Video Game Design and Coding · PLECK lesson

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. 1. Create node, state-owner and event-flow diagrams.
  2. 2. Add a schema, state machine or invariant table for the richer system.

Deliverable. Final technical design packet.

Acceptance checks

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.

Name ____________________ Date ____________________