Digital Game Design(JOU409)
| Course Code | Course Name | Semester | Theory | Practice | Lab | Credit | ECTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JOU409 | Digital Game Design | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Prerequisites | |
| Admission Requirements |
| Language of Instruction | Turkish |
| Course Type | |
| Course Level | Bachelor Degree |
| Course Instructor(s) | Sercan ALTUN altun.sercan@gmail.com (Email) |
| Assistant | |
| Objective | In this course, it is aimed to provide students evaluate diverse digital games in terms of form, content and process management. Firstly, by examining the historical progress of digital games, their current position as “high-budget productions” will be discussed. Simultaneously, advancement and wide-spreading course of Web-based games will be observed, specific and characteristic properties of successful and popular games will be examined. Notions like story, target audience, rules, graphics, levels, user experience will be explained in-depth and games from various genres will be studied and criticised. On the other hand, by briefly mentioning of concept of software metrics, ability of compare game projects quantitatively in terms of “size” will be provided. Subsequently, processes of digital game design will be inspected step by step and roles of game project development team will be defined. During the semester, student will carry out a reasonable sized project and consequently will internalize development stages by practice. |
| Content |
Week 1: Introduction, Core Concepts, Digital Game Genres and Platforms Week 2: Game Design In General Rules, Play, Culture Design Process Meaningful Play Design Systems Interactivity History of Digital Games and Popularization of Web Games Video games until ‘80s Game consoles in Pre-Internet era Cult video games Modern game consoles and popular games Browser games Flash based Plain-text based Facebook games Mobile games (Java, iOS, Android) Week 3: First steps of Digital Game Design Determination of target audience and platform Establishment of general concept Requirement Analysis Game Proposal / Concept Document Week 4: Story Environment design Storyboard practice Linear story vs. Open world Characters Week 5: Game Mechanism Setting the rules Level design and difficulty settings Control interfaces and user experience Week 6: Design and Development Tools Game software development kits Physics engines Graphical design tools Storyboard applications Week 7: Visual and Graphics Concept art and sketches Characters, environments and objects Animations Menus and other graphical interfaces Week 8: Audio Music and scores Sound effects Voice acting Week 9: Project Team Producer Game / level designer Writer Programming Team Testing team Week 10: Project lifecycle and documents Concept design and proposal document Pre-production Game design document Art production plan Technical design document Project plan Prototype Development Alpha / Beta tests Updates and patches Week 11-12: Workshop: Making a Prototype on Construct2 environment Week 13-14: Student Presentations |
| Course Learning Outcomes | At the end of the semester, stages of digital game design and production will be comprehended, roles and responsibilities in project team will be well understood by students and as a result, they will be capable to take parts in some these roles as well as to analyze various sized digital games. By means of these skills, students may be able to take their parts in digital game projects as creators, executives or developers. |
| Teaching and Learning Methods | |
| References |
Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals, Katie Salen, Eric Zimmerman, 2003, MIT Press Game Design: The Art and Business of Creating Games (2nd Edition), Bob Bates, 2001, Prima Tech. Gameplay and Design, Kevin Oxland, 2004, Addison Wesley Game Design: Theory and Practice, Richard Rouse, 2001, Wordware |
Theory Topics
| Week | Weekly Contents |
|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction, Core Concepts, Digital Game Genres and Platforms |
| 2 | Game Design In General & History of Digital Games and Popularization of Web Games |
| 3 | First steps of Digital Game Design |
| 4 | Story |
| 5 | Game Mechanism |
| 6 | Design and Development Tools |
| 7 | Visual and Graphics |
| 8 | Audio |
| 9 | Project Team |
| 10 | Project lifecycle and documents |
Practice Topics
| Week | Weekly Contents |
|---|---|
| 11 | Workshop: Making a Prototype on Construct2 environment |
| 12 | Workshop: Making a Prototype on Construct2 environment |
| 13 | Student Presentations |
| 14 | Student Presentations |
Contribution to Overall Grade
| Number | Contribution | |
|---|---|---|
| Contribution of in-term studies to overall grade | 7 | 50 |
| Contribution of final exam to overall grade | 1 | 50 |
| Toplam | 8 | 100 |
In-Term Studies
| Number | Contribution | |
|---|---|---|
| Assignments | 6 | 30 |
| Presentation | 1 | 20 |
| Midterm Examinations (including preparation) | 0 | 0 |
| Project | 0 | 0 |
| Laboratory | 0 | 0 |
| Other Applications | 0 | 0 |
| Quiz | 0 | 0 |
| Term Paper/ Project | 0 | 0 |
| Portfolio Study | 0 | 0 |
| Reports | 0 | 0 |
| Learning Diary | 0 | 0 |
| Thesis/ Project | 0 | 0 |
| Seminar | 0 | 0 |
| Other | 0 | 0 |
| Toplam | 7 | 50 |
| No | Program Learning Outcomes | Contribution | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
| 1 | Will have effective written and oral communication skills in Turkish | X | ||||
| 2 | Will have a thorough knowledge of at least two foreign languages | X | ||||
| 3 | Will be informed about art and culture, human rights, social, professional and ethical values, law and legislation, quality standards, and will be aware of their responsibility on these subjects | X | ||||
| 4 | Will have sufficient knowledge about social sciences, professions and sectors in communication and media, innovative and entrepreneurial practices | |||||
| 5 | Will have the ability to use, in an effective and creative way, the techniques and tools and information technologies necessary for interactive and conventional media, in the context of health and safety in the workplace | X | ||||
| 6 | Will have the ability to develop documentary and fictional content related to their field for interactive and conventional media; also the ability to produce and manage this content in group | X | ||||
| 7 | Will have the theoretical knowledge and ability to carry out and share scientific work on communication environments and processes of interactive and conventional media and on the individual and social outcomes of the latter | X | ||||
| 8 | Will have the knowledge of analysis and modelling techniques to analyse interactive and conventional media and the communication environments and processes | |||||
| 9 | Will have the ability to question and critically analyse developments and problems concerning interactive and conventional media and the communication environments and processes, will be aware of the public interest, social responsibility and the environment, will be sensitive to contemporary world’s and Turkey's current problems; will develop a libertarian, democratic, constructive and problem-solving approach | X | ||||
| 10 | They are familiar with the historical development processes of electronic, digital media and film; and the current developments in these fields | |||||
| 11 | They learn sociological, cultural and aesthetic approaches in electronic, digital media and film | |||||
| Activities | Number | Period | Total Workload |
|---|---|---|---|
| Class Hours | 14 | 1 | 14 |
| Assignments | 6 | 2 | 12 |
| Presentation | 1 | 6 | 6 |
| Midterm Examinations (including preparation) | 1 | 6 | 6 |
| Project | 1 | 12 | 12 |
| Other Applications | 10 | 2 | 20 |
| Final Examinations (including preparation) | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Total Workload | 72 | ||
| Total Workload / 25 | 2,88 | ||
| Credits ECTS | 3 | ||