Game Development - Yr11

2024 Game Jam Announcement Trailer.mp4

2024 National Game Jam

This is a 12 week (and a holidays) competition where students need to make a game with all they have learned. At the end of each 4 week sprint there should be an opportunity for students to give each other feedback.

Assessor involvement during the assessment event should be limited to providing general feedback which suggests sections of student work that would benefit from further development or skills a student may need to revisit across the work. Student work which has received sustained or detailed feedback is not suitable for submission towards this Standard.

Important Software Notes!

All the tutorials below use Unity If you are using other game engines then please utilise other resources.

This course utilities itch.io for playtesting purposes. Please contact your I.T. Support to ensure your game design students have access.

Know

Learn agile project management and how game designers use "sprints" to manage their development and feedback

Understand

Use Trello to plan your project. Prioritise the tasks and manage testing and feedback

Make your Game using Agile!

3 x 4 Weeks Sprints with deliberate trialing and feedback gathering between each sprint.

Get your Design ready!

Make sure you have completed the Video Game Design work and have a "Game Design Document" that you can use to help you plan and develop your game. For full instructions on Game Design and making a GDD go here

Know

Project Management

Project management is the art of efficiently planning, organizing, and executing tasks and resources to achieve specific goals within a defined timeline and budget. It can involve coordinating teams, setting clear objectives, allocating resources, and monitoring progress to ensure that projects are completed successfully. Effective project management is essential in various fields, from business, technology, construction and entertainment, as it enables projects to develop smoothly, adapt to changes, and deliver outcomes that meet or exceed expectations.

Task #1: Your Development Log

Yr11 Development Log

Make a copy of this Document (but don't start yet!)

This document will be the ongoing record of your project progress where all the feedback results and reflections will go as well as all the cool development that you do on your game.

The following web page will help explain how to fill it out correctly. As you go through each task, it will tell you what section of the development log to fill in. Complete each task in order to prove that you are an awesome game developer.

Task# 2: Make your plan using Trello

Watch this video to explain project management

Together, Agile and Kanban help game designers make games that are fun, flexible, and easy to manage. They're like the power-ups that make game development smoother and more exciting!

Watch the video and understand how Agile, Kanban and Sprints are going to help you manage your project.

Now add the link to your Trello Board to your Development log now! Make sure it is public!

Task #3: Set Up github/Unity Version control

Digital Backups

You should back up your projects weekly as you engage in development. There are many ways to do this. The industry standard is using Git. However you could back it up to any cloud/physical storage system.

Every year students lose all their work because they have not set up adequate backups for their files. Do this right and do it early.

Now add your github/Unity Version Control repo link to your development log now!

Task #4: Goals for Sprint 1

Re-order your Trello tasks with the help of the section below. Make sure that functionality comes before aesthetics (eg. leave the art until you have gameplay!)

Write your Sprint 1 Goals in your development log now!

Sprint 1 Should be.......

It's time to prioritize your tasks and work out what is most important for you to get right from the start.

The temptation is to start drawing lots of sprites- DON'T!!!!!!

The most important thing is to get a Minimum Viable Product with the minimum functionality as quickly as possible.

It is perfectly OK to have developer art at this stage (in fact it's critical that you do!).

Watch the video to the left for a great explanation of MVP.

And when you understand. Re-order and prioritize your Trello tasks into the most important at the top of the list and "nice to have" lower down.

Now fill out the Sprint 1 Planning Section of your Development Log!

Task #5: Sprint 1 Development

Use all your Game Development skills to try to complete as many of the tasks as you can in the next 3 weeks. Your lessons should follow a familiar routine.

Check your Trello.
Update your Trello, move tasks when done into done and select the next task. There should be one task per team memeber in the "Doing" list.
Do the task!
Repeat.

Your teacher should give you a countdown until "testing week". Make sure you are ready to build something for testing week and be brave: no-ones game is finished! But you've got to get others to test it to know how and where you need to adapt your plan.

End of Sprint 1 Trialling and Feedback

Task #6: Publish Sprint 1 to itch.io

itch.io

itch.io is a game store/game jam site where you can upload your game to be played by the rest of the world.

