| Unit name | Implementing Stories in Games |
|---|---|
| Unit code | HUMSM0026 |
| Credit points | 40 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Cole |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
N/A |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
N/A |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
N/A |
| School/department | School of Humanities |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts, Law and Social Sciences |
Why is this unit important?
Moving from ideation to execution, this unit provides you with the technical skills to realise your ideas in practice. It takes a hands-on approach, empowering you through the use of game engines (Unity, Unreal) to explore and adapt the building blocks of games for the purposes of storytelling. You will develop an aptitude for industry standard tooling through an in-depth exploration of the affordances of game engines and their practical application in game creation. You will consider how narrative design interacts with complex systems design, bringing to bear your skills in narrative design and scripting software while further engaging with games as multidisciplinary artefacts that bring together a range of disciplines. You will engage in agile game development and adapt your approach to narrative design accordingly, responding to iterative design and implementation. The outcome will be a narrative game prototype incorporating peer feedback through the game writers’ room.
How does this unit fit into the programme of study?
Returning to the game writers’ room, this unit positions you at the intersection of narrative design and game development. You will embed narratives in game projects using industry standard game engines, which you will learn through technical labs. In addition, you will work on live game development projects through a two-way collaboration with third year Computer Science MEng students on their Team Project unit. Implementing Stories in Games sits alongside the 20-credit unit Writing with Emerging Technologies in Games, which poses questions around the intrusion of technology on the creative process while exploring the art of the possible.
An overview of content
You will experiment with game engines (Unity, Unreal) in regular technical labs, bringing to life the ideas you refined in Writing for Games around narrative design, and then further critiquing these in the context of the game writers’ room. The unit will provoke you to engage directly with the broad spectrum of game design principles, including systems design, mechanics, level design, audiovisual storytelling, genre, and more. In doing so, it will help you conceive of how a narrative will play out, what new elements might be required, as well as how narrative design adapts over the course of a game development cycle. We will consider specifications, timelines, gameplay focus, and resourcing. The ability to work creatively and adapt within a fast-moving, interconnected process is what sets narrative design apart from writing for other media. You will practice iterative design and implementation in pursuit of the creation of a narrative game prototype. Each week, set games will illustrate key concepts to be covered.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit
By the end of this unit, you will have a deep appreciation of game development workflows and processes and how narrative design intersects with these. The use of industry-standard tools will not only benefit your CV but also enhance your practice as a narrative designer. And lastly, as a result of bringing a game prototype to life and collaborating with Computer Science students, you will have a comprehensive understanding of the disciplines required to create a compelling game experience and how you would work with them.
Learning Outcomes
A weekly 7h full day game writers’ room, plus a series of industry masterclasses.
Learning on this unit will take place over a full day, within which, in your respective groups, you will be introduced to concepts in game design and how to implement them in game engines. You will then work in groups to realise mini briefs or engage in game jam sprints using these techniques. Alongside this, you will continue to critique each other’s narrative design propositions and share learnings with a focus on aligning your narrative and technical skills. Critical reflection will be strongly encouraged throughout. No two writers’ rooms will be the same, however they will share a set of technical directives and narrative challenges to solve as a group, informed by weekly set games and diary entries. The narrative prototype will form a core thread across the term, with time set aside in each writers’ room for groups to develop and refine their proposal, as well as regular tutor check-ins and asynchronous activities to scaffold group work outside class. In addition, through collaboration with third year Computer Science MEng students on their Team Project unit, you will have the opportunity to act as narrative design consultants for their game project while learning more about the implementation and quality assurance testing of the games design process. A series of industry masterclasses will expand the horizon of creative practice when it comes to implementing stories in games.
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative):
Throughout the unit, you will engage in ongoing technical labs focused on developing your proficiency in game engines (Unity, Unreal), while continuing with your creative criticism in the context of the game writers’ room. Additionally, you will regularly participate in group presentations following game jam sprints. You will also be supported to draft a game design document in your group for the narrative prototype.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
Technical diary plus 500-word reflection (20%) [ILO 1] (individual)
Narrative prototype made up of game design documentation, playable experience, and individual contribution logs (total of 3,000 words or equivalent) (60%) [ILOs 2-4] (group project)
1,500-word critical commentary and reflection (20%) [ILOs 1, 4, 5] (individual)
Group assessment marks will be individualised through contribution logs and your reflections on the particular aspect of the narrative design process that you take on within your group.
When assessment does not go to plan
Reassessment for the individual components will take the same form as the original briefs. For the group elements, if you are unable to contribute at all, the reassessment will require you to reflect on what the group has done, add to your group’s submission, and then consider how your contribution would have affected the outcome.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. HUMSM0026).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The assessment methods listed in this unit specification are designed to enable students to demonstrate the named learning outcomes (LOs). Where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, schools will make reasonable adjustments to support a student to demonstrate the LO by an alternative method or with additional resources.
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
