PLECK lesson 143 · suggested week 29, day 3
Design the data and node architecture
Objective. Plan state ownership, dependencies and safe persistence if used.
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-L142.
Draw the final node tree and name the owner of phase, score/progress, player motion, challenge state and settings. Map events between systems. If using saves, write the schema and validation policy; if using AI, write its state transitions; if using generation, write its invariants. Avoid storing the same authoritative value in multiple scripts. List exact scene/script filenames so the project remains inspectable. Architecture should support your proposed game, not imitate a complex commercial framework you do not need.
Worked example
A capstone risk experiment can test one readable chase/escape interaction before a designer builds several rooms around that mechanic.
Design the data and node architecture — evidence task
- 1. Create node, state-owner and event-flow diagrams.
- 2. Add a schema, state machine or invariant table for the richer system.
Deliverable. Final technical design packet.
Acceptance checks
- VGC-L143-T1. Every required state has one owner.
- VGC-L143-T2. The richer system has explicit validity rules.
Understanding question. What should happen if a HUD value disagrees with the manager?
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.
Turn in a typed answer, a JPEG, PNG, or WebP photo, a PDF scan, or an MP3, WAV, M4A, MP4, or WebM file up to 4 MB. A parent can log paper. One https address is stored as text and is not opened or run. Zip and code files are refused.
- Your first 2D game
Free public tutorial; no account; external asset download is optional, not used by this course.
· Opening this link does not submit the lesson.
This is a preview. A parent assigns the lesson and chooses the due date after the student is enrolled. The answer key is not on this page.