FLASH

 We've learned a lot of new things about Flash. Mr. Carroll's mentor came and showed us several new things that would make drawing easier in Flash. We've already made several scenes and I've found it a lot easier to use than I would have thought.

Video Blog

 We are starting to work on our video blogs. Here are some details about our game:
1.The most important concept we want our players to learn is the importance of good health and nutrition.
2.Our individual ideas from "Imagining Your Game" came together easily because both of our ideas already had to do with health. We just elaborated on that and decided that our game topic should involve health and nutrition.
3.We worked out the specific details of our game. We set the challenge, obstacles, and the objective of the game together. We worked together on the paper prototyping, however we did separate blog assignments.
4.For our game topic, we will research the different food groups and the nutritional values of them. We will also research about the importance of excercise for the average child.
5.In our game, the player will be able to move backward and forward, left and right, duck, and jump. This has changed since we first started planning the game. We changed this because we realized that if we allowed the player to move in more ways, we could add more scenes and obstacles, thus enhancing the overall game experience.
6.We have not used Flash for our game so far. We have, however, went through several Flash tutorials, and these were all located on the wiki.
7.For me, paper prototyping has been the most difficult curriculum topic so far. I think it has been the most difficult because neither me nor my partner can draw very well. We overcame this after I started drawing more practical and smaller figures, and my partner colored over these pictures.

Discuss 5 possible game ideas that are civic/news literacy/citizenship in nature but can still include STEM

 A game idea that involves news literacy but can still include stem is a crossword puzzle. Crossword puzzles can be very interesting games, and they can help you a lot in news literacy. In a crossword puzzle, you could incorporate scientific words and help people learn new vocabulary.

 Another game idea that involves news literacy but can still include stem is a word search game. Word searches can be very challenging and fun games, and they can help you a learn a lot of new words. In this word search (as well as in the crossword puzzle), you could incorporate scientific words to help people learn new vocabulary.

 Another game idea that could help people learn new knowledge is a drag and drop game. Drag and Drop games can be fun and educational at the same time! In this drag and drop game, you can create several questions that involve civics and you can drag and drop the correct answers to the respective questions in the correct boxes.

 Another great game idea is an adventure game! In this game, you can be a reporter for a famous newspaper, running around trying to find news stories. These news stories would have to be the type of news that people like to read in real life. The better the stories are, the more points you receive. I think this game would be very fun and challenging for various audiences, and I know there are many people who can relate to it.

 The last (but not least) idea that I have is an action dodging strategy game. In this game, the player could go through levels that involve real life catastrophes and disasters. This would fall into the news literacy and civics category. In this game, you will report on and escape from different disasters, such as exploding mines and earthquakes. I think this would be a really fun game to play, seeing as action games are my favorite games!

How This Assignment Helped Me

 This assignment has helped me think clearly about my game idea in many ways. By paper prototyping, I have incorporated several new ideas and I have approached many new ideas as well. It helped me, because drawing out all my scenes and ideas helped me visualize the game more clearly, thus I could think of many more ideas that we can somehow incorporate into our game.

My team and my developing Game.

Hi! My name is Nikki and the other team member in my group's name is Kaylyn. We are designing a game that is based on kids learning the importance of good nutritional value. Here are our team roles:):
We'll work together on designing the game and graphics. We will do it on Nikki's computer...therefore she will be uploading most of the needed files. So, Kaylyn will present most of the game. Nikki will be the Content Expert/ Client, Kaylyn will be the Project Manager, Nikki will be the Information Architect and Designer and Kaylyn will be the Instructional, Interaction, and Visual Designer. Nikki will be the content developer/web writer and Kaylyn will be the programmer.
I am good at navigating the Wiki site and I am good at retrieving information and putting it together.
Kaylyn is creative, and she knows how to present information well.
I am looking forward to working with Kaylyn to make a creative, fun, interesting, and educational game.... I know I can's do this all by myself!!
The greatest challenge (for me) about working with someone else in a team is the fact that I hate relying on others to help me or work with me. I plan on overcoming this by working with Kaylyn and taking group decisions:) (Sorry this was so long:(

What I'm Excited about for my Game

I can't wait to begin my game!! I'm can't wait to start creating a game that I can look at and say I created almost all by myself. I can't wait to learn how to create graphics and add digital music to my game. It's going to be great!!

The Mini Game.... and What It Taught Me

   I don't really play games (at all) in my free time.... but making this mini game did give me a new perspective on other games. It taught me that it is a lot harder to create fun, engaging, lively games... much less educational ones. It taught me to appreciate other games and their creators a lot more.