Overview:
In this project, you and a chosen partner will use basic game design principles and practical application of those principles toward the construction of your own game. This project should demonstrate not only technical capability, but also sophistication in design. Be thoughtful of the elements you choose to include – more mechanics do not necessarily make a better game.
Technical Basics:
- Your game must have a minimum of 6 original, fully animated objects.
- Your game must have effective use of both background music/noise and triggered sounds. The sounds should both complement the theme of your game and act as a means to convey information to the player.
- Your game must either have a scrolling background with randomized elements with 3 levels of increased difficulty or contain at least three screens (three levels) in addition to the home, win, and lose screens. The direction you choose will, of course, depend on the genre of game you create.
Design Basics:
- Your game must have a theme that is clearly identifiable through the sprites, backgrounds, and sounds you have chosen.
- Your game should be clearly identifiable as a particular genre (though you are certainly welcome to mock, challenge, or otherwise critique that genre).
- The programming choices you make should enhance the gameplay experience.
Stage 1: Brainstorming
- You will collaborate with your partner to brainstorm ideas for your game prior to the design, then development of the game.
- See the Brainstorming Document below.
Stage 2: Design Stage
In the first design stage, the work can be typed and illustrated. You should produce a Game Design Document that includes the following:
1. Genre Analysis: Two paragraphs summarizing the key features of the genre that your game is classified under. While not conventional scholarly research, this is nonetheless a research-based document, and you should use your skills to “quote” from the games you highlight, cite important sources, and convince the reviewer of the importance of the genre features you highlight. Cite sources.
2. Design Outline: An overview of the main elements of your game, including the following:
- theme
- setting
- gameplay (how player interacts with the game)
- game rules
- challenges in each of the 3 levels
- how to overcome the challenges
- key mechanics
3. Concept Art: An image gallery (can be paper based) containing 4 images for each of the following: player character, background/settings, enemies, other important visuals as needed by your particular game. These are not the final images that you will use in your game, rather they are inspiration pieces that will help evaluators understand the theme you hope to display.
Stage 3: Development and Testing
In this stage you will be working on the development of a first prototype of your game. While it is common to spend a great deal of time polishing the “fine details” of your game- the art, the music, the animations- these are ultimately unessential if your game crashes on load. Thus, you are encouraged to build this first digital version as a true prototype. You may use placeholder graphics, you may have non-essential interactions left out, and you may forgo the Start/Ending screens. Deliver a game that…
- Has the essential interactions for your game in full, working order:
- lives: health bar or count
- score
- timer (optional)
- object interactions (how to earn / lose points)
- fail states and win conditions
- Can be played from start to finish with no bugs
- Presents a complete picture of how the finished gameplay will operate- key mechanics and the general path through the game should all be complete and in working order
Stage 4: Finished Game and Reflection
In the final stage of this project you will complete your game, taking into consideration any feedback given during the both the testing and the design document presentation. Do note that you are welcome to selectively ignore feedback given to your prototype, however you must address any comments you chose not to heed in your reflection. The completed project should meet the terms stated at the beginning of this document and represent the best of your abilities and your understanding of game design as an iterative process.
In addition to completing the full game project, you will complete a brief programmer’s reflection (independent). This reflection should be a roughly 1 page (single-spaced).
Develop your game here: GameLab
Acceptable platforms: code.org’s GameLab, MIT’s Scratch, or GameMaker
- SUBMIT your FINAL GAME via Active Links
- Game Doc must be submitted in order to receive a grade