SPRING 2024 WITH WILEY WIGGINS

Course Information

Course Title

AET-333 Prototyping

Location

DFA 3.218

Schedule

Mondays and Wednesdays, 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM

Mode

In-Person

Instructor

Wiley Wiggins, MFA

Email

REDACTED

Office Hours

Fridays by appointment

Course Description

AET Prototyping is an intensive studio class in which students will create 9 prototype games over the semester. It focuses on the quick generation and iteration of ideas and content related to game mechanics. The aim of this class is to get students comfortable with the practice of rapid prototyping: working quickly to create a small playable game that effectively proves or disproves a design concept. Drawing influence from game jams, the class will prompt students with weekly thematic, aesthetic, or mechanical constraints (e.g. “gardening” or “black-and-white” or “one-button”). The class is not an intro game engine class, students will put skills learned in previous classes to work while forming habits of a playful creative practice that tests out new ideas. The hope is that students will practice speed and flexibility, incorporating those lessons into their practice when developing longer-form games in the future, and in the process refining their own tastes, working style and techniques.

Prerequisites

• Foundations of Creative Coding (AET 310)
• At least two of the following: – AET 318C – AET 316C – AET 315 – AET 305 – AET 306
• Proficiency in a game engine such as Unity.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Collaboratively and individually generate ideas for games.

• Create quick, functional prototypes of games, incorporating functional art, sound, and code.

• Test design assumptions through intentional playtesting.

• Document and present their design process.

Class Structure

Our class meets twice a week. Monday classes will be used to playtest the previous week’s games and introduce the next theme. Wednesday classes may involve short discussions of existing games and will serve as studio time to begin work on that week’s project.

Assignments

The assignments for this class are structured to foster rapid prototyping skills: over the course of the semester, you will develop and complete one playable game nearly every week, culminating in a total of 9 unique prototypes. In the final phase of the course, you will select one of these 9 prototypes to refine and document as your last project. This comprehensive assignment structure encompasses all your submitted assessments.

Themes

Each week, you will be expected to make a new game, working on a new concept (unless explicitly stated otherwise). To prevent preliminary work outside of the weekly cycle, each theme is kept secret until the week’s Wednesday class.

Tools

You can choose to do all 9 projects with the same tool (e.g. Construct, GameMaker, Unity), or mix and match depending on the project, group, or project brief. It’s up to you. It is expected that most of your submissions will be digital games, but if you want to make a non-digital game for a certain prompt, come talk to me. See the resources page for a comprehensive list of game-making tools.

Groups

You can work independently or in pairs. Larger groups will not be permitted. Feel free to try different groups each week, or stick with the same group. It’s your decision.

Submissions

Submit weekly games by 11:59 PM on Tuesday nights to the class Dropbox folder. Use the following link for submissions: REDACTED (If your game was made using an online tool that doesn’t export a playable game, just email me a link to your game via canvas before the deadline) Please zip your project before submission and use the following filename format:

Project [Num] [Last Name(s) of creator(s)]

Example #1:

Project 2 Wiggins.zip

Example #2:

Project 3 Wiggins Holmes.zip

You should also bring your own copy of the game to class (either on your own your computer or downloaded onto one of the university’s computers) for demonstration purposes. Note that you will be marked based on the submitted version, so your grade will not benefit from any additional work you do after midnight. It is crucial that you attend the Wednesday class each week to present your game in person. If you are unable to attend class due to illness or other extraordinary circumstances, you will be allowed to present the following week. Students have the option to skip one assignment (see ‘Assessment’).

Assessment

Your work will be graded during three “threshold” weeks. At each threshold, the best game from the preceding period will be selected for assessment. To encourage consistent engagement and work ethic, submission of a game prototype each week is mandatory, even though only one will be selected for detailed critique and grading.

