Due 3 Oct 2017
- In your group, plan a prototype from the mindmap you made for today.
- Each prototype plan should have at least a design document and a trello board, and optionally a storyboard and other supporting documents (guidelines below)
- Write these up and be prepared to talk about them in class
- Be prepared to talk about feasibility. Can your team actually make this game? If not, why? What would you need in order to pull it off?
- Additionally, download the latest Unity3D Personal for your operating system and make sure it launches without errors. If you are on Linux, start here or here.
Design Document
Describe the prototype you are planning. This document primarily acts as your anchor during production. Remember to try and limit the scope of your prototypes as much as possible. Separate the doughnut from the sprinkles. If you have an idea for a large game, keep it in mind but design a smaller prototype for it. In your documents, make sure to include:
- One-sentence description
- Core mechanic
- Stuff
- Long form description of how the game works
- What is novel about this prototype
- Questions you hope to answer/What are you testing?
- What aren't you testing?
You can use a template like this or this as long as you cover the above list.
Trello
Set up accounts on Trello and break down your prototype into actual production tasks. Try and limit the scope of any individual task to what someone could be expected to finish in a single sitting. It is better to have a large number of small tasks than a small number of large tasks. Make sure to think about:
- What art needs to be done?
- What systems need to be built?
- What audio needs to be created?
- Which tasks depend on other tasks?
- Is anything an unknown to you? Is anything familiar to you?
The goal is to have a list of tasks that does not grow as you build the prototype.
Storyboards
Story boards are a great way to visually document the progress of a game, or specific moments. You can draw them by hand or use software like Storyboarder.