THE PLAY'S THE THING: GAMEPLAY PROGRAMMING AND CODING BEHAVIOURS - 2026/7

Module Overview

This module develops the coding and programming knowledge and skills students developed in the first year and looks in more depth at gameplay programming and coding behaviours. On the module you will explore the possibilities, limitations and application of putting in place gameplay mechanisms and aesthetics for video game prototypes. You will study in more detail scripting techniques and the design of complex systems for video games and experiment with game engines to create engaging gameplay effects as well as using flowcharts and finite state machines and implementing these in the engine used. The development of workable and demonstrable gameplay mechanics will be a key output of this module. In addition, students will be introduced to game AI applications.

The Play's the Thing: Gameplay Programming and Coding Behaviours takes students on the next stage of their programming learning journey into coding more complex applications for player interaction and system behaviour. As such, it connects forward to other games design and coding modules on the degree as well as a broader group of modules that utilise coding in them in the second and final year of the programme.

Module provider

Literature & Languages

Module Leader

MOONEY Stephen (Lit & Langs)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 5

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Module Availability

Semester 1

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

None

Module content

Indicative content includes:

• The complex player response


• Gameplay programming


• Coding behaviours


• Game Engine software


• Scripting principles for complex game systems


• Principles of object-oriented design


• Designing and planning gameplay mechanics


• Developing gameplay mechanics


• Flowcharting and finite state machines and implementation


• Introduction to game AI

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

N/A

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate achievement of the module learning outcomes.

Laboratory seminar discussion with ongoing tutor feedback is designed mainly to assess transferable skills in working as part of a group and applying learning materials to creative design and practical/professional skills in developing and presenting coding work in suitably professional form and to desirable technical standards as well as expressing ideas and reflective critical analysis in oral communication suitable to level 5 study. It also assesses subject knowledge in the different forms of practical and contextual thinking and expertise explored in relation to coding, gameplay programming and games design and cognitive/analytical skills in creatively thinking through posited problems that require a coding solution in class.

The Continual Gameplay Exercise Assessment and Gameplay Portfolio with Reflective Critical Commentary assessments allow students to demonstrate:

• subject knowledge relating to the close analysis of advanced form, meaning, coding language and engines applications and their context in games design (including sustainability and global and cultural capability narratives where appropriate)


• cognitive/analytical skills in applying coding techniques to solving games design gameplay challenges and problems and in reflective critical thinking


• professional/practical skills in generating and communicating more advanced ideas, designing sophisticated coding solutions, testing and realising a coding output that will feed forward into their future employability in the games industries, the wider creative industries and beyond


• advanced creative engagement with the opportunities and limitations of particular types of game engine, scripting and gameplay programming as well as the related writing and designing skills that will feed into their games design and other modules in future years of the degree, including their final major project in their final year


• developed creative engagement with current themes and challenges within games design as these relate to gameplay programming, scripting and coding behaviours, such as sustainability and global cultural awareness matters


• a developed ability to locate their own creative coding design work fruitfully and articulately in relation to existing coding practices, techniques, frameworks and platforms

Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:

Continual Gameplay Exercise Assessment (30%)

This summative assessment is an opportunity for students to demonstrate their understanding of gameplay programming by posting responses to weekly challenges as a cumulative assignment built up over the semester, presented as a series of forum posts on the module platform

Gameplay Portfolio with Reflective Critical Commentary (1000 words) (70%)

This summative assessment represents a culmination of the module's output with students presenting a portfolio of gameplay coding work (with games engine files and video playthrough) and incorporating a reflective critical commentary on the portfolio (1000 words)

Formative Assessment & Feedback: Verbal feedback and formative 'feed forward' is provided through laboratory seminar discussions. Likewise with tutor and peer feedback including on their designs, development and reflection for the summative coursework as it builds up over the term as part of the confidence building safe space of the these sessions. The module includes regular assignments requiring appplied responses and coding skills for the topics and techniques under investigation. Design, coding, programming, presentation, professional writing and critical reflection skills will be developed and will feed forward to the weekly and final summative assessments, helping build students' resilience and confidence in preparing work presentation and assessment.

There is the option of a range of other feedback mechanisms agreed between tutor and students in week 1 of the module, such as seminar contribution and writing exercises.

Module aims

• extend and deepen students¿ understanding of programming and coding for video games
• develop further student¿s knowledge of, and skills with, scripting principles for complex game systems
• equip students with pertinent knowledge about the technology and software available to them as games designers working with coding techniques, practices and provide them with the opportunity to explore and experiment with advanced coding behaviour in games engines to develop their own gameplay features
• help students to make sophisticated and informed decisions about what approaches and techniques may be most suitable for specific gameplay applications and to devise and implement their own coding mechanics to achieve these
• further build confidence in designing and presenting their creative coding work and facilitate refined and developed reflection upon their coding activities and creative outputs
• provide an introduction to game related AI applications

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to:

• refine and develop advanced coding and game engine skills (in a variety of forms) by developing an increased awareness of the application of these to their games design practice by exposing them to more in-depth knowledge of games engines, scripting and gameplay programming applicable to games design in the gaming industries, the broader creative industries and beyond, by setting in-class briefs, discussion and sharing of gameplay programming and games engine experience alongside the study of learning materials and the weekly assessment tasks


• facilitate the growth in students' creative independence and ability to generate advanced gameplay coding solutions by illustrating pertinent case study examples and encouraging them to think about ways in which coding knowledge, techniques and platforms can be applied to solving gamic problems and by incorporating practical laboratory seminar sessions where students can experiment with practical programming techniques and principles.


