2.+Game+Information

=__**GAME INFO.**__=

**i) What's the story?**
Local Flora and Fauna Left Photo: The **Harpinian Dragon** (one of the bad dudes). There are 2 types of Harpinian dragons: harpies (female) & harpites (male). The Harpinian dragons have taken over Fortress Desire 2 Learn and have gotten into the Learning Management System (LMS) and appear to have stolen all of the tests. They want to make our part of the world a wasteland where no one gets into the LMS, Desire 2 Learn (D2L), to learn how to navigate and have opportunities for learning and evaluation. For those not familiar with Harpies / Harpites, they are brutal dragon like creatures. They have claws on their wing elbows as well as claw like appendages instead of hands. Needless to say, they also are able to breathe fire and their sulphur smelling breath is pretty rank!

Right photo: This is **Mr. TT** (Mr. Tommy Troll). He won't hurt you, and he is not particularly dangerous but can be a nuisance, get in your way, and bite you on the ankles IF he gets angry with you (Note: if he does attack you, which he might, he’ll send you all the way back to the front gates where you have to start all over! Caution is advised!). He likes to hang out in subterranean environments and scare the daylights out of people. Thus, you can find him in underground parking facilities or in cool dark basements!

If we let the Harpies & Harpites continue stealing all the tests, they will remove the option to __collaborate__, to __cooperate__, __create__, __connect__, and __contribute__, and thus remove //options to learn//. The detectives/sleuths (aka. swash buckling adventurers) need to get back into the fortress, get by or defeat the bad dudes (aka. the Harpinians), and get the tests back on line for the students. Failure to get the tests back will result in the need to create new tests for the students who are depending on the detectives/sleuths. Failure to keep the Harpinians in check will result in a loss of what we can potentially learn!

**ii)** Goals of the game:
i) to provide instructors skills on how to manage tests in D2L ii) to provide instructors skills on creating new tests in D2L iii) strike a victory for democracy

iii) Objectives of the game:
i) instructors will be able to navigate in D2L whether they are facilitators or designers ii) instructors will be able to manage tests in D2L by the time they get into the fortress and get the tests back online for the learners iii) instructors will be able to create new tests if they are unable to access the original tests taken away by the Harpies/Harpites iv) instructors will strike a victory for democracy by providing online education for a large number of students

iv) Learner experiences:
The game is to familiarize the instructors with how the Desire 2 Learn Learning Management System software works. It is designed to help them navigate within the software, and learn how to develop tests inside the learning management system. They will end up with a better working knowledge of Desire 2 Learn. The game can be described as a fun option but at the same time it can be frustrating and a challenge as the instructors work their way through the maze and get to the goal. One of the side benefits of this type of game is that instructors can consider modding the game or having someone mod the game so they can use it in their own classrooms so their students will also benefit from the instructor experience and new expertise.

v) Background:
SAIT Polytechnic has instructors who have a teaching background and those who have an industry background. All instructors are provided with training and opportunities to develop skills and further education. Part of the experience with technology functioning at SAIT includes developing the skills to facilitate course software. Desire 2 Learn is the present Learning Management System which SAIT is using. Instructors are required to be able to facilitate courses on D2L and a number are asked to design materials for online courses. Since this is the case, technical instruction and pedagogical training are provided for instructors. To make the learning more 'fun' this writer is attempting to provide alternatives to standard in class learning which will get instructors up to speed on the software prior to using it in a classroom or facilitating a course.

vi) Working Structure:
The player starts in front of a castle like structure that used to be an institute of learning. It has been taken over by trolls and dragon like creatures who are attempting to remove the option of learning via Desire 2 Learn at SAIT. The player must make his/her way through the maze (answering D2L general and specific test questions along the way) in order to progress to the Inner Sanctum and get at the computer to get to the Learning Management System. If the player is able to do so, s/he is rewarded visually, upon completion of a final survey, from this Wiki site. In the classroom or with an online facilitator, the player has been guaranteed chocolates and/or Japanese special candies as a prize.

For those who played the game, they may have noticed that the only really tough question which could get you re-routed to a totally different path was near the beginning. Subsequent to that, the questions became less difficult, the player would usually be able to get the right answer on a second try and proceed. Many of the questions were set up to proceed even if the player didn't get them right. There was only one additional quite difficult multiple multiple choice question near access to the Inner Sanctum which might have thrown a player off his/her game.

There were a number of times, during the game, when the player had the option to go to the Wiki for Tutorial information on how to proceed. There were Resources in the Wiki as well and a page on preparing for and fighting dragons which was somewhat on the whimsical side. This included music as a background on getting 'into the spirit' of playing this type of game.

This game has been created in Captivate 3 and thus doesn't have the extras that can be set up by Flash. It does have a number of interesting options that weren't available in prior versions and which take a good deal of time to learn about before one can use special effects in Flash. One of the special options that are available in this version is the development of tests along the path to the Inner Sanctum. There are also other paths a player can take if s/he is having difficulty with the main path.

vii) Assumptions:
We began to develop the game using Captivate 3 with the initial intent of using Flash and integrating the Captivate file within Flash. Unfortunately, due to limited resources, we were not able to work in Flash and realized that with the learning curve in Captivate, the assumptions were somewhat higher than the time lines and the amount of programming experience that was needed to set up a game with testing and levels. I have discovered that since completion of the Captivate game, I was in contact with another developer who works solely in Flash. He had to inform me that Captivate could not be imported into Flash even though they were owned by the same company (Adobe). Thus, any modifications using Flash would have to occur starting pretty much from the beginning.

