5-E CLASSROOM STEM ACTIVITY: DESIGNING A LOCATION-BASED VIDEO GAME

Dr. Candace Walkington, Assistant Professor of Mathematics EducationSouthern Methodist University

24 LATE FALL 2015 // STEMJOBS.COM

THE FUTURE OF GAMINGBY ELLEN EGLEY

JOBS OF THE FUTURE // SCHELL GAMES

THE FUTURE OF GAMING

Whether you’re into fighting games like Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros., sports games like Madden NFL 16 from EA Sports, massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG) like Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft, or sandbox role-playing games like Microsoft’s Minecraft, this is an exciting time to be a gamer. Graphics and gameplay are becoming more realistic, while consoles and gaming systems are becoming faster and more interactive.

But what does the future of the gaming industry look like? What types of systems and games will we be clamoring to buy on Black Friday 10 or 20 years from now? To find out, I spoke with team members at Schell Games, a Pittsburgh-based game design and development company that is one of the largest independent game studios in the country.

As I walked into the Schell Games studio, I was struck by how simply cool the space was. Artists, engineers and designers all have their desks in an open space on the studio floor. As I looked down from one of the many balconies, I saw people walking from one desk to another, laughing and sharing ideas. They seemed genuinely happy and excited about what they were doing. The energy coming from the shared space was unlike anything I’ve experienced in an office before.

I sat down with Ana Balliache, an advanced engineer; Anisha Deshmane, a game designer; and Game Artist Evan Brown to discuss each person’s path to Schell Games, how they use STEM skills in their jobs, and their take on the future of the gaming industry.

I assumed that everyone working at Schell Games was a lifelong gamer who had always dreamed of a career in the gaming industry. I was wrong. “I went to school for architecture, and when I graduated I realized that I didn’t want to worry about building codes and that sort of thing and it seemed a little less glamorous than I had hoped it would be. I realized that architecture exists in video games, too. I started learning about the principles behind game design and I went from there,” said Anisha. Ana also took a different career path than I expected to get to Schell. “After I graduated from computer engineering, I worked as a computer software engineer for a while in traditional software development. That background was really useful because I started as a server engineer here at Schell Games. Even though I didn’t have too much experience with games, I had experience with servers and client server environments, and was able to bring that experience here. In general, I think that having analytical thinking and being passionate about solving problems and finding creative solutions to problems is a great way to get into the gaming industry,” she explained. Now she is a lead engineer who does programming and manages other engineers on particular projects.

Evan took a more traditional path to get into the gaming industry, studying art and engineering and earning a computer science degree. Even though he is a game artist, he credits his background in both art and engineering for his success, and emphasized the importance of STEM skills in the industry. “You have to be technically savvy about how things work. Everything

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intrigued Ana as well, who stated, “I think the virtual reality and augmented reality are going to take off. In my opinion, AR is going to really engage the public in a very interesting way. It has a way to go yet, but I think the beginning of that is VR with the headsets and everything, and I think that’s really going to change location-based games, like the ones found at museums and amusement parks.” Evan added, “I think breaking into the space and starting to bend the barrier between the player and the world we allow them to enter until that barrier slowly fades away with these new pieces of technology is the future of gaming. So I think that virtual reality, and perhaps augmented reality, is the wave of the future - that we’re not going to be experiencing these things on screens anymore, but in our homes and in space.”

The future of gaming seems to be limited only by our imaginations. The next generation of game developers will be tasked with taking gaming to the next level, enhancing the players’ experiences, and allowing them to explore virtual worlds in more realistic ways. Want to be a part of it? The pros all have similar advice for aspiring video game developers, and surprisingly, it doesn’t involve binge-playing Call of Duty for 24 hours. “Start making games! Make games with whatever you can. It could be a board game or a card game - games can come from literally anywhere. Starting to make games, play testing them with your friends, figuring out what works and what doesn’t work - that whole process of methodically and scientifically figuring out how a game can be balanced and how the rule set works are the best training to be a game designer,” said Anisha. “You have to take the initiative and sit down and download things like Unity, which is a game engine that is completely free. It’s proprietary, it’s easy to use, and it immediately teaches you the finer points of game development. Figure out the specific role that you want to fill in these very diverse workplaces. Then pursue an education that’s about the fundamental skills, because I think people bring more to the game industry when they haven’t trained to be game developers, but rather bring different focuses of study to our environment. Because it really is a melting pot of ideas, and you never know where the next idea will come from,” advised Evan.

