Video Game Design and Coding · PLECK lesson

PLECK lesson 92 · suggested week 19, day 2

Design consistent visual categories

Objective. Encode object roles with shape and contrast rather than color alone.

Godot Engine Standard desktop editor 4.7.2-stable, GDScript (Godot 4), Compatibility renderer. Headless Godot 4.7.2.stable.official.ed1daf0bf passed 106 assertions on the supplied scaffolds, including malformed JSON saves. Audio used the Dummy driver and a synthetic WAV, not a speaker. The visual editor, browser export, and signed-in submission were not tested. The desk still does not run a student's own upload.

About 55 minutes. The due date is chosen by a parent.

Shape language, SVG, visual hierarchy and restrained animation

Suggested pace: Recall and predict 5 min; Read instruction and scaffold 12 min; Build or design the assigned artifact 25 min; Run acceptance tests 8 min; Explain and checkpoint 5 min.

Materials: Paper and pencil or a private text document, Local course folder and prior checkpoint, No paid assets or public account required.

Comes after VGC-L091.

Visual language helps a player predict rules. Choose a rounded silhouette for safe pickups, a cross-marked square for hazards and a solid outlined rectangle for platforms. Keep the categories distinct when viewed without color. Use size and placement to make the goal prominent but avoid covering the player. Draw a legend and apply it consistently across one room. An object should not share the hazard symbol merely because the artist likes that shape if it is actually harmless.

Worked example

An original safe-object icon could be a rounded triangle with a line marker. A dangerous-object icon could be a square with a cross, remaining distinct without hue.

Design consistent visual categories — evidence task

  1. 1. Draw a four-category visual legend and apply it to your game.
  2. 2. Inspect a grayscale screenshot or hand-copy the scene using only black and white.

Deliverable. Visual legend and before/after game screenshots.

Acceptance checks

Understanding question. Why can color alone be an unreliable rule cue?

Submit readable text or photos/scans of each numbered design page. Audio explanation may supplement a diagram or text, not replace requested artifacts.

If this is still shaky. Use only circles, rectangles and text. Keep physics colliders unchanged while replacing a visual child. Start with the first assigned task and re-run its acceptance test before adding the remaining feature.

Optional extra. Make a second visual theme without changing any gameplay script. Document one changed parameter, your prediction, and the observed effect; optional, not required for completion.

Name ____________________ Date ____________________