Kids Game Builder version 0.0.1

[Jeffery Douglas Waddell <jeff@smluc.org>]

Hello all you coders,

Boy have we got an adventure in front of us ;)

Ok, we need to create a document/content format for our application so
that it will be easy to use for both the content creators and Us.

I'm thinking that we want a simple database backend, perhaps mysql the gpl
version.  Then that means we need to define the schema for the database.
I think we will need a minimum of the following:

Problem (variable dependent on ProblemType)  (based on type Problem could
break down into sevaral different pieces)
ProblemType (string)
ProblemAnswer (variable depending on nature of problem type)
ProblemGraphic (.png)
ProblemMovie (unknown, do we have an open source movie format?)
ProblemSound (.au)
ProblemSong (.au, or .midi)
ProblemSkillSet (string)
ProblemSkillLevel (integer)
ProblemApproval (integer)
ProblemMaintain (string)
ProblemMaintainerAuthenication (encrypted password)

Comments?  Is this generic enough so that we can have ONE huge dataset of
problems from which our games can draw questions?  Do we want ONE huge
dataset?

If the above is a go then we immediately need a X/console/web interface to
this database to allow anyone anywhere to add content.  (the
ProblemApproval allows the content to be approved before one of our
applications uses it).  I.E. it won't be settable without the proper
authority.  This reminds me a lot of LDAP, although I'm not sure ldap is
the way to go with here.

Anyway, we may also want a meta database that will associate different
problems together, this would facilitate such things as language
translation.  At least in a simplistic sense, it would be easy to map the
Problem Object for "easy" in English to the problem object "facil" in
Spanish.

Ok, now that the content ideas are thrown out on the table, we need to
think about the application to Build Kids Games.  Ideally we can create a
database front end to the backend given above and be basically done.  The
only thing that might not allow, would be 1) Rewards for getting a problem
right 2) A storyline.  So we need a way to customize the Game to create
story lines and allow for rewards when problems are well answered.  (Upon
rereading this I just thought that it might be useful to great a Rewards
database with sound, pictures etc to deliver when things are done well.  I
know I get tired of the EXACT same reward over and over again, I'm sure
kids do as well)

Some of my ideas on this have to do with layout, basically most games I've
seen just put a control panel on the bottom of the screen and a fixed
picture on the main part of the screen with hotspots.  The hotspots take
you to different games which can then be played.

First we define a control panel, can we reuse the panel from gnome in a
very cut down on configured form?

It seems trivial to me to make an application that would ask how many
different games do you want?  Ask for a .png file to put hotspots on.  
Then ask for a description of each game,
walking the user through picking the problem sets they need for the
game, and then asks things like how to devide points for the problems
(right/wrong), where to store the scores, whether to create graphs based
on the scores.  Then have a few different predefined algorithms for when
to/how to alternate the questions, and when to ask the user if they want
to change levels, as well as all the game builder to put in there own
algorithms.

I'm sure this is not as easy as it sounds, then again maybe it is.

I'm feel that it is very important that the games be capable of full
multimedia, while still being capable of plain text, or in the case of the
blind, plain sound.  This widens the audience considerably ;)

Anyway, there's a quick brain dump.

Pick at it as you will.

Sincerely,

Jeff Waddell
jeff@smluc.org




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