Video Game Design is a one year course for juniors and seniors. Beginning with a brief history of gaming from board games to present computer software and mobile applications, students analyze and study digital games from an academic perspective. Through hands-on tutorials, guided lessons, and project-based learning, students learn to construct basic 2D and 3D digital games. Students learn how to create games using Unity, Unreal Engine 4, and computer programming, and to publish their games for web, Mac, PC, and Android. The students study how to guide a game from its conception, to design, through production and testing. Projects are compiled into a digital portfolio for a grade, and should be considered for potential use in college admissions processes.
2D Platformer - Art Assets
Students studied the game mechanics of various 2D games, and went through to create their own art assets for a 2D platformer. They were required to include a variety of background, midground, and interactive items as they went through their design process. The art style was their choice, and students chose very different options!
Roll a Ball - 3D Game Design in Unity
Students began to make interactive games in Unity with a standard Roll a Ball game. They began by building their course and their obstacles with simple geometric forms. They attached scripts to make the ball a controllable player character, and learned more about scripting and programming in Unity. Games in Unity are publishable, and used by professionals in the game design industry.
3D Game Environment
Once students understood the basics of working with Unity's 3D capabilities, they created a 3D environment to import into the program. Students used Blender or Maya to 3D model the environment they could explore for their games.
Map Making
Students practiced world building skills and translating that into visual representation. So many different kinds of video games use maps, whether they be TTRPGS, Board Games, 2D, 3D, or VR games. Students did these in a variety of different ways, to stunning results!
Text-Based Game
Students studied the history of game design, and studied some of the earliest video games - which were entirely text based! No graphics at all! Students then worked to create their own narratives with choices for player interactivity. They went through and built their own functioning games. The first image shows the builder, and the following slides show students' finished games. The blue text represents clickable links in-game.