ITECH2001 Game Development Fundamentals CRICOS Provider No. 00103D ITECH2001 Assignment 1: Game Design Document Page 1 of 5 Assignment 1: Game Design Document Overview For this assessment task you are...

ITECH2001

Game Development Fundamentals
CRICOS Provider No. 00103D ITECH2001 Assignment 1: Game Design Document Page 1 of 5
Assignment 1: Game Design Document
Overview
For this assessment task you are expected to create a document outlining the design of an original game. The
game design document will build upon the video game pitch that you created for week 4 of the weekly quests.
Timelines and Expectations
Percentage Value of Task: 10% Type A
Due: 11pm Sunday of Week 6
Minimum time expectation: 10 hours
Learning Outcomes Assessed
The following course learning outcomes are assessed by completing this assessment:
• K3. Outline a common games mechanics model;
• S3. Outline the design of a game's project;
• A1. Operate appropriate software packages to design and build games and interactive media products
that align with client and project expectations;
Semester Assessment Overview
• You will go through the game development life cycle outlined in Lecture 2 during this semester to design a
game and develop a small prototype of that game for Windows PC.
• The Game Design Document is related to your Game Video Pitch from Week 4.

WK6
Game
Design
Document
WK11
Game
Prototype
WK1
Game
Genres
WK2
Game Dev
Roles
WK4
Game
Pitch
Video
WK5
Story
Critique
WK6
Character
Critique
WK7
Mechanics
Critique
WK8
Opinion
Piece
WK9
Game
Analysis
Week 4 Pitch
will begin your
Design Doc
Week 11 Game Prototype will be
developed based on your Designs
from your Game Design Document
Weekly Quests
Assignment XXXXXXXXXXAssignment 2
Weekly Quests 1-4:
Early Intervention Task
ITECH2001

Game Development Fundamentals
CRICOS Provider No. 00103D ITECH2001 Assignment 1: Game Design Document Page 2 of 5
Assessment Details
A game begins with an idea. In your week 4 video game pitch you will have thought of an idea for a game and
presented that in a short video. Your task for this assignment is to create the documentation that expands
upon this idea that you pitched, to create a more focused game design document. In the second
assignment, you will use your designs to develop a single-player “proof of concept” prototype of your game – so
your game design document needs careful thought and planning.
• Assignment 1: Game Design Document will represent the designs for the entire game were it to be fully
developed.
• Assignment 2: Game Prototype will showcase your design concepts via a small developed section of
your game.
You must follow these rules while designing your game:
• Your game must be a single player game
o Multiplayer and online games require too much development time, so your game should be single
player based, unless you can convince the lecturer otherwise.
• You must focus on a game where the player controls a single character, vehicle or object, etc.
o In games where you control more than one character or object, like a squad or entire armies, they
often contain complex battle and micro-management systems making this too difficult a task for a
single semester.
• Your game must not use the open-ended story structure
o This would take too long to design all the possible outcomes of the story.
• You should design your game as a 3D game
o All of the lab work supports learning how to develop games in 3D.
o You can still create a 2D style game in 3D by positioning the camera angle appropriately (side view,
top down, isometric, orthographic etc). See different examples here.
o You are not restricted from designing and developing a pure full 2D game, but it is highly
ecommended that you do not, unless you have previous experience using the Unity game engine
and feel capable of self-learning 2D game development.
• Try to avoid complex mechanics and systems in your designs and development
This game design document does not have a word count requirement, but expect to write around 2000 words to
address all of the criteria outlined further below. Include images to support your designs!
https:
docs.unity3d.com/560/Documentation/Manual/2Dor3D.html
ITECH2001

