Week
12: Reading and Game Development
Please read: How to prototype a game in under 7 days
Going forward, this course takes a sharp right turn. We have been spending
most of our time discussing game design and not development. Now we turn
to development. First, the good news:
- No more blog entries
- No more writing
Now you must make a game. Here are the rules:
- All teams must be comprised of 3-5 students
- Only 1 team is allowed to implement an Alternate Reality game to be played to completion by the end of the semester. The alternate reality game must still employ technical skills through the development of quality game supporting artifacts (e.g. websites, Photoshop images, etc).
- The game must offer a minimum of 5-minutes of engaging game play. It must be fully functional by the end of the course. It will be demonstrated as both a presentation and as part of our in class creative exposition. The creative expo and game presentations will occur on December 7th. Any game that does not work, receives an F.
- This game is your final exam. It represents 30% of your final grade.
- You may choose any of the game development technologies demonstrated in class. If you would like to use another technology, it must be pre-approved by your instructor.
- As before, grading will be a combination of peer review and instructor evaluation. As outlined in the mini game design document grading guide, emphasis should be on creative designs and quality craftsmanship. An A game looks good (or at least interesting) and plays without error. A game that fails obviously (e.g. easily “hacked” game play, missing function, etc) will receive a low grade.
- Please read the tips on prototyping a game in under 7days.
- Each member of the team will be subject to a peer review. This peer review effects the individual student’s grade. If, for example, the game is an A, but your team claims you did little to support that achievement, you may receive an F for the game prototype portion of your grade (30%).
- Each team member should have a clearly defined, individual responsibility. In general there should be at least a developer, artist, designer/organizer structure. For teams larger than 3, look at specialty (interface designer-artist, character designer-artist).
- All visual content must be original. Use whatever tools you'd like, but you should not use someone else's sprites or 3D models. You may use either public domain audio or audio you to which you have written permission to use. Even if it is your roommate’s band, you will need to demonstrate that the music is yours to use.
- To avoid issues of plagiarism, any base code must be properly credited. If you use a tutorial as a base for your game design, you must clearly credit the source.
- As expected, all games are subject to the terms of the Syllabus and school policy.
