DGTL12009 - Game Development

Showing: 2026 HE Term 1
General Information

Unit Synopsis

This unit builds on the foundation provided by the prerequisite unit to further develop your skills and knowledge in game design and development. You will learn about key elements of the game industry, platforms and genres. Through a combination of theory and practice, you will learn how to develop a game prototype, conduct an effective playtest, evaluate feedback, and revise a game’s design. You will also learn how to communicate game designs to others using appropriate documentation.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 2
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 2
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

Prerequisite: MMST12017 Game Design

Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).

Class Timetable View Unit Timetable
Residential School No Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2026


Attendance Requirements

All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).

Assessment Overview

Recommended Student Time Commitment

Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Practical and Written Assessment 30%
2. Practical and Written Assessment 30%
3. Practical and Written Assessment 40%

This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).

Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades

Past Exams

Previous Feedback

Term 2 - 2020 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 66.67% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 21.43% response rate.

Feedback, Recommendations and Responses

Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.

Source: Formal unit evaluation
Feedback:
 There was a suggestion that distribution of work sometimes felt uneven and that roles should be formalised (in writing) at the start of term.

Recommendation:
 A Strengths Weakness Opportunities & Threat (SWOT) Analysis is conducted in the early weeks of the term to help students identify poterntial collaboration partners. This process should help identify students with complementary skillsets & knowledge, but also ensure that term development roles are allocated fairly. Additonally, students are challenged to actively reflect on their in-role performance through the weekly critical reflection blogging tasks to ensure that all members are pulling their weight. That said, I have taken the feedback onboard and will review the existing processes.

Action Taken:
 Changes have been made to ensure that the distribution of work is fair and the allocation of roles is clear.
Source: Student unit evaluation feedback
Feedback:
 Communication from the Unit Coordinator was slow at times

Recommendation:
 The Unit Coordinator will monitor the online discussion forums closely and will respond to questions from students as quickly as possible.

Action Taken:
 In Progress
Unit Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. explain key elements of the game industry, platforms and genres
  2. develop a game prototype, applying the theories, methods and process of game design
  3. playtest a game prototype, evaluate feedback, and revise a game’s design
  4. communicate game designs to others using appropriate documentation.

Not applicable

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Practical and Written Assessment • •
2 - Practical and Written Assessment • •
3 - Practical and Written Assessment • • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Communication • • • •
2 - Problem Solving • • •
3 - Critical Thinking • • • •
4 - Information Literacy • • • •
5 - Team Work • • •
6 - Information Technology Competence • • • •
7 - Cross Cultural Competence • • • •
8 - Ethical practice • • • •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 10
1 - Practical and Written Assessment • • • • • •
2 - Practical and Written Assessment • • • • • • • •
3 - Practical and Written Assessment • • • • • • • •