scottleduc

Game Design 2 Year Unit Schedule

UNIT
HOURS		 ACT
HOURS		 UNIT PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENTS
30 1 Unit 0: Career Essentials

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 Journal: Acceptable Use Policies (AUP) / Copyright and Ethics: Students participate in class discussions about Internet use, intellectual property, and ethics.

Create a blog portfolio entry with evidence of student knowledge and understanding of the school AUP, how to use the Internet for class research, understanding of copyright, and media citation.
1 Signed Contracts: Students submit signed social media and school technology policy agreement.
1 Journal: Safety: Students participate in class discussions about safety with Internet, class equipment, and in the world of work.

Students create a blog portfolio entry with evidence of student knowledge and understanding of class and world of work safety procedures with citations for resources used.
1 Journal: Safety: Students complete the Listen Smart – Safely Handling the Power of Sound Blog Post after learning about safe listening habits
2 Journal: Career Exploration: About Me Page: Students create a blog portfolio page entry with evidence of student knowledge of self; interests, hobbies, personality type, learning styles, and also include understanding of course related careers with specific information about the students’ own career pathway options documented with citations for resources used.
2 Identification Card and Career Exploration: Student create an identification card (for class projects used throughout the course) with evidence of student knowledge of self; interests, hobbies, personality type, learning styles, class and personal goals, etc.
8 Journal: Pitch / Presentation Strategies: Students create a blog portfolio entry with evidence of student knowledge and understanding of effective presentation strategies with MLA citations for resources used.
2 Presentation: Pitch / Presentation Strategies: Students create a presentation exhibiting effective pitch / presentation strategies.
1 Journal: Project Workflow, Deming, and TQL: Students participate in class discussions about class structure and project workflow in media projects. Students create a blog portfolio entry with evidence of student knowledge and understanding of effective project workflow including systems functions, qulity in a system, and time management strategies with citations for resources used.
4 Presentation: Project Workflow: Day in My Life: Students create a narrated presentation podcast documenting their; time-on-task, time tracking ‘trusted system’, goal setting for efficient workflow; tasks, milestones, etc.
1 Journal: Portfolio Development: Students create a blog and a blog portfolio entry with evidence of student knowledge and understanding of importance of portfolio development and maintenance with citations for resources used. Students will maintain an online professional portfolio (blog) of their own work throughout the course and will integrate information and media from various sources to support their ideas.
1 Job Interview: Linkedin Creation: Create an online professional presence with Linkedin.com
2 Job Interview: Job Application: Appropriately fill in a job application
3 Job Interview: Linkedin Activity: Successfully compete a job interview
10 2 Unit 1: Introduction to Game Design 1.C.1.A: Exploring the Unity Editor: Students complete the Learning the Interface and Editor Basics Unity Editor tutorials.
4 1.C.2.A: Game Developers Journal Entry: Students produce at least five core game (i.e. product) ideas.
4 1.C.2.B: Contemporary Game Assignment: Students play a game then produce a Game Modification Task Sheet and a Game Modification Plan
10 2 Unit 2: Critical Thinking in Game Design 2.C.1.A: Exploring the Unity Editor: Students experiment with importing and manipulating game objects after completing two Unity Editor tutorials.
3 2.C.2.A: Game Developers Journal: Students use mind-mapping techniques to illustrate top two or three ideas.
3 2.C.2.B: Contemporary Game Assignment: Students play a game paying attention to the mechanics, dynamics, and aesthetics as described in the Mechanics-Dynamics-Aesthetics (MDA) framework and produce a Game Modification Task Sheet.
2 2.C.2.C: Critical Thinking Assignment: Students explain their response to a written statement.
10 2 Unit 3: Game Design Theory 3.C.1.A: Exploring the Unity Editor: Students complete the Models and Materials Unity Editor tutorial.