• Weekly Submission Requirement: Students are required to submit a game prototype each week. Failure to submit a prototype in any week will result in a deduction of points from the final course grade.
• Threshold Selection: At each threshold, only one game from the preceding period (three weeks) will be graded in detail. However, the regular submission of prototypes will be factored into the final grade as a demonstration of consistent effort and engagement.
• Feedback: Written feedback will be provided after Threshold #1. Regular in-class feedback will be provided for all submitted prototypes, offering guidance for improvement.
• Criteria: Grading will be based on the selected game at each threshold. A high-quality prototype should be inventive and successful in its design objectives. Prototypes are expected to test new ideas, which can be in any aspect of game design.
• Focus on Prototyping: While detailed grading is on the best game of each period, the importance of regular submissions is to foster a habit of continuous creativity and problem-solving.
• Reuse and Iteration: Reuse of elements from previous prototypes is encouraged. This practice helps speed the prototyping process while building personal asset libraries for future projects.

Final Grade Composition

In addition to the three threshold assessments and the final project, a portion of the final grade will be based on regular submissions:

* 1 free missed assgn., -5 points for next missed assgn., -10 points for subsequent missed assgns.

Grading Rubric

Class Schedule

Note: This schedule is subject to change based on the progress and needs of the class.

Required Materials

• Access to a computer capable of running game development software (Unity, Unreal Engine, etc.) - Notebook for sketching and note-taking
• Recommended: USB or Bluetooth mouse

Class Discord

We will be using the digital collaboration platform Discord to answer process questions and share progress with one another. Any questions about grading or deadlines should be sent to the instructor via Canvas. Students using Discord are expected to adhere to the department code of conduct and guidelines for use that they accepted upon joining the department server. This includes adhering to the academic integrity policies of the University at all times and abstaining from disruptive behavior and speech as outlined in the AET department discord server #rules channel.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Inclusive Instructional Design

(IID)

This course was designed following principles of Universal Design for Learning and Inclusive Instructional Design. Wherever possible, course materials will be provided in a variety of different formats including text, video, audio, and interactive (games). Other accessibility considerations have been made such as text versions or Closed Captions, screen reader capability, and flexible deadlines. There are no timed tests.

Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD)

As stated above, this course was designed to be accessible and inclusive to all, however there may still be cases where accommodations need to be made. If you feel there are any barriers you might face, whether documented or not, please feel free to discuss them with us. We are open to any ideas you have that will make this course better for you. The University of Texas at Austin provides academic accommodations for qualified students with disabilities. For more information, contact Services for Students with Disabilities (512-471-6259, ssd@austin.utexas.edu, http://ddce.utexas.edu/disability/, or videophone 512-471-6644).

Personal Pronouns

Professional courtesy and sensitivity are especially important with respect to individuals and topics dealing with differences of race, culture, religion, politics, sexual orientation, gender, gender variance, and nationalities. Class rosters are provided to the instructor with the student’s legal name, unless they have added a “preferred name” with the Gender and Sexuality Center (http://diversity.utexas.edu/genderandsexuality/publications-and-resources/). I will gladly honor your request to address you by a name that is different from what appears on the official roster, and by the gender pronouns you use (she/he/they etc). Please advise me of any changes early in the semester so that I may make appropriate updates to my records. For your reference, I use he/him pronouns.

Student Support Services

There are numerous free and/or low-cost support services available to students at UT. They include (but are not limited to) the following:

Fine Arts Career Services (512-232-7333, utexas.edu/finearts/careers) provides a full range of services and resources to support students and alumni.

The Undergraduate Writing Center (512-471-6222, uwc.utexas.edu) helps students with every phase of writing assignments for their courses.

The Sanger Learning Center (512-471-3614, utexas.edu/ugs/slc) provides study skills, time-management, and note-taking courses.

University Health Services (512-471-4955, healthyhorns.utexas.edu) provides medical and health promotion services for currently enrolled students and some non-students who are officially enrolled in certain University programs.

The Counseling and Mental Health Center (512-471-3515, cmhc.utexas.edu) helps students with their personal concerns so that they can meet the daily challenges of student life.

