Deliverables Overview
The marks for this course come from several sources. The most significant of these is the course project, which involves the development of a complete 3D video game demo along the "indie game" theme. However, this project mark is made up of several smaller components, such that the deliverables for the course are spread out evenly throughout the semester.
It is very important that you review the deliverable schedule from the course information sheet, and to mark the due dates on whatever calendar you use to schedule your work.
We encourage you to create the itch.io page for your game early and update it regularly with playable builds for each of the presentation milestones.
We also suggest to set up parsec locally so that the Instructors, TAs, and guest judges can play your game remotely.
Deliverables Schedule
| Deliverable | Description | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Game Jam #1 | One-day game hackathon event (Online). | 5% |
| Game Brainstorming | Submitting ideas for potential games for the project. | 3% |
| Game Jam #2 | One-day game hackathon event (Online). | 5% |
| Pitch Presentations | Within your groups, decide on the approach(es) your game will take to achieve both fun and uniqueness. | 5% |
| Creative Brief | A document that explains what your game is and how your game works. | 2% |
| Design Presentation & Design Document | A detailed desciption of the implementation of your game. You must show a prototype of your game. | 15% |
| Alpha Demo Presentation | A playable vertical slice of your game. | 15% |
| Playtesting Report | A report describing the reactions of the general public and industry experts to your game. | 5% |
| Beta Demo Presentation | The feature-complete version of the game. | 15% |
| Game Release | The fully complete game, ready for public consumption. | 15% |
| Itch.io Page | Including the game description, a 90 second gameplay trailer, and the Windows and MacOS builds. | 5% |
| Participation | Participating in online classes, online discussions, online presentations, class events, etc. | 10% |
A note from Dave (a former TA) about file submissions:
When submitting a game to the TA for marking, make sure to include your entire project folder in your submission - a zip file containing it all is fine. Or upload the folder with your game to a file sharing site (like Dropbox) and send a link to the TA. Also, you should include a "ReadMe" text file that specifies which file contains the code necessary to start your game running.
Make sure that what you're sending is a complete, fully playable game, even if it's simple. You should always, in some sense, be able to "play" it, whether it's a "game jam" game or your nearly completed project. The TA should be able to control some aspect of it with the keyboard, mouse or controller. There doesn't need to be a story, or an objective for the player to complete (though that would be nice), but it should be working towards something that you think a user would actually enjoy playing. You needn't go overboard with fancy textures or character models, but there should be some evidence of thought in that direction.
Glossary of Terms
Game Jams
The "game jam" is a common event within the game design community, where developers get together for a weekend to hack together a basic playable game in a short period of time. The result is rough and incomplete but playable, and illustrates ideas that could lead to a more complete game.
In response to the growing culture of game jams in the game design community, there will be two game jam "assignments" taking place from 10am to 4pm on Saturday, September 19th, online via Discord, and on Saturday, September 26th, online via Discord. During this time, you will create a basic game with other people along a given theme (design in the morning, implementation in the afternoon). When the game jam ends, everybody shows off their game to the rest of the room.
Prepare and be ready to share your screen via Discord to showcase your game.
Participation in the jam is highly encouraged. However, if it's impossible to attend, you may also create a game on your own and submit the result to the TAs for the course by emailing it to csc404ta@cs.utoronto.ca, along with complete instructions on how to run your game. See the notes above on how to submit games to the TA. Assignments submitted that way are due before 11:59:59pm on Sunday evening.
Note that while this "game jam" assignment is primarily a skill-building exercise, you must submit an actual game in the end. Put some thought into the making something that the TAs can enjoy, not just something they can interact with. Also, recreating tutorial levels is not sufficient to get full credit for the assignment.
If you cannot make it to the game jam session
People who participate in the game jam sessions enjoy a great advantage over those who don't, if only because they provide an opportunity to meet potential group members. They also teach you how to make a quick, playable game prototype, and then iterate on that prototype to make a full game. It's also the best way to learn how to use a game design tool, with classmates and the TA present to help answer questions.
