Game Design and Development Decal Fall 2026
Week 2 (9/14)
Hey guys! We hope you enjoyed the first two sessions of our DeCal last week :D
Every Sunday, we will plug weekly DeCal-related announcements and reminders, such as due dates and other events, to both the DeCal website as well as the Discord server on this announcements channel.
Programmers: You should be adding
berkeleyGameDevas a collaborator to your Project 1 repository, and keep the project submission as a private repo.Artists: Please be aware that the deadline for Part 1 is BEFORE CLASS and not 11:59! That way, we can get art critiques in-class rolling smoothly.
Date Due in Class Assigned Tuesday (9/15) All Lab 1 Programmer Lab 4 / Artist Lab 5, due 09/22 Thursday (9/17) Programmer Lab 2 / Artist Lab 3 Project 1 Part 1, due at 11:59PM. Programmer Lab 6 / Artist Lab 7, due 09/24 in class. Project 1 Part 2, due 09/24 at 11:59PM.
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 [Git Tutorial]
- LabProgrammer: Lab 8: Coroutines / Artist: Lab 9: Environment Design
- Reading 13 Principles of Gameplay
- Sep 24
- Lecture [Game Loops]
- 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 [Pitch Day]
- ProjectProject 3: Final
- Oct 08
- Lecture Project 2 Showcase
- Lecture [3D Modeling]
- 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