Game Design and Development Decal Fall 2026
Week 5 (10/5)
We’re over a third of the way into the course congrats! :D
Labs are now over, so you get to focus solely on projects from here on out. We can’t wait to see you put the skills you’ve learned to good use! This week we have the Project 2 showcase on Tuesday and Pitch Day for Project 3 on Thursday.
Date Due in Class Assigned Tuesday (10/06) Programmer Lab 11 / Artist Lab 12 None Thursday (10/08) Project 3 pitches! due BEFORE class None
Schedule
Week 0
- Sep 01
- Lecture Infosession
- LabLab 0: Unity Setup
- Sep 03
- Lecture Infosession
- LabLab 0: Unity Setup
Week 1
- Sep 08
- Lecture Intro to Unity
- LabLab 1: Intro to Unity
- ReadingGame Design Principles
- Sep 10
- Lecture Game Design
- LabProgrammer: Lab 2: Basic Scripting / Artist: Lab 3: Pixel Art and Spriting
- ProjectProject 1
Week 2
- Sep 15
- Lecture Game Art Fundamentals
- LabProgrammer: Lab 4: Advanced Scripting / Artist: Lab 5: Tilesets
- ReadingGraphics vs Aesthetics
- Sep 17
- Lecture Fundamentals of Animation
- LabProgrammer: Lab 6: Colliders and Rigidbodies / Artist: Lab 7: Animation
Week 3
- Sep 22
- Lecture Game Loops
- LabProgrammer: Lab 8: Coroutines / Artist: Lab 9: Environment Design
- Reading 13 Principles of Gameplay
- Sep 24
- Lecture Git Tutorial
- Lab Lab 10: Animator and Blend Trees
- Project Project 2: Game Jam
Week 4
- Sep 29
- Lecture User Interfaces
- Lab Programmer: Lab 11: UI and Layering / Artist: Lab 12: UI Asset Creation
- ReadingHow to Pitch your Project
- Oct 01
- Lecture [Design Docs and MVPs]
Week 5
- Oct 06
- Lecture Project 2 Showcase
- Lecture [3D Modeling]
- Oct 08
- Lecture [Pitch Day]
- Project Project 3: Final
- ReadingEffectively Organize with a Game Design Document
Week 6
- Oct 13
- Lecture [Work Day]
- Lab Optional: Lab 13: Transitioning, Saving and Building
- Project Milestone 0: Game Design Doc
- ReadingTeam Structures in Game Development
- Oct 15
- Lecture Work Day
- Lab Optional: Lab 14: 3D Rigging, Skinning, and Animation
Week 7
- Oct 20
- Lecture [Tutorial + Level Design]
- LabOptional: Lab 15: Raycasting
- ReadingTips for Better Playtesting
- Oct 22
- Lecture Game Feel
- Project Milestone 1: MVP Playtest
Week 8
- Oct 27
- Lecture Music and SFX
- LabOptional: Lab 16: Lighting
- ReadingInsightful Playtest Questions
- Oct 29
- Lecture Work Day
Week 9
- Nov 03
- Lecture Accessibility
- Reading Accessible Controllers
- Nov 05
- Lecture Work Day
- Project Milestone 2: Alpha Playtest
Week 10
- Nov 10
- Lecture [Work Day]
- Nov 12
- Lecture [Work Day]
Week 11
- Nov 17
- Lecture [Work Day]
- Reading AI in Gaming
- Nov 19
- Project Milestone 3: Beta Playtest
Week 12
- Nov 24
- Lecture [Workday]
- Reading Tutorial Designs
Thanksgiving! 
Week 13
- Dec 1
- Lecture Building and Publishing
- ReadingGamification
- Dec 3
- Lecture Course Postmortem
- Project Milestone 4: Final Submission
Week 14
- TBD
- GDD Showcase