As I left the studio, I had to resist the urge to play the old-school Pac-Man table game that sits in the lobby. I couldn’t help but wonder what the creators of games like Pac-Man, Pong and Space Invaders would think of the technology being used in the gaming industry today, and the additional strides gaming technology will make in the years to come.

we do in video games is a simulation. We use very complex algorithms that are working with the meshes you’ve developed and the textures you’ve built. They all work off of math, so if you don’t understand how that math works with the artwork that you deliver, it doesn’t tend to look very good. Those who come to the industry with that base knowledge, as well as an artistic background, tend to be the most successful,” explained Evan.

Anisha agreed that STEM skills are essential to every role in the gaming industry. “I feel like everyone here uses STEM at some level. The engineers obviously use STEM quite extensively, as a lot of it is computer science and programming. The artists need to understand things like color perception that can affect human perception of things happening in the game, which can even get into a little bit of neuroscience. It’s a really wide range of skills that are used to make games,” she elaborated.

So where will these extensive STEM skills lead the industry in the future? Our experts all have similar guesses. “A lot of the traditional console things are going to keep being relevant, but I also think that not only virtual reality, which is becoming a huge piece of the industry right now, but also location-based games will continue to grow in popularity. We’re seeing a lot of virtual reality and other gaming formats being exploded into the real world, and that’s really where the game industry is headed,” Anisha hypothesized. The implications for location-based games

EVAN BROWNGAME ARTIST SCHELL GAMES5.5 YEARS IN THE INDUSTRYSTEM TYPE: INVESTIGATOR

ANISHA DESHMANEGAME DESIGNERSCHELL GAMES2.5 YEARS IN THE INDUSTRYSTEM TYPE: DESIGNER

ANA BALLIACHEADVANCED ENGINEERSCHELL GAMES5 YEARS IN THE INDUSTRYSTEM TYPE: SOLVER

SCHELL GAMES HEADQUARTERS IN PITTSBURGH

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5-E CLASSROOM STEM ACTIVITY: DESIGNING A LOCATION-BASED VIDEO GAMEHere are some ideas for how middle school teachers could use this story as a launching point for integrated STEM learning. Our activities follow the 5-E Learning Cycle Model.

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Have students read the STEM Jobs article “The Future of Gaming.” Ask students: • What is a location-based video game? • What data do these games use? • What location-based games have you played or heard of? • How might these games use STEM ideas from geometry or measurement when they are being designed and played?

Watch a video on how to create a location-based game or story that can be found at edu.STEMjobs.com/teacher-resources

What are some of the important considerations when designing a location-based game? Where in your city, town, neighborhood, or school would be a good location for a location-based game? What would some challenges with this setting be?

Display a typical map of the world that has latitude and longitude. Then show a Universal Transverse Mercator Map (an example can be found at edu.STEMjobs.com/teacher-resources). Ask students: • What do the GPS coordinates that location-based games use look like? • What is the difference between using latitude/longitude versus the UTM system? • Which system is more like the coordinate plane we use in math class? (Resources can be found at edu.STEMjobs.com/teacher-resources)

Part 1: Engage

1 STEMjobs.com Designing a Location-Based Video Game

Today your group will be creating its own location-based video game at the site of our school. However, instead of using GPS coordinates on a mobile device, we’ll be using x- and y-coordinates on a Cartesian coordinate plane that is drawn over our school map. Your task is to create a game that moves players through at least 6 locations at our school using this map. At each location, you would leave a piece of paper with a clue on it that directs players to the next location, and that supplies some storyline as to why players are moving from location to location. In order to direct players to the next location, the clues must include the following information (be sure to use negative values in addition to positive values): • 6th grade: The x- and y-coordinate of the next location. • 7th grade: The “rise” and “run” needed to get from the current location to the next location. • 8th grade: The slope of the line that connects the current location to the next location, along with either the x-coordinate or y-coordinate of the next location.

