HS+DT+S2-Dom


 * Design Folder**

**Unit Question:**
Kids learn by playing. How can digital games be used to support and promote learning in the AIS/D Middle School/Elementary School?

**Unit Question Interpreted:**
Nowadays in the 21st century as we are moving towards a society that is made up of technology and new inventions, kids do not enjoy studying just by reading large textbooks or taking notes from long, boring power point presentations. Just like the school's motto, "We learn to do by doing", digital games can help and promote better education to kids. Kids enjoy playing games with integrated educational elements, which can really help kids learn better because it involves their interaction. Sometimes kids do not learn at all when their teacher is lecturing them. While growing up, most kids' attention are drawn to pictures, sounds and catchy colors, and so digital games have all of that, therefore it catches their attention more. Kids love doing what they enjoy and they learn and understand more about what they enjoy. Integrating educational elements into video games can make them enjoy learning more and makes them understand the subject they are studying more.

**Investigation Plan:**
1. Existing games -First I am going to list all the high rating educational game. -Try playing it and see why it is of high rating and note my own personal experience. This will be inspirations and ideas on the game that I am trying to make. I will see what works best in different ones and try to take those good things to my own.

2. Contact Teachers -I am going to ask teachers about what topics or units they are currently studying in class. I will also ask what the students are struggling with the most. I will ask what type of elements need to be in the game in order to make it fun and educational. What might be useful would also be how they catch the kids' attention (for examples: methods of awarding them when they succeed, bright colors they like, certain sounds and ways that they learn best)

3. User Surver -I will ask questions about what type of game they like to play. I will ask about their preferences. It will contain questions for what type of subjects they are struggling and what they enjoys, etc. Again methods of getting their attention would be good to know about.

**Investigation:**

 * Guiding questions:**
 * How complex will it be (will it be just a basic clicking game or will it involve a variety of controls?)
 * Will it be developed entirely on Scratch or other game engines?
 * What type of gameplay/controls should the game have?
 * What genre should it be?
 * How many contents should the game contain? (Too little can be boring and unhelpful, too much can result in unnecessarily large files and overwhelm the kids with information)
 * How do I keep the user interested?
 * How long should the game be? (Too short can be disappointing and too long can be too boring)
 * How should I integrate educational elements into the game in order to make it fun and educational at the same time?
 * What type of media should I use? For example, should it be text-based, audio-based, animation based or combined.


 * Designing Platform:** Scratch is easy to use and is very simple especially for people who are new to game designing. Games made on these are appropriate to kids in elementary school.


 * User:** Mostly elementary school kids because Scratch games are appropriate to Elementary kids because they are more simple. Children in elementary students are likely to enjoy Scratch games more than others because they are still young and therefore are not exposed to game platforms such as PlayStation, XBox etc like Middle School kids would be. It will target on the elementary school kids because their minds can't comprehend the complexity on other games yet and Scratch is designed to create games that are more simple and easy to navigate.


 * Scratch Resources:**

[] -> Have used it a couple of times to learn scripts, very helpful. [] -> Very useful website for finding sprites to put in the game. [|http://www.youtube.com/] -> Youtube can be very useful because it contains a lot of tutorials for making different things in Scratch [] -> LearnScratch is basically a tutorial for using Scratch with other users' examples and shares of experiences. [] -> A forum where users can connect with each other and ask questions and share experiences. Since Scratch was developed by MIT, it is and this is an MIT site, what other best place is there to ask for help. [] -> Another site/database for finding images for sprites which saves a lot of time so I don't have to learn to make them myself.
 * [] -> This is a tutorial on how to make the background move which I found to be helpful in making things more interesting.
 * [] -> This s a tutorial on making things jump and the gravitational effects on objects.

**Questions:**

 * For Students:**
 * Do you play video games?
 * If yes, what type of games do you like to play?
 * Would you like an animated game or a word-type game?
 * What kind of game controls do you like for the computer? Keyboards, mouse, etc.
 * What subject are you enjoying the most in your class?
 * What subject are you struggling in the most?
 * Would you like to play a game on subject that you like the most or on a subject that you find hard?


