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September 29, 2005
Frustrated by Mapping Tool
So this morning I read that there is a wildfire somewhere northwest of Los Angeles. Not being completely savvy with the geography of this area (hell, I'm barely savvy with the geography of my home state), I went looking for a map of where this fire was and how big it was and where it was headed. Most news stories and even fire alert sites provided only place names. Then to my delight I happened upon this site by the California Fire Alliance. It's a free online tool to let you see where wildfires are (or were) and...well, I guess plan trips around them. I'm not sure. Either way, I felt that this would definitely answer my question. Oh foolish me. I tried very hard to figure out how to use this tool, but with limited success. The best answer I could get was this:
I must say I'm hard pressed to come up with a less clear legend system than theirs. Triangles of the same color but slightly different sizes? Anyway, if anyone can figure out how to get this tool to show the actual size of the fire please let me know. Here is a pdf of their brochure for the site.
Posted by rosenblj at 11:24 AM | Comments (0)
September 28, 2005
Worms: The Great Patootie
I was thinking about the fact that Asshole encourages abuse of your friends, and the fact that that's not something I generally enjoy. Then I realized that there was an exception - at Carleton sophomore year all my friends got into Worms Armageddon. In case you're not familiar with the game, it's a 2D game where you play as a team of worms fighting against other teams using weapons of ridiculous proportions. The saving grace of the game is that these actions are accomplished with almost no gore and with loads of bizarre humor. So. Since the sky's the limit here, I thought that I would mod Asshole as an online-Worms-chat conflagration.
Customization
The first screen you'd encounter is a character customization screen, similar to that currently used in Worms - you get to choose your name, your character's voice, your flag, your anthem, and your special weapon. Then you enter the game.
During the Round
The game is standard Asshole. While each round is going on the player sees two screens - the first is an over-the-shoulder view of her worm, her worm's cards, and the other players (View image) - the second is a chat window allowing for in-game discussion with the other players, either with the whole group or with other individual players. (View image) The player's chat window is decorated according to her current position in the game - following in the Worms style of humor, these positions are (from highest to lowest) the Great Patootie, the Sorta-High Mucky Muck, the Average Joe (repeat as many times as needed), the Wilting Wallflower, and the Lowest-of-the-Low. During the round the worms will taunt each other and comment on each other's moves (as in Worms), using the voice themes selected by the players.
Between Rounds
(Note: This section contains screenshots from Worms Armageddon - I have not edited them, they are simply for visual reference for those less familiar with the interface.)
Between each round the view on the main screen changes to a side view of the players, which is the normal view in Worms. (Example screen shot) Each status position is honored (or dishonored) by a particular placement on the map, so if any positions have changed then those players' worms move around appropriately. Then each player, in order of status, gets to attack the others. (Example action screen shot ) However, a player's attack is limited based on their status in terms of what weapons they are allowed to use. (Example weapons menu) Additionally, each player may attack any of the other players, but the players are still limited by 100 life points which are decremented by attacks from others. If, in the end, the Lowest-of-the-Low is still alive and able to kill any of the other worms, then those players switch statuses. Only the LOTL has this power, because only the most desperate element of society would stoop to such an action. Once all attacks and subsequent fallout have been completed, the final Great Patootie player sounds her national anthem, and the game shifts back into the next round of Asshole.
General Thoughts
While I have stolen a lot from Worms, I feel that that particular game is a great way to represent degrading violence in a fun and generally inoffensive manner. I believe that Asshole is best played in-person, so for an online version to work I think it would have to be augmented to incorporate activities and interaction that are not available in the real world. At least not between civilized friends. Also I think that new collaboration strategies are opened up by having a second way to jumble the power structure.
