The new Computing Curriculum states clearly that we need to look at programming. For years Scratch has been a bit of a godsend, allowing users to drag code together like a jigsaw puzzle. As we move forward, however, some limitations are being seen. Many of the children we encounter today are big gamers and want to create their own games. In fact the two most asked questions I get are, ‘when are we going to find out how to build a computer?’ and, ‘how do you make a computer game?’
Whilst Scratch is fantastic at putting lists of commands together and editing these, it is much harder to create a game in. Many students do not understand variables and cannot get their heads around loops and functions. Despite being a jigsaw puzzle it is not as intuitive as other programs as it is trying to be an all in one. Whilst teaching the Cambridge Technicals at Level 3 I had been on the lookout for a piece of gaming software that can produce 3D gaming whilst allowing a high level of challenge. Oh yeah, and it needed to be cheap. I stumbled across Unreal Development Kit (UDK), a free development environment that allows a student to load in premade characters (either from the library already there or ones they had created in 3D design software) and set up rules for games using a visual programming language called Kismet. Although this is quite a large step for some students that have done little programming lower down the school it is keeping them focused and the results so far are looking good. It can be a little bug ridden and if you do not want to do a first person shooter then it takes a bit of fiddling around. Also it can be quite memory intensive.
Using UDK was a steep learning curve for myself as well as the students but does lead them towards university courses on games design. From here I thought about setting up a games creation club to allow students to play with UDK so as to get an idea of the challenges posed when introducing it to KS3. One concern was the level of challenge but another was that I would be promoting shooting games, in fact an engine based around a game for sixteen year olds and older. However, in every documentation on gaming at school I have found one word kept popping up, Kodu. I decided to bite the bullet and have a go, a brief download and a quick play and I was astonished. This is a fully realised 3D environment with a simple interface where students can create a range of games from racing, dodging mines and defend the castle to a top down shooter where more than one player can play at the same time. I managed to master the basics in less than an hour without even looking at any tutorials or guides. This is perfect I thought, in fact it is a miracle, a Microsoft program that I actually love! I headed down to the network manager to ask for an install, letting him know it was free early on so I didn’t hit the staple ‘there’s no money in the budget’ response. It turns out that as it is made by Microsoft it is insanely easy to remotely install over the network. A two week turn around turned out to be completed in two days. So here I sit, tasked with writing a five week scheme of learning to test on the Year 9s before we roll it out properly next year.
The story aside, I am starting to see how we can move students forward in games design and games programming using free software. So here are my plans for the future…
- KS3: Year 7 look at game making in Scratch to produce basic 2D games before moving on to 3D gaming using Kodu in Years 8 and 9.
- KS4: We currently teach Cambridge Nationals and there are no gaming units, I would like to introduce some gaming elements here. Maybe use Touch Develop as this is a lot less visual and more about the code behind the game.
- KS5: The games development unit will use UDK to enable students to use some more industry standard software and allow students to push their games creation skills further in a 3D environment.
These programs will not allow students to meet the visual programming side of the curriculum but should keep them engaged and allow them to understand the principles of programming as well as creating something stimulating that moves their thinking forward. So what advice would I give to anyone wanting to implement gaming units at KS3? Look out for free educational games making software, however, you can’t go far wrong with Scratch and Kodu, just make sure students are not just following guides but understand the principles behind what they are doing. Hopefully you have enjoyed this post and will head back sometime as I plan to add more posts updating you of my progress with games design and creation units. Let’s hope I have some amazing examples of games the students have created to show you as well.