stephane zerbib g4c anz presentation
DESCRIPTION
Stephane Zerbib: Master Of The Mall, An RPG For The Classroom http://youtu.be/ZZfM9CMuK_Q Computer games seem to motivate young people in a way that formal education doesn't. It is repeatedly pointed out that young people of their own volition choose to spend many hours playing complex computer games outside school. Games, it seems, 'have something', they seem to have a way of engaging and interesting young people. The desire to harness this motivational power to encourage young people to want to learn is the main driver behind an interest in computer games for learning.TRANSCRIPT
Who is WASABI?
Video intro
What is Master of the Mall?
•Online RPG game• played in the classroom• And as homework•12 month in production
Context
•Commissioned by Office of Fair Trading•Players: 12-15 y.o. Students•Teach young people : • their rights and responsibilities• as shoppers• and workers
•Best manage the transition from school to work•Empowering young consumers and workers
Learnings for Studentsrefunds Phone coverage gift certificate
warranties Ringtones hairdresser
credit notes applying for Credit card Minimum hours
comparison buying online Sick leave and penalty rates for WE hours
dual pricing online scam Breaks at work
Bait and switch bogus work from home scheme holiday pay for casual
Lay-bys credit contract unpaid trial work
Misleading advertising computerised scanning employee responsibility
Phone Contracts bag search till shortages
Our Concepts
•4 months in concept development iterations•“Hunt’m Down”• Catch rogue vampires• Play pirates• Hunt Aliens•Trivial Pursuit•Online board game•Virtual theme park
RPG for the classroom!
•Settled on game mechanics first•Isometric virtual mall world•Quest based•Avatar based•Narrative based•Quiz/brain training mechanics•Micro-games relevant to learnings
Narrative
•Game starts like a late night TVC•Spruiker, our shifty Master of the Mall invites players join a competition to promote his new venture. •The prize? Anything and everything in the mall is there for the winner’s taking!
Narrative
•Our Biggest challenge: achieve simplicity•So much content, had to create flexible narrative structure that made sense•Overarching narrative guides the player through:• Minigames• Transactions• Mission mechanics and Q rewards
Process•after 4 months in concept dev worried about looming delivery dates•Agreed on the core game mechanics•started dev while ironing details • That were more than details•the RPG format being extremely well defined this helped•while the bulk of the creative work then became scripts development and mini-games
Art
•important but not 1st priority•build the whole game with temp art•when mechanics working then move toe acual design•created early design to satisfy the client curiosity•educated client in not getting attached to art and focus on outcome
Microgames
A Balancing Act
•A balance of learning and fun for young people through:• mission-based story telling, • quizzes • And mini-games. •Injects fun and humour into the learning experience.
Where to from here?
•Deployed in NSW, licensed to other state agencies•Localised for other states needs•Information-heavy concepts can be successfully blended with a fun game format •Detached the content from the gameplay •Ready to apply the game model and our learning to future game projects
http://preview.wasabidigital.com.au/games/MotM/deploy/user: wasaprev
password: w4s4prev