1 3.C.2.A: Game Design Document (GDD) Entry:  Students create drafts of Section 1: Concept Document through Section 1.4: Game Analysis.
1 3.C.2.B: Management for the Game Developer Assignment: Students apply project management organization skills by completing a basic project charter using the Project Charter Form (PCF).
1 3.C.2.C: Contemporary Game Assignment: Students play and analyze many games and generate a game idea and analyze it.
1 3.C.2.D: Rules on Three Levels Exercise: Students explore the limits of ambiguity and specificity in rules by conducting the exercise.
4 3.C.2.E: One Button Game Assignment: Students design a One Button Game.
15 2 Unit 4: Story and Game Creation 4.C.1.A: Exploring the Unity Editor: Students complete the terrain sculpting Unity Editor tutorial.
2 4.C.1.B: Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) Exercise: Students create a WBS document; a roadmap, which details the steps they need to take in order to meet the milestones to keep the project on track.
1 4.C.1.C: Group Story Generation Exercise: Students in teams of three generate ideas, convert sentences into a storyboard with illustrations, and share in ‘round-robin’ style with the class.
1 4.C.1.D: Consider this Image Exercise: Students create a 350-500 word story depicted in a given scene.
1 4.C.1.E: Five Card Flicker Exercise: Students are dealt five random images from Flickr and build a coherent storyline
4 4.C.2.A: Game Design Document (GDD) Entry: Students create a storyboard for their game idea, compose paragraphs of narrative that introduce the storyline, introduce the back story (or jot down the background for how you developed the idea for the game), provide details on the main characters and any supporting characters for the Capstone Project. Students create a draft for sections 1.5-Game Atmosphere, 1.6-Game Play, and 2.6-The Story
1 4.C.2.B: Contemporary Game Assignment: Student watch the initial cut scene of the game Minotaur Labyrinth, discuss how it set the stage for game play, and explain ideas.
3 4.C.2.C: Critical Thinking Assignments: Students write a short story about a character that is lost. Students create a storyboard. Students write a 150-200 word essay explaining the butterfly effect. Students watch the short film “The Butterfly Effect”.
20 1 Unit 5: System Dynamics and Scripting Fundamentals 5.C.1.A: Learner Scripting Skills – Assignment: Students complete the Spinning Cube and Simple Clock Unity Editor tutorials.
10 5.C.1.B: Building Learner Scripting Skills – Extended Assignment: Students complete the Scripts as Behavior, Variables and Functions, Conventions and Syntax, C# vs. JavaScript syntax, IF statements, Loops, and Classes Unity Editor tutorials.
2 5.C.1.C: Systems Thinking and Game Development Planning – Assignment: Students learn a systems thinking model that outlines inputs, processes, outputs, feedback, and goals to illustrate how a change at one place in the process can affect an outcome at another point and complete and Students review of a game sequence and the completion of a “what if” scenario for any changes they try to implement.
3 5.C.2.A: Project Proposal for Capstone Project: Students complete a project proposal document and gain approval for the Capstone Project.
3 5.C.2.B: Creating a Game Development Plan: In the GDD, students create a flow chart that shows all actions that will occur in proper order from start to finish of the game.
1 5.C.2.C: Bug Report: Students create a Bug Tracking List from a Bug Tracking system of their choosing and add it to their Game Developers Journal.
10 2 Unit 6: Game Development Tools, Functions, and Properties 6.C.1.A: Exploring the Unity Editor: Students complete Activating Game Objects, Scope and Access Modifiers, Awake and Start, Update and FixedUpdate, Enabling and Disabling Components, Translate and Rotate, Look At, GetButton and GetKey, Get Axis, OnMouseDown, and GetComponent Unity Editor tutorials.
3 6.C.2.A: Game Design Document (GDD) Entry: In the GDD, students list the tasks needed to address for their game development, including libraries needed, external file formats to use, game physics based interactions and, if so, are there any special needs, and which Unity language to use.
