Unit 16: Video Games II: Mechanics

In this unit you will learn vocabulary related to video game development concepts.

The following activities can be tailored to fit the needs of your students and the goals your study program.

Vocabulary Builder Activity

Students will learn the following key terms and phrases:

Reading Activity: Dialogue: A Final Game Project at University

Students will be able to correctly answer true/false questions after reading and listening to topical short articles and dialogs featuring topical vocabulary.

SCENE: A small studio apartment in downtown Brisbane, Australia. Two final-year students, Alex and Jamie, are sitting on the couch with their laptop computers. Around them the apartment is cluttered with Diet Coke cans, half-finished game sketches and empty pizza boxes. Alex: So Jamie, I hear you are going back to Sacramento for the holidays. That means we really need to decide the… Continue

Multiple Choice Activity

Students will be able to select the best match between unit terms and their definitions.

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Listening Comprehension Activity

Students will be able to listen to short audio clips in English and then spell them correctly.

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Spelling and Recognition

Students will be able to identify and spell a vocabulary term correctly given only the definition.

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Speaking Practice Activity

Students will be able to speak and record 5 example sentences from the unit vocabulary and then submit them for grading by the classroom teacher. If no teacher is available or desired, then the students will be shown good examples of other students' work.

Video game combos are often difficult to remember and complete correctly when needed.

After analyzing hours of beta gameplay, the devs decided to nerf the BFG rocket launcher by reducing its splash damage by 60%.

Although most game companies encourage the creation of unofficial mods, the general rule is that you cannot sell them without permission.

John Carmack was supposedly the first game dev to use lightmap textures during the rendering of his seminal game Quake.

Excessive ping times will make FPS games lag and thus be almost unplayable

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Writing Practice Activity

Students will write a short essay to be graded by the teacher. If no teacher is available or desired, then the student is shown previous examples of other writings by students.

Which game idea do you think sounds more interesting—Alex’s fighter-style game or Jamie’s beat ’em up? Why?

Alex and Jamie talk about game mechanics and replay value. What do those words mean to you? Can you give examples from games you like?

If you were on their team, how would you divide the work (design, coding, AI, graphics, testing)? Explain your choices.

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