GDD 410 Game Lab 5

Syllabi

Find the class syllabus here.

Info

Professor: Jonah Warren (jonah.warren AT quinnipiac DOT edu)

Objectives

Students in GDD410 will:

• Learn about and practice creating a Minimum Viable Product;
• Learn about and practice the SCRUM development process;
• Explore the process of making games through practice: iterative design, playtesting, and analysis;
• Learn how to present game ideas clearly, critically evaluate games, and give clear feedback;
• Practice working in teams.

Philosophy

Predicting the behavior of complex systems like games is difficult. The only way to know whether or not an idea will make for a meaningful game experience is by building it. This also means that creating a successful game on the first attempt is close to impossible. Because of this, we will focus on the process of iteration: we’ll build prototypes, test them and build them again. Mistakes and incorrect assumptions are to be embraced as part of the process.

Structure

In the beginning of the semester we will focus on ideation and improving your game development skills in Unity. During the first few weeks, class will often consist of tutorials demonstrating how to build simple games from scratch. Each tutorial we be completed individually and built upon with assignments that will ask you to mod the game in some way. After these foundations are established, the class will turn into a more traditional design lab, where most of class time will be dedicated to working on larger game assignments. These projects will consist of presentations, playtesting, critique and in-class labs.