Lesson Plan

AQA Level 3 Technical Level Entertainment Technology: Video Games and Art

Unit Number: 10

Unit Name: Games Mechanics

Assessment or Performance Outcome: PO1

Tutor Name:

Group or Cohort
Week No. / 1
Date
Guidance Notes:
This lesson involves introducing learners to the unit and encouraging learners to think about what makes games enjoyable and reflect upon what makes the games they enjoy most enjoyable. This lesson plan is based on using Unreal Engine 4 (version 4.9.2) as the games engine for the unit’s assessment.
Length – 5 hours
Lesson Objective
All learners must be able to identify and categorize mechanics within games including a chosen game.
Most learners should be able to explain the functionality of the mechanic with a chosen game and find / record evidence of the mechanic in action.
Some learners could be able to expand upon their mechanics analysis to include control inputs and numerical values from the mechanics within their chosen game. / Activities
Tutor Led:
Introduction to the unit and the assessment, outlining the overall project to complete a character based proof of concept demo. The tutor will outline that learners will be using Unreal Engine 4 version 4.9.2.
(15 minutes)
Tutor Led:
Presentation focused on introducing games, game theory and game mechanics. The presentation will cover the following:
·  Introduction to games theory
·  Definitions of a ‘game’
·  Theories of play and why we play.
·  Definition of a games mechanic
(45 minutes)
BREAK (10 minutes)
Learner Led:
Learners to prepare a very short presentation on their favourite game using a single image. The image can be anything that shows the game, box art, screen shot etc. The learners should think about why they enjoy the game and why they feel it is a good game. The key question they should be looking to answer is “why do they like to play THAT game above any other game?”
(30 minutes)
Learner Led:
Learners should deliver their presentations covering the key points from the task above. This task is designed to get students to feel comfortable talking about their experience with games and what makes those games enjoyable for them. The tutor should attempt to link the learners comments with a relationship to mechanics, highlighting that the things they like about games are typically either mechanics or elements of the game governed by multiple mechanics.
(30 to 60 minutes depending on class size)
BREAK (10 minutes)
Tutor Led:
Presentation discussing mechanics types in more detail. This presentation will include discussion of the following:
·  Movement Mechanics:
o  On foot
o  Driven vehicle
o  Flying vehicle
o  Buoyant vehicle
·  Combat Mechanics
o  Melee and Weapon Combat
o  Projectile Combat
·  Reward Mechanics
·  Input / Output Mechanics
·  Aesthetical Customisation Mechanics
·  Maths and Mechanics
o  Time Management
o  In Game Currency Management
·  Emergent Game Mechanics
The presentation will use examples of games that contain these mechanics to help learners relate the technical concepts with their own gameplay experience.
(30 minutes)
Learner Led:
Learners to spend the rest of session breaking down their favourite game, listing all of the mechanics from the game and where possible finding evidence of the mechanic in action in the form of gameplay videos or screenshots. If learners are able to, they could record their own footage at home to expand upon the breakdown.
(60 to 120 minutes – can include stretch challenge)
Tutor Led
10 minutes before the close of the lesson, the tutor will introduce the homework activity.
(10 minutes)
Homework Activity:
Learners to be encouraged to post the final activity to their online blogs / journal / forum threads and treat it as a research activity. Whilst this isn’t being assessed for the performance outcomes, the task will allow the tutor to gauge the level of understanding as well as the students to have a reminder of the mechanics types in their favourite games.
Synoptic Assessment
This is the first class of the unit and contains no direct links to assessments in other units. / Stretch and Challenge activities?
Learners could take the final activity task further by breaking the mechanics down to include control inputs and values such as distances, damage amounts, movement speeds etc.
Transferable Skills and/or Soft Skills
This lesson includes a presentation which develops written and oral communication skills.
The research aspect will improve research and analysis methods. / English and Maths
Written communication when posting mechanics breakdowns of their favourite games to their forum threads.
Written and oral communication skills used in presentations.
Assessment
This is the first class of the unit and contains no direct work towards any of the assessment however the thought process involved in the activities are an important skill required to succeed later in the unit. / Meaningful employer engagement
An employer could be brought in to introduce a specific type of game for learners to work on. The employer could set the general outlines such as a 3rd person action adventure game and even provide a thematic twist. It would be ideal if the same employer was available later in the unit to come and offer feedback and critique based upon developments.

Lesson Plan: Unit 10 Game Mechanics

Qualification: Level 3 Technical Level Video Games and Art

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