What I Have Learned About Civics

Well, one thing is for sure, civics definitely is complicated. Politics and all of it is not an easy subject to learn about, there are too many opinions. However, i believe we have learned a couple good points a student should know about civics.

Me and Ian's game was about the different parties and their views on certain disagreements in our country right now. We learned mainly about how each party stands on healthcare, foreign affairs, etc. etc. It was an enjoyable experience and an educational one also.

Hopefully I continue to learn about civics as i sum up my game and finish it. So far, so good.

December 4th Blog

So far so good, I have quite a bit done on my level of the game and Ian is doing well on his also. We are pretty close to done, so hopefully we get done with time left and I can post the final copy of my level right on here.

November 20th Blog

We started on our game today, me and Ian didn't really do anything technical, but we just polished up our ideas and made it concrete. We hope to start the actual making game very soon. So far everything is going really good, hopefully this continues.

November 6th Blog

We have made quite a bit of progress on our game so far, mostly all of it is in the beginning screens of the game. We have learned alot too, like what each parties outlook on certain topics are. (This is also what we hope the players of the game will learn a little about). The game is coming along fine, i almost have the whole basis of level one done, but i plan on adding alot more animation and then of course the variables and the bars. I guess we should have about five different debates in this game to make it over the top, and also we need to make different delegates and different party traits. Anyway, (let me end my rambling) so far so good, and hopefully you will enjoy the final product.

Adding Animation

I have finally figured out how to add animation to my game, it was a long and winding road, and it pretty much sucked, but i finally figured it out. I haven't actually added any yet, but with my new civics game i plan too very soon. It should awesome. Anyway, had to post this blog to get a grade, so enjoy :)))))))))!!!.

Civics Game

Well, now we must forget about all our old game stuff and start from scratch. (I am not complaining because it was the classes idea!) Anyway, i am rid of my old partner now also :), and am paired with the genius of the class, Ian. We hope to win the civics competition. Our game puts you in the feet of an up and coming senator running for president. The objective of the game is to win your debates with other delegates and eventually become the president of the United States. We have not quite got the nitty gritty details done, but it seems like a very good concept and we hope that we can accomplish what we want too, we probably will with wiz kid on my side.

Civics Game

In our class we are entering our games into a Civics game competition. I don't where or what this competition is called, but we have found a couple good sites for our research. We have decided to relate our game to civics by putting the player in the governments shoes, and they must make decisions on who gets the vaccine and who doesn't. How you get a high score is keeping the death toll the lowest. Anyway, here our the links and what we learned from them.

http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm187156.htm - This leads to a summary of a vaccination for kids, this is what gave us the idea for vaccinations.

http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/flu-guide/swine-flu-faq-1?page=2#highrisk - this goes to a page that tells about who is at the highest risk for the swine flu. This will help us design the need factor in our game.

How My Game Relates To Civics

How mine and Nick's game relates to civics is simple really, it is just like this. The swine flu is a healthcare issue, and it is also a national scare. This is making the governments around the world spend money for swine flu vaccinations and  other things. However, the swine flu is not really that dangerous and I hate that people don't even know what it is and they still are afraid of it. Oh well, i guess that the government can use it as a scare tactic so that they actually seem like they are doing something. Dumb civics.

Drawing In Flash

Here we are, with my game planned out and my ideas in check. Me and Nick are now actually drawing in flash, and it is very very very very challenging (and a little ennoying). To put it simple, it sucks when it doesn't work (the common occurence) and it is rewarding when it does. This is really all I have to say about this.

Planning Our Game

In my last post I believe that I mentioned planning our game and how ennoying it is because nobody can decide exactly how to make our game the best game ever. Well let me tell you, I can definitely stress this ennoyance again with another wonderful blog. To tell you the truth, planning your game sucks, you want all your ideas to be a part of the game, but you don't want to hurt your partner's feelings by telling that their ideas just aren't up to par with yours. Good thing I have Nick Anderson as a partner. He basically follows me in what I say, but he adds some good things. And, heck, he even did almost all the paper prototyping (which also sucks). Overall I feel like I got off easy with this plannin the game thing.

Paper Prototyping

Well, paper prototyping is not the funnest thing to do in the world, however, it is useful. A couple of days ago we had to do paper prototyping with our groups. It is ennoying how you have to draw all your ideas out and you disagree what you should make your game about and how your going to do this, but in the end it all works out fine. I guess this really is a very important step in the game making process. Oh, well, I'll deal with it for now.

My Minigame

We  made our minigames today. It was actually fun to make it, (probably because it worked!). Anyway the game is a rabbit that is hungry and likes carrots. A carrot flies across the screen and you must move the rabbit in front of it to score points. Now, this game is extremely easy, and you can score a million points very easily. Anyway there is more great games to come, so follow me B****!!!!!!

Im Brennan

Hey my names Brennan, I am a tenth grader at Elkins High School. I love sports, and I play three of them. Baseball and soccer for the school, and basketball at the YMCA. I watch football, too. I love video games, any kind really. Anyways, if you want to come and get to know me better you should come say hi.

Our Game

My group and I have been thinking about our game lately and have finally came up with a topic for it, the almighty swine flu. We decided that since the swine flu is such a scare right now that a game about it would hopefully put away some of the fears.

Playing to Learn

A couple of days ago we had a day dedicated to playing games. The idea was to play games made by other students to enhance our game making skills. We were asked to blog about it and tell our favorite game. All the games played were about social issues, so they were not the most exciting games. However, my favorite game was called "Darfur is Dying", which is a game about a family living in a small village in Darfur. It was quite amusing and somewhat fun, and it also brought attention to the problems in Darfur.

Classroom Rules

In my 3rd block class we are required to write a blog about classroom rules. I guess classroom rules are important, but I think that the class would go a lot more smoothly if we were raised without rules and just had expectations. (I mean, which kid doesn't pick on teachers just to break the rules.) Anyway, I guess some good rules are, no horseplay, no open drinks around the computers, no talking when the teacher is talking (ha), and follow all given instructions.

What Should I Make My Game About?

I need to make a game and I don't know what to make it about. If you have any suggestions please comment or email me at brennand2008@hotmail.com. All suggestions are appreciated. Thanks!