The Final or So Long and Thanks For All the Fish

Well, it’s been quite a semester. Prototypes a plenty and hopefully a lot learned. I’ve really enjoyed teaching all of you and look forward to seeing some great games designed by all of you.

As per usual, please have your game posted in the comments section before class begins. Please include your postmortem in the post so that it is easy for me to find everything I need to grade for your final. If you don’t feel comfortable sharing your postmortem with the world you are welcome to email it to me. Please note that if you email the postmortem it is still due by the beginning of class.

We are going to begin presenting right away so it’s important that you all be on time. We are going to be having some guests from inside the ATEC program sitting in on your presentations and asking questions. Don’t be nervous, they won’t bite, but please be on time so you don’t embarrass yourself.

Also, if you have some time please fill out the class evaluation online here. It will take you all of 5 minutes and helps both me and the school know how the class is doing. The survey ends May 8th so please fill it out before the deadline is up!

That’s about it. If there are any questions feel free to ask. If not, I hope to see you all around sometime!

Milestone 1

Hey all, tomorrow will be a short class, but is important that you all attend. You’re first milestone is due tomorrow just like your prototypes were (in the comments section before class starts on April 30).

We will also spend forty-five minutes to an hour talking about what you thought about the class and things that you would think could be improved or reused. After that anyone that wants feedback about their game can get some from everyone, but no one is required to stick around.

Remember that your final is on May 7 @ 7PM. The rubric for the final can be downloaded here if you have lost the one I gave to you, or for some reason never got one. We will talk briefly about how the final class will work tomorrow as well, so again, please be there and be on time.

Milestone Meetings

Hey everyone, as we discussed this upcoming class will be a bit different. Those of you who were in class got to sign up for a time to come and talk to me one-on-one. For those of you that were not in class I have placed you into an available slot. There is no game due, but please put some thought into which prototype you want to continue to work on.

So, here’s how it works. We are going to talk about your final and discuss the work you will be doing for April 30. You don’t need to show up for the whole class, but you should be at least 30 minutes early in case someone is late or I get into a groove and start rolling through people. You are being graded on this meeting for your final so don’t be late!

7:00PM – 8:00PM

• 7:00 Johnathan R
• 7:10 Kody
• 7:20 Sammy
• 7:30 Breanna
• 7:40 Josh
• 7:50 Trey

8:00PM – 9:00PM

• 8:00 Brian
• 8:10 Diana
• 8:20 Dominic
• 8:30 Evan
• 8:40 Morgan
• 8:50 Eric

9:00PM – 9:45PM

• 9:00 Johnathan B
• 9:10 Al
• 9:20
• 9:30 Ross

We are going to have a normal class on April 30. I will remind you during our one-on-one. It is important for you to be on time both on April 23 and 30.

DO NOT BE LATE.

Social Games

As discussed in class, this week you will be tackling the prompt Social Games. Think about how to create a social experience within a game. There are lots of ways this would be done so try to explore some of the less obvious ones! Your prototype is due on April 16 by the start of class.

Remember to be thinking about your final project too. Please come to class on April 16 so you can sign up for a time slot on April 23 to talk to me about what you want to do for your final. It will be a quick and casual 10-15 minute discussion so please come prepared with an idea of what you want to do. We’ll talk more about it next class.

As always, if you have questions please ask!

No Words

Your assignment this week is to explore storytelling in videogames using no words. Remember, this is not just an exercise in creative storytelling. If you can create a game that doesn’t require any words to explain it, there is no need for localization and things have less of a chance of getting lost in translation.

If you have any questions please post them or email me.

As a reminder, your assignment is due before class begins on April 9. After this prototype we only have one more to go before you begin working on your final so make it count!

Sequel

The name of the game this week is Sequels! I want you to play games from the lovely Pirate Kart collection and then make a sequel to one you find suitable. Your game is due by the beginning of class on April 2. When you post your game include the name of the original it is based off of.

It will probably take a few hours to find a game you want to make a sequel to. Give yourself enough time to do so.

I also want you to take a look at this manifesto by Edmund McMillen (Super Meat Boy, Gish, Time Fcuk, The Binding of Isaac) where he talks about his thoughts on creating games. We will discuss this in class.

Dallas!

Greetings from San Francisco! I hope all of you weathered the storm okay.

Sorry things have been a bit crazy the past few weeks with GDC and Spring Break and then me being out of town. This coming week should return us to a bit of normalcy so get ready for that!

To try and jump start things your next prototype is due at the beginning of class on Monday, March 26 by 7:00PM. The prompt for this week is Dallas (because I’ve only been home in Dallas for 4 days out of the past 21 and I miss it). Get creative with this one. There is a lot you can pull from!

Also, I just wanted to let all of you know that Game Lab pitches are happening this Friday (March 23) at 3:00PM in the Jonson Performance Hall. If any of you are interested in pursuing games further Game Lab is the next step. It is too late to submit a pitch for the coming semester, but you can still get onto a team and work on some great projects. If nothing else, it’s a great opportunity to see the pitch process we use at UTD. To help encourage you to go, I’m going to give extra credit to you if you go and send me an email with the three pitches that you liked the best by the start of class on Monday (March 26).