The Creation of an Educational Computer Game

1. The Creation of an Educational Computer Game By GAM3

2. Group Introduction • We are the group GAM3. • Members are Chris Beale, Kevin Grantham, Kevin Hynes, and Brendan Service. • We are a mix of one Games Computing student and three Computer Games Production students. Section 1 – Introduction to the Project Task and Appropriate Group &Management Skills for Task Completion

3. Interpretation of the Brief • The brief stated that we, as a group, were to create a game that educated players about “real-world issues” and strived to “help solve the toughest problems facing us today” through the use of technology. • Our initial thoughts were that of global warming and the way in which climate change can be combated. Section 1 – Introduction to the Project Task and Appropriate Group &Management Skills for Task Completion

4. Interpretation of the Brief cont. • Agreeing that there would be many possible things to include (recycling, energy and water consumption etc.), we proceeded with the theme of climate change. • We realised that the game should educate the player on the causes and effects of climate change, and also on how to personally act against it. Section 1 – Introduction to the Project Task and Appropriate Group &Management Skills for Task Completion

5. Interpretation of the Brief cont. • We also realised that our game should be fun to play and effective in portraying its messages. • Research of the currently available games (that are based around climate change) showed them to be either boring, too simple/complicated or so confusing that the message was lost. Section 1 – Introduction to the Project Task and Appropriate Group &Management Skills for Task Completion

6. Group Management: Meetings • Our first priority was to meet up and get to know each other. • We also discussed what our skills were and what we would feel comfortable/competent to do. • Timetables were compared to decide on best times to meet. • Minutes were kept to allow for easier recollection of meetings, ideas and tasks. It also showed how much each of us contributed, allowing us to better decide grade percentage allocation. Section 1 – Introduction to the Project Task and Appropriate Group &Management Skills for Task Completion

7. Group Management: Contact • We decided that the best way to keep in touch and share work would be via a group wiki. • Minutes, progress on the game elements (graphics, code etc.), contact details, ideas and a general discussion is included on the wiki. • This was considered the best option for communication as it allows for uploads of work and can be edited by any of us at any time. • However, it does not inform the members when it has been updated, and so must be checked frequently by each member to keep them informed of changes to ideas and progress of the game. Section 1 – Introduction to the Project Task and Appropriate Group &Management Skills for Task Completion

8. Group Management: Meetings cont. • When a meeting was to be held, a text/mobile call was made to the members. This meant that each member received an instant notification (as opposed to the wiki). • Group meetings were held if and when deemed necessary, often between periods of time long enough to allow individual tasks to be worked on, but frequent enough to allow collaboration of assets, and therefore progress to be made. • Meetings were informal and self-directed. Those with points to bring forward did so, while others were free to comment. • This method allowed those with natural leadership shills to inadvertently direct the meeting, yet allowed all members to express their opinions. • We believe that this method worked well for us as our group was fairly small. In larger groups, some people may have been overruled or ignored, yet we feel that each of us was able to contribute to every meeting. Section 1 – Introduction to the Project Task and Appropriate Group &Management Skills for Task Completion

9. Group Management: Task Allocation • After considering strengths and weaknesses, tasks were allocated and revised at each meeting, with all current tasks resulting as thus: • Chris: XNA, learn and program with it; character-object interaction; coding the interface. • Kevin G: AI system, including character-object interaction; visuals. • Kevin H: Linguistics; prototyping second game level; research into appliance and energy facts. • Brendan: Gathering sound and visual assets. Section 1 – Introduction to the Project Task and Appropriate Group &Management Skills for Task Completion

10. Group Management: Supervisors • Originally our supervisor was Les Spink, but due to problems involving timetable compatibility, we as a group found it difficult to meet with him. • As a result, we were then assigned Rose Spilberg as our supervisor. • Upon meeting with her, she directed us in how to progress with the component tasks when we hit a bit of a snag, and also how to proceed with the creation of this presentation. Section 1 – Introduction to the Project Task and Appropriate Group &Management Skills for Task Completion

11. The Artefact: Intended Purpose • From our early meetings, we decided to create a three-stage game that focuses on the user encouraging the game characters to recycle, save water and energy, and generally act “greener”. • This was to be achieved through a praise vs. punish system. • The idea was that the player would actively seek out the greener choices, and as such would be learning how to become greener them self. • Greener actions result in better and easier situations in proceeding stages. Section 2 – Discussion of the Completed Artefact, Quality Assurance and Appropriateness