If your game is not working:

Make sure the html file is named "index.html"
Make sure the "kind of project" is set to HTML
Make sure the the zip file you have uploaded is set to "This file will be played in browser"
You may also have to tick the SharedArrayBuffer support
Make sure your game is set to Public in Visibility & access

All these are in order on the Edit Project Page.

Task #7: Trial and Get Feedback

Create a google form and add it to your itch.io page as a link now!

More information below:

Feedback isn't easy

Using Google Forms is an effective method to collect valuable feedback for your game development process. Consider incorporating a feedback form alongside each sprint when you release updates. There is an example form to the right-->

At the very least, your feedback form should cover the following aspects:

Feedback as a Skill: Recognize that both giving and receiving feedback are skills that require practice. Maintain a positive and constructive approach throughout the feedback process.
Positive, Negative, and Interesting Analysis: Encourage users to share what they liked about your game, what they didn't like, and any unique or intriguing elements they noticed.
Specific Inquiries: Include targeted questions about critical aspects of your game, such as the playability of characters, appropriateness of the artwork, or any other relevant topics.
Suggested Enhancements: Encourage your audience to suggest improvements or additions they'd like to see in your game. While you may not implement every idea, this can inspire new concepts.
Optional Participation: It's crucial to respect your testers mana, preferences, and privacy by avoiding any mandatory fields in your form. Make sure that nothing in your form is marked as required, allowing users to provide feedback or share their email addresses at their discretion.
Observation of Gameplay: Actively watch people as they play your game. If you find yourself needing to assist them frequently, it suggests that your game may not effectively communicate its mechanics and objectives.
Diverse Testers: Involve individuals from your friends and family who may not typically play video games. Their fresh perspective can yield valuable feedback that you might not receive from seasoned gamers.

Example of a basic feedback google form:

Task #8: Reflect on Sprint 1

Now it's time to review our feedback, record our progress and reflect on how well, or poorly, we have gone so far.

It is OK to have had trouble! What you need to do is admit to it and adjust your plan accordingly. It's common to "pivot" and simplify your final game at this stagfe. Remove features and make your life easier. Or if things have gone well, extend your game idea and bring in some new features. Project management is about managing the good and the bad to ensure you deliver by the end of the project.

Fill out Sprint 1 Testing and Feedback now!

and

Fill out Sprint 1 Project Reflection now!

Screen to Gif

Screen to Gif is an intuitive and powerful tool for collecting short snippits of gameplay. This can be used to show cool things you have made in your development log or bugs as they happen. You can put gifs straight into your google docs!

Task #9: Plan Sprint 2

Using all the feedback and testing that you have just done, have a good long think about how you are going to move forward over the next sprint.

Visit your Trello board and adjust your plan now. Add or remove tasks from your board. Make sure you have prioritized the next set of tasks for this sprint.

It is OK to pivot. That is why the project management methodology we are using is called "Agile"

Have a look at a timelapse of a game in development in the video on the right. The first 1minute is functionality (sprint 1). And the second minute is Level design and Aesthetics (sprint 2 where you should be now!!) Leave all the polish, UI and eye refinement until print 3!

Fill out the Sprint 2 Planning Section of your Development Log now!

Task #10: Sprint 2 Development

This should be familiar now. Use all your Game Development skills to try to complete as many of the tasks as you can in the next 3 weeks. Your lessons should follow a familiar routine.

Check your Trello.
Update your Trello, move tasks when done into done and select the next task. There should be one task per team memeber in the "Doing" list.
Do the task!
Repeat.

End of Sprint 2 Testing and Feedback

Task #11: Publish Sprint 2 to itch.io

As before. Now publish your game on itch.io and add it the Game Jam so people can find it and test it.

Make sure you have added another feedback form. Information below.

Task #12: Trial and Get Feedback

Like the last sprint feedback is really important.

Create another, different, google form and add it to your itch.io game page so that people who play your game can give you feedback.

This time you might want to add a question specific to your game. eg. What do you think of the difficulty level? or Do you think I need to add checkpoint?

Now play some other games and add feedback to their forms!

Task #13: Reflect on Sprint 2

Just like before, it's time to review our feedback, record our progress and reflect on how well, or poorly, we have gone so far.

