Game Engine for Serious Educational Games

From REU@MU
Jump to: navigation, search

Mentors: Shaun Longstreet (at Marquette), Kendra Cooper (remote project collaborator).

Approach: Design and implementation of a Game Play Engine for serious educational games.

Summary: Research and development of a Game Play Engine prototype for serious, educational games. The project involves game and software engineering activities including technical (requirements engineering, architecture, OO design, use of patterns, development adhering to coding standards, effective use of components/libraries, testing, documentation, configuration management) and soft-skills (communication, demonstrations/walkthoughs, time management, professional development).



The Game Play Engine's architecture is based on an MVC style, with a state machine design concept. The game script is represented in XML; the game application is developed in Java. UML is used to represent the requirements, architecture and design models. The project uses an agile approach: a requirements backlog is maintained; sprints are organized; regular meetings/demos./walkthroughs are held. The Game Play Engine will be extended to support exciting new features, including timed, competitive quizzes and animation.

The Game Play Engine is one module in a larger, game development platform project (composed of a Game Play Engine, Semi-automated Intelligent Game Generator, and an Automated Assessment and Adaptation tool). The overall architecture is based on a repository style.

This is a challenging, implementation-oriented project that is well-suited for students with a strong interest in game development and software engineering; students will learn and apply valulable skills and tools widely used in industry.