[game_edu] kids using scientific method in games

[Ian Schreiber]

As a side note, game *development* also does this. What scientists call the "scientific method," we call the "iterative process" or "agile development" but it's all the same thing.
 
Game design / science
Hypothesis: I think this game is going to be fun! (Or balanced.)
Experiment: Build the game and playtest it, and see that it actually sucks.
Analysis: Why did it suck? How could you improve it?
Iterate: Change the game rules to make it better, go back to Hypothesis.
 
QA / science
Hypothesis: I think this code I wrote is correct and free of bugs.
Experiment: Test the code. (What we call "black box testing" is what scientists call a "double-blind study")
Analysis: What are the bugs that were found? What caused the errors?
Iterate: Modify the code to remove the known bugs. (This may involve a mini-scientific discovery process to track down the reason for some particularly tricky bugs.)
 
Concept Art / science
Hypothesis: I think this concept sketch will make a great main character.
Experiment: Show the sketch to the rest of the development team to find out that you're actually way off the mark.
Analysis: What were other people expecting? What did you fail to deliver?
Iterate: Make a new sketch with the feedback in hand, and try again.

- Ian

--- On Fri, 9/12/08, deb s <debsol at gmail.com> wrote:

From: deb s <debsol at gmail.com>
Subject: [game_edu] kids using scientific method in games
To: "IGDA Game Education Listserv" <game_edu at igda.org>
Date: Friday, September 12, 2008, 12:13 PM




An interesting article about kids using the scientific method in games:
http://www.wired.com/gaming/gamingreviews/commentary/games/2008/09/gamesfrontiers_0908_______________________________________________
game_edu mailing list
game_edu at igda.org
http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/game_edu



      
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://seven.pairlist.net/pipermail/game_edu/attachments/20080912/cf723ed8/attachment.html>