A class focusing on game production, working in teams, and prototyping
Objectives
Students in GDD 210 will learn:
- How to make games using Unity and C#;
- About the process of making games: iterative design, playtesting, and analysis
- How to present game ideas clearly, critically evaluate games, and give clear
feedback;
- How to work in small teams.
Methods
Learning game design is similar to learning an applied art and we use the same techniques. In this class you will:
- Imitate - replicate what we learn in class so that you know how to do it yourself
- Practice - rewrite the code multiple times, build examples over again from scratch
- Tweak - change elements of the example and note how the design changes, learn how the code breaks
- Innovate - build on the foundation of what you learned to make something different
Structure
In the beginning of the semester we will focus learning the process and improving your game development skills in Unity. During the first few weeks, class will consist of exercises building simple games from scratch. These will be completed individually and allow you to demonstrate how you can modify the base assignment in interesting ways. After these foundations are established, the class will become a design lab, where most of class time will be dedicated to working on two larger game assignments. These larger projects will consist of presentations, playtesting, critique and in-class labs. You will learn to document and explain your process using Trello. Quizzes will ensure that you are keeping up and reinforce skills you will need in later labs.