Behavior Concerns Advice Line (BCAL) If you are worried about someone who is acting differently, you may use the Behavior Concerns Advice Line to discuss by phone your concerns about another individual’s behavior. This service is provided through a partnership among the Office of the Dean of Students, the Counseling and Mental Health Center (CMHC), the Employee Assistance Program (EAP), and The University of Texas Police Department (UTPD). Call 512-232-5050 or visit http://www.utexas.edu/safety/bcal

Title IX Reporting

Title IX is a federal law that protects against sex and gender-based discrimination, sexual harassment, sexual assault, sexual misconduct, dating/domestic violence and stalking at federally funded educational institutions. UT Austin is committed to fostering a learning and working environment free from discrimination in all its forms. When sexual misconduct occurs in our community, the university can:

Intervene to prevent harmful behavior from continuing or escalating

Provide support and remedies to students and employees who have experienced harm or have become involved in a Title IX investigation

Investigate and discipline violations of the university’s relevant policies(https://titleix.utexas.edu/relevant-polices/)

Beginning January 1, 2020, Texas Senate Bill 212 requires all employees of Texas universities, including faculty, report any information to the Title IX Office regarding sexual harassment, sexual assault, dating violence and stalking that is disclosed to them.

Texas law requires that all employees who witness or receive any information of this type (including, but not limited to, writing assignments, class discussions, or one-on-one conversations) must be reported.

I am a Responsible Employee and must report any Title IX related incidents that are disclosed in writing, discussion, or one-on-one. Before talking with me, or with any faculty or staff member about a Title IX related incident, be sure to ask whether they are a responsible employee. If you would like to speak with someone who can provide support or remedies without making an official report to the university, please email advocate@austin.utexas.edu.

For more information about reporting options and resources, visit http://www.titleix.utexas.edu/ , contact the Title IX Office via email at titleix@austin.utexas.edu, or call 1-1512-471-0419. 12

Q Drop Policy

The State of Texas has enacted a law that limits the number of course drops for academic reasons to six (6). As stated in Senate Bill 1231: “Beginning with the fall 2007 academic term, an institution of higher education may not permit an undergraduate student a total of more than six dropped courses, including any course a transfer student has dropped at another institution of higher education, unless the student shows good cause for dropping more than that number.”

UT Electronic Mail Notification Policy

Electronic mail (e-mail) is a mechanism for official University and instructor communication to students. Students are expected to check e-mail on a frequent and regular basis in order to stay current with University- and course-related communications, recognizing that certain communications may be time-critical. It is recommended that e-mail be checked daily, but at a minimum, twice per week. It is the responsibility of every student to keep the University and instructor informed of changes in their official e-mail address. Consequently, e-mail returned with "User Unknown" is not an acceptable excuse for missed communication. Similarly, undeliverable messages returned because of a full inbox or use of a spam filter will be considered delivered without further action required of the University or instructor. (see e-mail notification policy)

Class Policies

• Attendance: Regular and active participation is essential for successful completion of the course. Contact me if you must miss class for any reason.
• Collaboration: Students may work in pairs on assignments. Students will also ideally playtest each other’s work and provide feedback and suggestions.
• Academic Integrity: All work must be original and comply with the University’s honor code, but some existing assets can be used under the following conditions-
  • Don’t take credit for work you didn’t produce! (e.g. images, music, etc). Let us know about any materials you source externally and where exactly you got them, so I know which parts of your submission are actually yours.
  • For any materials you share publicly (e.g. putting your game on itch.io) you need to consider copyright obligations. For example: do you have permission to use a particular tune? Did you ask the creator? Is it public domain or Creative Commons?
• For any materials you share publicly you also need to consider privacy obligations. For example: for anybody identifiable in a photo or video clip you take, do you have their permission to show them?
  • Generated code and assets are allowed but should also be noted in the game readme.txt with the name of the tool(s) used.
• Late Submissions: Late submissions are subject to penalties unless prior arrangements are made.
  • Technical Issues and Late Work: Students are expected to back up their work regularly. See me if you are unsure of how to do this.
  • Extensions: In a weekly class extensions on deadlines can cause issues with the overall schedule and are generally not given (one assignment may be missed without penalty, accommodations can be made for students with disabilities or special circumstances to miss additional assignments, while still adhering to the weekly schedule).

