GAME 1303 — Submission Checklist

Print this. Keep it next to your keyboard.

Every box below is a graded criterion, taken directly from the rubrics. Nothing here is a suggestion — if a box is unchecked at the deadline, points are already gone. Run the relevant section before you submit anything.

⚑ Before you submit ANY build — every time

• It is a build, not a project folder — someone can double-click and play it
• The whole build folder is zipped, not just the .exe
• It launches on a machine that is not yours (test it — copy to a flash drive and run it)
• No console / output-log errors during 60 seconds of normal play
• No soft-locks — you cannot get stuck anywhere with no way out
• The correct startup scene / default map is set
• Filename is lastname_deliverable.zip
• Submitted to the right Canvas assignment, before the deadline

▢ Weekly Exercise — 2 pts (every exercise, all semester)

Implementation — 1 pt

• It builds and runs
• The required feature works as the brief specifies
• No console errors

Design decision — 1 pt

• I changed values away from the defaults
• I wrote down what I changed, with numbers
• I wrote three sentences naming what I was going for, with a specific reference or intention
• ("It feels good" earns nothing. Name the trade-off you resolved.)

Submitted by end of class · Late = Implementation point only

① Game Pitch — Week 2 — 5 pts

• Rehearsed out loud with a timer, twice
• Comes in under 3:00
• Opens with the hook — no preamble
• Hook is one sentence and contains a player verb
• Core loop described with verbs, as 30 seconds of play
• Named the games mine resembles, and the one thing mine does differently
• Reference image ready on screen
• Track named out loud — 2D / Puzzle / Narrative / 3D / VR
• Scope stated concretely — level count, rough asset count
• Named at least one thing I am deliberately not building
• Prepared one real open question for Q&A
• (Puzzle track) paper prototype in hand
• Ready to take notes during my own Q&A

② One Sheet — Week 4 — 5 pts — Canvas

• Title
• Hook / logline — one sentence, contains a verb
• Genre
• Platform
• Audience — specific, not "everyone"
• Core loop — 2–3 sentences, at least three verbs
• What makes it different
• Art direction — concrete: palette, line quality, reference
• Key art or mockup image present
• Name and section
• Fits on ONE page, one side
• Exported as PDF, legible at 100% zoom, body text ≥ 10 pt
• Any reference art is labeled as reference

③ Core Game Mechanic — Week 5 — 5 pts

• (Run the universal build checklist above)
• The primary verb from my pitch is the thing that works
• Driven by real input — keyboard and one other device where practical
• Values tuned away from defaults
• I can state the numbers and the trade-off I was resolving
• Tuning values recorded in a text file / Canvas comment
• Placeholder art is fine — I did not spend today on art
• (VR) demonstrated on the headset, not editor preview — headset reserved
• (Puzzle) one complete puzzle is solvable and resettable
• Ready to demo live during the exercise block

④ Level Map — Week 8 — 5 pts

The map — 2 pts

• Start and exit marked
• The gate marked, and the key that opens it
• Checkpoint marked
• Every hazard / challenge numbered
• Pacing beats marked — tense vs. calm — along the path
• Intended route drawn as a line
• Each section labeled with what it teaches or tests

The blockout — 2 pts

• Walkable start to exit by someone else, unaided
• Gate genuinely blocks until the key is collected
• Checkpoint returns the player there, not to the start
• Greybox only — no time spent on texturing

Design intent — 1 pt

• I tried to finish the level without using my core mechanic — and could not
• Where the blockout differs from the map, I annotated why

⑤ Screen Layout — Week 11 — 5 pts

All five screens — 2 pts

• Title — with game title, Start, Quit
• HUD
• Pause — Resume, Restart, Quit to title
• Win
• Lose

Flow both directions — 1 pt

• Every screen I can enter, I can leave
• No dead ends — I clicked every button and never got stuck
• Pause actually freezes gameplay, not just an overlay
• Resume returns to the same game state

HUD is live — 1 pt

• Bound to real values — it changes when I take damage / score
• Nothing hard-coded for the screenshot

