In a world that is being filled with more and more blogs every day, how do you keep track of them all? Well - you don’t… but, google reader is sure a nice way to keep track of those you are interested in, as well as share those posts you find interesting with others, etc… give it a try if you haven’t already!
You can keep up to speed with the blog posts I find interesting either on the right hand side of this site, or directly here (all via google reader):
So, this semester (my last one with classes) is now over. I was in a video game development class this semester, and had a ton of fun making an educational (and fun) video game targeted at the 1st grade level (in math). It’s not all math problems - but rather primarily a space war in which you pilot your ship in order to catch up with Distractor and take him down. The math comes in as you attempt to use power-ups found along the way… they are locked, and the only way to unlock them is by solving math problems…
(Intro Sequence for Space War)
(Molly helping you with a math question)
(Fighting the Boss “Distractor”)
… it was a true group effort - I was one of 3 in my team, and we spent quite a bit of time and effort coming up with a back-story, etc… which is somewhat integrated into this working demo. You can listen to the story-line in the game by selecting the Story option — or if you want to just jump into the action - select the Space War option (the only module we had time to implement). I’m actually interested in furthering the game a bit, as my kids actually enjoy playing it. I’d love to hear any feedback you might have!
So, how do you install it then? Not as easy as I’d hope — but you’ll first need to get some prerequisite applications on your Windows XP or Vista computer:
.NET 2.0 SP1 (Windows XP Only)
Vista SP1 (Windows Vista Only)
DirectX 9.0c (Both XP & Vista)
XNA Runtime 2.0 (Both XP & Vista)
Once you’ve got the above pre-requisites installed… then download and install EgdelWonk (26MB). If you happen to have an XBox 360 controller - plug it into your computer and use it… as we designed/tested/developed the game specifically for the XBox 360. You can play it with the keyboard - but the gameplay is much better with the XBox controller.
Again — let me know what you think! It was fun to make, hopefully you’ll enjoy playing it (or having your kids play it)… Bonus quesion — who plays the voice of Molly?