FINAL MAJOR PROJECT - 2027/8

Module Overview

The Final Major Project module is intended to provide students with an opportunity to produce a portfolio of highly polished games design materials accompanied by self-reflective critical commentary in an area of the student’s choice, allowing then to develop in detail individual specialisations within the broader field of games design that they can take forward into the future careers. This Final Major Project represents the culmination of the student’s creative work across the degree and will act, with other creative outcomes as portfolio work students can present to industry and for further study.

This portfolio may consist of a major piece of design work (either a single extended piece of work or a collection of smaller pieces). An agreed length/scope/word count equivalent should be negotiated with the student’s supervisor dependent on the form of creative portfolio materials proposed.

Each student will be assigned a supervisor who will assist them in choosing their subject matter and creative and critical approaches, and who will provide advice, encouragement and formative feedback over the course of the research, design, implementation, testing, demonstration and writing-up process.

as well as suggesting relevant reading material which may help inspire or critically locate the project. This module also allows students to reflect at length on the project’s rigorous relationship to previous work in the field, form or genre, on the writing processes and thinking behind the creative choices made, and to locate the work productively in literary and theoretical contexts. As well as the dissertation itself students will undertake a formative presentation in semester 1, and work on developing self-reflective skills through completing a progress log with their supervisors.

The module spans both semester 1 and 2 and allows for students to undertake broad ranging, large scope projects, encouraging ambition, risk-taking, detailed planning and professional execution. As such, this module is designed to help contextualise student creative design practice in the professional fields of the games industries and related sectors as well as for post-graduate study.

The module draws together and integrates the various areas, specialisms and skills students encounter and explore as part of the programme, and presents further opportunity to explore and develop new and extended coding and programming skills and expertise appropriate to the project.

This module connects to other modules on the programme undertaken by the students, allowing them to bring together and build from strands from earlier games related modules that they have particularly liked and excelled at, or act as a complement to other modules that the student has enjoyed but where they wish to use this dissertation module as an opportunity to explore and develop a different area that they wish to develop. As such, this module can connect with any of the modules students have studied across their degree, and allows them to tailor their pathway through the degree, and the degree itself, in their own way.

Module provider

Literature & Languages

Module Leader

MOONEY Stephen (Lit & Langs)

Number of Credits: 60

ECTS Credits: 30

Framework: FHEQ Level 6

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

Module Availability

Year long

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

None

Module content

In order to give students training in the research skills needed to plan and complete an independent and largescale portfolio project (including a reflective critical commentary), this module includes a range of workshops which are compulsory for all students:

Indicative workshop content might include:

• writing a project proposal


• project planning


• requirements analysis


• research methods


• Game Design Documentation


• writing a literature review


• writing a critical commentary


• drafting, editing and testing


• workshopping of work in progress


• proofing and finalising the portfolio submission


• troubleshooting

Assessment Deadlines

Final Major Project project proposal submitted in level 5 (Year 2) or P (Placement Year) of the degree: [circa late March of the year before the Final Major Project module commences]

Formative presentation: semester 1 of the year of the Final Major Project module.

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

N/A

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate:

• their ability to identify a games design creative project area and to realise this as a large piece of work of a professional and industry facing standard


• planning and design ability in carrying forward a large project, complete with implementation, testing, editing and demonstration stages of the process employed


• the development in their critical writing skills in analysing games design theory and practice and texts


• their understanding of the context of their work in relation to other creative and/or critical work and ideas


• the student’s awareness of global and cultural issues, possibly including ecological and cultural sustainability issues and of the context of their creative and/or critical approaches and outputs generated as part of the project


• their development of research and writing skills, highly prized by modern employers


• their creative ability in identifying themes, techniques and practices that realise their creative vision as a games designer


• the students’ narrative design skills in producing creative work of publishable standard applicable to contemporary games industries

Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:

• Developed Games Design Portfolio plus 5000 word Reflective Critical Commentary (100%)

The summative assessment is an opportunity for students to develop their design interests and work into a polished portfolio in a form/mode/genre of their choosing. The Critical Commentary element of the portfolio offers an opportunity for students to employ their research skills to determine and develop the critical context of their creative work to better understand where they may fit in a contemporary games landscape (e.g. game industries, literary markets, readerships, or specific publication streams). Students will also submit a completed Supervisor Log.

