COSC 2324 Mobile Game Development is an introduction to game development on handheld devices using the Android operating system. Prior programming experience, especially in Java, is required. Topics include graphics, audio, user interfaces and development tools. It is a required course for students majoring in Computer Game Development and students typically take it in their second year of study.

Students are not required to have an Android device although it will enhance their learning and enjoyment in the course. For students without a device, the course uses an emulator that students can use on their personal computer. 

One of the advantages of learning to program a mobile device is that skill is easily transferred to other similar platforms. In addition, since Android runs on more than 80% of the world’s smartphones, the skills learned in this course are readily adaptable to other types of software development. The successful computing professional in the game industry will likely work on many different mobile development projects in their career.

Assignments in the course ask students to create applications using text, images, audio and a variety of user interface techniques such as buttons, dialogs and gestures. The final project in the course is a full screen interactive computer game complete with animated graphics, music and sound effects. The project is especially useful since students can add it to their portfolio of college work to showcase their programming and design talents to potential employers after graduation. A portfolio of work is very important when seeking a job in the game industry since it clearly demonstrates a student’s knowledge and skill.

Student Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this course students should be able to:

• Identify, install and evaluate development software for Android.
• Create application software for an Android device using a high-level programming language.
• Create multimedia content suitable for use in an Android program.
• Author an Android application program that demonstrates 2D graphics.
• Author an Android application program that demonstrates audio playback.
• Author an Android application program that demonstrates interactive user input.

Course Prerequisites: COSC 1337 (Grade ‘B’ or better)

Textbook: None required