Semester(s) Offered: Spring
Credits: 4
Course Call Number: GAMES-GT 122
Prerequisite(s): Game Studio I
Taught By: Lawra Suits Clark / Maxi Boch
Professional game development frequently involves a ‘rapid prototyping’ phase, wherein developers work feverishly to implement a large number of small ideas to test their potential before embarking on the more rigid and costly processes involved in full production. Many or most of the most famous games in history began with a minimalistic prototype created in less than a week. Prototype Studio is an intensive course which aims to build up a student’s repertoire of fast-prototyping skills and provide the student with invaluable experience in starting and finishing games. The course consists almost entirely in the creation of thirteen playable prototype games, one per week. Each prototype will be confined within a certain genre, conceptual theme, or within unique technical constraints.
Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:
1) Deliver a playable prototype on short deadline that explores a given concept.
2) Engage in truly ‘agile’ development by testing a wide range of ideas in a practical, hands-on way, with minimal resource overhead.
3) Constrain the scope of a project under extreme thematic, time and resource constraints.
4) Transition fluidly between different game themes and genres.
5) Bring additional speed and efficiency to their regular practice as game creators when making finished, non-prototype games.
6) Learn to distinguish failed concepts from successful ones (before it’s too late!).