[NTLUG:Discuss] re:Hilcrest idea

[Wayne]

..misc thoughts inline.

::I want my students to write a math TAAS game. This is the sketch of the
::idea.

Could someone enlighten me on what TAAS is? :-)

::Kid sits down and plays the game on any computer in the school. On the 
::network is a database that is tracking his progress (but this should ::also
be stand alone.) 

..could keep a copy of the database (Gladfly?) on the computer and update the
server occasionally?  Would you need the entire game available on the
computer, or should it erase the data that has been sent to the server?

::When kid gets a TAAS problem right he gets to play a game. How long and
::where in the game he goes depends on the difficulty of the question he
::answers. When the kid gets a TAAS problem wrong, he gets tutored on how ::to
solve the problem. Even that could be some kind of game.

::I want an adventure game, I'm envisioning something on the lines of the
::old adventure game, where you have to pick up certain items for points,
::and put certain items places to get into more of the puzzle. Something
::that teaches and exploits logical thinking skills. In other words, the
::kiddos are learning actually every step of the way but having a good ::time
doing so.

How about a turn-based game?  It's not going to have the 'cool' factor of a
real time game, but it should work better on all the systems and not have a
large overhead requirement.

The points that they collect might be used in the game for extra turns or to
get parts of the puzzle.  This might be a way to get the students from
different classes in competition with each other, form them up as teams with
each person working individually (or something).

::Here's where I need help. I've never programmed anything this large, or
::planned it. I have no idea how the graphics get down, but I want ::something
way gee, that's cool.

::I'd like -- blame last meeting over this -- that will run on Linux, Mac,
::Windows... but will require a linux server. I want for any computer or
::most computers in the school to be able to handle this thing....

I can setup a Majordomo list if needed.

What type of interface would you be interested in?  With a web browser you
could have the cross platform aspects easily, but you'd be limited in what you
could do.  Do they all have newer browsers, say Netscrape 4.x?  If so you
could probably do some interesting this with the DOM and JavaScript.

Another option might be to use wxWindows, this would give you a GUI on Linux
(GTK) and Windows.  Or using Tk, which would give a native look and feel, but
the programmers would probably have nightmares.

...then again, maybe something like WorldForge could be used?  :-)
http://www.worldforge.org  IIRC, someone is working on a version to do
interactive learning.

::Here's what I got in the way of resources.... a bunch of kids taking
::multimedia. A larger bunch of kids taking C++ programming. The most
::advanced got to loops last year.  An even bigger bunch of kids taking
::webmastering -- (so maybe this ought to incorporate the internet? that
::would handle my idea of multiplatforming. I definately want to do
::something open source ....

::We've got beaucoups of release tests and beaucoups of information on ::what
the kids have to know. We have a group of math struggling kids that ::could
even help us write the questions (from the above math teacher). 

::Any takers?

::What I need: someone experienced in game programming -- or has time to
::learn -- who can help me plan such a large project. I would really ::really
like to get my 4th period class involved in this, since they are ::my most
advanced.

I'd be willing to help, I'm no game programmer though.  I'm learning SQL, so I
could help with the database if needed.  I also know some programming, but
I've never gotten around to really putting it to use.

Wayne


Want to help build a lunar colony? -- http://www.asi.org

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