NM3216 - Game Design Review

NM3216

Taken in: AY21/22 Semester 1
Lecturer: Dr Alex Mitchell
Tutor: Lee Junhui, Brandon

Grading:

• 10% - Participation
• 30% - 10% x 3 Written Reflections (500 words each)
  
• 15% - Project 1 (Board Game, Wk 3-5)
• 5% Group
• 10% Individual
  
• 35% - Project 2 (Computer Game, Wk 6-13)
• 10% Week 13 Presentation
• 5% Group
• 20% Individual
• 10% - Weekly Tutorial Milestones (Wk 3 to 13)
  
• 1% x 3 - Project 1 Milestones
• 1% x 7 - Project 2 Milestones
  

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This module covers the fundamental theories of game design, including level design, types of players, fun, interaction, etc. A lot of theory behind what makes a game. The assessment is 100% CA, with an emphasis on group project work.

This module has a heavy workload that's due to the two projects that you will be working on on weeks 3-5 (Board game) and 6-13 (Computer Game), both in different groups each time. Besides the group component, there are written reflections in which you compare and contrast games based on theories that are taught in class.

Do I recommend this module? Well, it's certainly different from other modules you might come across. I had fun during this module making and playing other people's games. However, it took up a lot of my time, especially because I took on the role of a programmer in the second project. On that note, your workload may vary based on your role in the group, as the work done by the programmer certainly differs from the QA tester. If you have the time, go for it. If you can't commit to the workload, avoid taking this module as there are weekly submissions and milestones to reach for your projects, and you don't want to be the one dragging your team down.

Note that this module does not teach you how to program, draw, make music, or use Game maker. However, the computer game project is to be done on Game Maker Studio.

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Detailed Breakdown

Lectures

During lecture, you'll learn about theories revolving around game design. Some of the readings are complicated and I skipped a few. I generally focused my attention to the content in weeks where there is a reflection assignment, as those reflections are based off content in the readings and lecture for the week. Otherwise, this module being a full-CA module with no exams meant I hardly took notes.

That of course doesn't mean I didn't pay attention. You'll find that the theories covered in lecture can be very well applied to your projects. I have no regrets doing what I did; I spent more time on the project, and in exchange, I had to sacrifice my time spent on readings and note-taking. You can't win them all.

During class, there are sometimes design exercises where you have to apply the concepts taught to existing games, then present to the class. I didn't quite enjoy breaking out for discussion, but it's during these times when you have an opportunity for class participation.

Tutorial

Majority of the tutorials are spent playtesting. You'll send one member of your group to playtest 1 or 2 other teams' games. Afterwards, someone presents the insights from playtesting. So tutorial is either playing someone's game or watching someone play your game and taking notes. It's quite chill.

Projects

Both projects will follow a theme. For my semester, the theme was 'Grow'. In the previous, it was 'Rewind'. The theme is important, so make sure to incorporate it somehow in your game. We didn't really have a strong theme for our board game and the grade suffered because of it.

Each week, there are milestone submissions that you have to submit by the end of the week. Usually, it's a 1-page summary of playtesting insights and changes made. You might also need to provide some supplementary submissions like updated board-game rules or a work-in-progress document detailing your computer game.

And of course, you'll need to update your game each week to be playtested during the tutorial. Afterwards, the teaching staff will also playtest and leave their comments.

For the boardgame, the roles available are Designer and QA/tester. One person will also take on a second role as Producer, who basically oversees and leads the game development process, scheduling meetings, assigning work, and uploading the deliverables to LumiNUS.

For the computer game, there are two added roles of Programmer and Artist. I believe the roles are all self-explanatory. While the designer doesn't necessarily need to program the game, I believe the programmers tended towards also designing, and that results in a very heavy workload, which was what I did. I nearly burnt out at the end, but I made it through. I'd recommend really dividing up the work upfront and managing expectations. You won't, and aren't expected to make a fully polished game. You're allowed to use free (uncopyrighted) assets like art and music, with proper credit.

How the grading works for both projects is you're first given a group mark for the various components. Then based on your role, the mark is multiplied and you get your individual mark. To put it simply, if your project's art is amazing but the programming is buggy, your overall group mark will be the same for each group member, but the artist will receive a higher individual grade than the programmer.

Also, for project 2, the groups are divided such that skill level is distributed evenly, typically 1 CS student per group. You'll (probably) be guaranteed one programmer, but I can't guarantee your group will have people that know art, design, etc. In that aspect, work distribution can be a little lopsided.

Final Note

Please let me know in the comments if you'd like to know more about this module. I'd be happy to provide more detail, if there is any information I have missed out on. I'm not very confident about my grade as I did not do well for my first project, and otherwise did average/below-average for other components. Seems like the final project pulled me up.

Expected grade: B or B+

Actual grade: A-

Reviewed by: ZH