http://pantherfile.uwm.edu/mlstrock/Foreword.html

This computer game assignment surprised me. Honestly, I was not really looking forward to it — computer games aren’t my thing. I was expecting it to be extremely challenging, dull, and time consuming. Well, it was challenging, and it was time consuming but it certainly wasn’t dull. Alissa and I had fun being able to create a design for a video game. It’s not something I ever thought I would be doing (especially in an English class)! After reading, playing, and designing video games, though, I can see how they are tied into narrative, cultural/personal memory and learning. I definitely have a little more respect for gaming now. I’ve learned that a lot of video games carry elaborate narratives, and that’s half of the fun for the player(s). It can really add a lot to a game. These narratives can also reflect our cultural memory. For instance, we played a couple games that were designed around clean environments. I think anyone could argue that “going green” is a big part of our current culture and will certainly be part of our overall cultural memory. I could say the same for games like “Guitar Hero” or “Rock Band” because of our society’s obsession with music and the music culture. Music has always been a great part of our culture and I’m willing to bet it always will be! Ultimately, I will have a less pessimistic attitude towards video games. Now I know they can truly be educational, fun, historically rich, etc. They aren’t always just silly rubbish like I thought before. Who knows… maybe I’ll become a “gamer” one day!

Grading my own work is always a difficult task for me. I always feel like I work very hard to achieve good grades, but at the same time, I don’t want to be too arrogant or underestimate my work. For this project, I would say our video game design deserves a B+. In my opinion, we paid attention to details and tried to create a game that would be educational and current. We made sure it followed the criterion on the assignment page, and really worked hard to make improvements on our first draft. As far as creativity goes, we could’ve probably thought of something more innovative. While living environmentally responsibly is something that is very important to me, it’s not necessarily a groundbreaking premise for a video game. I thought David and Ashley had a really cool idea. I wish we could have been a little more creative in that respect. Overall, I think our design plan turned out well and I am proud of our work!

The main strategy used for envisioning this game plan was simply imagination. For me, the main topic of the video game is an important part of my life so I tried to contribute ideas from that standpoint. With my knowledge from home and classes like Environmental Biology, I tried to tie in those thoughts with something that would be an interesting, informative and entertaining. That is why we chose to make a town and have a sort of interactive, virtual life for the player. The final design plan is almost reminiscent of The Sims, in a subtle way. In very early discussions during week 1 (…I think?) we talked about growing up with digital technologies. A lot of people talked about playing educational games at school (i.e. Oregon Trail) as something they really liked. That also inspired our design plan in terms of its genre. Also, one of the things I liked about some of the games we played in class was the explorative aspect. For instance, Scarygirl made the player explore with some trial-and-error playing. We tried to tie in that same quality for our game. Ultimately, our game strategy was to have an educational game that wouldn’t be dull!

If I have to collaborate online again in the future with someone I’ve never met but only know through online discussions, I think I will chose that person by their writing style. I think the way a person writes speaks volumes. You can read someone’s personality and, in an online class, it can show what kind of work they are able to produce. Especially in a class like this, you can see who has a good work ethic and who takes pride in what they’re doing.

Overall, this project was a success and the process turned out to be much less grueling than I was anticipating. One more week to go; bring it on!

I made pretty good progress this week, I think. I decided to use Microsoft Word to start writing down my thoughts like I would for a regular paper. This way, I have everything already written by the time I go to put it into html form. It’s also easier for me to read everything in Word as opposed to Textedit. So far I have about two pages written on the first two questions bulleted on the assignment page. I am still debating whether or not to create a video for my webpage(s). This will probably be determined based on the amount of time I have left before the deadline.

I still have quite a bit of work ahead of me for the final project. First, I need to finish writing out the “paper” I’ll be using for the actual webpage(s). I have yet to address some of the questions bulleted on the assignment sheet. From there, I need to figure out how to organize each page, including what will go with what, and where. I’ll also need to decide what other media I want to incorporate on my webpage(s), whether it be videos, images, sound, etc. When I decide on that, I’ll need to formulate a works cited page to add to my webpage(s). After I have put all of that together into Textedit, I’ll be able to look through and make any revisions needed.

One question I have about this project is on outside sources. Can we use them? I am certain I want to use pictures, and they probably won’t be my own. I am not sure what other media I want to use but ultimately I just wanted to be sure that it was acceptable for this project. My only other question was posted on the class Ning and I also emailed to to you.

Wish me luck!

Monday: Plan for week 14.

Tuesday: Go back and review the first draft of the video game design and discuss revision plans with my partner (Alissa) via email.

Wednesday: Potentially meet with Alissa in the library to finish the final draft of our video game design and reflect.

Thursday: Blog on my progress with my final project (yikes!).

Friday: Comment on others’ final video game designs and reflect on my week.

One change I want to make is to perhaps include penalties. Initially I didn’t think they were necessary because it was designed as a children’s game. It might make the game more entertaining because the players will need to work harder to get their scores up and pay closer attention to what they’re learning. For instance, maybe the player would lose some points if they forgot to turn off the TV when they went through the living room or if they put something in the wrong recycling bin at the park. This might make the player more attentive and make earning points more rewarding.

Another change I will consider is to make actual levels and not just scenes. Maybe the scenes could be the different levels…? Again, it would make the game more challenging, informative and rewarding. Then, depending on what level they make it to, they will be declared a certain title (i.e. Green Queen or King). This change might make the game more exciting for the player and give him/her motivation to earn as many points as possible. I think, though, if we decide to add levels, we will need to think of more scenes. Right now we have a landfill, a house and a park. It might be cool to add a farm so the player could learn how agriculture affects our environment. This will certainly be an idea to play with.

Another thing our final draft could include is an actual points system. This would include what earns points and what deducts points (if we decide to include penalties). This might clear some questions up about the game system.

Lastly, it might give the player a little bit of creative power to design things like their own character. A lot people in the class had this idea for their game. It would grab the attention of the player right away if they could add their own flare. Perhaps we could make it so the player could chose their appearance, name and name their city. Again, Alissa and I could play around with this idea.

Ultimately, I am proud of what we did, but we still have a lot of work ahead of us. Wish us luck!

I think this would be a good game for a classroom setting, especially in an elementary school. By playing a game, it makes learning about things like recycling and environmentally responsible choices more fun than watching a movie or reading a textbook. It is also an interactive way to learn. The characters in the game are young children so it allows for the players to relate and have an individualized experience. Also, this game has no penalties, just rewards. The player can gain points or not. Either way, he/she can be declared a winning title at the end. When you can’t lose, it’s always fun! Lastly, as mentioned before, the game was designed keeping the rising trend of “going green” in mind so it’s a current issue that will [hopefully] keep the interest of the gamer!

I think Alissa and I were a good match for this project. One thing that is working out well is our communication. We are very prompt with our responses to one another and are quick to get new information to each other. It was also easy to meet up with each other at the library! It would probably be a little easier if this was an actual face-to-face class. We would have a lot more time to work together in person and physically see what each of us is doing. The design process may have gone faster if we were together for the whole thing. Emailing each other has been working just fine, though. To make the final product of our video game as strong as possible, I think it would be beneficial to meet up again and work on it together. If not, we just need to continue to keep our tight communication. I am not too worried

http://pantherfile.uwm.edu/mlstrock/Videogame.pdf

Monday: Play & discuss the online games

Tuesday: Read & Discuss the final project

Wednesday – Friday: Make, blog about, and comment on the first draft of the game design plan

Friday: Self-evaluation #2B