 * For Teachers:**
 * Should students play video games on a subject that they like or on a subject that they are struggling on?
 * What subjects are your students struggling on the most? Please list a few.
 * Is there a specific chapter or section they are struggling on?
 * Do you use any gaming methods in class already to try to teach any materials to the kids? If so, please list a few.
 * How do you keep their attention?
 * What educational elements should be in the game?

**Scratch Evaluation:**
Scratch is a very simple game engine, where a lot of game development aspects are simplified for a person starting with game design. It is very easy to use and understand. In Scratch, you do not have to write out codes but they create part of the code and you basically have to fill in the blank. However, Scratch can only make two-dimensional games and it makes sense because designing a 2D game is much easier than 3D games. Although this is the major limitation in Scratch, it won't be so big of a problem to me because I am not looking to design such a complex game. A lot of things aren't possible in Scratch especially with the complex things such as generating different patterns in games. Although, there is a lot of limitations in Scratch, it is a lot of fun working with it especially when I love playing video games. After being able to play around with Scratch for a while, I now know more of the capabilities of Scratch and know how to use it much better while making the best use of my tools. I also get to see examples of the coding, scripts, etc and know what works what doesn't. Also I find out more about how coding in Scratch and now I can make more things without the help of different sources like the tutorials YouTube, Scratch websites, etc. All in all, Scratch is an easy to use and it is an enjoyable program.


 * Overall summary of survey:** Many students in the class are struggling with math especially with multiplication and division. It is a new subject for them and they will need help. Also, many students prefer an animated, interactive game with audio and visual elements to help keep their attention and make things more interesting. I also found out that when there are pictures involved, kids get a better understanding of mathematical operations. For example, in certain textbooks the exercises involve adding while seeing pictures of apples being added. Teachers also find it that it motivates the kids when they are rewarded for their success. To conclude, I will make a game that will be more interactive rather than just picking answers from a bunch of different answers. It will involve many controls which will allow many students to have a lot of fun playing and learning at the same time. I will also add other mathematical operation problems to help broaden their knowledge in the subject. I feel like I can relate to the results of this survey because math games on the computer really helped me improve my skills.

**Existing Games:**
1. []

This game is really basic, you are basically racing a car in a race. On the top of the game screen is a question and you have to pick the right answer in order for your car to go faster. If you answered it wrong, your car slows down. Also, if you are taking too long to answer, then it will change the problem and your car slows down. To summarize, the game is visually appealing, it has good graphics but it lacks gameplay. You only click on the number, that can get boring after playing 10 minutes of it and it is not very user interactive and there is not a lot of variety of different things you can do.

2. []

This game is like the previous one, and it is still very basic. The game type is the same as the previous one except the gameplay is different. Unlike the previous one, this game is more interactive. In this game, you are racing against another player/CPU on your spaceship which has a problem. In front of your spaceship are a bunch of answers you have to choose from by moving your spaceship in the right lane to get the correct answer. If you chose the correct answer then you will get a boost over other players, if you got an incorrect answer then you slow down. This is more interactive and graphically appealing, this will be a good example for my game.

3. [] This game is unlike the other two. In this game, you are flying space shuttle. On the bottom of the screen, there are two questions, one on the right and one on the left. In between the two questions is an answer box where you type in the answer. If you answer the problem on the right, it will move right, if you answer the one on the left, it will move left. The goal is to dodge the meteor, which serves as an obstacle, as long as you can. This is a good example for my game because not only is it about answering the correct answer and win, it also about offering challenges to the players other than giving a math problem to answer. This game will be most helpful but more difficult at the same time because there is not multiple choice questions and kids are required to work everything out themselves. Therefore, it might not be so appropriate for elementary school kids.

**Design Brief:**
Kids nowadays in the 21st century are more exposed to technology than before. The simple write on the board teaching method can cause kids to get really bored and result in them not learning anything at all. Kids nowadays also love to play video games and they learn better by interacting with it. For my design, I am making a game that will be interactive and is simply just fun to play with. If kids have fun, they usually learn best this way.


 * Design Specification:**
 * Fun to play
 * Interactive
 * Aim at elementary students, specifically ranging from 3rd grade to 5th grade.
 * Challenging
 * Pushing to another level (from basic type in answer game to using controls)
 * Variety of Controls.
 * Obstacles.
 * Good source of Practice for students
 * Educational

I could test by game by:
 * Test:**
 * Playing the game after adding things recently to see it works.
 * Letting others play my game.
 * Letting people in my class play the game to find glitches, bugs, etc.
 * Play through the entire game and note what could be improved.

