Imporvements

So far, our game needs some improvements. Not too many though. The only thing that we have to do is make our backgrounds to where people can read it more clearly, and we have to go over what we're going to say in front of the audience, so we don't mess up.

Game Demo Presentation

In our game presentations, I noticed a couple of mistakes, but nothing major.What I realized about it though, is that I would have never found the mistakes myself. My classmates and teacher were helpful in this unit. They showed me what was good, and what I needed to fix. This unit made me realize that everyone comes from a different perspective. They have different opinions that help me make my game better. That's another thing I learned from the game demo presentation. Evaluating other people's games helps you make more calculated decisions
http://myglife.org/usa/wv/srmswiki/index.php/User:Kaylock2009bout your own. I've looked at it a different way, and now I have new ideas.

Adding sound is indeed the funnest unit of the gaming process. Playing games with sound in it is much more intriguing than a game without it. It makes the game come to life. It also makes the game more interactive. I plan to use sound in a fun way. Usually when you play a game, there is music, but not particulary music that is heard on kid's ipods and mp3s. My game is gonna have the most modern music possible so kids can relate to it and are more confident to succeed and advance through all of the levels. So even though they don't understand the subject, they'll still be familiar to it somewhat. Here is where I get most of my music from:
http://www.frostclick.com/wp/index.php/category/audio/

How is Globaloria So Far?

Last year, I learned that working in flash is just basically fun. This year is the same, but on the other hand, it takes alot of effort. Working in flash isn't just drawing pictures and adding text. That's the easy part. The difficult part about flash is the actionscript. You have to make sure that your actionscript works in order for your game to be interesting. In fact, it wouldn't be a game without the it. Nothing would move, or be animated. Flash is a way to be original and creative, that's the main reason why I like it. This is my second year of Globaloria, so with my experience, working in flash comes more naturally to me. http://www.kirupa.com/developer/flash/index.htm

Adding Animation

Adding animation was about the easiest unit I had to do so far. All I had to do was choose an image, select an animation, such as exploding, shadow, blurring, etc. Then I just posted it to my wiki page. Adding animation to something stands out because after you're done, it's not just a normal image anymore. It has movement. Check out my exploding penguin!
http://myglife.org/usa/wv/srmswiki/index.php/User:Kaylock2009/Projects-8th_Grade_Globaloria_Fall_2010

My Accomplishments

So far in Globaloria, I've made alot of accomplishments. We've made our loading scene, our title scene, level 1 & 2. My struggles was trying to get the actionscript to work, but I got it now. I look forward to making more scenes, and adding all kinds of colors and sounds to it. I think my game wil be exciting and fun , and my partner and I are working very hard to make sure that happens.

http://myglife.org/usa/wv/srmswiki/index.php/Team:The_Vipers

Adding Butons

Adding buttons was pretty easy. The codes are easy to remember because I used them frequently last year for my game. Buttons aren't that hard to make all you do is draw a shape , group it, convert it to a symbol, and put the code in. I didn't have to do any researching or read any tutorials on this topic because like I said I used it enough last year to know what to do.

http://myglife.org/usa/wv/srmswiki/index.php/Adding_Buttons

Adding Scenes

The "Adding Scenes" unit was very helpful. It helped me narrate this game a lot better. You have to set a storyline in your game so the player will understand what it is about. I'm using visual storytelling in my game by updating the player about the progress that they've made so far. For example, if the player gets the question wrong, they are notified of the consequences. One game that I played in the "Playing to Learn" unit was "What Would You Do?" It had a lot of text. It narrated throughout the whole game. Here's the link to the game:http://www.unicef.org/voy/explore/aids/explore_1360.html

Drawing a Scene

Drawing a scene was really easy and fun. It taught me a lot and I can't wait to draw more scenes for my game. Drawing a Scene taught me to be very detailed with your actionscript because if you miss one little thing, everything will mess up. It also taught me to usa multiple colors on the scene to make it look full of life and interesting. The new idea I learned about my topic was that you could use it in many different ways. You can make any math problem by using square roots. I learned this by researching my topic. This game will take a lot of work, but in the end it will be great.

http://www.mathsisfun.com/square-root.html

Paper Prototype

The Paper Prototype unit was very helpful to the start of our game. It made thinking about what our game should be about much clearer. Our game is called "Dash to the Dance." It is about the character of your choice trying to make it to prom before the time runs out. Along the way, there are some obstacles like solving mathematic problems before getting to purchase the items you wish to wear to prom such as dresses, tuxes, shoes, etc. This should be a fun game to create and I look forward to the experience.

