KV4010 - Introduction to Games Development

You will learn through lectures, workshops, and independent learning. The lectures will cover theories and concepts that will enable you to
tackle a series of guided exercises. You will work on these during workshops in Northumbria’s CIS building computer labs, which are fully equipped with the latest industry-standard software.

This modules timetable will include one 2-hour lecture and one 2-hour workshop session every week. The lecturers will support you with problem-solving and debugging strategies as well as by explaining concepts and principles. During these sessions, you will receive feedback on your work. The University’s eLearning Portal offers remote access to all lecture and seminar materials to reinforce your learning. In addition, the university library offers support for all students through providing electronic resources. Outside teaching sessions, lecturers can be contacted for advice or questions by email or in person during published available times.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. The reading list for this module can be found at: http://readinglists.northumbria.ac.uk
(Reading List service online guide for academic staff this containing contact details for the Reading List team – http://library.northumbria.ac.uk/readinglists)

Knowledge & Understanding:
ML01 – Investigate games industry trends, tools and practices using scripting to inform game design and development project outcomes.
ML02 – Research and investigate game design and development theories and technologies related to scripting within a visual interface. (KU1 & KU3)

Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:
ML03 – Engage with appropriate techniques, software, tools, and procedures in the design and development of a scripted game product.
ML04 – Demonstrate competence in the design, prototyping and practical development of game products.

Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):
ML05 – Experiment with methods of managing personal workload whilst working towards specified milestones and deadlines for the module.

This module will be assessed by a single individual assignment. Students will develop a prototype for a game using the visual scripting found in industry standard game engines. Students must implement gameplay experiences and interactivity using the visual scripting language. Students will be given a project specification outlining the scope of the project and a genre. Each student will develop a prototype based on that specification using visual scripting techniques.

This assessment will cover all of the learning outcomes for the module.

Feedback from the assessment will be delivered by email. Ongoing feedback and guidance will be available through the practical sessions and by individual email and informal staff contact.

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This module will be a core module for Games development programme. This module aims to develop students introductory level skills in game development using an industry standard game engine. Students will be introduced to the fundamentals of game scripting including variables, functions, operators and program flow control, along with more advanced aspects such as player controllers and game modes. Students will use these concepts to implement gameplay functionality and interaction using an industry standard game engine. Assessment will be 100% based on the creation of a playable prototype within game engine using visual scripting in a variety of implementation types.