PROD121-20S1 (C) Semester One 2020

The Game Development Process

15 points

Details:
Start Date: Monday, 17 February 2020
End Date: Sunday, 21 June 2020
Withdrawal Dates
Last Day to withdraw from this course:
  • Without financial penalty (full fee refund): Friday, 28 February 2020
  • Without academic penalty (including no fee refund): Friday, 29 May 2020

Description

This course takes students through the process of going from a game idea to a playable prototype. Students learn about the various roles, skills, technologies, and processes that need to come together to deliver a working game. Projects will be done in teams, and will mimic as closely as possible the processes used in commercial game studios.

Learning Outcomes

  • Goal of the Course
    This course will provide students with the fundamentals of the game development process. Students will learn about the essentials of game design, as well as practices and processes of game development - from the initial idea to the final product.
    This course takes students through the process from a game idea to a playable prototype with the various roles, skills, technologies, and processes that need to come together.

    Learning Outcomes (General)
    Students who successfully completed this course will:
  • Be able to describe the design elements that contribute to a successful game
  • Be able to describe the roles of team members in a commercial game development team
  • Have had experience working in a team to devise and develop novel game concepts
  • Be able to describe the main features of current game platforms and relevant technologies and their development
  • Have produced and presented a game prototype in a team setting that required all major points along the development timeline to be met
  • Have produced a team design report that describes a novel game development in-depth, including a discussion of the relationship between the major game features developed and the elements needed for a successful game product

Course Coordinator

Simon Hoermann

Course Administrator

Alison Lowery

Lecturer

Rob Lindeman

Assessment

Assessment Due Date Percentage 
Individual Assignment(s) 30%
Final Exam 30%
Group Project(s) 40%


In-term tests and assignments to assess taught material plus a major report describing the game design, prototyping process and outcomes of the major game development group project. Students will deliver a working game prototype using digital technologies as well as a final presentation in front of invited academics and peers.

Textbooks / Resources

Recommended Reading

Bates, Bob; Game design ; 2nd ed; Premier Press, 2004.

Bond, Jeremy Gibson; Introduction to game design, prototyping, and development : from concept to playable game with Unity and C# ; Second edition; Addison-Wesley, 2018.

De Byl, Penny; Holistic game development with Unity : an all-in-one guide to implementing game mechanics, art, design, and programming ; Third edition; CRC Press, 2019.

Futter, Michael; The gamedev business handbook : how to build the business you'll build games with ; Bithell Games, 2017.

Koster, Raph,1971-; A theory of fun for game design ; Paraglyph Press, 2005.

Rabin, Steve; Introduction to game development ; 2nd ed; Course Technology Cengage Learning, 2010.

Schell, Jesse; The art of game design : a book of lenses ; Third edition; CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, 2020.

Indicative Fees

Domestic fee $867.00

International fee $4,250.00

* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.

For further information see School of Product Design .

All PROD121 Occurrences

  • PROD121-20S1 (C) Semester One 2020