Here is a link to our team page if anyone want to see our progress:

http://myglife.org/usa/wv/srmswiki/index.php/Team:The_Vipers

Game Idea

My game idea is Adventure. I chose an adventure game because last year I created a racing game, so this year I wanted to try something different. It would be easy to incorporate action adventure in to our game because I watch alot of action movies and I've played alot of action adventure games as well. I hope to make this game as exciting as possible, so I'm going to have to do alot of research. But It'll be great. I am most excited about creating brand new scenes on the game.
http://myglife.org/usa/wv/srmswiki/index.php/User:Kaylock2009/Projects-8th_Grade_Globaloria_Fall_2010

Mini Game Project

There are all sorts of games that people play. I like to play Action Adventure Mystery games. I like to play them because I like searching for clues and solving problems. This mini-game project has helped me realize that it takes alot of work to make a game. It taught me to be more detailed.

Choosing a Topic

I found interesting and helpful facts about math. My topic is multiplication. I think it was helpful because I already knew how to do multiplication, but looking at the links was like a review for me. Here are some links to my research.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematics

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematical_game

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Division_(mathematics)

Playing to Learn

Last week, I finished a globaloria unit called 'Playing to Learn'. It was really simple because all I had to do was play two games, then review them. The first game I played was Medical Mysteries. It taught about different types of diseases. The second game I played was "The Race to Justus". It taught me about civil law.
http://medmyst.rice.edu/index.html
http://www.myglife.org/usa/wv/resources/en/play/civics/racetojustice

A New Beginning

This year in Globaloria, I want to learn how to teach the players of my game to learn math, but have fun at the same time. Last year, I had to research civics and learn it myself before I could create a game to educate other people about it. But this year is totally different because I am already familiar with math. I think that it will be easier now that I'm experienced in actionscript and all of the other flash controls. I hope to have a great year and make a math game that turns out really well.

Organizing & Preparing

As presentations grow near, my partner and I have been organizing our team page. It's very important to have your team page so the people can understand your game more clearly. If they can't understand what your progress is on the game, then they'll think that you're not working on it. As far as organizing, we have corrected spelling mistakes, updated our text, and added the newest version of our game to the page. So far, our page looks great, and we are ready for the presentation.
http://www.myglife.org/usa/wv/srmswiki/index.php/Team:~THE_FOX_RACERS~~

Teaching Civics

Teaching civics in our game was difficult. At the beginning my research, I wondered how I could teach people about civics. Our game teaches about the seventh amendment. The seventh amendment is about the right to a fair court trial. For instance, if a guy gets his yard trashed and he suspects that his neighbor did it, then he has the right to bring it to court and settle it all out. But now that we have our research and we know all the basics of civics, it is much easier to teach other people about it. The way I teach people civics is pretty simple. In my game, you have to drive to the courthouse and solve a case, and on the way, my partner and I put civil law questions in between the levels pertaining to the actual case that they'll solve in the end. The player learns many things about civics such as equity, and compensation. All in all, the player will be educated.

http://score.rims.k12.ca.us/score_lessons/bill_of_rights/media/seven.htm

Media Sources

Everyone knows that there are many ways to recieve information. But how do you know that the information is reliable? What if your source is a fraud or just flat out wrong? People get their news and all sorts of updates from television, magazines, and the internet. First of all, to make sure that your news is really true, you should research the author of whoever wrote the article. Make sure that the author is a real press or reporter, and not just a money-hungry paparazzi. And if you read a story in a magizine, look it up on the internet or check other sources that confirm it. You could also get information about current events from your local newspaper. Here are some links that have reliable sources.

http://www.cnn.com/

http://www.mtv.com/

http://www.foxnews.com/

Paper Prototyping

As I said In previous blogs, my team's paper prototype went very well and our game is coming along very nicely. On the civic engagement site, we had to research other team's game demos. One game that really caught my attention was "White House Trivia." That team did a really nice job on it. I liked the game because it was acually fun and educational at the same time. The game is really colorful and it works really well. "White House Trivia" was about answering questions about the United States as if you were a foreigner taking a greencard test. If you got the answers right, you got your greencard, and if you got them wrong, you got deported. In comparison to our paper prototypes, I think we have both started out plain and simple, then just gradually adding more details as we went along. The things I noticed in their paper prototypes, was that since then, they've added a lot of new questions to the game and put a lot more detail into it. The game is very colorful and inspirational, my partner likes this game also and we hope to see it finished so we can play the whole game!

