WELCOME to GDD 450
Your New Job
Brent M. Dingle, Ph.D.
Game Design and Development Program
Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science
University of Wisconsin - Stout
2014
Your Instructors / Managers
• Brent Dingle, Ph.D.
– Office: TBD
– Office Hours:
• TBA
– Email: TBA
• Course Info: Check online
• Syllabus is also online
In Case of Emergency
• Locate the exit door
• Note the exit paths
• If the door cannot be located
– it’s too late
In Case of Potty Emergency
• Locate the exit door
• Note the path to the restroom
• If the door cannot be located
– it’s too late
Welcome
• Welcome to Your New Job in
3D Game Design and Development!
• Let’s begin with an overview of what this job entails…
Company Vision Statement
• To achieve greatness
and affect the world in a positive way
through
dedication, commitment,
and creative construction
of meaningful games.
Employee Benefits
– Experience in Game Design and Development
• Pitching, Prototyping, and Planning
• Implementing
– Experience working as a Team
– Exercise Presentation Skills
– Become familiar with approaching design and
development from a System Level Perspective
– plus much, much, more!
Retirement Plan
• None Available
– HR is working hard to find more options
Work Ethic
• Take responsibility
– for what you do
– and for what you do not do
• Trust and Believe in yourself
– so your teammates can too
• Never Lie, Never Cheat, Never Steal
– Elaboration, Collaboration, and Borrowing
• are usually acceptable
Vacation Days
• You have ONE vacation day
• Missing any more days will result in a
reduction of your evaluation score
• In the event you know you will need more
– Consult with management BEFORE being absent
Tools
• This lab
– Plus
• Whatever else a team agrees to use and has access to
Your Job Description
• Work on small independent assignments
– very few in number
• Complete a game project for a client
Pay Scale
• You work for free
• you volunteered didn’t you?
Work Evaluation
• You will be evaluated by
– Yourself
– Your Instructors
– Your Peers
Assignments
• Most of your time will be on a Team Project
– Designing and Developing a Game
• In the background
– Individual work also required
• Personal Webpage, Portfolio, Resume…
Project General Setup
• Your choice of ‘engine’
– Unity
– Unreal
– Other
– Home-Design
• Team must agree in majority vote
– Instructors will break any tie
• and pick something completely different
• so find agreement within yourselves
General Work and Project Info
• 3D environment
• Dynamic Team Structure
– Teams of roughly 6 people each
– Members will be selected by the instructors
• Games will be selected from student
presented pitches
– By the instructors and assigned to teams
Project is for a YOU
• Effectively a capstone project
• Brag about (and/or complain about)
• For the rest of your life
• Make it something YOU
are proud to have done
Organizational Chart
GDD Instructors
Team 1
Team 2
Team 3
Students
Team 4
Who’s in Charge
• Course Instructors have
– Final say on everything
– Control of process
• Student Teams
– Design and Develop the game
– Start with Dynamic Leadership
• If you cannot get along or function correctly
– Your grade drops
Routine Deadlines
• Project work will be divided into Sprints
– Sprints are all roughly 2 weeks in duration
• BUT
• Every Thursday Night
– Have a working build
• Test everything BEFORE committing
Tentative Project Schedule
Sept. 3 and 5
Sept. 8
Sept. 15
Sept. 17
Sept. 19
Oct. 3
Oct. 17
Oct. 31
Nov. 14
Nov. 24
Dec. 12
Dec. 12
Concept Pitch Presentations
Vote on top N game pitches
Paired Prototype Due
Teams and Games Identified
Quiz
Team Check-in and Build Management Rules Due
and Sprint 1 begins
Sprint 1 Ends
Sprint 2 Ends
Sprint 3 Ends
Sprint 4 Ends
Sprint 5 Ends
Sprint 6 Ends – PseudoFinal Version of Game
Webpage/Portfolio Update Due
What Does 3D Mean?
• Make a 3D game
• Does it have to be “pure 3D”
– Not necessarily
– Be Creative
– It should require and use 3D models
– It should have objects moving in 3D space
Project: Additional Think Abouts
• Be Creative and Different
– This can get you into conferences
– and win competitions
• Code Repository
– Team must choose how to keep files organized and where
• including naming conventions
• Game Website
– Must have a website setup to advertise the game
– For this semester – just a link to an exe is ok
– Next semester – we focus more on it
Project Action Points
• You will be assigned a team
– Learn the names of your teammates
– Set up reliable communication channels
• Have contact information memorized
September
• September 8 (Monday)
– Pitches Done, Voting Done
• September 10
– Paired Prototyping Begins
• September 12
– Workday
• September 15
– Paired Prototyping Ends
• September 17
– Game Development Begins
October
• October 3: Sprint 1 Ends
• October 17: Sprint 2 Ends
• October 31: Sprint 3 Ends
– Game should
• Have core mechanics fully functional
– Player can walk through the game
• Start to end
– Minimally: Placeholders for everything
• Levels, Puzzles, Objects, Enemies, Menus
• Planning is done
– Test plan in place
• First Cross-Class Testing is the next week
November
• November 7: Cross-class testing
• November 14: Sprint 4 ends
• November 24: Sprint 5 ends
(short sprint)
– All core things should be done and testable
• Still can
– Make prettier, adjust numbers
– Add more levels, more details, more fun…
• BUT
– All core things should be done and testable
– This should be a fully functional game
• Ready for testing
December
• December 5: Cross-class testing
• December 12: Sprint 6 ends
–
–
–
–
All basic and fundamental things done
All placeholders filled
The game idea is implemented and testable
Ready for expanding/refining/fixing
– Think… Alpha
» but it not Omega
Peter Callesen
http://www.taringa.net/posts/imagenes/15821765/Arte-en-papel-Inusual.html
General Questions
• Before presentations begin
• Questions?
• Other random info from instructors?
– Additional details about the class can be found in
the syllabus
• Syllabus is posted to D2L
Pitches
• How many are ready to go today?
• Volunteers?
Reprieve
• The Pitches and Inception Documents are due
before next class.
– Upload the documents to D2L
• Actual presentations will begin next class
– Volunteers may go at the end of this class if time
allows
• Which means… more talking for today.
Questions about homework?
• Questions on Pitches or Inception Docs?
• We will be looking at
descriptions
and examples
shortly.
End Summary
• This will be the BEST JOB EVAR!!
• Make friends with ALL your
classmates/coworkers
• GOTO NextPresentation