Contents
This course is oriented at gameplay programming. Something that is usually masked as mere “game programming”, which is a wrong term (coding a game engine is also a part of game programming). We will be visiting tips and tricks how to make better games by implementing various game mechanics. Done in the game engine Godot 4 using GDScript. The course is taught at MFF UK as NCGD003.
News
Follow the appropriate channel at Gamedev Discord!
https://discord.gg/c49DHBJ
Dates
Lectures: Wednesdays, 17:20, S3.
Labs: Mondays, 17:20, SW2.
Course Exam
The course exam will be both theoretical & practical!
Theoretical Part
A written test. In general, you be knowledgeable about the topics in this document.
Practical Part
You will be given a Godot implementation task, with a (somewhat) generous time limit. This task will be loosely based around stuff from the lectures / labs.
Lab Credit
There will be (approximately) 4 homeworks over the course of the labs. The points will be given out as such:
3 points – submitted solution within deadline
Each week of delay will incur a 1 point deduction. Don’t leave the solutions until the last possible moment. If you had a serious reason why you couldn’t submit in time, let us know.
You need to submit all of the homeworks successfully and get at least maximum_possible - 3 points to successfully pass the labs. Additionally, each point missing will give you requirement on passing the final exam. Depending on the points, you will need to:
max : At the practical part of the exam, you need your solution to “basically work”, but it can have flaws.
max – 1 : At the practical part of the exam, your solution can have minor flaws.
max – 2 : At the practical part of the exam, your solution can only have small “cosmetic” flaws.
max – 3 : At the practical part of the exam, your solution needs to work flawlessly.
Lectures
| No. | Date | Topic | Content | Slides |
| 1. | 1.10.2025 | What is Gameplay Programming? | Introduction to the field… if a bit confusing. | |
| 2. | 10.10.2025 | Game Object Model | Some background then discussing: inheritance, composition, component-based, and finally Entity-Component-System designs | |
| 3. | 17.10.2025 | Tweening – Part I | Introduction to curves and in-be-tweening | PDF (2023) YT (2020) |
| 4 | 22.10.2025 | Tweening – Part II | Splines | PDF (2025) GDC Vault |
Homeworks
You are expected to work at home on the following stuff; some of homeworks must be formally delivered, some just serve as guidelines for you what you should try out or prepare.
Labs Schedule
| No. | Date | Topic | Content |
| 1. | 29.9.2025 | Godot Intro | Introduction to Godot.
Make a game from scratch in Godot 4! Use these assets. HW1: (wait for 1st lecture!) Pick your favorite game and describe it with the 7 lens of playability (described in 1st lecture). Written text + audio. Submit here. Deadline: 19th of October |
| 2. | 6.10.2025 | GDScript Deep Dive | Treading the depths of Godot’s scripting language – GD Script! |
| 3. | 13.10.2025 | RPG, part 1 | Introducing the first project, a simple RPG. Let’s get our hands dirty as gameplay programmers!
Instructions are here. |
| 4. | 20.10.2025 | RPG, part 2 | Continuing on the first RPG project!
Instructions are here. |
| 5. | 27.10.2025 | RPG, part 3 | Last part of the RPG. Here are the instructions.
HW2: RPG Finish the RPG (follow all the tasks in these and 2 previous practicals) Submit here. Deadline: 16th of November |
| 6. | 3.11.2025 | Tweening Library | Make your own tweening library. Follow these materials. |
| 7. | 10.11.2025 | Space Shooter (intermezzo) | Making a quick space shooter! How complete can you make it in 90 minutes?
Follow these materials. |
| 8. | |||
| 9. | |||
| 10. | |||
| 11. | |||
| 12. |
Extra links