Games Development: Task 1
Game Design Document (GDD) ㅤ ㅤ ㅤ ㅤ ㅤ ㅤ ㅤ ㅤ ㅤ
Table of Contents
Lectures
Work Progress
✿ Feedback
Instructions
Find out other information about this module below
Module Information Booklet
- Design and create their own 2D side scrolling/platformer game
- As a starting point, a GDD should have but not limited to the item listed below : Game Title Description/Summary Storyline Gameplay Objectives Rules Rewards and Punishment items table
Brief
- Taylor’s Annual Mental Wellness Campaign 2026 will be held from 12–14 October 2026. This year’s theme, “Where Healing Meets Fun,” aims to destigmatise mental health by engaging people through fun, interactive, and play-based wellness activities.
You are required to produce a game that will be used for the event, your game should center around these key words:
- creative expression
- gentle and non-verbal
- explore and express emotions
Lectures
Week 1 (Absent)
- was sick hence did not attend class
- contacted Mr Ronald to ask what to prepare for next week's class
- for next class, prepare my game ideas, decide if i want to do it solo / group work
- look at PlayCanvas
Week 2
- asked for feedback from Mr Ronald
- decided to pair up with Michelle
Week 3
- no class (Mr Ronald was sick)
- met up with Michelle to work on our GDD since the deadline is tomorrow (Tuesday 5th May)
Figure 1.1 Week 3 Meet Up
Week 4
- I was absent
- Michelle mentioned that Mr Ronald taught us 3D modelling on Blender
Week 5
- There was not any lecture, today's class was just for consultation.
Work Progress
Week 2
Proposal Ideas
During Week 2, I have individual game ideas which I asked for feedback from Mr Ronald.
Idea #1 - Parkour
- players get limited number of platforms to place freely around the map, objective is to escape and parkour their way up to the next level
- different types of platforms (blue: slow, red: fast, green: bouncy...) reflecting mood swings
- each level is designed with different weathers to reflect and relate to mood
- players get to creatively make use of the limited mood platforms
Idea #2 - Plant
- planting simulator where players can plant different seeds to different colored crops, each colour is a different mood
- can see overall moods of the week / month
- players can learn to nurture their plant (mood) and understand how to calm down
After receiving feedback from Mr Ronald. He recommended I team up with Michelle and combine our ideas together.
Chosen Game Idea Development
Idea: Idea #2, and we combined ideas together with Michelle's weather idea. We further revised it and discussed our ideas in a meeting for next week.
Week 3
Games Development Document Progress
Created a Google Document to include all the details including weekly progress and our GDD.
Figure 2.1 Google Document - Project Tracker
We first drafted down all our ideas in a notepad, and brainstormed questions and concepts together. We also used ChatGPT to help think of ideas that would fit our concept. Attached below are the notes we did for our game.
Figure 2.2 Game Concept Draft #1
We completed our GDD Draft 1, and submitted it to Mr Ronald on Teams to check and give feedback before we submit it by tomorrow's deadline.
Week 5
Games Development Document Concept Change
Given feedback that our game should be a "one time refresh" game instead of a "memory saved game", me and Michelle brainstormed on ways to make the game fit that idea.
Inspired by a few games that we tried, Bondee played a big role on inspiring us to turn our game into a floating endless experience where we thought of putting the garden on a cloud and have it float endlessly. While floating, there are random weather changes, music changes, or even hidden encouraging messages that come up on the screen.
Different weather and interactive activity will affect how the plants in your garden grow. At the end of the session, players can leave and end the game but there's a catch where it wont be saved. This encourages them to capture pretty moments like rainbow or even butterflies entering the garden when they are in float mode.
Figure 2.3 Game Concept Draft #2
Above are the notes and sketches we did during our discussion. After that, we created the second draft of our GDD with the new ideas.
Figure 2.4 GDD Draft #2
Feedback
Week 1
I was absent as I was sick.
Week 2
During Week 2, I received these feedback after proposing my 2 game ideas:
- Mr Ronald showed me 3 different games that are similar to my ideas which I can reference and try to understand what there is in the market
- He mentioned to not worry about the skillset and limiting my ideas from it, instead I should think big and come out with a good idea first as that is the main priority
- Not using Unity, we are using PlayCanvas
- He preferred the plant idea, and gave suggestion on maybe each different mood plant can have different ways of nurturing them, and players would have to go through different steps to grow the plant
- Red anger plant could be fiesty, maybe we could sing to calm it down? More water, more patience, and understanding (reflect irl)
Week 3
No class as Mr Ronald was sick. I contacted him on teams to review our GDD before submission.
Week 4
I was absent. I contacted Mr Ronald on teams for feedback on our GDD.
Week 5
- Mr Ronald mentioned that our idea could be hard to do as its a memory game and it takes a lot of effort and time (and a big team) to make sure that all browsers save the game progress
- He recommended to keep the current concept but turn it into a one time game like it refreshes the next time you play it
- He also gave us the idea where at the ending screen, we could write "take a screenshot, your pot will be gone right after". This kind of reflects on the fact people should appreciate the moment as changes can happen anytime
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