“The best way to learn games is to play games. The best way to make games is to work.” – Alan Emrich
Your Course Project Game:
You have two items due next week for your Graded Course Project Game.
1. You need to bring a Beta version of the game to class and email a copy of the .gm6 file to me. This need only be a complete playable game prototype with at least one fully working level or 5 minutes of gameplay. The game’s core mechanics, gameplay, and basic features should all be functional. There should be (at the very least) placeholder graphics and sounds for every in-game Object, Event, and Action.
2. Also, you need to iterate the game’s Inception Document into a Concept Document as explained in the class lecture material this week. Together, these two homework pieces will be graded for up to 10 points.
Sample Concept Documents: Click Here by various students
This is what is level of quality expected for your Course Project Game's Concept Document due next week. Be sure to take a look at these sample homework assignments; they're outstanding.
Optional (Extra Credit): A Game Maker Presentation:
Give a presentation in front of the class showing something you have learned about Game Maker that was not in the tutorials we have learned and could be helpful to your fellow students as they build their Course Project Game. Be sure to have an interesting subject to talk about and demonstrate during your 5 to 10 minute presentation.
Some links to examine for interesting in-class demonstrations can be found on the course Game Maker Page
How to use some of the features inside Game Maker itself that we haven't explored in this class would include using some of the features on the extras tab and the draw tab (in particular, using the Create effects Action – which is always a popular lesson)
Perhaps some basic 2D art instruction on how to make a decent sprite, or animate one, or lesson on the features in the Game Maker Sprite Editing Tools
How to make a desktop icon to class up your game when you save it as a stand alone executable file
Customizing your Load Game Screen and loading bar (just read the Game Maker help file; it's easy)
Dropping in background art and otherwise creating a nice High Score Table
An internet tour of great places to find sprites, backgrounds, and sound files (effects and music) on line
Opening up an interesting Game Maker game's .gm6 file and giving a tour about how they got it to do some particularly neat thing
Offering some pre-fabricated Game Maker code scripts to the class and explaining what they do (many of these can be found in the Tutorial 0 folder)
Anything that your classmates could find useful is fair game; your lesson to the class will be graded by the instructor for up to 8 points.
