Environmental Detective

There's a group of us in Kurt Squire's class who are working on variations of this project. Our thought (perhaps naively?) at this time is that it could be disseminated to a wider audience, and made more accessible. As interest in it rises, and a broader spectrum of users affirms its worth, more resources can be put into it, and it could grow. It's got quite a bit of promise (I feel), once it gets a bit more generic. For example, the current game engine is hard-coded for three characters -- a doctor, an environmental specialist, and a government agent. It's got a strong conspiracy feel to it. It *could* build off the popularity of crime shows like CSI:Miami, if it were the number of characters and their occupations were assignable.

But the engine could also be much simpler and still be a very effective learning tool. Imagine for example if it were simply a GPS-triggered application. Lonely Planet or Frommer's could plug in their travel guides to pop up appropriate information at the appropriate locations -- very simple; very commercial. University campuses could check out automatic tour guides that either suggest a route, or simply follow the paths that the users want to go -- either way, the could program would have a map and relevant campus information.

Developed even more, it could turn into an engine for games of international intrigue (The Da Vinci Code: an Globetrotting Game of Mystery and Intrigue), or others that are scaled down to the city, campus, or high school level.

In order to reach a broad enough audience, I think the engine interface would need to be turned into a web-style "fill in the blanks" (or drag and drop) form. As a disclaimer, I'm only at the initial stages of learning about the game and game engine, and I hear that they've developed a newer engine at MIT than the one we're using, so my ideas might all be old hat to some. That's fine; they're new to me.