Advanced Architecture for Games Systems

This module follows on from the previous systems modules, looking at games hardware systems

Aims of Module

To provide the student with an in-depth and advanced understanding of the hardware used in modern games systems.
To provide students with an in-depth and advanced understanding of the hardware-related issues faced by modern games developers.
To provide the student with knowledge and understanding of the stratagems and mechanisms used to face these issues.

On completion of this module the student will be able to:

Critically evaluate modern games systems architectures, demonstrating an understanding of comparative architectures and an awareness of the issues posed to software developers
Demonstrate an understanding of advanced hardware/software issues for games developers, and the issues posed by the management of game-specific data in runtime environments, and critically evaluate and synthesise stratagems for facing these issues.
Develop programs for an industry-standard games platform, solving the complex problems presented by modern games architectures.
Demonstrate an awareness and understanding of cutting-edge technologies for future games systems architectures.

Comparative architecture of games platforms, (e.g. consoles, PCs, handhelds), and specialist hardware support for functionality (e.g. vector manipulation): 20%
Software design implications of the above: 10%
Advanced hardware/software issues for the games developers, such as DMA management, parallel processing, optimisation, dynamic firmware & onchip caching: 20%
Speed and pipelining issues, focusing on game-specific data issues such as textures, model meshes and sounds: 20%
New and future developments in games systems: 10%