Formative Assessment & Feedback:

Verbal feedback and formative ‘feed forward’ is provided through one-to-one supervisor advice and feedback, as well as in the games design project skills workshops from tutors and peers. Work-in-progress is continuously monitored both in person and via online tools and direct feedback is provided along the way. Students are expected to support each other’s work wherever possible – both practically and through feedback and ideas. Specific feedback is provided at milestone points designated for each individual project between tutors and students. These can include script drafts, storyboards, animatics, pre-viz, prototypes, rough cut, initial fine cut, or other key progress points as appropriate to the form and format of each work.

Students are also able to submit a draft version of the project showcase materials (e.g. catalogue description, poster, trailer, webpage etc. as appropriate to the form and format of each work) to their supervisors for written and verbal feedback (6 weeks prior to the deadline), which helps them better develop and troubleshoot their final submission. The amount is to be agreed with their supervisor, but should constitute no more than 20% of the final submission size. As such, planning, design, implementation, testing, editing and demonstration skills as well as writing, presentation and critical analysis skills will be developed and honed which will feed forward to the summative assessment at the end of the module.

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

Module aims

• produced a high quality portfolio of industry facing games design work with accompanying reflective critical commentary
• provide students with the opportunity to identify, research, design, implement and test a practical demonstration of a core theory or concept relevant to games and digital media and to realise this through the development of a specific creative design interest or interests, in depth.
• help students develop the relevant in-depth subject knowledge required for developing their creative project and to contextualise this critically and encourage students to develop and hone the skills needed to think self-reflectively about their own work
• help students develop the necessary practice methodology skills and self-reflective thinking, to hone their time management skills and to develop more effective personal design, technical and writing habits, as well as more effective habits of editing and revision, by means of a written reflective critical commentary, the creative portfolio and the games design process(es) undertaken
• develop in students the ability to develop independent project management skills alongside practical and scholarly research in relation to that project, extending ideas, skills and techniques encountered during the degree programme.
• allow students to reflect on and engage with the specific challenges of creating and collecting together (if appropriate) a portfolio of creative work in the broader games design field.
• facilitate students in identifying the specific creative challenges posed by a project of this kind, and to reflect on and engage with these challenges in a productive fashion
• build confidence in making creative decisions in a well-informed and productive way, and build ability to explain and justify them lucidly
• encourage students to collate and present their work in an industry facing format and to submit work for publication

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to:

• help students produce innovative, imaginative and exciting publication standard games design creative outputs through applied independent research guided by their supervisor and though sharing work for feedback from both their supervisor and tutors and from peers in the special games design project skills workshops, thus helping them engage in exploring and effectively realising their creative ideas as practical and inventive larger design pieces or portfolios of smaller pieces


• facilitate students’ productive reflection on both the creative and critical agendas of games design practices and processes and on their own relationship to theoretical positions by developing their ability to reflect clearly and in an informed manner on their creative and critical goals and how they have attempted to achieve them, in planning, designing, realising, editing, reworking and testing a large-scale games design project


• equip students with the project management, design and research skills they will need to produce critically informed analyses of games and game design related themes and engage with games and other critical writing by developing their experience in drawing on their own creative and critical thinking and by developing independent research skills


• assist students in contextualising games and games design outputs in critical and gamic contexts and assist them in locating relevant creative source and critical research materials by providing special games design project skills workshops throughout both semesters aimed at addressing common and specific issues that arise in games design projects


• hone and develop students’ critical skills in analysing game design outputs, texts, practices and/or ideas from a range of genres, styles and techniques by developing their familiarity with a range of gamic/ludic, creative and critical techniques and devices, as well as their confidence in using critical and theoretical language though applied independent research assisted by their supervisor


• bolster student resilience and resourcefulness in what can be an isolating learning experience through regular one to one supervision sessions with their supervisor and through the special games design project skills workshops where both tutors and fellow games design final project students will share encouragement, knowledge and experiences in the safe space of the workshop setting. Other additional sessions may also be made available such Design Bootcamp sessions as required

The learning and teaching methods include a combination of one-to-one supervision sessions with an allocated academic supervisor, special games design project skills workshops, captured content, guided learning and independent learning and includes opportunities in the schedule of interactive seminars for students to present their own work to the class and respond to that of other games design final major project students in a supportive, constructive and open manner.

Designed to help students reflect on and apply their learning to critical research, design and writing, the seminar environment acts as a safe space for developing and exchanging ideas, support, design practices and processes, critical thinking and writing skills.