Professor Bio

Wiley Wiggins (he/him) is an interdisciplinary artist, curator and educator working with digital games and playful media. His multifaceted career includes roles as an actor, animator, interaction designer, and board member of the Juegos Rancheros arts nonprofit. During his time at Juegos Rancheros he produced the Fantastic Arcade international games festival in Austin, Texas. Wiggins holds undergraduate degrees with honors in animation and design as well as a Master of Fine Arts degree in Media Art from the University of California, Los Angeles, where he studied as part of the UCLA Game Lab. His speaking engagements include the Game Developers Conference (GDC), South By Southwest Interactive Conference (SXSW), International Game Developers Association Summit (IGDA), and the Society for Literature, Science, and the Arts Conference (SLSA)

As stated above, for any special accommodations or concerns, please contact the instructor as early as possible. Course schedule and content may be subject to change based on class progress and specific needs.

Resources

Game Engines and Development Tools

• Unity: Versatile for 2D and 3D game development. Unity Free Version
• Unreal Engine: High-fidelity graphics for advanced 3D projects. Unreal Engine
• Godot Engine: Open-source engine for 2D and 3D games. Godot Engine
• GameMaker Studio 2: Great for 2D games (e.g., Spelunky, Hyperlight Drifter). GameMaker Studio 2
• Construct 3: Web-based tool for 2D games, no coding required. Construct 3
• RPG Maker: Simplifies creating role-playing games. RPG Maker
• Twine: Interactive, nonlinear story creation. Twine - Plus, SugarCube Expanded story format for twine. SugarCube
• Processing: Java-based creative coding platform. Processing
• P5.js: JavaScript implementation of Processing. p5.js
• Pico-8: Fantasy console for small pixel art games. Pico-8
• Bitsy: Simple no-code platform for pixel art games. Bitsy - Plus, Bitsy Hacks: Bitsy Hacks
• Downpour: No-code hypermedia tool for point-and-click projects. Downpour
• Clickteam Fusion: Event-based 2d game engine with physics, publishes to most platforms. Clickteam Fusion.
• Adventure Game Studio: point-and-click adventure game creator. Adventure Game Studio.
• Inform7: Interactive fiction programming language. Inform7
• Puzzlescript: Open-source puzzle scripting language. Puzzlescript
• Sok Worlds: Create and explore 3D collage worlds. Sok Worlds
• Ren’py: Visual Novel development engine. Ren’Py
• Phaser.io: HTML5 game framework for desktop and mobile. Phaser.io
• Emotica: Build scenes with emojis. Emotica
• Roblox: Sure, why not? Roblox

Reminder: Content-heavy game ideas (lots of text, art, animation, level design) aren’t ideal for this course. Choose tools wisely and don’t shy away from exploring new ones! A successful minimal prototype can always be expanded later.

(Free or Reduced Price) Art and Graphic Design Tools

• GIMP: Open-source raster graphics editor. GIMP
• Glimpse: A friendlier fork of GNU IMP. Glimpse
• Krita: Free, Open-source digital painting tool. Krita
• Inkscape: Open-source vector graphics editor. Inkscape
• Aseprite: Pixel art tool for 2D animations. Aseprite
• Blender: 3D creation suite. Blender
• Instant Meshes: Advanced retopology tool. Instant Meshes
• MagicaVoxel: Voxel art editor. MagicaVoxel
• Pixel Dudes Maker: Generate pixel characters. Pixel Dudes Maker
• Piskell: Web-based sprite editor. Piskell
• Texatool: Procedural texture generation. Texatool
• Paint of Persia: Rotoscope pixels over video. Paint of Persia
• Looom: iPad flipbook animation. Looom - LooomTools: Convert animations to PNG. Looom-Tools
• Tiled: Tile-based map editor. Tiled
• Coolors: Color harmony based palette picker. Coolors

Audio Creation Tools

• Audacity: Multi-track recording and editing. Audacity
• Bosca Ceoil: Easy music creation. Bosca Ceoil
• LMMS: Digital audio workstation. LMMS
• bfxr: Tool for game sound effects. bfxr
• Lovely Composer: Fun Chip-style music making. Lovely Composer
• Freesound: Free sound effects library. Freesound

