Hi all,
In my real life I am an environmental planner for a large-ish city. I deal with a lot of stuff under that banner, but one thing I'm really interested in is healthy homes. Healthy homes topics are things like mold, radon, safety issue, etc. One thing I'd like to do is develop a Healthy Homes Detective video game that would help people learn how to identify and correct typical home hazards. What I have in mind is a 3D model of a home with several problems. Players have a limited amount of time to identify and fix all the hazards. If the player is finished, or time runs out, a score would appear and it would list the hazards they missed, and the ones they got right. We might give out freebies (like CO and smoke detectors) to players scoring high (or maybe to those who score too low!).
I know I can make it educational, but it has to be fun. You all play a lot of video games, and represent a pretty wide age range, so please give me your ideas on how to make this a successful project.
I have the local college potentially lined up to do the programming and artwork, etc. I'm looking for fun game ideas.
Update: March
Students at the University of Nebraska - Omaha will have the opportunity to work on this game as a summer class, "serious about gaming" or something like that. I'll let you know how it goes. I've developed a bunch of sketches and ideas to use as a spring board for the students, but I really want them to run with it. It is going to be developed so that folks can play it on their smart phones, pcs, and tablet devices.
Update: April
I'm teaming up with a local non-profit group and UNO to create not one, but two games. The first game I discussed will be a multi-platform game targeted toward high school students and older. The second game will target younger folks, and will use X-Box Kinect technology. Kids will run through a virtual house, identifying and avoiding household hazards. Think those stairs are safe? Better be prepared to jump. Something seem wrong with that electrical outlet? Might need to dodge a stray electric arc. We are going to apply for some grant money to offset costs by the non-profit partner and the students at UNO. Funding is announced in August, IIRC, and that may be the next update.
Update: May
The City, the local non-profit group, and UNO applied for a $50,000 grant (http://www.esafoundation.org/application.asp) to support the students working on the project. They will announce grantees in June/July. Fingers crossed!
Speaking as an architectural design student, this sounds like a great idea!
Perhaps treat it like a point and click adventure game? I would play that.
It would be something very much like that. At least that is what I have in mind.
Hey, that's a really neat idea Xenolith! I agree with Reep; that sounds like it could be quite a bit of educational fun.
A lot of folks could be enjoying a life of better health if they knew what to look for. I had headaches for many years. I thought it was allergies (which I have) but after testing for radon and installing a mitigation system I am now largely headache free.
I just realized that updating the first post doesn't move the topic up the obscurity list. Anyway, in case you are interested, the game has got some legs.
Another update (see above).
Another update (see above).
Good luck on getting the grant Xenolith.