Visual design — 1 pt

• Starter UI restyled — not shipped as-is
• Readable over the busiest part of my level, not the emptiest
• One font, one button style, one spacing rhythm across all five
• Nothing critical within 5% of the screen edge
• Every HUD element answers: what does the player do differently because this is on screen?
• (Unity) built in UI Toolkit — not legacy uGUI Canvas
• (VR) world-space UI, not a screen overlay · comfort options on pause screen

Also submit

• Five screenshots, one per screen, as lastname_screens.pdf

⑥ Game Design Doc — Week 13 — 10 pts — Canvas

All ten sections present — 4 pts

• 1. Overview · [ ] 2. Core mechanic · [ ] 3. Rules and states · [ ] 4. Levels · [ ] 5. Interface
• 6. Art and audio · [ ] 7. Asset list · [ ] 8. Systems and helpers · [ ] 9. Scope and cuts · [ ] 10. Credits

Accuracy — 2 pts

• Describes the game that exists, not the one I pitched
• Changes since Week 4 stated plainly
• Cut features moved to section 9, not described as if they shipped

Asset list — 2 pts

• Every asset listed — sprites, models, animations, sounds, fonts, UI
• Each has type, status (done / in progress / cut), and source
• Third-party items named with license

Presentation — 1 pt

• Numbered headings, navigable
• Images embedded — maps, wireframes, screenshots
• TOC if over ~10 pages · PDF · lastname_gdd.pdf

Credits & disclosure — 1 pt

• All contributors credited
• AI use disclosed specifically — where, and what remained in the build

⑦ Game Build / Published Game — Week 15 — 25 pts

Build in Week 13, not Week 15. The first build always surprises someone.

Completeness — 8 pts (protect these first)

• Playable title screen → win state, start to finish
• A stranger can finish it without asking me anything
• Controls are on the title screen
• No crashes, no soft-locks, no falling out of the world
• There is a win state, and it is reachable

Core mechanic — 5 pts

• The primary verb works, is tuned, and is central to play — not incidental

Level design — 4 pts

• At least one complete level, built from my map
• Gating works · pacing intentional · checkpointing works

Screens and UI — 3 pts

• All five screens present (re-run section ⑤)
• Navigable both directions · HUD live and readable

Audio and feedback — 2 pts (most-forgotten points in the course)

• Background music
• At least three distinct sound effects
• Player actions have visible and audible response

Published and documented — 3 pts

• Live public URL — itch.io. Not just a zip in Canvas.
• itch page has: title, hook, 3+ screenshots, controls, my name
• (Unity) tested the actual WebGL build, not the editor
• (VR) sideloading instructions included

Build notes

• Link to the published game
• Complete controls
• How to reach the win state — the intended path, so it can be verified
• Known bugs, honestly listed (listing costs nothing; hiding costs polish points)
• Third-party assets + licenses
• AI disclosure, matching my GDD
• Engine version, platform, headset if VR

⑧ Post Mortem — Week 16 — 5 pts

Presentation — 1 pt

• Under 5 minutes, rehearsed
• Game open and running before class starts

Specific analysis — 2 pts

• Three things that went right — each a specific decision, made at a specific time
• Three things that went wrong — each with what it cost
• No generic lessons ("plan better, start earlier" earns nothing)
• What I'd tell myself in Week 1, concretely

Playtest evidence — 1 pt

• References real observations from my Ex 10 testers
• States what I changed as a result, and what I knowingly left unfixed

Written retro — 1 pt

• 2–4 pages, PDF, lastname_postmortem.pdf
• Scope accounting table — planned / shipped / cut, with dates
• Time breakdown — roughly where the hours went
• What I'd build next

⚑ Attendance & extra credit — running total

• I have missed no more than one class (1 pt each, 16 meetings, one dropped, max 15)
• Extra credit: industry events / meetups / jams — proof of attendance + short takeaway paragraph, 1 pt each, 5 max

The three things students lose most often

1. Audio — 2 free points in the final build, skipped entirely almost every semester
2. The asset list — 2 points in the GDD, the most-missed section
3. A build submitted as a project folder — ungradeable, and entirely preventable