Task Description

Create a classic little 2D side scrolling Shmup (“Shoot’em up”, think R-Type, Gradius, etc.) game with Unity* to get a hold of game development basics. You can find a detailed task description here.

* If you have already found a group and you are sure you want to use a different engine for your group project, you can request to use another engine.

Submission

Export your game as WebGL build and upload it to GitHub pages or a similar service, enter the link on TeachCenter within the deadline in the schedule.

Task Description

Watch and summarize a GDC talk. Select a talk you are interested in from the [talk list] and use the template to summarize it.

Submission

Create a PDF and .tex file with the naming convention:
gdd1_i-02_talk-summary_#.pdf
gdd1_i-02_talk-summary_#.tex

If you added images to your document please zip your files and include them in the submission.

# is your matriculation number, hence a student with matr. nr. 012345678 should hand in the files:
gdd1_i-02_talk-summary_012345678.pdf
gdd1_i-02_talk-summary_012345678.tex
Optional: gdd1_i-02_talk-summary_012345678.zip

Upload the files to TeachCenter within the deadline in the schedule.

Task description

Find a group of 4-5 people and decide on a game idea that satisfies the topics and guidelines. If you don’t have a group already you can find group members on Discord. Describe your idea in a few sentences, you can add a small sketch if you want to. Also, decide on a fancy name for your group.

Topics & Inspiration

The inspirational topics for 2020/21 are:

Topic 1: Science / Engineering

Topic 2: Nature / Zoo(-animals)

Topic 3: Climate Change

Topic 4: COVID-19

Your game idea should touch one or more of these topics (creative ways of touching a topic are possible).

Guidelines

Diversity:
Keep important aspects such as race, gender, culture etc. in mind.

Accessibility:
Motor (e.g. more than one type of input device), Cognitive (e.g. contextual in-game help), Vision (e.g. color blindness safe colors), Hearing (e.g. subtitles), General (e.g. difficulty levels). You can draw inspiration from here.

Submisson

Create a PDF with the naming convention:
gdd1_g-01_game-idea_##.pdf

## is your group number, hence group 5 sends the file gdd1_g-01_game-idea_05.pdf.

First, enter your group on TechCenter, then upload your file and enter your group name within the deadline in the schedule.

Task Description

Use the Game Design Document Template* to create the first draft of your game design document. Keep the topics and guidelines listed above in mind.

*You can use a different software to create your Game Design Document if you can export a PDF and keep the structure of the document.

Submission

Create a PDF with the naming convention:
gdd1_g-02_game-design-doc-draft_##.pdf

## is your group number, hence group 5 sends the file gdd1_g-02_game-design-doc-draft_05.pdf.

Upload the file to TeachCenter within the deadline in the schedule.

Task Description

Create a prototype according to the topics and guidelines. The prototype should show what your game will look like (e.g. blockouts of levels) and it should demonstrate the core mechanics of your game.

Create a page for your game on itch.io, you do not need to upload a build yet, but add a short description and screenshots that promote your game.

Submission

Upload the build to TeachCenter and add a link to your itch.io page within the deadline in the schedule.

Task Description

Test a game from another group. The QA Strategy section below outlines what to look out for during testing.

Provide a small report (.txt file, or excel sheet) with a list of issues you’ve found:
[ID / Type of issue (1-3) / Description of issue / Severity of this issue (A extremely bad – C nice to have) / Tips for improvement]

Example:
#4 / 1 / The game controls are not clear / B / Explain the controls on the start screen
#5 / 3 / Driving into a tree for 100 times crashes game / C / Find root cause for the crash

You should test the player experience, the usability, and QA (alias bugs).

QA Strategy

Type 1: Player Experience (Game Design)

• Fun?
• Confused/bored/frustrated?
• Design good?
• Idea clear?
• Mechanics?
• Level too long/short?
• Do you understand the game?

Type 2: Usability

• Interface intuitive?
• Easy to use?
• Controls understandable?

Type 3: Quality Assurance (Severe Bugs)

• Test intensively
• Find bugs

Submission

Create a PDF with the naming convention:
gdd1_g-04_qa_##.[txt/csv/xlsx]

## is your group number, hence group 5 sends the file gdd1_g-04_qa_05.csv.

Upload the report to TeachCenter and send it to the the other group via e-mail or Discord within the deadline in the schedule.

Task Description

Fully implement your game and create a presentation for the final exhibition.

Presentation
Short “pitch” (max. 4-5 minutes!) – try to “sell” your game/game idea. You can show your video or play the game live (or both if time).

Exhibition
Please bring your own equipment for the exhibition. In case you are missing hardware contact the tutors in advance. If the exhibition cannot be held at university there will be some kind of online exhibition.

Deliverables

Printout PDF as part of your online submission

• Title page: Game title + who worked on this game (+ matr.nr)
• Your final Game Design Document

DVD

• readme.txt with the following information, so that we can feature your games on the website:
  (1) short game description
  (2) all names + matr. nr
  (3) Technologies used
  (4) Credits
  (5) Link to build for feature on website (such as on https://gamelabgraz.com/games/)
• Digital Game design document
• 4-6 screenshots
• a small video of the gameplay (ca 2-3 minutes)
• Build and source code of your game

Submission

Bring the printout and the DVD to the presentation. If there is no offline presentation, a PDF file replaces the title page and a zip file replaces the DVD, and all deliverables should be uploaded to TeachCenter within the deadline in the schedule.

Update the details about your game on your itch.io page and join this year’s game jam. We encourage you to upload the video and a build of your game to itch.io to make it available to a broader audience.

If you want to develop your game further and publish it not only within the scope of this lecture, we are happy to help and answer any remaining questions.

Overview

You need to submit all assignments for a positive grade. 

A collection of games created in previous GameLabGraz lectures

Your game goes here.
2020 GDD2 Games
2019 GDD1 Games
2018 GDD2 Games
2017 GDD1 Games

Johanna’s personal book recommendations and books the lecture draws inspiration from.

Jane McGonigal – Reality is Broken (+++)
One of my favorite books. Jane McGonigal gives some inspirations and ideas of how to use games in different contexts. Reads like a novel and avoids theoretical aspects.

Jesse Schell – The Art of Game Design (+++)
This is the book I am using a lot for my lecture. Very good summary of the most important design aspects from different points of view (technical aspects, player psychology, all different design things).

Scott Rogers – Level Up (2nd Edition) (+++)
Also a very good design on game design. I’ve especially enjoyed the bonus chapters with inspirational lists for environments, game mechanics, and different templates as an inspirational resource for your games.

Jeremy Gibson – Introduction to Game Design, Prototyping, and Development (++)
This book gives also a very nice introduction to game design techniques, but in a more practical manner. The main part of this book is a unity and C# tutorial.

Raph Koster – A Theory of Fun (++)
I simply love the style of this book. It has comics and sketches ?

Flow – Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (+)
Wonderful book (THE book) about the flow experience with neat examples from all different fields.

Katie Salen & Eric Zimmerman – Rules of Play (+)
Very interesting book on game design with a lot of practical examples. Note: Amazon credit me a small referral amount, should you purchase a book after following these links.