Schedule

The Technical Communication of Video Games

This schedule is subject to revision. The official syllabus lives in Canvas. Deadlines are 11:59 PM Orlando, Florida (Eastern) time, with an 8-hour grace period until 8:00 AM the next morning for technical difficulties. Course weeks run Monday through Sunday; drafts are due Thursday and peer reviews and final versions are due Sunday.

Quick links: Major assignments · Weekly exercise menu

Weekly Schedule

Week 1. Welcome, player! (August 24-30)

• Read: Sweeney, M. (2012, June 20). How to read for grad school. https://miriamsweeney.net/2012/06/20/readforgradschool/ (Sunday, August 30)
• Complete: Academic Activity Verification (Friday, August 28)

Week 2. What counts as technical communication? (August 31-September 6)

• Read: Johnson, E. K. (forthcoming). First contact: Onboarding, agency, adaptability. In Game update: Video games as technical communication innovators. SUNY Press.
• Read: Slack, J. D., Miller, D. J., & Doak, J. (1993). The technical communicator as author: Meaning, power, authority. Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 7(1), 12–36. https://doi.org/10.1177/1050651993007001002
• Read: Fullerton, T., & Farber, M. (2025). Introduction. In The well-read game: On playing thoughtfully. MIT Press.
• Complete: Weekly Exercise 1 (Sunday, September 6)
• Explore
  • Opening sequences Spider-Man 2 (to 7:45)
  • 10 worst video game tutorials (at least 4 minutes of the 11 minute video)
  • Baldur’s Gate 3 (long playthrough; just watch a few snippets of the game preferences setup)
  • The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (feel free to stop before 6:27 when it gets gory)
  • Minecraft with commentary from a brand new player (1-2 minutes to get the idea)
  • Minecraft Tutorial (1-2 minutes to get the idea)

Week 3. Procedural rhetoric and interaction (September 7-13)

• Read: Bogost, I. (2021). Persuasive games, a decade later. In T. de la Hera, J. Jansz, J. Raessens, & B. Schouten (Eds.), Persuasive gaming in context (1st ed., pp. 29–39). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.5117/9789463728805_CH02
• Read: deWinter, J. (2014). Just playing around: From procedural manuals to in-game training. In Computer games and technical communication (pp. 69–85). Ashgate.
• Read: Sundaram, S., & Steeds, M. (2025). Frustration, engagement, and adaptation: Analyzing player emotions and behaviors in Ori and the Blind Forest. Companion proceedings of the annual symposium on computer-human interaction in play, 88–95. https://doi.org/10.1145/3744736.3749340
• Complete: Weekly Exercise 2 (Sunday, September 13)
• Explore
  • Papers, Please (watch to at least 14:25)
  • Destroy/Wait (play)
  • How I got my mom to play through Plants vs. Zombies: Technical communication in video games (at least the first 10 minutes)
  • Tetris (play)
  • Pong (play)

Week 4. Genre and expectations (September 14-20)

• Read: Johnson, E. K. (forthcoming). Genre expectations. In Game update: Video games as technical communication innovators. SUNY Press.
• Read: Spinuzzi, C. (2003). Compound mediation in software development: Using genre ecologies to study textual artifacts. In Writing selves and writing societies (pp. 97–124). The WAC Clearinghouse. https://doi.org/10.37514/PER-B.2003.2317
• Read: Gee, J. P. (2003). Telling and doing: Why doesn’t Lara Croft obey Professor Von Croy? In What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy (pp. 113–138). Palgrave Macmillan.
• Read: Fullerton, T., & Farber, M. (2025). Learning to play closely. In The well-read game: On playing thoughtfully. MIT Press.
• Complete: Principles in action, post draft (Thursday, September 17)
• Complete: Principles in action, peer review (Sunday, September 20)
• Explore
  • Doom (first 3 minutes)
  • Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 (1-2 minutes or so)
  • Candy Crush (1-2 minutes to get through the tutorial)
  • Mario Kart (play – press the letter X to move, left and right arrows steer)
  • Super Mario Bros. (play)

Week 5. Text and visuals (September 21-27)

