Project type: Master Project

University: University of Applied Sciences, Bremerhaven

Term: April 2006 - March 2007

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Erb

Students: 8 

Abstract:

In this project we developed a web portal consisting of a game engine and an e-Learning platform for role playing in cruise industry management (CIM). Based on a planning game developed by a CIM-professor and according to his requirements the Octopus group created a browser based game engine and platform for game related communication and cooperation.

Additionally, the group developed an e-Learning platform for providing learning content corresponding to the learning objectives of the CIM-game, so that the learning content is updateable and changeable by the CIM-professor.

Description:

In this cruise industry game, students act as cruise line operators, taking decisions about strategy, marketing, itineraries, logistics, finance, etc. Market scenarios and the consequences of the teams’ decisions were simulated by an Excel-based “game engine” consisting of a set of algorithms.

Requirements
The first requirement was to provide a web-based platform for the collaboration and communication in his game. A “nice-to-have” requirement was a feature for providing the students with learning content corresponding to the role playing game. The task was not to create the content, but to create a framework, which supports Mr. Vogel in updating and publishing the content via Web Browser.

In order to export the e-learning content to another platform, especially to another learning management system, it was necessary to export the learning content as a SCORM-compatible package, (one of the purposes of the e-learning standard SCORM is to define standards for platform independent courseware).
 
The game as well as the learning content should be accessible by a web-Portal, where the students need special access rights for logging in. Very soon in the project, the group decided also to develop a more professional game engine instead of keeping the game paper-based and the game calculations Excel-based.
And, as another idea, there should be a “sympathy character”, in this case a video of a real person, guiding the learners through the learning content.

Design and Implementation
Three sub-teams developed the required features, one team for the game, one team for the portal and the e-learning framework and one team for the UI-design of the game. As it was required that the CIM-professor should be able to administrate the game as well as to change and update the learning content, the group decided to use a content management system (CMS) as the central component of the system. As we wanted to use free available software, we decided to take Typo 3, one of the most recognized CMS, together with a MySQL database. The back ends of all the components as well as the Portal were implemented with the Typo 3 tools. The front ends of the game and the e-learning were designed using Adobe Flash.

It was decided to use only one database for all the subsystems in order to avoid switching between several databases. The game front end collaborates with the database using PHP and SQL, while the connection between database and e-learning frontend works with XML and PHP.

The design of the game should be self-explaining and motivating. It should be the interface for the players to insert their game decisions and to get new information about the game context. Clarity of information, simplicity of design elements and interactivity were the main criteria guiding the design of the interface.

It was decided to use pixel graphics as the main game’s interface. The design plan was to create an isometric cityscape in which different decisions are illustrated as different buildings placed in the city through which the user can switch according to the type of his game decision.

The result of the project is not only the developed product, a game-based learning platform of the CIM-game, but also a lot of experience we gained during this project.