3 6.C.2.B: Game Design Document (GDD): Students create draft sections 2.1 and 2.2 in the GDD, focusing on physics including but are not limited to: gravity, motion, elasticity, light, and sound and depict these in a Game Design Matrix.
2 6.C.2.C: Other Activities: Students complete a bouncing ball tutorial to understand how physics works. Students design a game similar to Angry Birds, incorporating Newton’s Three Laws of Motion and his Law of Universal Gravitation. Students write a two-page document discussing the important features to consider when selecting a level editor.
25 2 Unit 7: Interfaces, Environments, Asset Management, and Animation 7.C.1.A: Animation within an Interface: Students design their game interfaces and interactions by completing the following tutorials in the Unity Editor; Animator Component and Game Objects, Animator Controllers, Avatar Masks, Animator Scripting, The Animation View, and Animation Properties.
4 7.C.1.B: Capstone Project: Students demonstrate draft versions of animated objects in their game. Students have a rough draft of a playable game within the game environment.
2 7.C.2.A: Game Developers Journal Entry: In Game Developers Journal, students enter at least five core game (i.e. product) ideas to be considered for your final Capstone Project. Students describe how: purpose, engagement, interactivity, game management, and environment relate to graphical user interfaces. Students create a listing of primary controls that should be included in a graphic user interface and define the role and purpose of each type of control identify; Assets, Hierarchy, Inspector, Parenting, Views (Scene, Game, Animation, Light Mapping, Occlusion Culling), and Prefabs. Students document project management progress by showing time and recording major changes (or bugs) that have been made as part of the Project Charter Form (PCF).
2 7.C.2.B: Game Design Document (GDD): Students draft sections 2.3.4 – User Interface, 2.3.5 – Heads Up Display, and 3.2 – Visual Content in their Game Design Document (GDD).
1 7.C.2.C: User Interface Activity: Students complete a brief research assignment and paper that discusses the difference between a graphic user interface (GUI) and the human machine interfaces (HMI).
3 7.C.2.D: Interface Design Activity: Students complete the Interface Design Activity for the Capstone Project, including sketches with buttons and other GUI elements.
6 7.C.2.E: Graphic User Interface (GUI) Practice: Students complete Graphic User Interface (GUI) Practice by creating a GUI in Unity, including some buttons, pop ups, scene changes or other prompts that create acting and continuation of the game activities.
5 7.C.2.F: Character Controllers: Students build a character controller to help them further understand interactions with objects in a scene. Students create and use the two default Character Controllers – “3rd Person Controller” and “First Person Controller” – in the Unity Editor.
20 2 Unit 8: Physics and the Build Process 8.C.1.A: Physics in Game Development: Students complete the following tutorials in the Unity Editor; Colliders, Colliders as Triggers, Rigidbodies, AddForce, AddTorque, and Physics Materials.
10 8.C.2.A: Building a Simple Game (Guided Practice): Students follow numerous tutorials and create the space shooter game with physics build into it.
5 8.C.2.B: Capstone Project Activities: Students include some physics components in their Capstone Project.
3 8.C.2.C: : Project Management: Work In Progress (WIP): Students save files with a WIP code for each major change. Students rename their previously built Capstone Project files, applying the WIP process to the game interface.
15 4 Unit 9: Constructs of Game Design 9.C.1.A: Additional Unity Skill Development: Students complete the level design tutorials in the Unity Editor, including: viewpoints, balance, and functionality with Joints, Raycasting, and OnCollisionEnter. Students adapt, tweak, or update previous work in the Capstone Project.
2 9.C.2.A: Design Document (GDD) Entry: Students complete sections 2.8 – Design and 2.81 – Copy and are sure to include; World Description, Location, Time of day, Weather, pertinent terrain features, story setup, Mission or level summary, Opening Scene, and Gameplay notes for the level.
3 9.C.2.B: Game Design Document (GDD) Entry: Students sketch a map of how each level of their game will look, identify the major game elements on each level, lighting and sound requirements are included.
