Video Game Design and Coding · PLECK lesson

PLECK lesson 141 · suggested week 29, day 1

Choose a final game worth finishing

Objective. Write an original design with a realistic audience and scope.

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.

Audience, originality, scope, acceptance and risks

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-L140.

Your final capstone is a small original 2D game using the same Godot/GDScript pathway. Choose a collector, arcade game, narrative puzzle, platformer or a restrained combination. Target five to ten minutes of play or a short replayable loop. Require input, rules, visible state, a challenge, a clear ending and restart. Include one richer system from the second half: validated local saves, readable enemy states or constrained procedural content. No online multiplayer, public leaderboard or paid dependency is required.

Worked example

A capstone risk experiment can test one readable chase/escape interaction before a designer builds several rooms around that mechanic.

Choose a final game worth finishing — evidence task

  1. 1. Write a one-page pitch naming genre, audience, core loop and richer system.
  2. 2. Explain two original design choices and list reused personal scaffolds.

Deliverable. Final capstone proposal and reuse declaration.

Acceptance checks

Understanding question. Why include only one richer system as a minimum?

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. Choose one familiar 2D genre, a short complete loop and no networking. Reuse only code you can explain. Start with the first assigned task and re-run its acceptance test before adding the remaining feature.

Optional extra. Propose one optional feature with an explicit dependency and a stop condition. Document one changed parameter, your prediction, and the observed effect; optional, not required for completion.

Name ____________________ Date ____________________