SLAV 2500: Bits & Bytes: Exploring Vampires in Video Games

(Co-taught with Prof. Stanley Stepanic, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures) This class will explore the origins of the vampire in the world of video games and how original folklore, over time, was altered. This will include an overview of the vampire’s movement into popular culture from old belief, how it first entered video games, and the most culturally significant games starting in the late 1970s and entering the modern era. Students will have the opportunity to explore both literature and video games to analyze how vampires and the lore surrounding them is represented and, through this, create a final portfolio that includes a literature and game review and a game they make themselves.

Course Objectives

Upon completion of this course students will:

• Explore the origins of the vampire in the world of video games and how original folklore, over time, was altered. This will include an overview of the vampire’s movement into popular culture from old belief, how it first entered video games, and the most culturally significant games starting in the late 1970s and entering the modern era.
• Understand the basics of game development, particularly around concepts of world building and mental models.
• Understand the “game loop,” - the steps a game must take to update the screen at roughly 60 frames a second, including physics and collision detection, game AI, player input and control, and basic drawing algorithms