12. The Artefact: Audience • Considering the theme of the game, we decided that it should be aimed at an audience of young adults. • Because of this, we had to consider appropriate use of visuals (images, colours etc.) as well as appropriate use of language. • In particular, text boxes would be short and concise, as research of other games showed that too much text causes the player to become uninterested and oblivious to the educational element of the game. • This resulted in the agreement of a generic visual theme that was cartoon-like, but not overly so that the importance of the character’s actions were lost. Section 2 – Discussion of the Completed Artefact, Quality Assurance and Appropriateness

13. The Artefact: Gameplay Ideas • Initial group meetings produced many ideas, and the task became that of putting them all (or at least the majority of them) into a coherent gameplay structure. • Many ideas resembled those present in various Maxis/EA games, including The Sims, Spore and the Sim City series. • Likewise, many of these games included the same target audience as our game. Section 2 – Discussion of the Completed Artefact, Quality Assurance and Appropriateness

14. The Artefact: Gameplay Elements • The main focus would be on green actions and how they effect us. • Initially, there were to be five stages of the game: house, street, townand country. • This was later reduced to just the house, town and country stages, considering how the street could be incorporated into the town stage, and also how much time we had to make the stages. • The relevant topics and situations would increase in magnitude at each stage, e.g. wasting water → carbon emissions → icecaps melting. Section 2 – Discussion of the Completed Artefact, Quality Assurance and Appropriateness

15. The Artefact: Gameplay Elements cont. • The praise/punish feature was designed to coax the character into more willingly performing greener tasks(which are later rewarded). • This also creates the balance in the game, as the character also responds to bodily needs which may not permit easy accomplishment of green tasks. • Therefore, the main task of the player is to balance the idea of one’s own interests against the interest of performing green tasks. Section 2 – Discussion of the Completed Artefact, Quality Assurance and Appropriateness

16. The Artefact: Gameplay Education • Through realisation of the actions and relatability to the character, we hoped that our game would teach the player how they them self can act in a similar way to become greener. • Additional education was to be included in the game through a trivia system. • Correct answers would result in various bonuses. • Also, options to buy better appliances (at the house stage) that are based on real-life objects helps to inform the player of actual options available to them in their own life. • A news ticker would constantly provide hints and tips to the player, as well as giving various facts about saving energy, recycling etc. Section 2 – Discussion of the Completed Artefact, Quality Assurance and Appropriateness

17. The Artefact: Discarded Ideas • Due to the complexities of the game, during the development process we discovered certain features that we decided should be omitted or changed. • One such example is the removal of tiredness from a character’s needs. Instead, the game was configured that the character has a set time that they go to bed. • We also had to be aware of feature creep, whereby additional ideas were suggested at a late stage of development, and inclusion of them in the game would be more of a hindrance to the project than a benefit. Section 2 – Discussion of the Completed Artefact, Quality Assurance and Appropriateness

18. The Artefact: Development • Despite having a general time plan for how we would create the game in time for the deadline, we realised that this might not be easily followed. • This could be a result of unfamiliarity with the XNA software, breakdown in group communication, or other unforeseen problems. • However, due to the game being constructed in stages (much like episodes), we realised that we could just focus on two or even one stage, bringing them/it up to acceptable quality levels. • This comes from our group desire to have a shorter yet more polished game, rather than a longer unrefined one. Section 2 – Discussion of the Completed Artefact, Quality Assurance and Appropriateness

19. The Artefact: Meeting Requirements • [Has our artefact met the client’s requirements?] Section 2 – Discussion of the Completed Artefact, Quality Assurance and Appropriateness

20. The Artefact: Testing • [What testing did we do for the game?] Section 2 – Discussion of the Completed Artefact, Quality Assurance and Appropriateness

21. The Artefact: DDIT Cycle • [How did we implement the “Design → Develop → Implement → Test” cycle?] Section 2 – Discussion of the Completed Artefact, Quality Assurance and Appropriateness

22. The Artefact: Evaluation • [What can we conclude about the game?] Section 2 – Discussion of the Completed Artefact, Quality Assurance and Appropriateness

23. Section 2 – Discussion of the Completed Artefact (how it compares with the initial brief, project plan and implementation requirements); Discussion of Quality Assurance, Testing, Conformance and Appropriateness • Completed artefact: details about it and differences between initial ideas. • Design-Develop-Implement-Test cycle • Has it met the client’s requirements? • Development and evaluation • Relate back to component 1 Section 2 – Discussion of the Completed Artefact, Quality Assurance and Appropriateness

24. Demonstration of the Artefact • We will now demonstrate the artefact to you. Section 3 – Demonstration of the Artefact