1 9.C.2.C: Project Management: In the GDD, Students chart project progress and identify specific changes, updates or other changes as part of the Project Charter Form (PCF).
3 9.C.2.D: Capstone Project: Students create the design levels in their Capstone Project.
2 9.C.2.E: Existing Game Assignment: Play the Unity game Stealth: Discuss the game flow. Explain why you believe this is or is not a balanced layout. Sketch the layout of this new level. Identify major game pathways, choke points, and spawn points. Write a 75-100 word description of what challenges the player will encounter in your level, what the player will have to accomplish to conquer the challenges, and what the consequences of failure are.
25 2 Unit 10: Principles of Cameras and Lighting in Game Environments 10.C.1.A: Unity Camera Skill Development: Students complete the tutorial on the camera features in Unity.
2 10.C.1.B: Unity Lighting Skill Development: Students complete the tutorial on the lighting features in Unity.
1 Capstone Project: Students return to their Capstone Project and adapt, tweak, or update previous work, specifically focusing on camera and lighting.
1 10.C.2.A: Game Developers Journal Entry: In your Game Developers Journal, students discuss ideas for scene composition in their game.
3 10.C.2.B: Game Design Document (GDD): Students revisit section 1.5 in the GDD to include an atmosphere mood board. http://gamestorming.com/mood-board/
1 10.C.2.C: Project Management: In the GDD, students chart project progress & identify specific changes, updates as part of the Project Charter Form (PCF).
1 10.C.2.D: Light and Camera Positions: Students view video clips of various video games and critique the lighting and camera positions.
3 10.C.2.E: Evoking Emotions: Students create a simple room and light it three different ways to evoke different emotions: sadness, fear, comfort. Save this file for use in the unit on sound and audio.
2 10.C.2.F: Three-Point Lighting Tutorial: Students complete the Three-point lighting tutorial in Unity.
1 10.C.2.G: Existing Game Assignment: Students download and play the Mothhead game and discuss the use of lighting and its impact on game play.
2 10.C.2.H: Camera Use Tutorial: Students view the Unity tutorial on camera and discuss the use of orthographic versus perspective cameras.
1 10.C.2.I: Butterfly Effect Activity: Students look at this scene from the short film “The Butterfly Effect and write a critical analysis of the use of light, color, and clarity.
5 10.C.2.J: Room lighting assignment: Students light Jeremy Birn’s kitchen scene from Lighting Challenge #2.
15 2 Unit 11: Principles of Sound and Audio for Gamers 11.C.1.A: Intellectual Property: Students conduct a web search on copyright and use of intellectual property in game development and define the following in the GDD: Copyright, Shareware, Licensing, Royalties, Stock Audio, Trade Secrets, Patents and Trademarks.
1 11.C.2.A: Game Design Document (GDD) Entry: Students create a list of sound clips that will need to acquire for your game and record the asset names in the GDD.
1 11.C.2.B: Game Design Document (GDD): Students draft the audio portion of section 1.5 in the GDD).
1 11.C.2.C: Project Management: In the GDD, students document progress by showing time and recording major changes (or bugs) that have been made as part of your Project Charter Form (PCF).
4 11.C.2.D: Capstone Project Activities: After they analyze of their game, students create a new audio script that identifies audio and sound effects to more engage and excite.
1 11.C.2.E: Additional Skill Development: Students complete the Audio Listeners tutorial.
5 11.C.2.F: Sound and Audio Sources for Game Development: Students create the Roll a Ball Game, read the audio section in the Unity Manual, and view a tutorial to define the following terms in the GDD: 2D Sound, 3D Sound, Doppler Effect, Sound Rolloff, Monophonic Sound, Stereophonic Sound, Compression, Reverb, Loop, Effects, Audio Clip, and Pitch.
