📋 SYLLABUS
📋COURSE OVERVIEW
Welcome to Game Design: Animation & Simulation! This course introduces students to the exciting world of game development using industry-standard tools. You'll learn how to design, build, and publish your own games using Unity (the world's most popular game engine) and create 3D assets using Blender, all while developing real programming skills in C#.
This is a project-based course. That means you'll spend most of your time making things — not just reading or watching. Every unit builds toward a playable game project, and by the end of the semester you'll have a portfolio of work to show off.
No prior experience with game design or programming is required — just curiosity and a willingness to experiment, break things, and figure out why they broke.
UNIT 1 — GAME DESIGN PRINCIPLES
Core loops, MDA framework, game analysis, and writing your first Game Design Document.
UNIT 2 — C# PROGRAMMING BASICS
Variables, conditionals, loops, methods, and writing scripts that interact with Unity.
UNIT 3 — UNITY FUNDAMENTALS
Editor navigation, GameObjects, Components, physics, collisions, and the Roll-a-Ball project.
UNIT 4 — 3D MODELING WITH BLENDER
Mesh modeling, UV unwrapping, materials, and exporting assets into Unity.
UNIT 5 — CAPSTONE GAME PROJECT
Plan, build, and present an original playable game using everything from the semester.
🏆GRADING BREAKDOWN
| CATEGORY | WEIGHT | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|---|
| GRADE | RANGE | GRADE | RANGE |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 90–100% | C | 70–79% |
| B | 80–89% | F | Below 70% |
📜COURSE POLICIES
LATE WORK
Late work is handled on a case by case basis — life happens, and I get that. If something comes up that's going to affect your ability to submit on time, email me before the deadline, not after. I'm much more able to help when I know what's going on ahead of time. Do not wait until the last minute or after a zero appears in the gradebook to reach out.
REVISIONS & RESUBMISSIONS
Major projects may be revised and resubmitted for a higher grade within one week of receiving feedback. You must include a short note explaining what you changed and why. Practice work and quizzes are not eligible for revision.
ABSENCES & MAKE-UP WORK
Since this is a fully virtual asynchronous course, all materials are available online — there are no traditional absences. If you're dealing with something serious that prevents you from keeping up, please reach out early. I cannot help after the fact if I don't know what's going on.
CLASS PARTICIPATION
While there's no daily attendance grade, participation matters. Engage on the Community boards, respond to discussions, and show up to office hours when you're struggling. Students who ask for help early almost always succeed — students who disappear and resurface at the end of the semester usually don't.
TECHNOLOGY & COMPUTER ACCESS
A school computer with Unity and Blender installed is available to all enrolled students. If you experience technical issues with your school device, contact GCA IT support immediately — technology problems are not an excuse for late work if you wait too long to report them.
🤝ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
Game development is a collaborative industry — looking things up, using references, and learning from other people's code is completely normal and encouraged. However, there's a difference between learning from a source and submitting someone else's work as your own.
You are expected to write your own code and create your own assets for every assignment. If you reference a tutorial, documentation page, or video to help you, that's great — just note it in a comment or your submission. If I can't tell the difference between your work and a tutorial you copied, that's a problem.
🤖 A NOTE ON AI TOOLS
Tools like ChatGPT and GitHub Copilot exist, and you will use them professionally someday. In this class, AI tools may be used to help you understand concepts or debug problems — but not to generate your project submissions for you. If I ask you to explain how your code works and you can't, that's academic dishonesty regardless of how it was produced. When in doubt, ask me before using an AI tool on an assignment.
Violations of academic integrity will result in a zero on the assignment and may be escalated to school administration per Georgia Cyber Academy policy.
🛠️TOOLS & MATERIALS
All software used in this course is free. School computers have everything pre-installed. If using a personal computer, see the Setup Guide for download instructions.
💬COMMUNICATION & OFFICE HOURS
BEST WAY TO REACH ME
Email or Canvas Inbox are the fastest ways to reach me. Please include your name, class period, and a clear description of your question. "It's not working" is hard to help with — screenshots and error messages are your best friends.
OFFICE HOURS
Office hours are the best place to get live, real-time help on Unity, Blender, or C#. No appointment needed — just show up with your question or your broken project. The Zoom link is always on Canvas.
📅COURSE SCHEDULE
Approximate pacing — specific topics may shift based on class progress. Check the homepage each week for what's current.
| WEEK | TOPIC | UNIT |
|---|---|---|
| 1–2 | What is Game Design? Core loops & player psychology | DESIGN |
| 3–4 | MDA Framework, game analysis, Game Design Document | DESIGN |
| 5–6 | C# basics: variables, conditionals, loops | CODE |
| 7–8 | Methods, classes, and writing Unity scripts | CODE |
| 9–10 | Unity Editor: GameObjects, Components, Transform | UNITY |
| 11–12 | Physics, Rigidbody, forces & collision events | UNITY |
| 13–14 | Roll-a-Ball project: movement, collectibles, UI, win state | UNITY |
| 15–16 | Blender interface, mesh modeling, object mode vs edit mode | BLENDER |
| 17–18 | UV unwrapping, materials, textures, FBX export to Unity | BLENDER |
| 19–20 | Animation: Animator Controller, transitions, triggers | UNITY |
| 21–22 | UI systems: Canvas, HUD, menus, scene management | UNITY |
| 23 | Review & catch-up week | ALL |
| 24 NOW | Advanced physics, capstone project kickoff | CAPSTONE |
| 25–28 | Capstone game project — design, build, iterate | CAPSTONE |
| 29–30 | Playtesting, polish, and final presentations | CAPSTONE |