Academic Adventure
Academic Adventure
Date:2024-01-20 Author: Kaiwen Lin Tools: Processing, Photoshop
Overview
Academic Adventure is a game similar to Pac-Man, reflecting the complex world of academic research. Inspired by my own academic journey, the game takes players from being a PhD student to an associate professor. In each level, representing different academic stages, players collect knowledge points and dodge obstacles that represent typical academic challenges.
Inspiration
The game Academic Adventure is inspired by my own experience of the intricate and often challenging journey of academic research. I’ve always been fascinated by the blend of challenge and discovery inherent in academic life. Haven’t we all, at some point, navigated through the complex maze of scholarly endeavors, facing obstacles like funding issues, publication barriers, and methodological challenges, much like a game?
I created Academic Adventure to offer a fun experience that anyone familiar with academia can enjoy. It lets players revisit their journey of learning and overcoming academic challenges in a light-hearted way. This game playfully celebrates the spirit of academia.
Game Design
Rule Design
The goal is to gather knowledge points and dodge obstacles like new students, skilled peers, journal editors, and stray dogs. To win, players must find a symbol representing a major academic discovery and escape the maze. Failing to find the items in time or getting caught by an obstacle will result in a game restart.
Character Design
I designed images of players, NPC and objects used PHOTOSHOP for pixelated drawing.
There are three levels in this game, and player will control the same person of different stages to finish those levels. The three stages are doctoral student, assistant professor, and associate professor. Each stage will have different challenges for the player and a different collection of objectives to accomplish!
NPC Design
Object Design
Game Development
I have utilized Processing 4.0 as my development tool and have written around 450 lines of code to date. This code has been made available on GitHub.
Game Flow
The game has three levels, each requiring players to play as scholars from different eras. To progress, collect all items in a level, facing new challenges and finding different items at each stage.
Future Development
- New Feature: Implementing the planned time limit feature would be a priority. This element would not only add a layer of realism, reflecting the time pressures in academia, but also increase the game’s challenge and engagement levels.
- mproved NPC and Level Design: I would like to redesign of the NPCs. In the current version of Academic Adventure, all NPCs are portrayed as negative obstacles. However, in a real academic setting, these characters often provide crucial support and assistance to scholars. I plan to introduce friendly interaction modes with NPCs. By engaging positively with these characters, players will be able to gain additional time and rewards in the game.