Design Fundamentals

The Design Fundamentals Course examines three documentation stages of game development: concept design, preliminary design, and final design production. Students will learn and implement two of these stages by crafting an original game idea with a team of peers. They will begin with a brief examination of common approaches to design and work towards turning game ideas and concepts into clarified gameplay components that can be effectively documented and implemented during production. They will then work through an interactive process of brainstorming, concept creation, interactive storytelling, level objective planning, user experience design, interactivity, and interface design to connect their ideas and document them accordingly. They will maintain the integrity and scope of their projects by reviewing, analyzing, and editing their composition along the way. Each team will showcase their completed design in a formal presentation on the final day of the course.

Course Outline

• Brainstorming and Analysis
• Character and Story Development
• Interactivty, Interface, and Display Design
• Workshops and Editing
• Team Building and Project Planning
• Project Presentations