WELCOME to GDD 450

Brent M. Dingle, Ph.D. 2014Game Design and Development ProgramMathematics, Statistics and Computer ScienceUniversity of Wisconsin - Stout

Your New Job

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 YOUare proud to have done

Organizational Chart

GDD Instructors

Team 1 Team 2 Team 3 Team 4

Students

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 ScheduleSept. 3 and 5 Concept Pitch PresentationsSept. 8 Vote on top N game pitchesSept. 15 Paired Prototype DueSept. 17 Teams and Games IdentifiedSept. 19 Quiz

Team Check-in and Build Management Rules Dueand Sprint 1 begins

Oct. 3 Sprint 1 EndsOct. 17 Sprint 2 EndsOct. 31 Sprint 3 EndsNov. 14 Sprint 4 EndsNov. 24 Sprint 5 EndsDec. 12 Sprint 6 Ends – PseudoFinal Version of GameDec. 12 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

Artist and CS

More on this later

Like on September 10

In general

Two week Sprints

Build Every Friday

Testing in the middle

Presentation at the end

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

Only SIX weeks

to First major milestone

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

3 weeks later

Second major milestone

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 Callesenhttp://www.taringa.net/posts/imagenes/15821765/Arte-en-papel-Inusual.html

3 weeks later

Classes end

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