An Emergent Technology Project by
Jason Soslow, Keri Maguire, and Karen Oliveira (Glover)
Jason Soslow, Keri Maguire, and Karen Oliveira (Glover)
Abstract:
Unity3D is a relatively new software application and 3D game development environment (also known as a “game engine”) that allows users to create immersive, interactive, 3D games and simulations. The program was developed in 2005 by a group of programmers in Denmark and it currently runs only on the Mac OS. However, the games and simulations that are created with Unity can be easily played on Linux and Windows computers, using either a web-browser plug-in, or running a self-contained executable program. Unity is GUI based and easily imports 3D models and animation from a variety of popular 3D design software applications. Compared to many other game engines, Unity is relatively simple to learn (accessible to any high student with moderate programming/3D design skills) , though it can still be used to develop rich and robust games and applications. Finally, Unity allows users to choose from a variety of coding and scripting languages to program the interactivity and artificial intelligence components of the game (for example, C# and JavaScript).
In this web site we present a hypothetical cross-curricular classroom project, involving two groups of high school students: an American history class and a programming/3D game design class. The two groups will work together over a period of weeks, perhaps months, to develop an interactive simulation of a major Civil War battle. The American history students will need to develop all of the content for the simulation (terrain, equipment, weapons, participants, event sequence, strategy, motivation, etc.) and will then work with the programmers to transform this historical information into an interactive, 3D, multi-player, simulated experience. In the simulation, players will be able to choose from disparate points of view, representative of the different participants involved in the Civil War battle, including famous generals, infantry solders, civilian citizens, and slaves. In such a scenario, each character type would possess distinct game objectives and goals.
By the end of this process both groups will have developed numerous skills, some common, some differentiated, but all the skills developed will be demonstrated by the application of authentic learning. It is hoped that by participating in this project, students will explore curriculum topics in greater depth (and with greater enthusiasm) than would be possible using a traditional approach. The quality of the finished simulation, as well as the degree to which the students demonstrated the abilities to meet due dates and collaborate during the process will form the basis of assessment for the project.
