The final project is due Thursday December 8.
We will have a showcase open to the public, as part of a larger event.
We can use finals week to document and publish the project and have some kind of wrap up / critique / postmortem session (we’ll vote on that), but don’t count on it as working time.
The entire Thanksgiving week is wasted so don’t count on that. You have 3 weeks.
If you are proposing a project that is not an environment it has to be thematically or technically related to an assignment you’ve done in this semester. Basically: there is no time to develop new skills and brainstorm completely new ideas.
You can form teams of up to 3 people.
I will post a live document with week by week goals based on the project.
Pre-production – due Tuesday November 15
Deliverables, post them on #assignments. We’ll discuss them in class.
- Title
Is there already a game or thing with that name? (search steam, itchio, app stores)
How searchable is it? What’s the google page ranking of the search? (can you potentially land in the first page)
Is it referencing a game genre or a type of software that already exists? Does it need to? (eg. simulator, the use of terms like “super” to denote a retro arcade tie)
Is the domain and social media handle available?
Can you do something interesting visually with the logo? (eg. the A in Fall Guys’ logo references the iconic character) - Project statement
Write a one-paragraph (or more) statement describing what the expressive/artistic/research goals are. - One-line description
Imagine it as the short description in the steam, app store, or itchio page
Can you intrigue the viewer with it?
Does it describe the unique selling point? - Game Research
Play at least 2 games among the ones presented here and here, plus one that I didn’t mention.
They don’t have to be similar to what you are doing but they must have some elements that you are looking into closely for inspiration (a narrative technique, a color scheme, a grass technology).
Write a report from a developer perspective – ie not just what it is, but also what you can learn from it.If the material you bring is insufficient, or the case you make unconvincing, I may assign you to another project.
Is my game done? Checklist is:
Games are never actually done, but at some point you need to stop working on them because they need to be shipped or submitted as assignments. Still, there are a few things you should consider before publishing anything. Here’s a handy checklist:
Does the game run?
Does the game run outside of Unity (or whatever development environment you are using)?
Does the game run on a computer that is not yours?
Did you build the game for the other major operating system that is not the one you use?
Does the game open in fullscreen?
Does the game look fine on different resolutions?
Does the game have a title screen?
Does the game display the authors’ names?
Can a player understand how to play without relying on external information?
Does the game have a splash image and a custom icon?
Does the game have sound?
Can you quit the game without alt-tabbing or killing the process?
Is there a way to restart the game without quitting?
Does the game restart when you reach game over or any end state?
Are the names of the files you are publishing consistent with the name of the game?
Does the game support game controllers (if they make sense for the gameplay)?
Does the game comply with the content guidelines of the platform?
Does the game meet the Technical Requirement Checklist of the platform you are targeting?
(the actual list may only be available when you subscribe as developer)