After the second workshop, it became evident that the game’s systems were sufficient in their core design. What remained to be worked on was working on an effective user interface, as well as external work relating to the use and presentation of the project.
Again, first things first, after a quick briefing of the day’s goals, we dove into testing the game once again. At this stage, the user interface had undergone a compel overhaul, with clear communication of games systems in action incorporated into the map in the form of dynamic icons. All that remained was to implement a proper glossary/tutorial section to explain the game’s mechanics to new players.
With this, the final stages of development could commence. Now, we set to work on how the game would be used. This was managed by the teaching staff working on the project, who organised a system by which the game would be incorporated into lesson plans. Of course, the educative effectiveness of the game would also have to be assessed somehow in these lessons, so a form was compiled to be filled out after a lesson including the game. Seeing as this game had the primary focus of educational usage, this was of critical importance.
Subsequently, to contextualise the game in reference to historical fact, the research staff and development team also set to work on a system of graphs that would compare player choices to historical records and statistics. This would work to encourage players to think deeper about the source material, strengthening the capacity for active and passive forms of learning the game would facilitate. Furthermore, this would allow for competition and replayability, increasing its potential educative value by incentivising repeated playthroughs.
Lastly, there remained the task of figuring out how to implement an informative element addressing two major issues that occupied so many of our discussions: slavery and environmental damages. We cannot imagine a game discussing the Industrial Revolution without addressing these issues.
For this, the teaching staff and student contributors discussed the problem extensively. It was resolved that sticking to a clearcut narrative would be too prescriptive, and the best option was to engage players and students to think critically for themselves about these topics. Thus, it was planned that within the timeline system of the game, in which as the game goes on the player is notified of important historical events happening between turns, different interested parties would debate the issues, with such parties ranging from key abolitionist contemporaries to urban and rural labourers.
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