Gamestar Mechanic

DAY ONE: gamestar mechanic

What is it? Gamestar Mechanic is a game-based digital learning platform designed to teach the guiding principles of game design and systems thinking in a creative environment.

What is a System?
A system is composed of interrelated parts that cooperate in processes. Natural systems include human body, ocean currents, the climate, the solar system and ecosystems.
Designed systems include airplanes, software systems, technologies and machines of all kinds, government agencies and business systems.

So, then, What is Systems Thinking?

Systems thinking is the process of understanding how things, regarded as systems, influence one another within a whole.

------------------According to Peter Senge (Scientist @MIT)
A Fundamental Principle Of Systems Thinking:
Only Smart Individuals Are No Longer Needed, Collective Intelligence Is

We all have probably spent too much time thinking about ‘smart individuals.’
That’s one of the problems with some schools. Some are very individualistic, very much about ‘the smart kids and the dumb kids.’ That’s not the kind of smartness we need.

The smartness we need is collective. That is the concept of intelligence we need, and it will never be achieved by a handful of smart individuals.

It’s not about ‘the smartest guys in the room.’ It’s about what we can do collectively. So the intelligence that matters is collective intelligence, and that’s the concept of ‘smart’ that will really {turn out to be what make us successful.}”

A word from your teacher -
This reminds me of Brainstorming rules - remember those? One of the main rules of brainstorming is NO Putting down anyone's idea and there is a very good reason for that. It is because that idea that maybe seems odd, out of place or random at the time sparks an idea within someone else that turns out to be stellar. That stellar idea would have never occurred without the contribution of that random, odd thought.

3 Characteristics Of A Systems Thinking Approach

A very deep and persistent commitment to ‘real learning.’
I have to be prepared to be wrong. If it was pretty obvious what we ought to be doing, then we’d be already doing it. So I’m part of the problem, my own way of seeing things is probably part of the problem. This is what we’ve always called ‘mental models.’ If I’m not prepared to challenge my own mental models, then the likelihood of finding non-obvious areas of {problem-solving} are very low.
The need to triangulate. You need to get different people, from different points of view, who are seeing different parts of the system to come together and collectively start to see something that individually none of them see.”

How does GAMESTAR MECHANIC
apply to my education in this class?

The game and the accompanying Learning Guide are designed to foster critical 21st century skills such as:
• System thinking
• Problem solving
• Creativity
• Collaboration
• Digital media literacies
• Motivation for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) learning.
* Also - see the Footer for the GPS for this class.

Check out what these Education and Game Review
websites have to say about Gamestar Mechanic

NOw how about Getting started!

Today - Day One of this Gamestar Mechanic Unit:

1- You will log-on to your account,

2 - Choose your User Name & Password. Make sure that they are appropriate - both of them. Don't make them too long and you must include them into your logins and urls document on the shares drive. You will also need to submit them to me in an online Form here.

3. Make sure you only do it one time! And Remember your login credentials - write them down immediately!

4. Begin the Quest that we looked at in class. The first "Addison Joins the League" quest - play until the class is over. If you accomplish the first quest - move on to the next one. The person who has progressed the furthest will be asked to talk to the class on the following day to help us achieve.

Follow these directions

Gamestar Mechanic has three sections: The Quests, Workshop, and Game Alley.

• The Quest is a single player storyline where students earn sprites, the components that they use to make their games.
• The Workshop is where students make their own game.
• Game Alley is where students share games in an online community.

Begin With Quests

The Quests section contains the “story”
of Gamestar Mechanic.
Cast as a young aspiring game designer, the player
is pulled into an exciting tale of adventure and discovery.
In the Quests, mechanics learn about different Sprites and their behavior, and upon finishing each game,
they are awarded Sprites to use in their Toolbox.

A Quest is divided into Episodes.
Each episode covers a lesson in game design, taught over a number of Missions, in one of three types: Play, Repair, and Build.
This sequence shows the player an element of game design in action, then asks them
to fix a game and finally lets them build a game around that topic.
An episode begins and ends with a comic that sets the scene.

STORY MISSIONS

Play Missions require the user to successfully complete the play of a pre-designed game by accomplishing the set objectives. Play Missions usually serve to introduce users to the behavior of Sprites.

Repair Missions present the user with a game that is in some way broken and cannot be successfully played. The user must deduce what is broken about the game and use the Gamestar Mechanic console to place or remove objects. A set of requirements will be presented that the repaired game must include, such as “Place 10 enemies.” The mission is completed when the player has successfully played and accomplished the objectives of the repaired game.

Build Missions present the user with a blank slate to build a new game on. A set of
requirements will be presented that the game must include, such as “Place 10 enemies. ”
The mission is completed when the player has successfully played and accomplished the objectives of their created game

These are sprites!
They have meaning in the Gamestar Mechanic platform. Each of these sprites have their own particular behaviors. I have a feeling that this information will become important when you progress to the game creator role of this platform.

BONUS MISSIONS & REWARDS
Bonus Missions are either Play Missions, Repair Missions or Build Missions and do not need to be completed to continue in the Quest.
After each mission, story or bonus, is completed, the player is rewarded with sprites and other rewards such as backgrounds and music to use in their Toolbox.