February
2003
Dr. Ian Parberry and UNT's
Laboratory for Recreational Computing (LARC)
In December, a couple of GIGnews editors had the
opportunity to "judge" game demos created by students at
the University of North Texas’ Laboratory for
Recreational Computing (LARC). LARC was established in
the Department of Computer Sciences at the UNT by Dr.
Ian Parberry in 1993 to train students as game
programmers. The Laboratory is a crucible for creativity
and originality, and stresses extracurricular
educational activity, cooperative learning, and group
activity on large programming projects. Impressed by the
quality of the demos and the students, we sat down with
Dr. Parberry for a quick Q&A. Dr. Parberry spent his
childhood in England and his teenage years in Australia,
returning to England for his PhD in 1984. He was an
Assistant Professor at Penn State University for six
years, arriving at the University of North Texas in 1990
where he is now a tenured Full Professor of Computer
Science. He is the author of six books, three of them on
game programming, and several dozen articles in academic
publications. His latest book releases are
3D Math Primer for
Graphics and Game Development: Theory and Practice in
C++ and
Introduction to Computer Game Programming with DirectX
8.0.
Q: When and how
was the program started?
A: We don't
officially have a "program". What we have are a couple
of game programming courses that any undergraduate
Computer Science student can take. These courses, when
added to standard "BS in CS" courses such as C++
programming, graphics, and networking, prepare a student
for a job in the game industry.
 I started teaching the first course in 1993, back in the
DOS days. We've come a long way since then, but I like
to think we have the longest continually-operating game
programming class. Here's how it happened. One evening,
I walked by the General Access Computer Lab on my way
out of the building and noticed that the usual group of
students playing games were absent. Instead, there was a
sign on the wall saying something like "The Playing of
Games in the General Access Lab is Banned." This kind of
"Dilbert Decision" is one that always annoys me - a rule
made by administrators to make their lives easy. The
desired result is to make sure that students don't play
games when other students are waiting in line for
computers to finish their homework assignments, but it
is so much easier to ban games altogether than to
constantly have to confront students who either by
accident or design continue playing into busy periods.
This dislike of arbitrary rules and a general feeling of
restlessness drove me to talk to some of these students
who seemed addicted to games. After a few minutes'
conversation, I quickly learned that, more than playing
games, these students wanted to write their own games.
The problem was, in 1993 there was almost no published
material on game programming - almost no books, and no
information on the fledgling World Wide Web. That was a
"Eureka!" moment for me. I signed up to teach an
experimental course on game programming, with the idea
that the students would help me research the area and we
would learn together. The course was a wild success, and
the rest, as they say, is history.
Q: What was
UNT's initial feeling on the program?
A: I was a
little surprised that the administration were very
positive about what I was doing. In retrospect I realize
that they liked the publicity. My colleagues however
have been mostly negative. I've been accused of having
too much of a "trade school" mentality, and my annual
evaluations have suffered as a result. If I didn't have
tenure, I wouldn't have been able to continue in the
face of so much opposition.
Q: How does the
school feel today?
A: UNT has
undergone almost a complete change of administration
since 1993. Now the feedback I get is more negative. The
faculty are under a lot of pressure to bring in more
external funding, and the game industry is still
immature - unlike other areas of the computing industry
it has not yet realized that to get the best employees
they must invest in higher education instead of relying
on the students themselves and the states to fund
innovative programs. The students, however, love it.
Q: What is covered
in the program?
A: I teach two
courses. The first is on 2D game programming. The
students get to write game demos in groups with art
students. The second, advanced course covers 3D and
network game programming. Both classes use DirectX.
Q: About how many
students per semester?
A: The 2D class
generally gets 35-40 students per year. The 3D class
generally gets about 15-25 students.
Q: Any particular
success stories?
A: You can read
about some of our alumni at
http://larc.csci.unt.edu/alumni.html.
They're all success stories as far as I am concerned.
Q: We
noticed that your students seem very courteous and
professional far beyond their years. Are
social skills
also addressed in class?
A: No, we don't
have much time in class for anything other than
technical training unfortunately. I can't take any
credit for the politeness and professional demeanor of
the students, although I do my best to act as a positive
role model.
Q: Do
students attend UNT specifically for this class?
A: Yes, in a
recent entry survey completed by 30 students, 15 of them
stated that the class had positively influenced their
decision to attend UNT, and 4 of them stated that it was
the only reason they are attending UNT.
Q: What do
you think is the most important thing your students
leave with?
A: I think the
most important thing is that they leave with two game
demos that showcase both their technical ability and
their ability to complete a project in a group with
other programmers and artists. I try to provide a
competitive atmosphere and a lab setup that is pretty
similar to what they will find in industry, so employers
know that our job candidates will, in addition to having
technical expertise, fit right in and be team players
right from the start.
Q: Your books on
game programming with Direct X have been highly
successful. What prompted you to write them? Will there
be another in the future?
A: I started
writing books because I used to receive a lot of emails
from people saying that they couldn't come to Texas to
take my class, but they wanted my lecture notes. I
decided that the best way to do that was to write books.
Unfortunately, my colleagues at UNT have decided that
books don't count as "professional activity", so I've
been strongly encouraged to stop writing mass-market
books that tens of thousands of people purchase and
read, and to start writing academic papers that only get
read by a few dozen people instead. I really need the
paycheck, so after a few years of mediocre salary
increases I think I may have to give in and write fewer
books. Notice that I said "fewer books", not that I
would give up entirely.
|
Books by
Ian Parberry  
Introduction to Computer Game Programming with Direct X 8.0 with Cdrom
 
3d Math Primer for Graphics and Game Development
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