Video Game Development

Unity, 3D games, advanced C#, business and marketing of video games.

Level: Level 2
Prerequisite: Digital Game Design
Engine: Unity 3D
Focus: Build & ship

What you'll learn

3D scenes: meshes, materials, lighting, and navigation.
Advanced C# — interfaces, events, coroutines, data structures.
Architecture that survives a big project: managers, save data, scene flow.
Performance profiling and build optimization.
The business of games: funding, pricing, storefronts, platforms.
Marketing a game: capsule art, trailers, press kits, launch timing.

What you'll build

Unit 1

3D prototype

First-person or third-person movement in a built environment.
Unit 2

Systems game

Inventory, save/load, and a real UI layer.
Unit 3

Go-to-market kit

Store page, trailer, and pitch for your own title.
Unit 4

Capstone

A shipped 3D game, published and presented to a live audience.

Course map

Year at a Glance

The master scope and sequence for Level 2. Every 3D skill unit is a short, focused sprint that ends with the new skill applied directly to your capstone game.

Each skill unit

Learn it, then ship it

Demo days introduce the technical skill in isolation on a small scoped exercise, then a lab day applies it directly to your team's capstone build.

Business thread

Running all year

Marketing and business content runs continuously through Career Days and surfaces as two dedicated units: Branding & Marketing Plan, and Pitch Refinement & Trailer.

Every Wednesday is Career Day — industry roles, studio structures, portfolio-building, and mid-year onward, marketing case studies tied to the current unit.

Level 2 units, in sequence
Unit	Title	Weeks	Capstone deliverable
0	Welcome to the Game LabOrientation	Wk 1	—
1	Concept Pitching & Team FormationBusiness / Foundation	Wk 2	Signed Team Charter, green lit concept
2	3D Environment Basics3D Skill	Wk 3–5	Blocked-out first environment
3	Player Controller & Physics3D Skill	Wk 6–8	Playable character in environment
4	Animation Systems3D Skill	Wk 9–10	Animated character/key object
5	UI/UX Design3D Skill	Wk 11–12	Main menu + in-game HUD
6	Branding & Marketing PlanBusiness	Wk 13–14	Game brand identity + marketing plan draft
7	Audio Integration3D Skill	Wk 15–16	SFX + music layered into build
8	AI & NPC Behavior3D Skill	Wk 17–19	One functioning AI agent
9	Visual Polish & VFX3D Skill	Wk 20–21	One signature VFX moment
10	Level Design & World Building3D Skill	Wk 22–24	Full first playable level
11	Save Systems & Game State3D Skill	Wk 25–26	Working save/load
12	Optimization & Performance3D Skill	Wk 27–28	Profiled, optimized build
13	Pitch Refinement & Trailer/Demo ReelBusiness	Wk 29–30	Polished pitch deck + gameplay trailer
14	Publishing & Deployment3D Skill	Wk 31–32	Live itch.io build + store page
15	Capstone Crunch & PolishStudio Sprint	Wk 33–34	Feature-complete build
16	Demo Day ShowcaseCulminating Event	Wk 35–36	Public pitch, marketing plan, and playable demo

Where it starts

Digital Game Design (Level 1)

See Level 1 →