Students are encouraged, in presenting their research to consider varied materials such as, for example, video and visual materials, sound objects, lexical texts, etc with a view to increasing student accessibility.

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: ELI3073

Other information

The School of Arts, Humanties & 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 module requires students to deploy, and so strengthen, a variety of skills, all of which have transferable applications in real-world professional settings. The module builds on and develops a range of proficiencies appropriate to games, live action film, animation, and other associated areas of the media industries, by providing up-to-the-minute knowledge and understanding of tools and techniques used everyday in these fields at professional level. Equally important for employability within these areas (and often overlooked) is the development of ‘personability’: so that employers, collaborators, funders and commissioners want to work with you. Supervised students for the most part work independently on projects that they themselves have conceived. They must therefore demonstrate independence and self-discipline in areas like time-management, research, writing-up, editing and proof-reading, so as to produce final assignments researched, written and formatted to a standard appropriate to a professional setting. At the research stage this will also usually involve extensive use of a range of digital archives, catalogues and resources, thus enhancing students’ digital capabilities.

Digital Capabilities: This module, and the programme as a whole, is built on the very latest techniques and technologies developed and employed by the games and related industries, thus ‘digital capabilities’ very much comes with the territory. Contemporary media production is an inherently ‘digital’ affair of course, although we include more traditional techniques such as drawn animation, and drawing practice, as part of the offering. Specific digital and technical skills utilised and developed in this module will vary depending on the approach taken by the student, but are likely to include project management tools, troubleshooting tools and practices, coding solutions, digital environments, animation and more. Students will be encouraged to consider the opportunities and challenges posed by generative AI in a large creative project. Appropriate use of digital media and communication platforms such as SurreyLearn, Microsoft Teams, 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.

Resourcefulness and Resilience: This module requires students to conceive and then pursue, for the most part independently, their own research projects. They must identify and articulate to their supervisors the originality of those projects; they must engage in detailed planning and design of their project, as well as take this forward to the implementation, testing, editing and demonstration stages of the project delivery; they must also create and explore their own reading lists and writing process to achieve a polished academic reflective critical commentary. Students must learn to take constructive criticism from their supervisors and peers and adjust their projects in the light of that formative feedback. It requires a high level of independent, guided learning which will allow students to practice their resourcefulness and resilience as games designers, specialists in the creative industries, researchers, critics and/or creative writers. As such, this module provides students with a number of challenges which reflect the current state of the games and related industries. Students need to respond to these with inventiveness and flexibility, and are often required to research their own solutions to given problems.

Resourcefulness and Resilience: Students will identify and articulate to their supervisors the originality of those projects; they must engage in detailed planning and design of their project, as well as take this forward to the implementation, testing, editing and demonstration stages of the project delivery; they must also create and explore their own reading lists and writing process to achieve a polished academic reflective critical commentary. Students will learn to take constructive criticism from their supervisors and peers and adjust their projects in the light of that formative feedback. It requires a high level of independent, guided learning which will allow students to practice their resourcefulness and resilience as games designers, specialists in the creative industries, researchers, critics and/or creative writers. As such, this module provides students with a number of challenges which reflect the current state of the games and related industries. Students need to respond to these with inventiveness and flexibility, and are often required to research their own solutions to given problems.

Global and Cultural Capabilities: Although the focus of each student’s Final Major Project is unique, every completed projct represents a sustained, sophisticated and nuanced development of some aspect of games (and games design) culture, and/or culture more broadly conceived. An exercise of this size and sophistication also always involves a significant degree of self-reflection and increased understanding of the student’s own subject position and inherited cultural assumptions. The Final Major Project thus inherently enhances cultural literacy and the student’s capacity to think critically and sensitively about their own and other cultures.

Sustainability: Throughout their degree, students are made aware of sustainable production practices behind the computer, ‘on set’ and as part of games design processes and practices. Students are shown best practices such as LED-based lighting, virtual production technologies to minimise crew and talent travel, recycling of sets and other materials, better transport choices, minimising of waste, and awareness of environmental and social effects on local communities and landscapes.Students are expected to incorporate this knowledge and expertise into their projects. Furthermore, from a content viewpoint, many of the creative projects developed by students on the programme will, of necessity in the current climate, address environment and sustainability issues as part of their subject matter. We also work closely with the University of Surrey’s Institute for Sustainability to explore and promote the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Programmes this module appears in

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 2027/8 academic year.