The idea of using alternate pathways to get to the goal was realized and could be played out in the game if the player was not as familiar with D2L to make it through the first maze. The initial approach to creating the pathways appeared relatively but proved to be more difficult as the software worked in a fashion that didn't provide the programming which it initially appeared to make available. So, a work around was necessary and the creation of alternate options otherwise we ended up with an internal loop when playing the game. You could get to a certain point but got stuck in a section and couldn't work your way out without quitting the game and starting over. This was not anticipated at all but did take a fair amount of time to figure out so we could move on.

Programming a game is an intensive process and requires a good deal more time than we had initially allotted for the process. Once into the process, it became obvious that it would take a good deal more time to carry out all of the initial ideas that had been discussed prior to getting into the game.

viii) Constraints:
The Fortress D2L game is to be designed based on the structure of Heritage Hall which is the oldest building of the SAIT Polytechnic campus. It has a number of entrances which is not a constraint as that allows for more than one path. It doesn’t have ‘scary’ places other than what can be created using lighting, music, and visuals such as dark stairwells. This is a constraint when you are attempting to keep a person’s attention by throwing in unusual visuals or spooky music.

This game is being considered for development in Captivate which is versatile but is limited in its potential for extensive flash animation that could be easily developed via Flash or another product. To create a well fashioned game, a programmer(s) would need to be hired and would require a period of time to actually develop the game. There is no estimate as to the actual cost of development which as budget is a big part of how most organizations operate.

The developer of the background, goals, and the organizational approach of the game would also need to spend time collaborating with the programmer to ensure that the game was being developed as per the requirements expressed in this document. Again, we are looking at budget considerations. An additional issue is the restriction to accessing resources since we needed to use Captivate 3 versus being able to access the newest version which is Captivate 5. The newest version is more compatible with newer browsers and Flash players on computers. This caused a good deal of consternation as the htm file wouldn't play in certain newer browsers.

ix) User Testing:
We initially set up a prototype of the game and then proceeded to do alpha testing on it ourselves. Once we had worked out what we figured were all the bugs, they were corrected and then we asked two other individuals to try the game. Both indicated that they enjoyed the game, were aware that a player would learn something about D2L through the game as they were both already familiar with the Learning Management System and knew what to expect from testing. The two beta testers were able to provide feedback on what they felt would improve the game and what they liked about it. They played the game from different view points as one is a programmer and developer and the other is a hard core technical person. The interesting thing is that it appealed to both of them in a way that was relevant to what they felt they got out of it. They both indicated that they enjoyed the game.

Comments: Beta One: This game is a blast. I found it easy to go through and I enjoyed it, probably because I am quite familiar with D2L and understand how it works. It was fun to play while learning.

Beta Two: A very interesting game. I like the idea of using a first shooter approach as I went through what was almost a maze. I didn't know either that there were so many doors to get down to the 'Inner Sanctum. I suspect that it could be spruced up considerably if you were to use Flash.

x) Supporting Documents:
There is information set out on a number of screens in open text blocks, but also in mouse over sections so the player has to do a bit of exploring. We also set up a Wiki with a fair amount of information showing:
 * A lead page with the visual of the Fortress D2L site
 * Game Information and visuals of local site creatures
 * A philosophical rationale
 * A whimsical approach on how to prepare yourself to fight dragons which included 'go get them' music
 * Resources
 * Tutorials
 * References
 * A winner's page
 * A page where the game link is set up with instructions on what will work (ie. browsers and Flash player) limitations.

xi) Conclusions:
The first thing I would like to say is that programming a game is extremely time consuming but can be a lot of fun. This comment was echoed more than once in the Elluminate session. It is sometimes frustrating when the software doesn't work as one thinks it should but it is refreshing to see something work that one has created. Subsequent to the Elluminate session on Tuesday evening, it occurred to me that there are a number of other things that can be done with the game we created. It is possible in Captivate to use the tests and tally marks so the player can get a 'score' by the end of the game. We didn't do this but this may make the game more interesting. One can also set up the Pools (test banks) to hold a number of questions that can be pulled at random for a 'test' at some point in the game. Thus, different players get different tests. The test questions can be also added in sequence to make a much larger test than the simple tests which were created in the game, F - D2L.

We could also change the time line for different slides to increase the expectation of getting through the game either quicker or allow the player to take longer. This could be set up as a couple of different scenarios such as making the initial path shorter and have higher expectations. This could allow the player much more time to take an alternate path (by changing the screen timing) to allow the player more time to research and work out what s/he needs to proceed. Alternatively, the player already has the option to scoot through the screens as quickly as possible and get to the goal.

The game could also be extended to include testing once the player had gone to the D2L Learning Management System and worked in it to create a test. Then, s/he could come back into the game and proceed on an additional path with more tests specifically designed to determine how much s/he has learned in the LMS.