Most of the features and functionality of your game should be complete by now. The last sprint is NOT the time to be still be adding critical features. If you haven't implemented it by now, be honest, it's never gonna happen. Pivot, scrap the feature so you can concentrate on refining and polishing what you have.

Fill out Sprint 2 Testing and Feedback now!

and

Fill out Sprint 2 Project Reflection now!

Task #14: Plan Sprint 3

Just like before!

Using all the feedback and testing that you have just done, have a good long think about how you are going to move forward over the next sprint.

Visit your Trello board and adjust your plan now. Add or remove tasks from your board. Make sure you have prioritized the next set of tasks for this sprint.

It is OK to pivot, but you've got one more sprint left and you should be concentrating on "polish" and "juice" in this sprint.

Watch this awesome video to understand what "juice" is and how it can make or break even the simplest game.

Fill out the Sprint 3 Planning Section of your Development Log now!

Task #15: Sprint 3 Development

This should be familiar now. Use all your Game Development skills to try to complete as many of the tasks as you can in the next 3 weeks. Your lessons should follow a familiar routine.

Check your Trello.
Update your Trello, move tasks when done into done and select the next task. There should be one task per team memeber in the "Doing" list.
Do the task!
Repeat.

End of Sprint 3 Testing and Feedback

Task #16: Publish Sprint 3 to itch.io

As before. Now publish your game on itch.io and add it the Game Jam so people can find it and test it. Make sure you have added your final feedback form. Information below.

Task #17: Final Trial and Feedback

The final feedback form can be simpler. How about just a 1-5 rating for Gameplay, Graphics and Juice?

Create a simple google form and add it to your itch.io game page so that people who play your game can give you the final piece of feedback.

Now play some other games and add feedback to their forms!

Task #18: Final Reflection

Congratulations, you are now a game developer!

No project goes perfectly but we can use this as a way to grow and learn. Now that you are finished, you can look back at what went well and what didn't. If you had more time what might you do? What would you do differently if you could start again? Did you agree with the feedback? Did the feedback help? The last think you have to do is record that reflection.

Fill out Sprint 3 Testing and Feedback now!

and

Fill out Sprint 3 Final Reflection now!

Final Assessment

Task #19: Hand in your development Log

Teachers can assess against the given criteria using the checklist provided on Google Classroom

Glossary

Testing

Testing is the act of making sure your game, or a part of it works. Every task you complete, however small, needs to be tested. The good news is that you do you all the time. When you hit PLAY in godot to see if the thing you've coding works, or if it looks ok in game, you are testing. This is done by you. It is distinctly different from trialling.

Trialling

Trialling is a deliberate act of showing the game to others. It is done so that you can get feedback on the game or on aspects of the game like the controls or the difficulty level. Trials are done at multiple times throughout development and you HAVE to be brave and show what you have, no matter how incomplete it is. Only by deliberately testing it with others will you work out what works and what doesn't.

Agile

Agile is a flexible and iterative project management methodology that focuses on collaboration, adaptability, and delivering small increments of work in short cycles called "sprints." The Agile approach promotes customer involvement throughout the project's lifecycle and embraces changes even late in development. Popular Agile frameworks include Scrum and Kanban.

Waterfall

The Waterfall model is a traditional project management approach that follows a linear, sequential process. In the Waterfall model, each phase of the project (requirements gathering, design, implementation, testing, deployment, and maintenance) is completed before moving on to the next phase. It's a more structured approach and is suitable for projects with well-defined and stable requirements.

Kanban

Kanban is an Agile framework that focuses on visualizing and managing the flow of work. It's often represented using a Kanban board with columns that represent different stages of work (e.g., "To Do," "In Progress," "Done"). Work items are represented as cards, and teams use the board to manage and prioritize tasks. Kanban doesn't have fixed time-bound iterations like Scrum; instead, work is pulled from the backlog as capacity allows. It's particularly useful for managing a continuous stream of work with varying priorities.

Scrum

Scrum is an Agile framework that organizes work into time-bound iterations called "sprints." A Scrum team consists of a Product Owner, a Scrum Master, and the Development Team. During each sprint, a set of user stories or tasks are selected from the product backlog to be worked on. Daily stand-up meetings keep the team aligned, and at the end of each sprint, a potentially shippable product increment is delivered. Scrum emphasizes collaboration, adaptability, and continuous improvement.

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