• Read: Johnson, E. K. (forthcoming). Text and visuals. In Game update: Video games as technical communication innovators. SUNY Press.
• Read: McCloud, S. (1993). The vocabulary of comics. In Understanding comics: The invisible art (pp. 24–59). HarperPerennial.
• Read: Killingsworth, M. J., & Rosenberg, M. E. (1995). The icon as a problem in cognition and social construction: Complexity and consensual domains in technical rhetoric. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 38(4), 216–227. https://doi.org/10.1109/47.475593
• Complete: Principles in action (final draft) (Sunday, September 27)
• Explore
  • Half-Life: Alyx (gravity glove tutorial, starts at 38:29)
  • Pokémon Legends: Arceus (1-2 minutes where the player goes over their team)
  • World of Warcraft: User interface new player guide (1-2 minutes from the link start to get the idea)
  • Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (swinging mechanics, watch 1-2 minutes from where link starts)

Week 6. Visual rhetoric and signaling (September 28-October 4)

• Read: Amare, N., & Manning, A. (2007). The language of visuals: Text plus graphics equals visual rhetoric tutorial. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 50(1), 57–70. https://doi.org/10.1109/TPC.2006.890851
• Read: Rose, G. (2023). Semiology: Making sense of signs. In Visual methodologies: An introduction to researching with visual materials (5th ed., pp. 170–213). SAGE.
• Complete: Weekly Exercise 3 (Sunday, October 4)
• Explore
  • Beat Saber (beginner, player POV, 1-2 minutes from link start)
  • Dark Souls (watch 1-2 minutes of play)
  • Monster Hunter Wilds damage explanation video (explicit, 2-3 minutes after the link begins)
  • Jurassic World Evolution 3 (first 1-3 minutes)

Week 7. Sound and aural communication (October 5-11)

• Read: Johnson, E. K. (forthcoming). Sounds. In Game update: Video games as technical communication innovators. SUNY Press.
• Read: Johnson, E. K. (2021). The aural-visual rhetoric in video game tutorials. Technical Communication Quarterly, 31(4), 374–394. https://doi.org/10.1080/10572252.2021.2021452
• Read: Collins, K. (2008). Gameplay, genre, and the functions of game audio. In Game sound: An introduction to the history, theory, and practice of video game music and sound design (pp. 123–138). MIT Press. https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/7909.003.0008
• Complete: Weekly Exercise 4 (Sunday, October 11)
• Explore
  • Silent Hill 2 (super creepy; watch from link start to the second monster at 1:02:04)
  • Blind Drive (explicit - watch at least to 3:15 but it gets zanier as you watch)
  • Alan Wake 2 (watch from the link until at least 8:44)
  • Monster Hunter Wilds (battle scene, 1-2 minutes)

Week 8. Research methods: Heuristics and usability (October 12-18)

• Read: Nielsen, J. (1994). Heuristic evaluation. In Usability inspection methods (pp. 25–62). Wiley.
• Read: Hayhoe, G. F., & Brewer, P. E. (2020). Conducting a qualitative study. In A research primer for technical communication (2nd ed., Chapter 5). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003080688
• Read: Hayhoe, G. F., & Brewer, P. E. (2020). Conducting usability studies. In A research primer for technical communication (2nd ed., Chapter 7). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003080688
• Complete: Heuristic evaluation or usability study, post draft (Thursday, October 15)
• Complete: Heuristic evaluation or usability study, peer review (Sunday, October 18)
• Explore
  • Game Interfaces
  • Another site of game interfaces
  • Half-Life: Alyx (7 minutes)

Week 9. Multimodal combination and redundancy (October 19-25)

• Read: Johnson, E. K. (forthcoming). Combo moves: Multimodal magic. In Game update: Video games as technical communication innovators. SUNY Press.
• Read: Gaver, W. W. (1986). Auditory icons: Using sound in computer interfaces. Human-Computer Interaction, 2(2), 167–177. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327051hci0202_3
• Read: Blattner, M. M., Sumikawa, D. A., & Greenberg, R. M. (1989). Earcons and icons: Their structure and common design principles. Human-Computer Interaction, 4(1), 11–44. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327051hci0401_1
• Complete: Heuristic evaluation or usability study (final draft) (Sunday, October 25)
• Explore
  • Balatro (watch 4-5 minutes)
  • Beginner guide: Monster Hunter Wilds (first 1-2 minutes until you get the idea)
  • Sonic and the Secret Rings on Wii (1-2 minutes)

