In this course we will introduce students to the wonderful world of computer science and video game design. Students will explore many topics including: video game history, careers in the video game industry, game design basics, developing and presenting game design concepts, creating games using the Unity game engine, C# scripting language, and more...
Students will complete 3 game design projects using Unity.
- A number guessing game
- The reverse number guessing game
- A 2D arcade style space shooter game
To introduce students to computer science through the development of video games. To allow students to explore career paths in the video game design industry and other related computer science fields. I have found that many students have misconceptions about a career in the video game design industry. This course strives to give them a good, hands-on experience, exploring the skills necessary for being successful in the game design/computer science career fields.
Who is this course for?
This course is designed for students in the 9th through 12th grades. Students should have a good grasp of Algebra 1, problem solving, and logical thinking.
This Course Includes:
- 70 videos lessons totaling in excess of 19 hours of instruction.
- Projects, practice assignments, quizzes, test reviews, and tests.
- Video reviews and practice exercise walkthrough videos are included to re-teach / correct assignments.
- Each unit includes videos for the adults to guide their student. Videos include: overviews, tips, encouragement, project instructions, and grading rubrics.
In this course we will cover the following topics:
- The History of Video Games
- Will look at the generations of video game history from the first to the present
- Explore advances in hardware
- Look at the development of controllers and consoles
- Explore innovations in game design and game play
- Examine the effect of video games on our society
- Complete a timeline project detailing out the major developments of video games through time
- Careers in the Video Game Industry
- We will identify the main careers in the industry
- Look at pay, requirements, and job outlook
- Explore colleges that will prepare for these careers
- Identify working conditions in the game design industry
- Complete a career project which will help students to plan out a path from high school student to career professional
- Game Design Basics
- Identifying the parts that make up a game
- Looking at games as a system of inter-related parts
- Explore balance in game play
- Develop a simple drag and drop game
- Complete a game project to build a game around a theme.
- Explore playtesting and the iterative cycle
- Developing and Presenting a game design
- Explore the process of coming up with an idea for a game
- Research that idea to find similar games
- Evaluate games to see what works and doesn't work
- Create the main character of the game
- Write the story of the game
- Explore how to structure the game in a way that tells the narrative
- Create game design documents
- Develop a fully completed game design document
- Present the game design verbally
- C# Scripting Basics
- Learn the C# scripting language
- Apply programming concepts including: variables, mathematical operations, conditional statements, loops, arrays, functions, and more
- Learn the Unity 3D game engine
- Learn Visual Studio
- Create a Simple Number Guessing Games
- Setup a Unity game project
- Explore User Interface (UI) development and best practices
- Make a UI driven game with buttons, text, and input fields
- Develop game logic
- Playtest and iterate
- Complete a project to create the reverse guessing game
- Random Numbers
- Basic logical search algorithm
- Publishing a game
- Develop a 2D arcade style space shooter game
- Students will be guided through a complete, step by step, video walkthrough to create the game
- Import sprites
- Prepare sprites and spritesheets for use
- determine screen and sprite sizes
- Make sprites move using keyboard controls
- Instantiate laser beams
- Explore particle systems
- Collision Detection
- Develop UI (User Interface)
- Starting, ending, and restarting a game
- Simple AI movement
- Screen wrapping and blocking
- Implement power ups
- Keep track of score and lives
- Students will extend the game on their own by adding in additional power ups as a capstone project