On a more general note, I find myself a little confused by this assignment, for it again seems like it might be a double assignment. We have been tasked with coming up with "A Digital Asshole Mod." Does this simply mean making a mod of Asshole that would work in a digital setting and still maintain the spirit of the game as played in person? Or does it mean making a significant modification to the game mechanics and then translating that into a digital setting? My mod definitely responds to the first - it is an online version of Asshole. You still play the card game. What has changed are the variety of actions you can employ against the other players at various times, and the manner by which you communicate (canned character comments and live chat with individuals or the whole group). But the main mechanics have not changed much at all. So I feel kind of lame about what I came up with - what I've descibed is more a hybrid of two pre-existing games than a mod. On the other hand I know that I would enjoy playing this - I described it to a friend who is familiar with both Asshole and Worms and he thought it was a really fun idea. I'm intrigued to see what everyone else comes up with, because games where you can perpetually be stuck at a disadvantage, particularly without the cushion of in-person socialization, seem like very risky business.
Posted by rosenblj at 05:33 PM | Comments (0)
September 26, 2005
Open Mic: Interactive History
A topic that interests me, perhaps an inkling of a thesis, perhaps not. An interesting investigation nonetheless.
Games to teach history
SchoolHistory.co.uk: http://www.schoolhistory.co.uk/games/
- Does this work?
- Does this count as interactive history?
Demanding active learning
New Intelligence Inc. Announces: Interactive History of the United States:
A Text Reconstruction Program for Improving Reading, Writing, and Reasoning Skills
http://www.newintel.com/USH_1.html
- Does this really engage the student more?
Immersive Education: http://www.immersiveeducation.com/uk/Products_Default.asp
- "Kar2ouche is cross-curricular role-playing software for producing pictures, storyboards, animations, movies, comics, handouts, posters and magazines."
- "MediaStage is a virtual reality performance editing platform for making and editing performances using a cast of virtual characters, 3D environments, 3D props and a virtual camera and lighting rig. Students can build their own sets, instruct the characters to move, pose and behave in a specific way, as well as giving them speech (either using text-to-speech or by recording sound files which the charcters speak back). Performances can be played back in virtual reality, allowing viewers to navigate in 3D around the performance while it happens."
- "Krucible is science simulation software for secondary pupils, covering Waves, Optics, Energy and Forces. It lets students and teachers choose to create their own experiments using real-time computer simulations, turning the PC or Interactive Whiteboard into a virtual laboratory."
- What new forms of projects can this software afford?
Interactive Lessons
http://www.schoolshistory.org.uk/interactivelessons.htm
example: http://www.schoolshistory.org.uk/firstworldwar.htm
- Should this be a standardized way to run a history course?
- Does this create a significant change in the way history is taught?
Databases - Piece it together yourself
Manhattan Project: http://www.mbe.doe.gov/me70/manhattan/
Klondike Gold CD-ROM: http://www.h-net.msu.edu/reviews/exhibit/showrev.cgi?path=22
- "In other words, is the ability to move back and forth between subjects, and between text and images, an invention of multimedia? Clearly not; what is unique, at this stage in its development, is the ability to add sound and moving images, and substitute the loading and display of computer files for the flipping of pages."
Assemble newspaper: http://www.headlinehistory.co.uk/
- So this is active learning of sorts - how do you motivate an audience to participate in this outside of a class assignment?
Wiki History
Pearl Harbor: http://plasma.nationalgeographic.com/pearlharbor/
- What sort of history could this give us?
- What are issues with this method?
Interactive Maps & Timelines
http://www.u-s-history.com/
PBS Kids - History of Jazz: http://pbskids.org/jazz/time/
- A first step - where can these lead?
Immersive Historical Environments
Ideal Classrooms
http://www.landmark-project.com/ncsh/room.php?rm_id=34&floor=epg.php
- What are practical take-aways from this project?
Reenactments
Medieval: http://www.knightstour.org/
- What sort of a digital experience can rival a "living history" park?
Panoramas
U-505: http://www.msichicago.org/exhibit/U505/virtualtour/vr_tour/index.html
- How can this experience be incorporated into a larger lesson and message?
Games as simulations - Medal of Honor, etc.