15 5 Unit 12: Strategic Game Development Techniques and Concepts 12.C.1.A: Creating Advanced User Interfaces in Unity: Students enhance the user interfaces of their Capstone Project after viewing tutorials; Unity GUI Tutorial – Scale UI to the Right Size for Every Resolution, Creating a GUI in Photoshop and Unity 3d Part 1, 3d Modeling Architecture Part 1: Planning your textures, and Unity Game Design: Part 22-Gui Skin
5 12.C.1.B: Additional Skill Development in Unity: Students expand skills with animation and GUI’s by completing the following tutorials; Animation Advanced, Humanoid Avatars, and Blend Trees
2 12.C.2.A: Animation in Game Development Assignment: Students write a short paper on Animation in Game Development.
2 12.C.2.B: GUI and Animation Practice: Students enhance the animation and better engage the players within their game.
1 12.C.2.C: Project Management: In the Game Developer’s Journal, students document the build process by showing the time and recording major changes (or bugs) that are part of the Project Charter Form (PCF).
10 2 Unit 13: Principles of Quality & Functionality Assurance in Game Development 13.C.1.A: In-Class Debugging Activity: Students debug a flawed C# program created by the instructor.
2 13.C.2.A: Game Design Document (GDD) Entry: Students create a test plan for the Capstone Project.
6 13.C.2.B: Capstone Project: Students debug the Capstone Project.
20 5 Unit 14: Principles of Versioning and Game Release 14.C.1.A: Final delivery of Release Candidate: Students complete the GDD, a functional game, A 10 minute in-class presentation on how the game may be distributed, A description of what could be included in future versions, A justification for why the game is ready to be called a release candidate.
3 14.C.1.B: Game Developer Task: Students identify the stages of development that were the Alpha phase, Beta phase, Release Candidate and evaluate and determine how they number each correctly.
3 14.C.1.C: Software Versioning Research Project: Students perform an internet search to find additional source information on software versioning. Students create a narrative brief or paper that defines and discusses the major concepts related to game versioning. Students enter their research in the Game Developer’s Journal.
3 14.C.1.D: Versioning Significance Narrative: Students write a brief or narrative paper that discusses the significance and importance of versioning.
3 14.C.1.E: Versioning Significance Narrative: Students define the following terms in your Game Developer’s Journal: Pre-alpha, Alpha, Beta, Release Candidate, Gold Release Candidate, Version Numbers: Commercial Distribution, and Shareware
3 14.C.1.F: Distribution Sources: Students conduct a web search to find potential sources for distributing a game. Students create a developers distribution resource list for future reference.
25 3 Unit 15: Pre-production Journal: Embed evidence of vision and inspiration development
3 Journal: Embed evidence of planning development
3 Journal: Embed evidence of student’s role in pitch of project vision and plan
3 Journal: Embed evidence of student’s role in practice and preparation for the production stage of the project
3 Journal: Embed evidence of student’s role in collaboration with project team
3 Journal: Embed evidence of planning skills growth, professionalism, and portfolio development
Journal: Producer
3 Journal: Coder
2 Journal: Artist
2 Journal: Level / Terrain Builder
Journal: Sound Designer
60 15 Unit 16: Production Journal: Embed evidence of skills practice
15 Journal: Embed evidence of student’s role in collaboration with project team
15 Journal: Embed evidence of production skills growth, professionalism, and portfolio development
1 Journal: Producer
5 Journal: Coder
5 Journal: Artist
2 Journal: Level / Terrain Builder
2 Journal: Sound Designer
25 6 Unit 17: Post-production Journal: Embed evidence of fine-tuning the performance/production and final product
6 Journal: Embed evidence of student’s role in collaboration with project team
6 Journal: Embed evidence of production skills growth, professionalism, and portfolio development
1 Journal: Producer
3 Journal: Coder
1 Journal: Artist
1 Journal: Level / Terrain Builder
1 Journal: Sound Designer
360 TOTAL