• assist students in developing the developed applied research and writing skills they will need to produce critically informed reflective academic writing and presentation skills at this level by developing increased competency and confidence in writing and presenting material for feedback and assessment in appropriate media such as the weekly forum posts in response to weekly challenges on the module platform and the reflective critical commentary and by encouraging more nuanced thinking about forms and professional standards in writing styles through the safe space of the laboratory seminar setting where ideas, advice and responses are shared with other coding students


• equip students with a basic grounding in resourcefulness and resilience as emerging coders by giving them the freedom to experiment with more advanced and complex forms, modes and styles in response to the coding and design briefs in class, and by providing them with the supportive and encouraging safe space of the laboratory seminar within which they can develop further their skills in receiving and giving constructive critical and creative responses to their own work and those of other students and to develop a more developed awareness of their creative process in relation to the technology and game design


• introduce an applied understanding of game related AI considerations, challenges and opportunities by exposing them to new developments in the field as these apply to games and games design through set reading and informed discussion in the laboratory seminar setting and through reference to university expertise in this emerging field

The learning and teaching methods include:

A combination of lecture materials, laboratory seminars, captured content, guided learning and independent learning, and includes a weekly laboratory seminar where students discuss set tasks and challenges they have experienced and respond to those of others in a supportive, constructive and open manner.

Students will engage with preparatory reading, including, where relevant, creative design work by other students, in advance of the laboratory seminar which will combine discussion of coding learning materials with in-class creative or critical exercises and briefs each week. Designed to help students reflect on and apply their learning to creative and critical outputs, the laboratory seminar environment acts as a safe space for developing and exchanging ideas, support, design, coding and writing skills.

Varied learning materials such as lexical texts, visual materials, sculptural objects and other physical material prompts, video and sound objects, games and gamified texts are designed to increase student accessibility and will present them with a range of interpretive materials and approaches with which to work and develop their own thinking and creative responses.

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: ELI2054

Other information

The School of Arts, Humanities & Creative Industries is committed to developing graduates with strengths in Employability, Digital Capabilities, Global and Cultural Capabilities, Sustainability, and Resourcefulness and Resilience. This module is designed to allow students to develop knowledge, skills, and capabilities in the following areas:

Employability: this 2nd year module further develops coding skills in relation to game design that students were equipped with in their first year of study with advanced applications to game design and other creative industry applications from a range of different perspectives, engines, coding frameworks, programming languages and platforms. This is done with an industry facing approach to generating ideas and designing and implementing coding solutions. In focussing on and further developing key technical coding and design skills, in this module you will refine and enhance your professional abilities that will facilitate your practice as a professional games design practitioner wording with code and its technical and creative applications both in the gaming industries and beyond. The skills and aptitudes developed in this module will connect to the wider games coding and games design modules throughout your degree, having developed skills in character and narrative design, designing game environments, levels,and playability. implementing game mechanics, etc. Equally important for employability within these areas (and often overlooked) is the development of social knowledge around coding, games design and personability.

Digital Capabilities: this module is built on the very latest coding techniques and technologies developed and employed by the games and related industries, thus ‘digital capabilities’ is at the heart of your learning in The Play’s the Thing: Gameplay Programming and Coding Behaviours. Contemporary video games design and production is an inherently ‘digital’ affair of course, and this module engages at all levels with technology and digital coding assets and skills, such as gameplay programming, intermediate level coding, game engine software, coding behaviours, designing and planning gameplay mechanics, and more. In addition, the opportunities and challenges posed by generative AI in coding and games design will form part of the skills development of students. Appropriate use of digital media and communication platforms, such as Microsoft Teams, SurreyLearn and other digital and file and output sharing platforms, is increasingly important for visual arts and creative industry professionals and students will gain and develop those invaluable skills as part of this module.

Global and Cultural Capabilities: just like other arts and sciences fields, games design can facilitate the exchange of ideas and experiences and represent these in digital and analogue spaces and can help to foster creative and cultural empathy in players, viewers and readers of all kinds across the globe. Coding for games and the creative industries can be part of the language of these discussion, narrativising and keeping alive and vibrant different cultures and experiences, especially those that might otherwise be silenced or endangered. The weekly laboratory seminars give students the discuss their own coding solutions to games design challenges and briefs and to experience and respond to those of others in a friendly, constructive and open forum. Games Design students will be exposed, throughout their degree, to a wide range of approaches, textuality and visuality from all over the world and students are encouraged to bring this knowledge into their design practice right from the beginning of their study of games and the role of design in these.

Resourcefulness and Resilience: this module, through the shared experience that comes about from sharing work with other students will help equip you for the real world setting of your current and future games design practice. You will benefit from the experience of your peers and from your tutors who all have games design coding skills and experience and from periodic guest speakers attached to the Games Design programme as you progress through your degree.

This module provides students with a number of challenges which reflect the current state of the art. Students need to respond to these with inventiveness and flexibility and are often required to research and develop their own solutions to given problems. This module also helps develop your learning with more detailed applications of coding that will feed into later games design and games studies modules on your degree where coding will be essential. As with other modules on the degree the importance of connecting to games/gaming and design communities that will be essential to your current and future emotional and practical wellbeing and success as a designer.

Sustainability: Students’ understanding of sustainable digital practices of games, their players and the interfaces between them will be enhanced in this module, with coding applications part of that broad discussion. Furthermore, from a content viewpoint, some of the coding solutions developed by students on the course may address environment and sustainability issues as part of their approach. Games design and coding decisions can also realise cultural sustainability goals, playing an important role in increasing and maintaining awareness of cultural identity, themes and experience.

Teachers across the School also work closely with the University of Surrey’s Institute for Sustainability to explore and promote the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2026/7 academic year.