Colonial Williamsburg as an MMORPG
http://cms.mit.edu/games/education/revolution/index.html
Interview with Jane Boston, Warren Spector, & Will Wright on simulations:
http://edoneel.chaosnet.org/seriousgames/interview.txt
- Jane Boston: "[Simulations] are better suited for those things that need to be learned in context and require active problem solving"
- Will Wright: "Simulations are great for understanding processes that are outside of our experience. You can play with time or scale."
- Are these a useful medium for teaching compelling history?
- What makes a historical game different from a historical movie?
- What is dangerous about using historical fiction in this (or any) medium as part of educational instruction?
History as game environment:
http://www.activehistory.co.uk/Miscellaneous/free_stuff/renaissance/frameset.htm
- How is this method useful?
Investigating facets of a particular place and time
PBS - Colonial House: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/colonialhouse/history/index.html
- How can this experience be elaborated on?
VR
John Bonnett: "In this study, I argue that 3D-immersive environments - Virtual Reality - should not be construed as a thoughtless import from popular culture. On the contrary, I suggest that VR, properly applied, has the potential to heighten the effectiveness of historians, as teachers, as communicators, and as researchers. Specifically, I suggest VR can be used to heighten the critical thinking skills of students. I further suggest that VR will soon enable environmental, urban and cultural historians to produce models of far greater range and sophistication than is possible in print."
http://mcel.pacificu.edu/JAHC/JAHCVI2/ARTICLES/bonnett/bonnett.HTML
- What can be gained by VR as a history teacher?
- What are pitfalls of using VR in this way?
Multi-faceted stories
Raid on Deerfield, MA: http://1704.deerfield.history.museum/
Digital History eXplorations - hearing multiple accounts; music, art, etc. from time period: http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/learning_history/
- What's the next step?
_________________________
Overall discussion questions:
1) What did you enjoy about learning history?
2) What did you hate about learning history?
3) What sorts of interactive experiences do you think would be most enjoyable in a history classroom?
4) What sorts of interactive experiences do you think would be most educational in a history classroom?
5) What sorts of interactive experiences would compell you to learn about a historical topic today?
6) How can interactive and immersive historical experiences help our research and understanding of past events?
__________________________
Papers
1) Slava Gerovitch, "Toward an Interactive History of Science and Technology: Reflections on the Dibner/Sloan Web Project"
http://web.mit.edu/slava/homepage/interactive.htm
2) John Bonnett, "Following in Rabelais' Footsteps: Immersive History and the 3D Virtual Buildings Project"
http://mcel.pacificu.edu/JAHC/JAHCVI2/ARTICLES/bonnett/bonnett.HTML
3) Edward L. Ayers, "The Pasts and Futures of Digital History"
http://www.vcdh.virginia.edu/PastsFutures.html
4) Maria Roussou, "Immersive Interactive Virtual Reality and Informal Education"
http://ui4all.ics.forth.gr/i3SD2000/Roussou.PDF
5) Laia Pujol, "Archaeology, museums and virtual reality"
http://www.uoc.edu/humfil/articles/eng/pujol0304/pujol0304.pdf
6) Gary J. Kornblith, "Venturing into the Civil War, Virtually: A Review"
http://www.historycooperative.org/cgi-bin/justtop.cgi?act=justtop&url=http://www.
historycooperative.org/journals/jah/88.1/kornblith.html
7) Peter Teuben, Piet Hut, Stuart Levy, Jun Makino, Steve McMillan, Simon Portegies Zwart, Mike Shara, Carter Emmart, "Immersive 4-D Interactive Visualization of Large- Scale Simulations"
http://www.adass.org/adass/proceedings/adass00/reprints/P1-39.pdf
Journals
1) History Now: http://www.historynow.org/06_2005/index.html
- includes an "Interactive History" section (games, etc.)
2) Council for American Studies Education:
http://www.casechicago.org/modules.php?name=News&new_topic=5
- includes an "Interactive History" section (recipes, geneology, etc.)
