In Game Design class I don’t directly assign projects to new, Level 1 students. Game Design requires a wide range on skills from knowledge of the game engine (Unity), programming (C# for Unity), 2D and 3D graphic design, animation, audio production and storytelling. Incoming students’ prior knowledge is too varied for me to assign one project to all new students. So, I let them choose between a variety of beginner projects depending on their background skills and their goals for the course. Below are a list of projects that beginner students generally choose from.
During the 2D Game Kit students create a simple platformer game using pre-generated graphics and code from Unity kit. Students learn the Unity game engine and level design with this project. This project requires no programming and is good for students with no Unity experience and little to no script programming experience. Depending on the students’ goals, the 2D Game Kit can take 4-8 weeks to complete.
During the Roll-a-Ball project Students create a simple ball rolling game from the ground up following a Unity tutorial. This project teaches students the Unity game engine, simple C# scripting, and simple graphic design. It is good for students who have no Unity experience and are not afraid of doing some programming with C#. The Roll-a-Ball project is a 2-week project but can be extended into the Maze Game Project if students enjoy it.
The Create with Code project is for students with some prior scripting experience who want jump right into Unity programming. Following a Unity tutorial, students learn to code a variety of game genres and mechanics from driving, shooting, platformers, clickers, user interface, and menus. Even though this project takes 10 weeks to complete, students can begin creating their own games from scratch when finished.
For students who are not quite ready to jump into Unity and want to sharpen their script programming skill, they can work on a Scripting Practice Project. Depending on their prior programming knowledge, they choose an online tutorial for C#. This project can last fore 2-4 weeks.