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Summary

In this lesson, students will create a prototype of their video game and share their game development problems and solutions with others.

Curriculum codes

Digital Technologies: AC9TDI8P05 AC9TDI8P06 AC9TDI8P07 AC9TDI8P08 AC9TDI10P05 AC9TDI10P06 AC9TDI10P07 AC9TDI10P08 AC9TDI8P09 AC9TDI10P09 AC9TDI8P10 AC9TDI10P10

General capabilities

Digital Literacy: Creating and exchanging

Critical and Creative thinking:

a young man sitting on ground using laptop

Learning intention

In this lesson, you will create a prototype of your video game and share your game development problems and solutions with others.

Prerequisites

  • Lessons 1 to 4 need to be completed before prototyping work can commence.
  • Visual and audio design from lessons 5 and 6 can be in development whilst the game prototype is being built.

What you need

Before the lesson

  • If creating a physical Problem-Solving Board (for example, on a display board), prepare the board by dividing it into three equal sections. Add the headings: Problems, Solutions! and Resources to label each section.
  • If creating a digital Problem-Solving Board (for example, in Padlet), set up your device with a space for posting Problems, Solutions! and Resources. Use the question prompts in the Problem recording worksheet to set up your digital board. If students will be using anonymous accounts, ask them to sign their comment with their team’s name.

Activities

Introduction (15 mins)

  1. Tell teams that this lesson is for building a prototype of their video game.
    • Explain that a prototype is like a first draft. They will use the skills they have learnt in the unit so far to begin building their game and continue to add to this over the coming weeks.
    • Remind teams that building a video game can be tricky at times, so they will find problems that they might need help to solve.
  2. Show the students the Problem-Solving Board.
  3. Explain that teams should post problems they need help solving onto the Problem-Solving Board in the Problem section.

    Teacher tip: Teams should use the Problem recording worksheet to record problems as they arise.

  4. Explain that when they have solved the problem, they should update their post with details of how they solved their problem and move it to the Solved! part of the Problem-Solving Board.
  5. Discuss the Resources section of the Problem-Solving Board and encourage teams to add any resources they find that could help to solve future problems.
    • What are some problems that could happen as you develop your game?
    • Who could you go to for help with this problem?
    • What online resources are available to help you solve this problem?

Main Activity (40 mins)

  1. Tell teams they have the remainder of the class time to develop their prototype.

    Teacher tip: Teams might like to nominate one team member to add any problems they encounter to the Problem-Solving Board.

Reflection/Sharing Tasks (5–10 mins)

  1. Discuss any problems that are on the Problem-Solving Board (it’s okay if there are no problems).
  2. Discuss with teams ways they can find solutions to the problems identified. For example, they could ask a friend, look at the example games or access error detection programs (some free options are listed in the ‘Additional resources’).

Additional resources

  • LitterBox – a free resource developed to help find problems in Scratch programs.
  • Unity Test Runner – a tool that tests code in both Edit mode and Play mode, and also on target platforms such as Standalone, Android, or iOS.
  • BugSplat – a free tool that enables you to quickly detect defects when testing video games. It provides actionable insights into the root causes of crashes, facilitating efficient bug fixes.