3) Journal of the Association for History and Computing: http://mcel.pacificu.edu/jahc/JAHCindex.HTM
Posted by rosenblj at 01:22 AM | Comments (0)
September 23, 2005
Backchannel thoughts
So this week I thought a couple notable things happened with the projected backchannel discussion at 511. The first was that there was generally a sustained, on-topic, interesting conversation going on - my general belief is that this is not always the case, so congrats to those involved. The second was that there were several points where I was embarrassed by comments made in the discussion. I am not advocating a sensor for the backchannel, but I wish that those involved would think a second before they post. For example, we all knew the speaker was taking time to read what was projected, so was it really necessary to post sexual jokes there? The speaker has no idea who is who in that chat, so as far as he/she is concerned we are all responsible for the comments made. Since I myself found the comments slightly offensive, I certainly had no wish to be implicated in them. (Also, it is ridiculously rude and distracting to laugh aloud at backchannel comments while the speaker is talking.)
Obviously if you have the ability to chat on the projected backchannel, you also have the ability to chat with others in seminar in non-displayed chatrooms - I know at least some people already do so. Can't inside jokes and questionable comments go there?
Posted by rosenblj at 10:39 AM | Comments (9)
September 15, 2005
Pachisi Mod Review
First of all, I want to say that this was the first game design assignment we've all had together where we weren't allowed to explain anything to the players, and I at least did not understand the full weight of that in terms of production value. I'm not saying that as an excuse, because obviously this was an important learning experience in terms of presenting your game in absentia. But I do think it was unfortunate because all of us came up with really neat ways to twist the rules and experience of Pachisi, and that was what I really wanted to get out of the demonstration more than learning how to write rules and design boards and pieces. Also, I was unclear as to what standard we were being held to in terms of production design. My team (Circle-of-Life/Prey) is getting criticism for having pieces that were too abstract, that hindered the metaphor we were trying to adopt. I'm not saying that the criticism is unjustified at all, but personally I had never understood that there was any metaphor to Pachisi, and since we were basing our mod on that game (which has very abstract pieces - after all, why are you enemies with everyone else? who is your game character?) I don't think it should be a surprise that some of our class's projects erred on the abstract side. I guess my suggestion would be that in the future this assignment not have two lessons - maybe have an in-class assignment on designing rules and pieces, and then follow it up with the larger mod assignment. I think that combining the two caused unneccesary strife and the loss of understanding some neat mechanics.
1) Cops & Robbers
This game was based on a great metaphor, and introduced some new ways for players to interact with each other (e.g. the robbers set fires, the police set blockades). Unfortunately, a lot of things were unclear on the board and the instructions for setup were incomplete. For example, you couldn't tell the difference between your and your partner's pieces on your team (i.e. all the robbers look the same). But perhaps this was a mechanic that I missed - on your turn could you move any piece on your team? It was also unclear as to which neighborhoods were the good ones versus the bad ones. Another question was what was the incentive to start fires or lay blockades? It just seemed like a huge hassle (production note: particularly without counters to keep track of how long they had been in place) so my test group just avoided it. As a game experience note, the policemen get the satisfaction of catching a robber, but the robbers get no similar satisfaction - I don't think it's the same feeling to say "Ha! You didn't catch me this time" as to say "Ha! I caught you and now you're out of the game!" As a robber, I really wanted to rob the houses that I landed on - then chance would have helped me to gain something, rather than simply evade things. Overall, I think this game had some really good ideas and interesting player interaction that were hindered by a few basic logistical questions - I would like to know what sort of gameplay and strategic situations the designers imagined and intended.
2) Coattails
This game took a while for me to understand - or at least come to my own understanding of it. But when I did, I really liked it. All my remaining uncertainty comes from the rules on movement of pieces, which I would love to have explained in person because they may have been written clearly but in a descriptive style that doesn't click with my brain. Anyway, once the interactions between the placement of pieces started to emerge, I thought that it turned into a fantastic strategy game. I'm not sure if I quite got the metaphor, because you really only rode coattails for one turn before you overran everyone and pulled the rug out from underyourself so to speak. But I really enjoyed the experience of playing this game.