Tutorials and Learning Resources

2D Art and Animation

• 2D Art with GIMP: Basics of using GIMP for game art. GIMP Tutorials
• Pixel Art with Aseprite: Learn to create pixel art animations. Aseprite Tutorials
• Unity 2d character rigging: with photoshop PSB or png: 2D Animation Rigging in Unity
• Unity 2d character rig with inverse kinematics 2D IK Chain rigging in Unity
• How to make a 2.5D Game in Unity: 2.5D in Unity
• Derek Yu’s guide to Pixel Art: Pixel Art
• Arne Jansson’s Digital Painting Tutorials: Intermediate Digital Painting

3D Art and Modeling

• Blender Basics: Getting started with 3D modeling in Blender. Blender Tutorials
• 3D Animation with Maya: Basic to advanced Maya techniques. Maya Learning Channel
• The Souls of Low Poly Characters (Danette Beatty Artist interview & Maya tips): Modeling Tips
• Steve Roselle Maya tips: Steve Roselle

Game Development Platforms

• Unity for Beginners: Fundamental concepts in Unity. Unity Learn
• Unreal Engine Tutorials: Basics of using Unreal Engine. Unreal Online Learning
• Godot Engine Tutorials: Introduction to Godot for both 2D and 3D games. Godot Tutorials

Coding and Misc Game Dev tutorials

• C# for Unity: Programming in Unity with C#. C# Tutorials
• GDScript for Godot: Introduction to Godot’s native scripting language. GDScript Basics
• Freya Holmér: Freya’s Channel
• The Coding Train (Processing/P5): The Coding Train
• Infallible Code (Unity): Infallible Code
• Make Stuff Look Good in Unity: Unity Shader Tutorials
• Mix and Jam: Mix and Jam
• Brackey’s Tutorials: Brackey’s Tutorials
• MJ’s Tutorial Series: AET Prof MJ’s Tutorials
• Jessie’s Tutorial Series: AET Prof Jessie’s Tutorials
• Game Design Principles: Explore fundamental concepts of game design. Game Design Concepts
• RPG Maker Tutorials: Creating RPG games with RPG Maker. RPG Maker Web
• Twine for Interactive Stories: Learn to create interactive stories with Twine. Twine Guides
• All About Health Bars (thermometer UI): A few simple methods for making meters in different tools. Health Bars
• Using the Unity Animator Component: A quick introduction to using the Animatior component and controller. Animator Component
• Unity ProBuilder greyboxing tool: Unity tutorials for the in-engine quick modeling ProBuilder tool. ProBuilder Tutorials

Audio and Sound Design

• Audacity for Beginners: Learn to record and edit sound with Audacity. Audacity Tutorials
• Creating Music with LMMS: Tutorials for composing music in LMMS. LMMS Wiki

Testing

• Derek Yu on testing feedback: Getting Feedback

Inspiration

• Terry Cavanaugh’s Free Game a Week blog: Terry’s Free Game of the Week
• Itch.io_,_ indie game sharing and marketplace: https://itch.io/

Sourcing game assets

(Remember to give credit when asked! Appropriate conscientiously.)

3D Models

• Turbosquid (download some free CG models)
• Poliigon (free textures + materials)
• Textures (free textures + materials)
• Trnio (free 3D scanner for your phone)
• Lincoln 3D Scans (free 3D scans)
• Free3D (self-explanatory)
• CGTrader (more free models)

3D Animation

• Mixamo 3d character auto-rigger and stock animations Mixamo

2D/3D characters

• Kenney Assets: Free game assets. Kenney

More free tools and goodies than you can imagine

• Everest Pipkin’s Tiny Tools Directory: Curated tools for creative projects, including game development. Tiny Tools Directory

Got a favorite tool? Share it on our Class Discord!

Remember: The goal is to test a game idea quickly and simply. Select tools that align with your current skill level and the project’s requirements. Innovation and exploration are encouraged!