| Deadline | Assignment |
|---|---|
| Wednesday, Jan 7 | Analysis Preparation |
| Friday, Jan 9 | Ideation Research |
| Monday, Jan 12 | Project Contemplation |
| Friday, Jan 16 | Greyboxing Results |
| Friday, Jan 23 | Paper Prototype Results |
| Monday, Jan 26 | Open Prototyping Initialization |
| Friday, Jan 30 | Open Prototyping Presentation and Report |
| Monday, Mar 30 | Playtesting Report 1 |
| Wednesday, Apr 1 | Resume Statement |
| Friday, Apr 10 | Concept Document Draft |
| Monday, Apr 13 | Playtesting Report 2 |
| Friday, Apr 17 | Practice Presentations |
| Wednesday, Apr 22 | Final Presentations and Materials Deadline |
Unless otherwise specified, deadlines are at the start of the relevant meeting. This means that if you have a presentation, it must be prepared and you must be ready at the start of our meeting.
A poster should be prepared on letter or legal paper. Write large enough that the text is clearly legible from twenty feet away. Include your name on all posters. Experimenting with colors and illustrations is encouraged. Expect posters to be presented on the front whiteboard for discussion.
Read the course plan and note any questions for discussion in our next meeting.
Study the concept document specifications provided on the Deliverables page. Course Reserves (“Reading List” on Canvas) contains an optional reading from Sellers that goes into more details about the role and structure of concept documents.
Understanding our concept document format requires you to explore player motivations. Choose a game you enjoy and analyze it in terms of audience motivations. Identify one or more motivations that are strongly represented in the game and one or more that are not. Prepare a poster to share your findings.
Watch Joe Baxter-Webb’s Indie Game Clinic video on ideation methods. Choose any one of the techniques he mentions and try it. Document your results in a poster; be sure to name the technique you used and the result.
Reflect on the ideation exercises of the first week of class and our discussion of course goals. Decide upon a game idea that you would like to pursue as a short greyboxing exercise, ideally something that you would consider as a semester project.
Be ready to demonstrate and discuss your greyboxed project in today’s meeting.
Before the end of our meeting, you will complete and submit a prototype report. It will include the following:
Be ready to demonstrate and discuss your paper prototypes.
Before the end of our meeting, you will complete and submit a prototype report. It will include the following:
Start work on a one-week prototype for a game you think may be worth pursuing as a senior project. By the end of the day, submit a brief report via Canvas that provides:
Be ready to show your prototype to the whole studio. Each person will have five minutes to show their prototype and collect feedback.
Before the end of our meeting, you will complete and submit a prototype report. It will include the following:
Submit a playtesting report that formalizes what you have learned from testing your works-in-progress. The specific reporting format will be provided.
Use the discussion from our meeting on March 30 to write a resume statement about game pre-production. The statement should frame what you have learned in pre-production for a non-games audience.
Complete a good draft of your concept document and submit it for formal evaluation.
Submit a playtesting report that formalizes what you have learned from testing your works-in-progress. The specific reporting format will be provided.
Prepare and deliver a practice presentation during our meeting on April 17. This presentation will be attended by local experts, and you will be able to use their feedback to sharpen the pitch you will give to the Advisory Board.
Submit all of your deliverables and give your presentation to the Advisory Board on April 22.