http://www.myglife.org/usa/wv/shhswiki/index.php/Team:ABC

Game Observations

I think teaching kids about the environment is very essential. That's why "S.O.D.S" caught my attention. "S.O.D.S' stands for "Super Oil Disaster Squad", and it's about saving animals from major oil spills. When I played this game, It really taught me about the danger of oil spills and the effects it has on innocent animals. This game is really detailed and that's why I think it educates children about the issue. The fun factor about the game is that you get to save the animal from the spill, and then you get to wash it. The team that made this game did an excellent job and I can't wait until their game is finished!http://www.myglife.org/usa/wv/gehswiki/index.php/Team:All_your_Base_Is_Belong_to_Us

Team Collaboration

"The Fox Racers" has came a long way. We mostly colaborated on paper prototype. I think we worked together on that really well because we have never made a game before and we were really excited. Paper prototype required alot of thinking because that was kind of like a visual of what our game wouild acually look like. My partner was very helpful in this unit because he had great ideas and is very detailed. We have gotton alot done in our game, because since paper prototype, we've added so much stuff to our game,"The Racing Pursuit." We worked well together and we hope that this game turns out to be a success.

http://www.myglife.org/usa/wv/srmswiki/index.php/Team:~THE_FOX_RACERS~

Citizenship Duties

In many communities, the government depends on volunteer work to accomplish all sorts of things. For instance, recycling is a great way to help your local community. It's important that this duty must be fufilled so your area is safe and unharmful to people and animals. It would be unfortunate if someone was hurt because they stepped on a piece of litter. Disaster relief is another helpful volunteer that local citizens do. If a terrible storm, such as a tornado, hit your town and blew your house away, you would have nowhere to turn. You would have to depend on the kindness of others and your family to get you through this tough situation. That's why most places where disasters hit have people to rebuild houses and buildings. There are also shelters you can stay in while your new home is being built and repaired. It is important to have this support so you will be safe and secure after a disaster.

http://www.state.tx.us/portal/tol/en/disaster-response
http://www.recycling-revolution.com/recycling-facts.html

My Team

Hi my name is Kaitlyn and I go to SRMS. My team partner's name is Billy, and we are the "Fox Racers." Our game is called "The Racing Pursuit." Our game is educational because we have included civil law questions in the game. We have created this game for young elementry kids and we hope that it succeeds.

http://www.myglife.org/usa/wv/srmswiki/index.php/Team:~THE_FOX_RACERS~

Game Presentation

I thought our game presentation went very well. Shannon, Rachael, and Dave were very helpful on the phone. They showed us that there are all sorts of ways to teach kids about different kinds of civil law. We have a few concerns about our game and are making changes to it. First of all, we will put more information about civil law along the game so the player can learn some facts then answer the given Civil Law questions that we provide. We were also given suggestions about our game title. Our game title is called "The Racing Pursuit." It's called that because the player has to manauver their car around obstacles ans answer the questions. When you click on the created stopsigns, you will have to read the information about civil law. We will also make the questions intriguing so the players will have to think about their answer. Other than that, our game is going great and the presentation really taught us something. http://www.myglife.org/usa/wv/srmswiki/index.php/Team:~THE_FOX_RACERS~~

Civil Law

Our game is about civil law. It falls into the "Citizenship" catagory. Our game is educational because it has civil law facts like child custody battles, property ownership, and contract signings. It's important that people learn this type of law. We chose this type of law because we thought that it would be easy to teach it to people who are younger than us.

Plajorism

Copying other people's work and using it as your own is very wrong. No one should take credit for anything that is not theirs. In the game "Tutorial", I learned that you can get in serious trouble for plajorising. In some schools, you will be expelled. I also learned if you research about a project on someone's website and put their text in you own words that you won't get into trouble because that's called "Paraphrasing." This game taught me that everyone should document the source immediately after using copyright material. You cite where you got your work from by saying where you got your information. I hope this blog will teach people the dangers of plajorising.

http://www.plagiarism.org/

New Year's Resolution

My New Year's resolution is to complete my game and make it perfect. My partner and I have put alot of thought into this game and we can't wait until it's finished. Right now our game is basically done, but I want to perfect it. I think this game will be excellent. I'm going to make it perfect by checking everything and making sure there are no mistakes.