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To prepare, take a map of your school and draw a coordinate plane grid over it. The x-axis should go at least from -10 to 10, as should the y-axis. Make copies of the map to hand out to students.

Break students up into groups of 4 and give each group the following prompt:

Part 2: Explore

Part 3: Explain

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Have each group present their labeled coordinate plane on graph paper to the class, and discuss the basic premise of each game in terms of its storyline, without giving too much of the game’s plot away. Have presenters show the class each location on the coordinate plane in terms of its x- and y-coordinates (6th grade), and the properties of the line that connects it to the next location (7th grade). Highlight when groups use fractional or negative terms.

Ask each group: • Which location do you think would be hardest for players to find? Why? • What was the hardest part of designing your game? • What would a good title for your game be? • How could your game utilize augmented reality to enhance the storyline?

Choose one game that the students designed that is both creative and mathematically accurate/rigorous. Have the group that designed the game go and actually hide the clues at the school sites, and then have the other groups play the game. The group that designed the game will act as “Game Masters” and will assist the other groups in completing the game. As each group plays the game, they will need to fill out a coordinate plane on graph paper that shows each point in the game (without the school map overlaid). The points should be labeled appropriately with their coordinates, and for 7th and 8th grade the lines that connect each location to the next location in the game should also be drawn and labeled with their slope (7th and 8th grade) and y-intercept (8th grade). When groups have finished playing the game, have them give constructive suggestions to the game designers about how their game could be improved.

Part 4: Elaborate

Designing a Location-Based Video Game

Give students the following homework assignment:

Print a map of your neighborhood from Google Maps, and draw (or print on transparent paper) a Cartesian coordinate plane with 4 quadrants overlaying your neighborhood. Locate the coordinates of your house on the grid, and of two other locations you’re familiar with in the neighborhood. Connect your house to the two locations with straight lines. Label the slope of the lines (7th grade) or the slope and y-intercept (8th grade). Finally, you should label the scale of the grid on your coordinate plane.

Part 5: Evaluate

Assume that all players will start from the middle of our classroom, and that the first clue will be given to them there. Your group will be responsible for turning in a set of all of your clues, along with a separate coordinate plane on graph paper that shows each point in your game (without the school map overlaid). The points should be labeled appropriately with their coordinates, and for 7th and 8th grade the lines that connect each location to the next location in the game should also be drawn and labeled with their slope (7th and 8th grade) and y-intercept (8th grade). Finally, you should label the scale of the grid on your coordinate plane.

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Common Core Math Standards:

Cross-Curricular Connections (NCSS Standards):

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills – Math

CCSS.Math.Content.6.EE.C.9. Analyze the relationship between the dependent and independent variables using graphs and tables, and relate these to the equation.

CCSS.Math.Content.7.RP.A.2.b. Identify the constant of proportionality (unit rate) in tables, graphs, equations, diagrams, and verbal descriptions of proportional relationships.

CCSS.Math.Content.8.EE.B.5. Graph proportional relationships, interpreting the unit rate as the slope of the graph.

Interpret, use, and distinguish various representations of the earth, such as maps, globes, and photographs.

Use appropriate resources, data sources, and geographic tools such as atlases, data bases, grid systems, charts, graphs, and maps to generate, manipulate, and interpret information.

7.7 represent linear relationships using verbal descriptions, tables, graphs, and equations that simplify to the form y = mx + b.

8.5.I write an equation in the form y = mx + b to model a linear relationship between two quantities using verbal, numerical, tabular, and graphical representations.

NOTES

Designing a Location-Based Video Game