The Capstone project is a place for you to develop your game idea into a fully-fleshed proposal. A game design document is your game bible, the go-to document that defines the genre of your game, its look and feel, and the evolution of gameplay. This four-part capstone project guides you to distill and improve the foundational aspects of your game so that you may express your ideas in a clear and productive way.
This course is part of the Game Design: Art and Concepts Specialization
Offered By
Game Design: Art and Concepts SpecializationCalifornia Institute of the ArtsAbout this Course
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Learner Career Outcomes
50%
started a new career after completing these courses
38%
got a tangible career benefit from this course
Shareable Certificate
Earn a Certificate upon completion
100% online
Start instantly and learn at your own schedule.
Course 5 of 5 in the
Flexible deadlines
Reset deadlines in accordance to your schedule.
Intermediate Level
Approx. 16 hours to complete
English
Subtitles: French, Portuguese (European), Russian, English, Spanish
Learner Career Outcomes
50%
started a new career after completing these courses
38%
got a tangible career benefit from this course
Shareable Certificate
Earn a Certificate upon completion
100% online
Start instantly and learn at your own schedule.
Course 5 of 5 in the
Flexible deadlines
Reset deadlines in accordance to your schedule.
Intermediate Level
Approx. 16 hours to complete
English
Subtitles: French, Portuguese (European), Russian, English, Spanish
Offered by
California Institute of the Arts
CalArts has earned an international reputation as the leading college of the visual and performing arts in the United States. Offering rigorous undergraduate and graduate degree programs through six schools—Art, Critical Studies, Dance, Film/Video, Music, and Theater—CalArts has championed creative excellence, critical reflection, and the development of new forms and expressions.
Syllabus - What you will learn from this course
3 hours to complete
Week 1: Ideation
Welcome! In this first week we’ll lay out the structure of the course, and what milestones you will have to meet each week. At the end of this week is your first assignment: presenting your preliminary game idea to your peers.
3 hours to complete
4 videos (Total 11 min), 12 readings, 1 quiz
12 readings
Course Structure5m
Course Milestones (Assignments)2m
Academic Integrity2m
Instructor Presence and Staff Support 1m
GDD vs. Pitch8m
Final Project Examples10m
Assembling Your Research8m
Understanding Your Market3m
List of Genres5m
Recommendations for peer review (Week 1)10m
The Traditional Game Development Workflow8m
Creating a Production Plan8m
3 hours to complete
Week 2: Prototyping and Playtesting
In Week 2 we’ll take a look at several different ways of making a prototype (some of which you’ve seen before) and play testing. Before the end of the week you'll be making and presenting a prototype of your game, using the tool of your choice.
3 hours to complete
1 video (Total 3 min), 11 readings, 1 quiz
1 video
11 readings
About Prototyping Tools1m
3D Game Engines5m
2D Game Engines5m
Simple Game Engines5m
Mod Kits5m
Board and Card Games8m
Storyboarding8m
Flowcharts8m
Other Methods5m
Playtesting and Data Gathering8m
Playtesting Checklist5m
2 hours to complete
Week 3: Prototyping and Playtesting continued
In Week 3 you'll continue refining your prototype.
2 hours to complete
1 reading
1 reading
About refining your prototype10m
3 hours to complete
Week 4: Visualization
In Week 4 you will start concretizing the look and feel of your game with visuals and other descriptive materials.
3 hours to complete
2 videos (Total 20 min), 2 readings, 1 quiz
2 readings
The Experience8m
Building a Team8m
Reviews
TOP REVIEWS FROM GAME DESIGN DOCUMENT: DEFINE THE ART & CONCEPTS
by FRJun 1, 2016
The course was nicely prepared and structured, in my opinion it lacked a bit of content compared to the rest of the specialization. But it's a good rounding up of everything we learned before.
by AMFeb 19, 2018
Very hands on and creative. Pushed my ideas to the paper and to develop further and better than I would ever without guidance. Thank you so much.
by MTJun 13, 2018
I really liked the way this course was designed. It helped me revise some forgotten concepts when I was studying.
by MPOct 11, 2016
Excellent specialization, I have learned a lot of how to create a Game Design Document and a prototype.
About the Game Design: Art and Concepts Specialization
Stemming from the principles of storytelling and design established in CalArts’ renowned Animation programs, this Specialization lays a primary foundation for experimentation and exploration of video game design, story, character development, and winning gameplay before programming begins. These four courses emphasize the self-reliance and personal expression of the gaming artist, and encourage you to take conceptual risks and develop new modes of expression and form through gaming. In the final Capstone Project, you’ll put your creative skills to work by generating an engaging game design document for a personal game project, outlining the conceptual, narrative and aesthetic elements of your game.
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