“The best way to learn games is to play games. The best way to make games is to work.” – Alan Emrich
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Who? |
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1 C |
1 H |
2 C |
2 H |
3 C |
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Create 3x ideas for corporate identity |
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Decide upon corporate identity |
Team |
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Art Dir.? |
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Team |
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Create 3x ideas for game to pitch |
Individual |
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Decide upon game idea to pitch |
Team |
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Discuss vision for game to pitch |
Team |
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Writer |
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a |
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Draft Concept document due [8 points] |
Team |
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Break down tasks for Homework Gantt chart |
Individual |
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Create draft of Homework Gantt chart |
Producer |
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Submit Homework Gantt chart to Teammates |
Producer |
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Review, amend, approve Homework Gantt Chart |
Team |
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First Examination [20 points] |
Individual |
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Part I: Formatting Your Business Identity
In class this week you met in your Teams, pitched and selected your business identity; Now it is time to delegate the responsibility to one or more of your Team members to create draft copies of a business card template and letterhead design for your new company for your team’s inspection next week.
Part II: The Graded Course Project
Producer Homework: Your Team's Project Work Schedule is due next week. That is, analyze the tasks to be completed and divide up the work and present this in a schedule showing all of the following:
What tasks must be completed between now and the final pitch presentation at the end of the course based upon the game you've decided to pitch to the client (see Team Job Descriptions and Pitch Packet Information to make sure all of the graded material is included)
Who is responsible for each task (both the Lead and any Assistants)
When the completion deadlines are (both Draft and Final) for those tasks
This Project Work Schedule is a valuable tool for keeping the Team on track and should be used by the Producer to guide your Graded Course Project to a successful, on time completion.
This is part [A] of your Course Project grade! See the Jobs page for more information.
Lead Writer / Designer Homework: Now that the game your company is going to pitch has been decided, you're responsible for getting the ball rolling! You need to create a draft version of an 'internal document' for the Team to use to steer them through the next several weeks. This means you will be turning the Inception Document that your team agreed upon this week in class into the game's Concept Document. This means editing and fleshing out the Inception Document with these additional materials:
A Game Overview section (the Inception Doc stuff, plus what the game isn’t, be clear about platforms / minimum hardware spec)
Briefly set the game’s theme (i.e., good v. evil, global conquest, puzzle-solver, platformer, bidding, matching, etc.; who is protagonist; why the them is rich with gameplay possibilities; connect theme to Hook; brief overview of the game world)
Discuss game’s Core Mechanics, victory conditions and structure (i.e., how the core mechanics fit into the game’s setting, ultimate victory condition, intermediary obstacles, sequence of events and game environments; player’s avatar features and some of the items / vehicles / spells / techs /NPCs in the game; discuss story but emphasize the game not the story elements)
It will be the Producer’s Task to also include these sections, but these are not due for your grade of this Concept Document when it’s due at the beginning of Week 4:
A one-page Executive Summary of the above emphasizing the game’s “selling features”
A Marketing Section (defining the game’s core audience, secondary audience(s), ESRB rating, marketing research, competitive analysis, primary publishing languages / territories it will roll out in.
Note that this Concept (or ‘Vision’) Document also neatly fits in as part of the materials that you'll need to deliver for your individual Course Project grade. See the Jobs page for more information.
“When you do your Concept Document, be sure to cover all aspects of the design, but be as brief as you can be without holding back the essence of the game, and give plenty of examples. The details will come in the full Design Doc.” - Kevin Oxland, Gameplay and Design
Note that this draft version is for your Team’s inspection during next week’s class meeting(s). There, you must receive and assimilate their feedback to this document. A ‘final’ version of this Concept Document will be due as graded homework at the beginning of Week 4.
Part III: First Exam
Be sure to review the material from Weeks 1 and 2 and the required reading from the Web Site. There will be an exam next week covering that material. It is worth 20 points.