Game Development Fundamentals
CRICOS Provider No. 00103D ITECH2001 Assignment 1: Game Design Document Page 3 of 5
The following areas should be addressed in your game design document:
• Game Overview
o High Concept Statement
 This is a concise but informative description of your game concept. A few sentences to
summarise your game in an exciting manner – sometimes called an “Elevator Pitch” – a short
and persuasive pitch that quickly defines the value in your product.
 This can be directly from your week 4 video game pitch, but you may need to improve this if
your pitch was unclear in any way.
o Game Genre (see lecture 1 for more details regarding game genres)
 Discuss the genre of the game you are designing.
 Discuss the main inspiration for your game, with accompanying images, and explain their
importance as an inspiration.
o Highlights and Hooks - Discuss the highlights and hooks of your game that are used to attract and
engage the player.
• Story and/or Setting (see lecture 3 for more details regarding game story, setting and world dimensions)
o Discuss your story type, including a summary of the plot.
 Note that some students’ game idea may not have a distinct story, but you should at least
address the overall theme of the game as well as the other aspects of this section.
 Discuss how it follows the hero’s journey or some other common na
ative trope.
o Discuss the interest curves in your game.
o Discuss the game world and/or setting in your game.
o Discuss the world dimensions in your game.
o Include images to help support your descriptions.
• Characters (see lecture 4 for more details regarding game characters)
o If your planned game has characters, discuss the main characters and these attributes:
 Name, Function, Archetypes and Traits
 Story involvement
 Include images to help support your descriptions.
• Note for students that are designing a game without characters: some students with an abstract game
idea (example: Puzzle games where you control an object and not a character) or no visible characters
(Example: Racing games that focus on the vehicle) may not have any characters to discuss. In this case
eplace “Characters” with “Objects” and discuss the more important objects within your game, in addition place
more emphasis on the next section – Mechanics.
o If you meet the above conditions, be sure to discuss objects important to the game mechanics
(Example: Tetris has no characters, it has objects), discuss the Objects and their functionality:
 Type of object
 Functionality of each object.
 Attributes and different States of each object.
 Include images to help support your descriptions.
ITECH2001

Game Development Fundamentals
CRICOS Provider No. 00103D ITECH2001 Assignment 1: Game Design Document Page 4 of 5
• Mechanics (see lecture 5 for more details regarding game mechanics)
o Every student will have game mechanics to discuss regardless of whether their planned game has
story and characters or is more abstract. Focus on these aspects from the lecture:
 Space to play within
 Time conditions
 Objects, their attributes & states
 Actions that can be conducted
 Rules of the game
 Skill required to create challenge
 Chance that creates uncertainty
o Include images/diagrams to help support your descriptions.
• Scope of Prototype (The prototype refers to the small level or area as a “proof of concept” of your game that
you will develop for Assignment 2)
o In this section, you need to outline the level or contained area you have decided to develop for
Assignment 2; your small playable prototype. This will help the marker determine if your scope is too
large and therefore difficult, or simply too small, in which they can provide feedback.
 What part of the story/setting will the prototype be within?
 What character(s)/object(s) will be included?
 What mechanic(s) are you hoping to implement?
o How small should the small playable prototype for assignment 2 be? Here are some example
proof of concept prototypes that would work for assignment 2:
 RPG: an option would be to showcase a small village with a few characters you can talk to,
with a couple of game mechanics – rather than showcasing an intricate RPG combat
system.
 Shooter or Racing: the markers will probably expect that your prototype will have at least
some shooting or racing respectively!
 Platformer: at minimum some platforms and jumping should be involved in your prototype,
and possibly an enemy or two to dodge or attack. Represented in 3D with side-view camera,
or behind the character like Crash Bandicoot.
 Remember: the core mechanics and scripted events of your game will really show proof of
your game concept in the prototype assignment.
 If you are unsure, ask your lecture
tutor.
ITECH2001

Game Development Fundamentals
CRICOS Provider No. 00103D ITECH2001 Assignment 1: Game Design Document Page 5 of 5
Submission
Electronic copies via Moodle. Adobe PDF or Word Doc / Docx accepted.
Please refer to the “Course Description” for information regarding; late assignments, extensions, special
consideration, and plagiarism. Guide to writing and referencing: https:
federation.edu.au/cu
ent-
students/learning-and-study/online-help-with/guides-to-your-assessments
Marking Criteria/Ru
ic
The marking criteria below is based on a game design that represents a fully featured game. Your design
document should be easy to understand, visualise, and be detailed enough that if you were to pass your design to
a completely separate developer, you could expect them to develop your game well.
Excellent Good Average Poor None Mark
Game Overview XXXXXXXXXX
Story and Setting XXXXXXXXXX
Characters (or Objects XXXXXXXXXX
Mechanics XXXXXXXXXX
Scope of Prototype XXXXXXXXXX
Supporting Images within XXXXXXXXXX
Total out of 10
Feedback
The marking scale for each item in the above ru
ic represents a scale of excellent (High Distinction level work),
good (Credit to Distinction level work), average (Pass level work), poor