Due: May 1, 2024 @ 11:59 PM

Important Notes

Read the submission instructions carefully!

Table of Contents

Boss

Final Project

Your task is to as a team create a video game. Your grade for this project is made up of three major deliverables. The details, dates, and list of documents to be turned in for each are below.

You can find all document templates needed for the project at the Course Google Drive folder

The final project is worth a total of 100 points. Please see the detailed rubric for a better understanding of which portion of these points is graded per group and which portion is an individual score. The final submission section is subject to course staff discretion based on peer evaluation results.

Initial Check-in (2 points)

Each student will recive and e-mail from their project mentor and must respond before March 8.

Discovery (10 of points)

Due date: 11:59 PM March 8

This is the first project milestone. You will submit completed versions of the project documents in the Final Project Documents Folder.

The Discovery section is graded on completeness and correctness. Points will be taken off for incorrect submissions (such as missing documents) or for incorrectly filled sections. In particular:

  1. Note that each vision canvas section has specific meanings and phrasings.
  2. Try to break down the tasks as much as possible, and consider absolutely everything you may need to implement your vision.
  3. The summary should give an idea of what the game is and what the player does. Avoid explaining implementations or precise technical details.
  4. Initial collaboration plan should clearly describe how you will distribute features and work together on the project including what version control method you will be using. This only needs to be 3 to 5 sentences.

You can change your design and other plans as the project progresses. You do not need to go into great detail about how things will be implemented or exhaustively list game features. The most important thing is just to have a vision and a plan that we can discuss.

For the Technical Design Document and Vision Canvas, you can find example filled out versions in the second tabs of both spreadsheets.

To reiterate, submission requirements for the Discovery milestone:

  • Project summary
  • Vision canvas
  • Technical design document
  • Collaboration plan

See here for a detailed version of the rubric. Please make sure to look through and understand this at the start of your project.

Mid-Project Meeting (10 points)

Due date: by 11:59 PM March 22 Before the Alpha and Final submission due dates, groups will meet with their assigned TAs one time to discuss their game design and feedback from the discovery submission. The meeting is expected to last up to 30 minutes and happen the week of March 18-22. It can be in person or on Zoom. Groups will be graded on:

  1. Attendance. A majority of group members must attend.
  2. Feedback. For the meeting, groups should take into consideration feedback given for their Discovery grade. Groups should have updated their vision canvases, summaries, and technical design documents periodically to reflect this feedback and any changes in design. You do not have to have completed any coding yet. But we would urge you to have started.

Week of meetings: March 18 - March 22

To reiterate, submission requirements for the Mid-Project milestone:

  • Schedule a Mid-Project meeting with the course staff to discuss initial feedback.
  • Any project code through a repository or drive/box link
  • Updated project summary (if applicable based on Discovery milestone feedback)
  • Updated vision canvas (if applicable based on Discovery milestone feedback)
  • Updated technical design document (if applicable based on Discovery milestone feedback)
  • Updated collaboration plan, including details on each team member’s contribution so far. See template collaboration plan for more specifications.

Alpha (30 points)

Due date: April 19 11:59 PM

The Alpha submission focuses on the completeness of your game and the implementation of high-priority features. Think of it as a rough draft. We are looking for a demonstration of your game’s features and gameplay. Visuals, sound, and minor mechanics do not have to be finalized. Additionally, we want groups to update their design documents to reflect the changes made to the game so far.

The meeting is expected to last up to 30 minutes and happen the week of April 15-19. It can be in person or on Zoom. Groups will be graded on:

  1. Attendance. A majority of group members must attend.
  2. Game Demo. For the meeting, groups should be able to demo a substantially complete game.
  3. Updated Project Documents Any changes to the game should result in updated discovery documents.

To reiterate, submission requirements for the Alpha milestone:

  • Schedule an Alpha milestone meeting with the course staff to live demo your progress and receive feedback.
  • Project code through a repository or drive/box link
  • Updated project summary (if applicable based on Discovery milestone feedback)
  • Updated vision canvas (if applicable based on Discovery milestone feedback)
  • Updated technical design document (if applicable based on Discovery milestone feedback)
  • Updated collaboration plan, including details on each team member’s contribution so far. See template collaboration plan for more specifications.

Final Submission (45 points)

Due date: 11:59 PM May 1

Your final project submission. A version of your game with at least all the high priority features done and in a fully playable state. The deliverables for your final submission are the code for the project and a video walking us through the work you have completed. You should also submit an updated version of your discovery documents with any changes you might have made since alpha.

The final submission game must have clear instructions for how to play the game…you will lose points for gameplay if you do not inlcude a screen or other mechanism telling people how to play

Make sure to look over the detailed rubric, which has been linked on this page, before turning in your final submission.

To reiterate, submission requirements for the Final Submission milestone:

  • Video demo of game features
  • Project code through a repository or drive/box link
  • Final peer evaluation form, linked above, required per individual.
  • Updated project summary (if applicable based on Alpha milestone feedback)
  • Updated vision canvas (if applicable based on Alpha milestone feedback)
  • Updated technical design document (if applicable based on Alpha milestone feedback)
  • Updated collaboration plan, including details on each team member’s contribution so far. See template collaboration plan for more specifications.

Peer Evaluation (3 points)

Due date: 11:59 PM May 1 Each team member must individually fill out the final peer evaluation form. The form will be published on CampusWire and due on May 1 by 11:59 PM CT.

See here for a detailed version of the rubric. Please make sure to look through and understand this at the start of your project.

Submission Instructions

Hand-in will be done on Canvas. You will be expected to upload the following:

  1. A link to a git repo or drive/box folder containing your project code. It should be possible to build your game in Unreal using the submitted code.
  2. A short video up to 10 minutes long (can be much shorter) showing your game and demonstrating all the required features. Your video ideally should be a screen capture with brief narration by you pointing out the features as they appear in the game.

Some good options for video capture software are:

If recording narration is problematic (e.g. you lack a microphone) you can skip that part. Please only resort to capturing video using your phone if you have tried one of the above methods and just could not get it to work.

On Canvas you should put the link to your code in the Comment box and then upload a video file using the Upload Media tab.

Canvas Upload

Name Points Description
Individual Check-in 2 You must respond to the initial contact email from your project mentor before the Discovery documents are due
Discovery 10 A short description/summary of your project, a high level vision canvas, a technical design document, and a collaboration plan.
Mid-Project Meeting 10 Zoom or in-person meeting with project mentor to answer question and describe progress since design submission.
Alpha 30 The Alpha should be a version of your game with at least the core gameplay completed and playable.
Final Submission 45 A version of your game with at least all the high priority features done and in a fully playable state.
Final peer evaluation form 3 Graded for completion.
Total 100