Computer game to teach hardware components
Lucian Liu, John Mak, and Ho Yeung Chin
Hillcrest High School
Level 2 ICT [Programming], Half-year project
Teacher: Jenny Baker
Hillcrest High School's ICT Programming classes needed a multimedia tool to educate students on computer hardware components and how they function, so Year 12 Technology students Lucian Liu, Ho Yeung Chin, and John Mak decided to create one as a computer platform game.
"Our goal was to make a platform adventure game which follows the travels of a byte as it makes its way around a computer from an input device and through processing to finally end up at an output device. We wanted to display how a range of hardware components, such as the CPU and RAM, function inside the computer by representing each component as a mini game based on how it functions." the students said.
Being relatively new to the skills and knowledge needed to create the game, the students agreed to work as a team to achieve this considerable goal within the limited timeframe. Teacher Jenny Baker assigned Lucian with the role of Project Manager to ensure effective teamwork throughout the project.
The team realised that planning would be crucial in such an involved project and used Jade Software's Agile Development Methodology as a model, outlining the time needed for each task as well as implementing a schedule for repeated testing throughout the development process. They created colour-coded Gantt charts to differentiate each individual's role in the project – Ho Yeung focussed on programming, and John and Lucian on graphics.
"We held a team meeting each week to make sure we were creating components that were the same as each other so we could make a product that looked coordinated and well planned," says Lucian. "From this process we learned the importance of teamwork and having the same goals as each other, and it allowed us to work better as a team with fewer stoppages to solve issues and more time for the development of components."
This meant that Ho Yeung's programming could be integrated with Lucian and John's graphic work in increments that could be trialled and tested, ensuring that the team were on the right track throughout the project.
For the programming, Ho Yeung started using the Microsoft Visual C# programming language but found difficulty placing Flash animations in layers, so he learned Action Script 3, a scripting language used with Flash CS4, which made integration with the graphics created in Flash and Photoshop far easier.
For the design, Lucian and John used storyboarding techniques used by Animation Research Limited (ARL), starting many graphic elements with basic hand drawings which were then scanned into Flash, traced, and had colour added.
"Drawing by hand helped give me a rough idea of what the component or graphic should look like and gave me more control. It also made recording ideas far easier," says Lucian.
John and Lucian first used this technique to make the background for the platform levels that the character would travel through. For continuity, a template was created that could be used repeatedly which avoided redoing work and enabled quick changes to be made at later dates. Once established, this also served as a guide for the colour schemes used throughout the game in the main character and other components.
Tests with stakeholders revealed the need for larger levels for the character to explore, so Lucian and John expanded the template background both horizontally and vertically. This feedback also led to the creation of slightly different colour shading for each background to differentiate each level and avoid user boredom.
Other visual elements – such as a bus icon that symbolised travelling data – were created and features such as play buttons were developed with Photoshop using the bevel and emboss effects to add a 3D appearance.
With the team members satisfied with the look of the game, John added textual information to ensure the game had the right balance of education and entertainment.
"With a simple Flash screen at the start of each level we were able to explain the goals that the player has to achieve while providing them with a simple tutorial as to how the component works, ensuring that the educational content was conveyed," says John.
During the course of the project, changes had to be made to the team's first brief as technical and practical issues presented themselves. The team had initially wanted to use 3D animation, but decided to use simpler 2D graphics with shading and depth effects. As the game was intended for a classroom setting, sound effects were also eliminated from the brief. This also avoided copyright issues that would have required the team to create their own soundtrack for the game.
The outcome completely fulfils the client's educational requirements and is a highly playable game in its own right, resulting in all three students receiving 'Excellent' grades for Level 2 Technology.
Teacher comment
Lucian, John, and Ho Yeung are outstanding students. As the original idea for the game was Lucian's, I appointed him 'Project Manager' of the team. He rose to the challenge, learning to lead, organise, and manage his team, and to plan and prioritise tasks in advance.
The team worked together to plan and then separated to work on their designated components to ensure that each member could be assessed individually.
By having frequent team discussions, the team was able to anticipate, avoid, and overcome problems. They learned to listen to each other's views; discuss problems and arrive at a consensus; understand and appreciate the other's point of view; and value the contributions made by each other. Lucian, John, and Ho Yeung were thorough and exacting in their work and deserved the high grades that they received.
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