Re: [kidsgames] Just Subscribed.

[jeff@smluc.org]

Hi Steve,

On Fri, 22 Oct 1999, Steve Baker wrote:

-->Date: Fri, 22 Oct 1999 19:59:04 -0500
-->From: Steve Baker <sjbaker1@airmail.net>
-->To: kidsgames@smluc.org
-->Subject: [kidsgames] Just Subscribed.
-->
-->Hi!
-->
-->  I was just "invited" to join this list by Jeff Waddell
-->and I'm gradually wading through the list archives to
-->get a feel for the discussions so far.
-->

:)  I feel like I'm wading through a bit myself at the moment...

-->So, by way of introduction:
-->
-->  I'm the author/maintainer of the "Tux the Penguin: A
-->Quest for Herring" game - and the associated "Game Engine"
-->(I hate that term) "PLIB".
-->
-->  http://www.woodsoup.org/projs/tux_aqfh
-->  http://www.woodsoup.org/projs/plib
-->


COOL

-->  Tux_AQFH is a kids game (it was written for my 7yr old
-->son - Oliver - who ended up doing a fair chunk of the work
-->on it!) - but it's not what I'd describe as 'educational'.
-->(Although writing it was considerably educational to both
-->Oliver and myself!)
-->

Would like to tell us some more about that experience.

-->  It seems to me that someone with the right background in
-->education could quite easily add teaching elements into
-->Tux_AQFH to make a spin-off educational game based on it.
-->
-->  We showed Tux_AQFH at Oliver's school ("Family Math Night")
-->and >300 children played it. On that basis, it's pretty
-->safe to say that even with a regular 'gamepad' joystick,
-->it can be played by Kintergarten through 10years old...
-->at least.
-->

Great... I haven't got to see it yet as I don't have OpenGL hardware...

:(


-->  If this group wanted to "get something out the door"
-->quickly (something that's important for freeware groups
-->IMHO) then Tux_AQFH might be a good first vehicle. Even
-->if you later decided it was inappropriate (eg because
-->it requires 3D hardware that schools are unlikely to
-->own) - I think the exercise of actually DOING IT would
-->teach everyone a lot and focus efforts more concretely.
-->

That sounds good to me, but I don't have any hardware that allows ME to
work on it.  Anybody who does want to take up TASK to do what Steve is
proposing here and have the subtask at sourceforge assigned to them?

-->I've been thinking about hacking something into Tux_AQFH 
-->to drill Oliver on his multiplications tables...but I
-->just don't know enough about the educational stuff to
-->know what would work.  By the time I get it done, he'll
-->have the tables down cold anyway... :-)
-->

Yes he probably will, but THINK of all the other children who won't;
besides Oliver can help get it done and I think that would be something HE
could be proud of.

-->  Tux_AQFH is now distributed with several of the major 
-->Linux distributions - so it'll be quite well known to
-->many Linux-equipped parents.  Tux_AQFH (like all games
-->that use the PLIB engine) is 100% portable to Windoze
-->and MacOS - as well as other UNIXen (BSD, IRIX, Solaris).
-->

I haven't gotten PLIB working yet either I assume because I don't have GL
stuff.

-->  Whilst I'm introducing myself, I should mention that
-->I've been using UNIX/Minix/Linux and programming in C
-->since c.1975 - I'm a professional 3D graphics programmer.
-->I also hacked Berkeley LOGO to work on Linux/X and have
-->been interested in pressing for the teaching of computer
-->programming in Schools.

Did you ever send me that hack?

-->  One example of this is
-->'HICCUP - A Kid Powered Computer' here:
-->
-->   http://web2.airmail.net/sjbaker1/software/hiccup.html
-->
-->  I recently signed up to a new project at Hillcrest
-->high school in Dallas TX, they are thinking about
-->writing a text adventure with edutainment stuff in
-->it to run on their Linux network.  It's early days
-->for that - but the team leader seems fairly confident
-->of getting some pretty serious funding for that work.
-->I've notified that group of the existance of this
-->list.
-->

I hope they will join us here as well.

-->  I also act as consultant for the FlightGear flight
-->simulator project...they are a major user of my PLIB
-->engine.
-->

Sounds cool.

-->  Well, enough about me - I'm going to lurk for a bit
-->and see if I can be of any use here.
-->

I think so.

Thanks for joining sorry for the inexcuseable delay in responding....

-- 
Jeff Waddell
jeff@smluc.org

Kids Games Project Coordinator
main website at http://smluc.org/SIA/kidsgames/



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