(photo by Liz Kaye)
A team of Media Arts and Science students in Mathew Powers and Todd Shelton‘s (pictured above) NEWM-N 436 class recently completed an five-month long project for NSWC Crane in southern Indiana. “The Mystery of Vee Island” is a gamification of fundamental concepts in systems engineering, and will be used to train employees who need to understand, manage, and design complex systems. Students designed and developed the playable game, including creating the original art and writing the code.
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Gamification is a concept that applies game elements to other activities, e.g., incorporating learning in an interactive and enjoyable way, or “edutainment.”
Shelton, a lecturer in the Department of Human-Centered Computing, recently shared that their work will continue with Crane, involving a new set of students and a new challenge. Their latest endeavor, “Ranger Roger’s Radar Rescue” or R4, takes place in a space-themed environment. There are plans to include a voice over in the new game.
The intention is to continue the partnership with Crane into the future, with new games to come. Industry partnerships like this are invaluable experiences for students who are gaining skills, not only in design, but also in project management, teamwork, and communication, which they can carry into their careers post-graduation.
“The skills that students learn during this production class will carry on with them throughout their career. Some of them will never experience taking a product to a convention, and we hope that this will excite them enough to continue to grow, and succeed in what they do by pushing them forward in their career and showing off their talents,” Shelton said.
R4 will be on display to the public later in April, at PopCon Indy.
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