3) Pachisi of Verona
This game had a really cute concept and a metaphor I could understand. The rules seemed clear, though it turned out later that we probably misunderstood the rules of how to read the dice, which in turn probably led to some of the difficulties we encountered. But I'll stick to my thoughts at the time. The fact that you had to declare which piece you were going to move didn't seem to make much of a difference - my test group ended up discarding that rule. It took too long for any player's pieces to get within range of another's - this was probably due to the dice issue. The biggest question I ended up with about the mod was how probable or even desireable were the new mechanics? In other words, how probable was it that you would land on someone's space and couple with them, how probable was it that you would have a sibling in the right area to break it up, and how probable was it that the couple and the sibling would ever meet up? Wouldn't all couples just get set back to the beginning? There didn't seem to be any real incentive to elope, and most players who got in range of each other avoided it. Which I guess is where declaring becomes important, but otherwise it seemed extraneous. But again, if we had known how to read the dice perhaps we would have ended up completely mixed with each other and declaring would have usually been necessary.
Posted by rosenblj at 09:59 AM | Comments (0)
September 12, 2005
More Aquarium Brainstorming
Important Elements
1) Content: Ecosystems - global interaction, codependence, responsibility
2) Message: engage, change attitudes, change behavior - provide small, practical steps
3) Interface: immersive, compelling - not just a chastising screen on the wall
Spending: I think we should focus money on constructing an appealing physical interface for our project.
Posted by rosenblj at 11:26 PM | Comments (0)
September 09, 2005
Flood game issue
So the question came up in class last night as to whether it was appropriate to design a game based on New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, since this had been an example given by Bernie of a possible life lesson around which to mod Pachisi.
My answer is not now, not for a long time.
Certainly games can deal with serious subjects, and certainly there are games that deal with traumatic events. However, I believe that it is only after a respectful mourning and acceptance period following such an event that such a game is appropriate. It is certainly not appropriate while the event is still going on, when effort should be spent on helping those who are there rather than imagining "what would I do if I were there?" Because we're not there, and it is disrespectful to pretend we are.
How long a wait is long enough? When does something stop being a recent event and become history? How many people have to have come to grips with a tragedy before it is appropriate to subject it to cold objectivity? I don't know.
I remember four years ago. I remember being angrier on that day than almost any other point in my life. I am not from New York, and my relatives in New York and Washington were well out of harm's way. But I was so shaken by the events of that day, by the fact that I called my father for reassurance only to find that I had more information than he did, by the pure fury I had when I overheard two students on that very afternoon talking dispassionately about how "we should have seen this coming", etc. I wanted to scream at them, to ask them how dare they say such things when we didn't even know how many people had been killed. This summer I saw a preview for a National Geographic Channel documentary on 9/11, and it made me cry. And yet I think we are getting far enough from that event to be able to talk about it objectively, to investigate it in various media forms including games. As long as the proper respect is taken. But I don't see how there can be any respect in making a game about a human disaster that is still taking place.
This debate is so personal that I think it is good that we didn't try to have it in class.
Posted by rosenblj at 04:08 PM | Comments (7)
September 07, 2005
Aquarium field trip thoughts
I just had a few thoughts on today's trip:
1) AWESOME!!! I am so excited about this project. Museum exhibit design is something I have been interested since applying to this program, and I am so happy to get the opportunity to try out something that will actually be seen by the public.
2) I like Jerry Schubel's suggestion of a display that would convey the codependence of humans on the marine ecosystem and our power and responsability over it. It seems like a neat way to do that would be to incorporate a small kiosk or display into the end of each major exhibit, relaying information directly related to the animals that the audience just interacted with. Then towards the exit there could be a culmination of all the displays.
3) One thing that really bothers me with any plea for community service is its scale. Sure I'm against polluting the ocean and destroying the rain forests, but I have no idea how I could have an impact on those activities, much less how a child could have an impact on them. I agree with Mr. Schubel that it is vital to have extensive scientific research backing up any factual claims we make, but I also think it is crucial to provide the audience with appealling, reasonable actions that they can take to stay aware and combat these issues.
Posted by rosenblj at 12:12 AM | Comments (1)