Game Design & Development Curriculum

Summary

This course teaches students with no basic knowledge of programming or a background in computer science how games work under the hood. During the course, students will create both 2D and 3D gameplay mechanics, learn game development techniques, and complete challenges and quizzes along the way to solidify and expand their knowledge.

For a period of 5 days, students will develop game development skills and enhance their creative side through a series of exercises using Unity (a professional game engine) + Bolt (a visual programming tool). On each day, students will learn the basics of programming and game design by following through some exercises.

By the end of this course, students with no prior experience at all will have discovered how to design and develop their own video games by using the same tools the pros use.

What the students gain through this course:

Recognise simple game design concepts
Enjoy using simple drag and drop logic/programming to create game mechanics
Practise fundamental game design principles
Develop essential game design skills and creativity
Learn to build their own games from start to finish

	Objectives
C# Skills	Students will gain a foundational knowledge of programming and will feel motivated that they can modify and implement gameplay features on their own
Unity Skills	Students will become familiar with the Unity engine and have confidence that they can build video games professionally.
Creative Skills	Students will develop their creative skills and grasp game design principles.

Unity Overview

Unity is a flexible and powerful development platform for creating multi-platform 3D and 2D games as well as interactive experiences. Backed by a huge assets store full of pre-made assets, audio, artwork and even full components chocked full of functionality, Unity decreases the necessary complexity of game code; and also increases developer comfort and capability. Boasting 60% of game engines market share while supporting a staggering 23 deployment platforms; from desktops to browsers and VR’s to mobile, it’s clear to see why over 600 million people all over the world are playing games created using it. Unity’s ability to develop once and publish anywhere with a few tweaks in code based on platform specifications is essentially one of its biggest strengths leading to why 47% of all mobile game developers use it. Unity’s 2D workflows were introduced in Unity 4.3 and have been used to make successful hits like Rovio’s Angry Birds 2 and Free Lives BroForce.

Unity Requirements

This section lists the minimum requirements to run the Unity Editor. Actual performance and rendering quality may vary depending on the complexity of the project.

Minimum Requirements	Windows	Mac OS Linux
Operating System Version	Windows 7 and Windows 10, 64-bit versions only.	Sierra 10.12.6+ Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 18.04, and CentOS 7
CPU	X64 architecture with SSE2 instruction set support	X64 architecture with SSE2 instruction set support. X64 architecture with SSE2 instruction set support.
Graphics API	DX10, DX11, and DX12-capable GPUs	Metal-capable Intel and AMD GPUs OpenGL 3.2+/. Vulkan, Nvidia and AMD GPUs.
Hardware & Software	Students might be required to possess a computer capable of running Unity and a mouse with a scroll wheel. Recommended spec: Intel core i3, 4GB ram, 500 GB SSD hard disk	Students might be required to possess a computer capable of running Unity and a mouse with a scroll wheel. Recommended spec: Intel core i3, 4GB ram, 500 GB SSD hard disk

Schedule

Exercises

Day 1:
Introduction to Unity & Visual Scripting

Introduction:
Learn the fundamentals of game development and place objects in the game world.

Game Development:
Learn how to control game objects using visual programming. Learn how to navigate the unity editor comfortably.

Learn how to add and manipulate objects. Learn how to move simple geometric shapes with basic physics.

Day 2:
Driving Simulator

Game Development
Learn how to import external assets to use in game. Learn how to program a car and avoid hitting obstacles in the way. Learn basic player control movement. Explore a polished and arranged game world.Learn how to trigger events in the game world.

Day 3:
Feed the Animals

Game Development
Learn to implement basic gameplay with this top-down game where you throw food at animals, who are charging towards you. Learn how to implement basic gameplay logic and understand prefabs. Learn how to randomly generate values to randomize spawn positions.

Day 4:
Tic Tac Toe

Game Development
Learn to use simple user interface controls like buttons to create a logic game where a player needs to click on an empty space to form noughts or crosses. Learn how to position and use various UI elements. Learn how to detect, and trigger UI elements Learn how to implement complex logic.

Day 5:
Brick Breaker

Game Development
Learn to add physics, sound effects and stages or levels to make a full gameplay player needs to time their jumps over oncoming obstacles.Learn how to use physics in different ways. Learn how to transition from one level to another. Learn how to play music and sound effects in-game.