Video Game Design and Coding · PLECK lesson

PLECK lesson 145 · suggested week 29, day 5

Plan work in dependency order

Objective. Break a capstone into small demonstrable tasks.

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-L144.

A useful task is small enough to verify in one lesson and has a visible result. “Build game” is too broad; “connect the third pickup and prove score becomes three” is testable. Arrange tasks so foundations precede dependent features: input before challenge testing, state before endings, valid data before save loading. Schedule a feature freeze and time for testing. This course is parent-paced; these are work stages, not automatic calendar deadlines or enrollments.

Worked example

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

Plan work in dependency order — evidence task

  1. 1. Create a must-have task board with at least twelve small tasks.
  2. 2. Mark dependencies, a feature-freeze stage and a testing buffer.

Deliverable. Capstone task board and dependency map.

Acceptance checks

Understanding question. Why reserve time for testing before adding optional content?

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 ____________________