GAME 1303 — Course Schedule
Introduction to Game Design and Development
Animation & Game Art | Media Arts | Collin College
Fall 2026 · Tuesdays 9:00 AM – 1:50 PM
Every class: Lecture 9:00–10:15 · Exercise 10:30–11:45 · Lab 12:00–1:50
| # | Tuesday | Due in class | Exercise | Engine topics |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aug 25 | — | Ex 1 — First Playable | Intro to course and tools · Editor & project setup · Sprite/asset import · Input System setup |
| 2 | Sep 1 | 🎤 Game Pitches | (critique) | Project organization · Version control · Naming & folder conventions |
| 3 | Sep 8 | — | Ex 2 — The Verb | GameObjects/Actors · Components · Prefabs/Blueprints · PlayerMove |
| 4 | Sep 15 | 📄 One Sheet (Canvas) | Ex 3 — Rules & States | Colliders & triggers · GameStateManager · Scene reload & restart |
| 5 | Sep 22 | 🎮 Core Game Mechanic | (critique) | Debugging your mechanic · Inspector tuning · ScriptableObjects / Data Assets |
| 6 | Sep 29 | — | Ex 4 — Juice It | Sprite animation · Particles (VFX Graph / Niagara) · SoundPlayer · Screen shake |
| 7 | Oct 6 | — | Ex 5 — Space & Pace | Tilemap / level blockout · Modular assets · Checkpoints |
| 8 | Oct 13 | 🗺️ Level Map | (critique) | Scene management / streaming · Physics & physics materials |
| 9 | Oct 20 | — | Ex 6 — Story in the World | DialogueTrigger · Trigger volumes · Timeline / Sequencer |
| 10 | Oct 27 | — | Ex 7 — Screen Flow | UI Toolkit (UXML/USS) / UMG · UIManager · Buttons & events |
| 11 | Nov 3 | 🖥️ Screen Layout | (critique) | Menus & pause · Scene flow · Save/load & player prefs |
| 12 | Nov 10 | — | Ex 8 — Point of View | Cinemachine / Cine Camera · Confiners & framing · XR rig (Quest 2 / Cosmos Elite) |
| 13 | Nov 17 | 📘 Game Design Doc (Canvas) | Ex 9 — Curves & Locks | Health · Score · Spawner & object pooling · Classes |
| 14 | Nov 24 | — | Ex 10 — Test & Iterate | PlaytestLogger · Profiler / Insights · Bug triage · Build prep |
| 15 | Dec 1 | 📦 Game Build | (critique) | Build settings & packaging · Platforms · Publishing · Package export |
| 16 | Dec 8 | 🏁 Post Mortem | (presentations) | Wrap · Portfolio · Next courses · fin |
Exercise → Milestone dependencies
- Ex 2 The Verb + Ex 3 Rules & States → Core Game Mechanic (Wk 5)
- Ex 5 Space & Pace → Level Map (Wk 8)
- Ex 7 Screen Flow → Screen Layout (Wk 11)
- Ex 10 Test & Iterate → Game Build (Wk 15)
Legend
🎤 live in class · 🎮 playable build · 🗺️ map + blockout · 🖥️ implemented screens · 📦 published build · 🏁 presentation · 📄📘 submitted online in Canvas
Sections: 001 uses Unity 6.x · 002 uses Unreal Engine 5.8. Design topics are identical; engine topics are the section's equivalent.