
Semester One 2025
Points
15 points
Prerequisites
PROD223
PROD341
Cinematics and Visual Effects
Description
With the increasing influence of cinema on the design and narrative common in modern day games, and the rising use of game technology in cinema - including new technologies such as Virtual Production - the worlds of game and film are becoming increasingly intertwined. In this course, students will learn about the tools and techniques of film production as they apply to gaming. From pre-production to sound and lighting techniques, camera tracking, compositing, editing and VFX, students will learn how to turn their games into cinematic masterpieces. Students will also apply these skills to the newest technology at the intersection of film and gaming, Virtual Production, and how game engines can be used to create digital environments that replace green screens for modern day filming.
Occurrences
Semester One 2025
Points
15 points
Prerequisites
PROD243
PROD342
Digital Sculpting
Description
There has been a recent movement away from traditional 3D modelling tools, where users work with paradigms based on computer graphics such as vertices and polygons, to 3D modelling tools which mimic more traditional forms of art creation such as carving from wood or sculpting from clay, as in the popular tool ZBrush. Likewise, the increasing affordability and availability of technologies such as Virtual Reality and Haptics have brought other art forms, such as painting in the case of Google’s Tilt Brush, into 3D and allowed for new forms of digital expression. In this course, students will learn about the latest methods and technologies for creating 3D art works through digital sculpting. This course covers digital sculpting through to texture mapping, retopologising into traditional polygonal models, and rigging and integration into games. Students will also learn about cutting edge technologies in VR and Haptics for creating 3D art works, and future directions and research trends in the area.
Occurrences
Semester One 2025
Points
15 points
Prerequisites
PROD241
PROD344
World Building
Description
From microscopic worlds to entire universes, ancient history to the far future, earth-like to fantastical alien worlds, the setting in which a story takes place in is as important as the characters who are described. In this course, students will learn about creating real and fictional worlds for games and film using environment design concepts and techniques, considering aspects as diverse as geology, geography, plant and animal life forms, history, culture and religion. Students will learn about how to visually design a world which ties into narrative or gameplay design, and which fits and compliments different styles of narrative and non-narrative media. Students will need to understand the technical limitations of the projects they are working on, and how the environments they build can meet those restrictions, but also help hide the limitations from the audience. Students will learn how lighting and set dressing can be used to great advantage in increasing the immersiveness of worlds.
Occurrences
Semester Two 2025
Points
15 points
Prerequisites
PROD341

Not Offered Courses in 2025

300-level

PROD381
Special Topic: User Interface Design
Occurrences
Not offered 2025, offered in 2022 , 2023 , 2024
For further information see PROD381 course details
Points
15 points