GAME 1303 — Project Tracks
You are building one game across the whole semester. In Week 2 you pitch it, and you choose a track. The six milestones are the same for everyone; what changes is the shape of the work and the support you get in lab.
Choosing a track
| Track | What it is | Art burden | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2D (default) | Platformer, top-down adventure, arcade, shooter | Medium | Low |
| Puzzle | Grid, physics, or logic puzzle; can be 2D or 3D | Low | Low |
| Narrative | Dialogue game, walking sim, visual novel, interactive fiction | Medium | Medium |
| 3D | One complete small 3D level | High | High |
| VR | Room-scale or seated VR on Quest 2 / Cosmos Elite | Medium | High |
If you are unsure, choose 2D or Puzzle. They are the tracks most likely to end the semester with a finished, published game — and the Published Game milestone is 25 of your 100 points.
What each track owes at each milestone
| Milestone | 2D | Puzzle | Narrative | 3D | VR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Game Pitch (Wk 2) | Hook + reference image | The core puzzle idea, demonstrated on paper | Premise + tone reference | Scope statement + reference | Headset + interaction model |
| Core Game Mechanic (Wk 5) | Movement + primary verb | One solvable puzzle instance | Choice or traversal mechanic | Movement + primary verb | Grab / teleport / point interaction |
| Level Map (Wk 8) | Annotated level map + tilemap blockout | Puzzle sequence chart + 3 built puzzles | Scene/beat map + walkable space | Level map + greybox | Play space diagram + blockout |
| Screen Layout (Wk 11) | Title, HUD, pause, win/lose | Title, move counter, reset, win | Title, dialogue UI, pause, end | Title, HUD, pause, win/lose | World-space UI + comfort options |
| Game Build (Wk 15) | PC/WebGL build | PC/WebGL build | PC/WebGL build | PC build | Headset build (.apk or PC-VR) |
| Post Mortem (Wk 16) | Same for all tracks |
Track-specific requirements
2D
- All sprites created by you in Photoshop, at a consistent pixel or vector scale.
- Establish your unit-to-pixel ratio in Week 1 and do not change it.
- Unity: Tilemap + Rule Tiles. Unreal: Paper2D.
Puzzle
- Your puzzle must have at least three instances of escalating difficulty by Week 13.
- Bring a paper or physical version to your Week 2 pitch — it sells the idea faster than a description.
- Ex 9 Curves & Locks is where your difficulty curve gets built and graded.
Narrative
- Ex 6 Story in the World is your primary design artifact — plan for it to be substantial.
- A minimum of 10 minutes of authored content or a branching structure with at least 3 meaningful outcomes.
- Text must be readable: font size, contrast, and line length are graded in Screen Layout.
3D
- Modular assets only. Build a kit of reusable pieces in Maya rather than modeling one bespoke level.
- Polycount and texture budget set with the instructor at Week 5.
- Your scope is reviewed at pitch, and you may be asked to cut it.
VR
- Headsets check out from the lab. Reserve in advance — there are not enough for everyone at once.
- Build target is locked at Week 12 and cannot change after.
- Comfort is graded: teleport or smooth locomotion with vignette, no forced camera movement, no acceleration on the horizon.
- Ex 8 Point of View comfort work is mandatory, not optional, for this track.
- Test in headset weekly. A VR game that only ever ran in the editor preview does not count as playable.
Scope, honestly
The single most common way to lose points in this course is to attempt too much. A finished game with three levels, working menus, and sound beats an ambitious prototype that stops at the first screen — every time.
Signs your scope is too large:
- You cannot describe your game in one sentence.
- Your core mechanic doesn't exist yet in Week 5.
- Your asset list has more than about 20 unique items.
- You are planning multiplayer, procedural generation, or an inventory system.
If any of these apply, come to lab and we will cut it down together. Cutting scope in Week 5 is design. Cutting it in Week 14 is triage.