Plan:

 * Design phase:** Three Designs


 * Race:**My first design is like the first and second game that I listed in my existing games investigation put together. It will be a racing game, but this time you will actually control the car.

Brief Summary: You are controlling a car, as you continue along the race track, a sign will come up with a problem. After passing the sign with the problem on it, you will see three different paths, with one path saying the correct answer. The path with the correct will be the fastest and most efficient way to the finish line, the path with the wrong answer would take you slower than the correct answer. So even if you get the answer wrong you don't go backwards, this is because I don't want reward the kids for being correct but not punish the player for being wrong, but instead just delays their success. Problems will change along the way and it will repeat this cycle along the way until you reach the finish line.




 * Dodging obstacles:** This design will be like the 3rd one in my existing game investigations. There will be questions on both side of the answer box. The sprite is continuously moving forward and to dodge the obstacles the player must move either left or right choosing the question they want to answer. f the player choose to answer the question on the right, the sprite will move to the right and if the player choose to answer the question on the left, the sprite would move to the left. The game will continue along this cycle and as you progress further in the game, there will be more obstacles. The game will continue this cycle until the player crash into the object.




 * Shooting Problems (Final Product):** This design is the same as what I am working on for my math prototype. There will be four stations, each with different problems. The objective is to shoot each station with the right amount of times as the answer of the problem. For example, 3 x 5 is question in one of the station, you have to shoot the same amount of time as the answer which is 15 (so you would have to shoot the station 15 times in order to pass). The player has the option of shooting a bullet that will increase the shot count on the station and one that will decrease the shot count on the station just in case you made an error. For example, if you accidentally shot 16 times and you have to shoot 15, you can shoot the bullet that will decrease your shot count to 15. The objective is to get all the problems at each station correct, then the blue door on the right will open and you can advance to the next level. If you get one problem incorrect, you will simply just have to redo it until you get it correct. I also plan to put in oppositions to the players, at one point, the station will start to resist you from shooting the station freely.

(//Product as of Prototype phase, April 2012)//

I decided to do my shooting problems game, now also known as the Math Shooting Range. This game meets most of my specification, it is very interactive, challenging and find myself having fun with it at times. It also push the gameplay for educational game to another level. What I mean by this is that, most of the game I see nowadays is just a basic type in the answer game. I want it to be more than that so I decided to make it shooting the right amount of times according to the problems. This makes it interactive. At the same time it is also very educational because it applies multiplication into the game.

**Plan:**

 * Production Plan:**
 * 1) Set up environment, create Sprites for problems and user-controlled sprites.
 * 2) Create the problems in the sprites created for math problem.
 * 3) Create bullets for players to shoot.
 * 4) Set up the controls for play.
 * 5) Set up Hit Count variable and Correct Variable
 * 6) Set the correct number of Hit count. (e.g if the problem is 5 x 3, the correct no. of hit count is set at 15).
 * 7) Set correct to 1 when the hit count equals the amount of the answer.
 * 8) Make Variable Hit Count 2 and Correct 2 for second problem, Hit Count 3 and Correct 3 for third problem, Hit Count 4 and Correct 4.
 * 9) Repeat Step 1 to 5.
 * 10) Say if Correct, Correct 2, Correct 3 and Correct 4 equals 1, then activate door.
 * 11) Create Bullet shooting at player-controlled sprite.
 * 12) Create Level 2
 * 13) Create new problems
 * 14) Create new Hit Count Variables.
 * 15) Create new bullet shooting at players.
 * 16) Repeat for the next levels and the next.