However, if you aren't able to attend these game jam sessions (part-time job, family reasons, religious reasons, etc), then you can create a game on your own, and submit it to the TAs for marking, as was done in the past.
Game Brainstorming
When studios decide to start on a new game design project, they often take the opportunity to solicit ideas from across the studio. Employees at all levels can submit ideas, and the head of the studio will decide which ones merit further exploration.
What this means for the course is that the project ideas that you'll be working on will come from you and your classmates, but the instructor and TA will decide which ideas have the most potential. It's in your interest to submit ideas during the brainstorming period that are innovating, thoughtful and practical, so that you increase the chances of working on your own idea. And if idea generation isn't your strength, you don't have to worry about working on an idea that will be overly challenging in the long run.
Game Pitch
The "pitch" (also known as the "elevator pitch") needs to be a concise way to describe a game idea, along with the key element (maybe two elements) that will make this a novel and compelling game. For instance, the pitch for Pokemon Go might be, "a Pokemon game that you play on your phone, where you explore the real world to uncover Pokemon, gyms and Pokestops". You should be able to expand on your pitch with more details if prompted, but if your pitch is stopped at any point, whatever sentences you've managed to say should have conveyed the most crucial information possible.
Creative Brief
The creative brief document contains the detailed description of your game. It should describe the main game mechanics, overall experience, fun elements, etc. It should also include all your aesthetic inspirations, mood boards, and similar games.
Design Document
The design document is the most important stage in game development, short of the final product itself. When a game studio is producing a game for an external client, the game design document acts as a contract, outlining the details of how the game will be made, and what parts will be worked on by who, and when.
A great amount of time and effort is put into making sure that the game is described in painstaking detail. Not doing so opens up the client to receiving shoddy workmanship that technically satisfies the game description, and opens up the studio to changing requirements that also technically satisfy the game description. When done right, two different studios operating from the same design document should produce exactly the same game.
For this course, we want to see as much detail as possible in your design, such that there are no questions about what the game will look like, what the components of the game will be and how it will behave. A sample design document has been placed in the Links section on the left.
In addition to the thorough outline of your game's design, there are two additional things that you should make sure to include in your design doc milestone. First, a tech proof-of-concept. That is, you should be able to demonstrate the key game mechanisms and technical elements that form the core of your game. Many people propose designs that aren't based in reality, so you need to prove that the game you're designing is actually possible. Second, a schedule that outlines a detailed breakdown of the tasks for your alpha demo, including who is going to work on each part, and when. These tasks should be "atomic", meaning that there is no practical way to divide them into smaller tasks. This should also include the list of features that will be added for the beta milestone, but it's understood that this list is highly subjective to change.
Alpha Demo
The alpha for a game is usually the first playable prototype, featuring all of the main eleoments of the game in some recognizable and playable form. It's meant to be rough around the edges, but with all the game elements that you want to get feedback on. The alpha build should also include a few music tracks and SFX as well as the main character models and animations.
Playtest Report
Playtesting is essential to discovering whether the game you envisioned is the game that others perceive. The report documents how effective the game is at achieving the goals it set out to achieve, and what action should be taken to better achieve these goals. This also requires a simple analysis, the result of which will specifically indicate what portions of the game need to be cut, and which need to be fixed (with a preference for the former).
Beta Demo Presentation
The beta stage indicates a feature-complete game. Which means that no new features are added, and the focus of the remaining two weeks is polishing what's already there. At this point, besides having all the main mechanics implemented, you should also have most of your art assets, animations, music tracks and SFX.
Game Release
The game release indicates that the product is ready to ship, even if it means that certain features aren't included. It coincides with a final playtesting session with external testers in your target aduience. Their evaluation goes toward your final mark, as do the peer and self-evaluations. Depending on your contributions to the group, you may get your project mark increased or decreased by a certain percentage, so be a good citizen to your partners.
Participation
The course offers (and sometimes requires) active participation in the course components, which involve giving feedback, asking and answering questions during presentation sessions (yours and others), presenting during the milestones, attending game-related events, engaging in class topics, attending online playtesting events, etc.