Hack, Slash & Backstab: A Post-Mortem of University Game Development at Scale

Abstract

This article describes the educational, operational, and practical implementation of an upper-division undergraduate studio-style course centered on the subject of game production. Specifically, the article addresses the course organization and processes, the institutional context for the course (i.e., its situated role in the larger curriculum), the overall structure of the course both from a pedagogical and operational point of view, and concludes with substantial reflection and analysis by the authors on what worked effectively and where improvements could be made. The article also provides substantial depth regarding the student experience, the structure of creating muti-disciplinary software development teams within the course, orienting the course around the successful production of a professional-grade XBOX One video game product, and various methods, structures and tools for course organization, communication, software development practice, documentation, etc. This in turn is framed in the larger context of the course as it was offered not only through an academic department, but in parallel with a campus-based games studio and research center. Numerous detailed elements are provided in such fashion as to provide other educators and mentors a relevant, structured, and detailed post-mortem of a large scale, multi-disciplinary effort that engaged students in complex multimedia software production in a professional context. In addition, several elements atypical from more traditional software project courses as they intersect game development including entertainment design, playtesting, marketing, press, public demonstration and performance, audience reception and analytics, commercial platform, etc., and discussed and analyzed.