Week 10. Teaching users what to ignore (October 26-November 1)

• Read: Kalyuga, S., Chandler, P., & Sweller, J. (1999). Managing split-attention and redundancy in multimedia instruction. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 13(4), 351–371.
• Read: Goodwin, C. (1994). Professional vision. American Anthropologist, 96(3), 606–633. https://doi.org/10.1525/aa.1994.96.3.02a00100
• Complete: Weekly Exercise 5 (Sunday, November 1)
• Explore
  • Ori and the Blind Forest (1-2 minutes)
  • Balatro (expert; first 2-3 minutes)
  • World of Warcraft (1-2 minutes to get the idea)

Week 11. Embodied interaction (November 2-8)

• Read: Johnson, E. K. (forthcoming). Reality check: Communicating across realities. In Game update: Video games as technical communication innovators. SUNY Press.
• Read: Shivener, R., & Tham, J. (2025). Capturing the experiences of simulated writing for novice virtual reality users. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 68(1), 118–134. https://doi.org/10.1109/TPC.2025.3529095
• Read: van Dijk, J., van der Lugt, R., & Hummels, C. (2014). Beyond distributed representation: Embodied cognition design supporting socio-sensorimotor couplings. Proceedings of TEI ‘14, 181–188. https://doi.org/10.1145/2540930.2540934
• Complete: Weekly Exercise 6 (Sunday, November 8)
• Explore
  • The Nintendo Power Glove: Bad Street Brawler (1-2 minutes)
  • Duck Hunt (1-2 minutes)
  • Beat Saber (advanced, dual view, 1-2 minutes)
  • Asgard’s Wrath 2 (watch at least to 2:17)
  • Pokémon Go (1-2 minutes to get the idea)
  • Hauntify (MR horror game; watch 1-2 minutes if you can)

Week 12. AI and emerging interfaces (November 9-15)

• Read: Weisz, J. D., He, J., Muller, M., Hoefer, G., Miles, R., & Geyer, W. (2024). Design principles for generative AI applications. Proceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. https://doi.org/10.1145/3613904.3642466
• Read: Masters-Wheeler, C., & Bay, J. (2025). Methodologies for studying artificial intelligence in technical and professional communication. Journal of Business and Technical Communication. https://doi.org/10.1177/10506519241280647
• Read: Tham, J. (2018). Interactivity in an age of immersive media: Seven dimensions for wearable technology, Internet of Things, and technical communication. Technical Communication, 65(1), 46–65. https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/stc/tc/2018/00000065/00000001/art00006
• Read: Howard, J. (2024, September 3). The /llms.txt file. llms-txt. https://llmstxt.org/
• Complete: Principle Paper, post draft (Thursday, November 12)
• Complete: Principle Paper, optional peer review (Sunday, November 15)
• Explore
  • AI-powered characters in video games
  • AI, voice-driven vampire game
  • Optional additional exploration
    • Podcast where technical writers chat about AI
    • Technical writers and AI

Week 13. Futures of the field (November 16-22)

• Read: Johnson, E. K. (forthcoming). Conclusion. In Game update: Video games as technical communication innovators. SUNY Press.
• Complete: Principle Paper (final draft) (Sunday, November 22)
• Explore
  • Snapchat’s AR Glasses
  • Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses (watch the first video “GOAT and 2048” on the page)
  • Viture Luma Pro glasses (watch until you get the idea)
  • No-code AI game development engine

Week 14. Break week (November 23-29)

• UCF is closed the full week, November 23 to 27; nothing due this week.

Finals week (November 30-December 6)

• Read: No assigned reading.
• Complete: Final Reflection Paper (Sunday, December 6)

Schedule subject to revision. Confirm all dates and requirements against the official syllabus in Canvas.