Crossler Game Design 4 Moon Base One

Project Update – MoonBaseOne: 

Project Update – MoonBaseOne Jay A. Crossler MITRE, Johns Hopkins University

Agenda: 

Agenda Overview of Serious Games MoonBaseOne Summary of MoonBaseOne progress Current MBO plans for this year Demo Next Steps Overview of Massively Multiplayer Games Vision for MoonBaseOne Phase 2 and 3 Development Requirements Summary

Games = Negative social stigma with adults: 

Games = Negative social stigma with adults 48 research papers on Games & learning last year - 46 positively biased - 2 negative Most indicate games (when done right) have a measurable significant benefit to learning in children, young adults, and soldiers Increases retention and morale

MoonBaseOne Progress: 

MoonBaseOne Progress Phase 1 almost complete (1 June delivery – 80% complete) Expenses to date - $300 1200+ volunteer hours Requires very high skill levels (programming, graphics, design) Requires high creative additional input (sound, art, writing) Current game is “First Person Adventure” genre Developed within the $100 Torque Gaming Engine (donated) Stresses: Non-violent, adventurous, development, creation Built to later take advantage of multiplayer Uses vehicles, robots, AI “non player characters” Please see additional Game Design Document

Demo – free from the Blog: 

Demo – free from the Blog Blog (Web Log) http://moonbaseone.blogspot.com/ All posts online Game posted bi-weekly Great conversations All archived for posterity Low management cost!

Next Steps – plans for Phases 2: 

Next Steps – plans for Phases 2 Phase 2 – Targeted for Jun 2008 Option 1: 20-person Multiplayer games Buggy Races across lunar terrain (craters, 1/6 gravity) Mining races (variation of “capture the flag”, use robots to mine) Lunar Olympics (marathons, skiing, hoverjumps, jet-pack races) Option 2: Incorporate advertising, add science classes Can support 40 advertisements/ object or product placements Ads on Satellites, Vehicles, Mining Gear, Posters, Buildings, Space Suits, etc. Add in additional science missions: Economy, Food/O2/Life support control

Next Steps – plans for Phases 3: 

Next Steps – plans for Phases 3 Phase 3 – Targeted for Jun 2009 500-person Massively Multiplayer Online game Accessible at any time from any country Requires online servers and databases to host system MITRE hosted servers enough for development/testing Merged with FOGE Mission Teams Give out “Badges” for accomplishing events to give you new vehicles or equipment within the game Gamer Points for attending Star Parties, meeting astronauts, mentoring younger kids, or building things to submit to the game Hundreds of missions, online events, stories, podcasts This will not be cheap or easy!

Next Steps – Requirements to move forward: 

Next Steps – Requirements to move forward We need more programmers and more tools. Options: Unreal 3 engine - $250k for engine Minimizes development time, maximizes portability Professionalism of $10Mil game! Requires very skilled head programmer Virtual Heroes $40k - Requires Good amount of reprogramming They have a Moon, Mars, Beyond system Whyville - Web-based kids platform Complete reprogramming, all Java via browser Torque Game Engine Keep current tools, hire programmers 2 full- or half-time programmers Or hire contractors for heavy lifting Best reuse of code, soon will move to Xbox 360