P1: Pitching (due January 21)
Introduction
Assembling and communicating your game ideas is a good first step to making them happen. This project is about generating, collecting and communicating your concepts and then receiving critique on them.
This project is completed individually.
P1: Pitching is worth 10% of your final grade.
Weekly instructions
This project spans multiple weeks. Please read the weekly instructions carefully.
From January 7 to January 14
The first week of this project is about starting to come up with ideas for a game. Please complete the following:
- Read through "Mechanics, Dynamics, Aesthetics" (Hunicke et al, 2013) and "The Game Begins with an Idea (Chpt 7)." (Schell, 2019) — available on Canvas. Both these articles will help you start thinking about how to describe your game idea as well as how to come up with your game ideas.
- Brainstorm a list of at least ten game options as questions — i.e. How can I make a video game that ... ? — as a means of exploring ideas beyond what you are aware already exists. You have your own understanding and experiences with video games that will help frame what is already available, so don't worry too much about searching for if you have a truly unique idea.
- Consider the constraints for P1/P2. For this project you are putting together a pitch for the game you will work on in P2. Keep in mind the constraints for the game to keep your proposal achievable:
- The only input that is available to you will be one keyboard button.
- The game will explore 1-2 mechanics — a player action that the game responds to, or rules for the player to explore.
- You will have three weeks to build the game meaning about 15 hours of work.
- You will be (likely) still learning programming.
- Describe how each of your brainstormed ideas would work within these constraints. This may mean that while the question was quite big and expansive, the direction you end up proposing is quite small in scope. This is expected to keep the scope manageable for the course.
Bring to your January 14 lab
- 10 game options
- 10 explanations of how the game would work within the constraints (max 50 words each)
From January 14 to January 21
During this week's labs you will select a pair of ideas and put together a pitch for each.
- Based on discussions in the class and your preferences, select two ideas to move forward with. For each idea, answer the following:
- What is the game in one sentence?
- How does this game work within the constraints?
- What aesthetic(s) (from MDA) do you see this game working towards?
- What do you need to be able to achieve programmatically to build the game? (i.e. I need to be able to detect when to elements collide)
- Put together your two pitches into a 3-minute presentation. This means you will have 1.5 minutes per idea. Make sure to cover your responses to the qeustions above succinctly. You will present your game pitches in-class on January 21.
Grading rubric
Please email Andrew with any questions about the rubric.
| A | B | C | D/F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exploration quality and quantity (3 pts) | The quantity of game options are as required, explore different ideas, and are clear about how they fit within the constraints. | The quantity of game options are as required, explore somewhat different ideas, and are clear about how they fit within the constraints. | The quantity of game options are less than required, explore somewhat different ideas, and/or are somewhat clear about how they fit within the constraints. | The quantity of game options are less than required, explore similar ideas, and/or are unclear about how they fit within the constraints. |
| Pitch quality (3 points): 'Does it explain your direction effectively?' | The pitch uses supporting artifacts effectively — i.e. images, quotes, process material, etc. — to present an easy-to-understand case for each game direction. | The pitch presents an easy-to-understand and effective case for each game direction. | The pitch presents an understandable case for each game direction. | The pitch presents an unclear case for each game direction. |
| Connection to readings (2 pt): | Exploration and pitch demonstrate an understanding of the readings and effectively connect the readings to the process. | Exploration and pitch demonstrate an understanding of the readings. | Exploration and/or pitch demonstrate a lack of understanding the readings. | |
| Polish (2 pts) |
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Final submission requirements (January 21)
The final submission for P1 is a PDF file containing all weeks of the project.
Your project submission is due to Canvas before your January 21 class.
Please make sure double-check all your submitted URLs to ensure they can be opened. We want to avoid late or problematic submission penalties whenever possible.