Course Syllabus

Game Development Lab

Course Description:

In the lab component of the Game Development course, you will put into practice the theories and concepts you have discussed in the seminar section of the course. The semester begins with a crash course in Unity, an intuitive game development environment produced in Denmark that allows you to immediately tinker with a simple, existing game template and move on to develop simple 2D or 3D game designs of your own making. Simulating the Danish indie game community, which is characterized by small teams of 1-3 people rather than major game production conglomerates, you will work individually or in small groups throughout the semester. The games will be created using existing freely available game assets (graphics and sounds). The hands-on work in the Game Lab is supplemented with a mini game jam with Danish students at Vallekilde Højskole (see Game Development Syllabus)

After successful completion of the lab part of this course, you:

• Use the Unity Editor to create interesting game levels
• Create game scripts using C# and the Unity API
• Understand the fundamentals of using 2D and 3D graphics
• Are acquainted with advanced topics such as shaders, physics, AI, and Network based games.
• Understand the process of game development from idea to beta version
• Can apply theories and develop and test an actual game

Course Schedule (subject to change)

The course schedule is a combined schedule for the two co-requisite courses: ”Game Development: Programming & Practice” and “Game Development Lab”.

Faculty

Jorge Villa Yagüe

Summary

Hi! I am Jorge, nice to meet you! I am a games industry professional with +5 years of experience. I have worked on Premium and F2P games both for Mobile and PC/Consoles, in Game & Level Design, Production, Programming and Management roles. I also founded my and ran my own indie game studio for some years, and now work as a freelance gameplay programmer while I work on stablishing my next one. I love a good challenge, whether it is designing a combat system, fixing a production bottleneck or polishing a game's onboarding. I'm looking forward to sharing my experience during these last years with you, as well as learning from each other at DIS!

Education & Experience
BSc, Industrial Design Engineering and Product Development, University of Zaragoza 2016
MSc, Medialogy, Aalborg University, 2019
Level Designer, Tactile Games, 2019-2020
Producer & Game Designer, Tactile Games, 2020 - 2021
Co-founder & Managing Director, Pine Creek Games, 2021 - 2023
With DIS since 2023.

Approach to Teaching   

The lab is a continuation of the Game Development course and is a hands-on class with ample opportunities to try out - through trial and error - your skills as a game developer. Throughout the semester, you will be revising, developing and testing actual games. The Game Lab is intended to be a collaborative community and plenum discussions, and faculty and peer feedback sessions will be an important part of the learning.

Grading and Evaluation

2D Platformer Game:

• Class part
• Unity web player build.
• A playable prototype with a beginning, an end, a tutorial and a level progression. The game must be created in 2D, and it must be a platformer.
• Lab part
• Full Unity project including source code, assets and project settings.

Final Project:

• Class part
• Unity web player build.
• A playable prototype with a beginning, an end, a tutorial and a level progression. The game can be made in 2D or 3D, in any genre, but it must demonstrate an increase in your skills from the 2D Platformer project.
• Lab part
• Full Unity project including source code, assets and project settings.

Tutorials and additional Unity information

• https://learn.unity.comLinks to an external site.
  • https://learn.unity.com/course/unity-basicsLinks to an external site.
  • https://learn.unity.com/course/beginner-scriptingLinks to an external site.
• https://unity.com/Links to an external site.
  • https://store.unity.com/download?ref=personalLinks to an external site.

For more readings and information, see syllabus for Game Development: Programming and Practice

Academic Regulations  

Please make sure to read the Academic Regulations on the DIS website. There you will find regulations on: 

• Course Enrollment and Grading  
• Academic Expectations and Honor Code 

DIS - Study Abroad in Scandinavia - www.DISabroad.org