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Re: Kids Game Builder version 0.0.1



aleris@iag.net wrote:
> 
> Quoting Doug Loss <dloss@csrlink.net>:
> 
> >
> > Should we be trying to create the "engine" for all these games from
> > scratch?
> > I know there are a few GPL programs out there that are designed for the
> > creation of graphical adventure games.  We ought to investigate those and
> > see
> > if any are close enough to what we're looking for to give us a substantial
> > head start if we modify them rather than duplicating work that's already
> > been
> > done.
> 
> Seems as good a time as any for me to jump in.  I gotta agree here.  The whole
> point of the GPL is to make available a huge body of previous work without
> having to be directly concerned with stepping on any patents or copyrights.
> What we should probably be doing at this point is deciding exactly what the goal
> of this project is (in technical terms) and then survey available GPL'ed
> software to see what can be used.
> 
I know of several cross-platform gaming API's that may or may not be
overkill. There is probably not a great need for 3D rendering, but
a lot of the work done on synchronization of events would be useful.

I found out recently that the quality manager at Cygnus wrote the 
cross platform API for Reader Rabbit, as well as major portions
of the first product. I won't be in to work until Thursday, but
I will give him a call and see what suggestions he can give as far
as what to look for.

> In that spirit I guess I have a non-technical question.  What do we want to use
> as authoritative sources of information?  Generally math and the sciences are no
> problem, because those subjects naturally scale with difficulty.  History
> strikes me as a little foggier of a subject - a lot of what I was taught in
> school about history turned out not to be true, but only convenient myth.  (Or
> as one of my teachers told me once, "it's easier to teach this way")  My
> background isn't in education.  How do we want to proceed about this?
> 

As Napolean said "History is a set of lies agreed upon."

History hasn't gotten on my radar screen yet, I'm still trying to teach
my three year old to read. Seems like something tough to teach in a computer
based environment. The best history classes I took all involved discussion
and speculation to get everyone involved. Sort of "form your own opinions
about these events." Of course this gives me the idea of using a more 
web-based, community discussion forum. This would certainly work for me,
I don't know about younger age groups. This would definitely be a great
way to leverage the net, imagine classrooms all over the world discussing
historic events from their own county's lies^H^H^H^Hperspective ;-)
And this is an area where no educational software I am aware of is 
even attempting.

I will add a memorable story about a freshman history class with a wonderful
history professor I had. We spent a couple of weeks talking about "How the
west was won." Everyone was encouraged to give their opinion; guns, law and 
order, pony express, cattle ranching vs. farming, etc. When we finally asked 
her for her opinion, she solemnly opened her desk drawer and produced a piece 
of barbed wire. She went on to explain her reasoning. I think everyone
went away with thoughts about how all the pieces fit together. Much more
than they would have with a lecturer saying "This was how the west was won."


Thomas
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