Schedule
Week 1 Introduction
- Introduction to Game Design
- Reading: Crawford - Chapter 1
- Publishing on Medium
- Lab: Set up development environment
- Assignment 1: Blog Response
- Write a post on the class blog
- Choose a game that you are currently playing or played recently
- Identify the Goals, Obstacles and Rewards of the game
- Write about one example of each
- Use screen shots to show how they are represented visually
- Write short descriptions of each and how they work in the game
Week 2 Character
- Character Design
- Piskel App
- Adobe Animate CC Guide
- Reading: McCloud - Chapter 2
- Lab: Add character to game
- Sprites, image and animation
- Events and input
- Booleans
- Lab
& code
& notes
- Assignment 2: Character Design
- Concept design for main character in video game
- At least 5 sketches
- Digital version of favorite sketch
- Design main character for endless runner game
- Create sprites for idle, running, jumping states
- Post screen shots / photos of everything on the blog
Week 3 Setting
- Game Setting
- Reading: The Designer’s Notebook: Sorting Out the Genre Muddle
- Lab: Scenic Assets
- Platform, foreground and background elements
- Random, more booleans, basic physics
- Lab
& code
& notes
- Assignment 3: Scenic Assets
- Design scenic assets for your game
- Create at least 1 background element (non interactive)
- Create at least 1 foreground element (non interactive)
- Create at least 1 platforms that the player can stand on
- Create at least 2 more scenic elements (interactive or not)
- Post screen shots / photos of everything on the blog
Week 4 Genre
Week 5 Art
- Video Games & Art
- Reading: Play Syoban Action
- Lab
- Assignment 5: Rewards
- Design 5 potential rewards for your game
- Same idea as Assignment 4
- Post screen shots and explanation of how each reward could help the player advance in the game
- Post on Medium
Week 6 Indie games
- Indie games
- Reading: Find a game on itch.io to play
- Lab
- Settings file and variables
- Start and death scene
- Build and reset functions
- Text
- Lab
& code
& notes
Week 7 Sound
- Sound effects
- Lab
- Assignment 6: Sound Effects
- Create sounds for the game
- Game start
- Player jump and land
- Player dies/loses
- Player hit by obstacle
- Player collects reward
- Using jfxr, cfxr, or other software
Post sounds on Medium Post on Blackboard, medium doesn’t allow sound files
Week 8/9 Midterm
- In class workshop
- See Blackboard for rubric
- Create an itch.io account
- Lab: Rewards
Week 10 User Testing
- Browser Games
- User Testing
- Assignment 7: User Testing Form
- Create a user testing form
- Send the game and form to 5 users not in the class
Week 11 User Testing Workshop
- Emergence & Progression
- Test classmates games and fill out forms in class
- Lab: Progression
- Assignment 8: User Testing Report
- Summarize feedback in Medium post
- Choose three things to work on for final
Week 12 Background Music
Week 13 Labs
- New Rewards
- Graphics + Sound for hitting obstacle/reward