-A laptop/computer with Scratch installed.
 * Materials List:**

-Could someone else follow it and make your design? Yes the steps are very clear, I briefly laid out an instruction of how the scripting work my design. The plan is very detailed especially the step from 1 to 8. The steps afterwards, are just telling to repeat the steps, because creating the next level is the same thing. -Is it logical? I think it is logical because the plan is clearly laid out about how I am going to make the game. The game is logical as well because the game allows the user to interact with it. The type of gameplay in the game makes this possible.
 * Plan Evaluation:**

Create:
This game was started as a math prototype that Mr. Muller told us to do when he wants to check our Scratch knowledge. But I already intended it to be my final product. While working, everything was going fine along my game, everything was going according to plan. I created my first level with the help of my classmates, but after that I start to understand how things work and from then on, I work on my own without help. While trying to make the second level work, I start to realize, this can get really boring if you just go around and shoot a target. Then, I was wondering, what could I add to this game so that it can be more funner. With me, playing a lot of first-person shooter game, I knew what can make this game much funner and challenging and fits with my game. I decided to put make each target shoot at you. Now the player, not only do they have to shoot the target with the right amount time, he/she also has to worry about getting his/her player to avoid the bullet that the target shoot at you. It wasn't so hard creating it, and it works successfully, I created a life variable so that every time the bullet hit the player-controlled sprite, it would decrease the amount of life by one. The hard part was making level 2 to function properly. Silly me, it wasn't simpler than I thought it would be. I spent a lot of times trying to make level 2 work, I tried using the same sprite and the same variable because I didn't want to use to much variables or sprites. I tried resetting the variable for hit count when the player reaches level 2 but it doesn't work. I had no choice but to create new sprites and variables which work properly in level 2. After creating level 2, I thought, what if I use the same sprite but different variable. I experimented with this and it works however level 2 has already been created and I did not want to delete all of the sprite I have created, what done is done. I felt stupid, that I did not find out about this earlier, and now I have wasted a lot of time because knowing this reduce the workload.
 * Process Journal:**



As you can see from this picture, that I used two separate sprites when it is less time consuming to just have a new variable.

Evaluate:

 * Product Evaluation:**
 * Quality:** I think the quality of the game is pretty good right now. I fixed all the glitches I found and other people have found in the game. However, there are still some glitches and bugs in the game but they are only small glitches that players won't notice or that it won't affect a person's gaming session.
 * Appearance:** The graphic in the game isn't so great in the game. I think I could have improve it more, make it look more appealing. Although, I added an actual background to it, it is still not good enough.
 * Function:** I think the game functions pretty well and it has less glitches now. The game also works fine, the controls, the gameplay all works to how I want it to be.
 * User Benefit:** I think the user will benefit from the game by being able to practice and become better at multiplication and division. The user will also benefit from the game by having a fun gaming session and at the same time improving their multiplication and division skill.

I felt like I did a pretty good job with this game and I made it work. This is a unique game concept and gameplay and I made the game possible. My weakness in this game is the graphics, it isn't appealing. Even though, the game is good, the first thing the user look at in a game is the graphic, a lot of user thinks if the graphic looks good the game must be good. Graphic also adds a lot to the a user gaming session. My strength is definitely creating the game play, I play a lot of video games, I know what a user consider fun and what a user consider not fun. I made a game that is very interactive, and if a game is interactive, users would enjoy the game even more. I also made a unique game concept and I push it to another level. If I could do things differently, I would definitely improve the graphic, it is definitely to bland and plain. It could be more colorful. I would also create a menu in the game so that I would look more polished. I think I could make my time management much better, I spent to much time making the 2nd level work by trying to use a shortcut method, although I do know another solution that would work. I also fooled around a lot in class and didn't work as much at home. I learned more about game programming and how it works. I learn more about Scratch coding and making a game in it. I am surprised that Scratch has a lot of capabilities, it definitely can do more that it look. There are four design phases that I went through before finishing the game, and that is Investigation, Design, Plan and Create. In investigation, I looked at existing games to see what games have been created so far and what is the game concept. I also created a survey. I also test what is possible in Scratch and what isn't. In Design, this is when I start to sum all the result of my investigation and put it together and see how I should create my game. I made three designs, each trying to meet the specifications I set. In plan, I decided on my final game, and I planned how I should make my game. I made an instruction so others can make it. In Create, I started on my project and work on it, fixed problems along the way and some more elements to make the game even better. And now I am here in Evaluation, and this sums up my project on creating a fun, interactive math game for students in the Elementary school.
 * Process Evaluation:**







//(Product as of Late May 2012 (Final))//