The serious game simport: overcoming technical hurdles in educational gaming

SimPort is a multiplayer serious game in which the aim is to develop a new seaport area in 30 years of simulated time. It is played in a network of computers, each with its own role and set of tasks. The game has been played for over two years now, but some issues still remain. Playing SimPort should be about the content and not a challenge on getting to know the computer game. This paper describes the issues faced during the development of SimPort with respect to videogame illiteracy. It goes on to discuss the different approaches used to solve various aspects for multiple target groups. These solutions result in a smoother gaming experience, and should allow for better learning in future courses.

@InProceedings { WKBMB07a,
  author       = "Warmerdam, Jeroen and Knepfle, Maxim and Bekebrede, Geertje and Mayer, Igor and Bidarra, Rafael",
  title        = "The serious game simport: overcoming technical hurdles in educational gaming",
  booktitle    = "Proceedings of LG07 - Learning with Games conference",
  pages        = "307--314",
  month        = "sep",
  year         = "2007",
  address      = "Sophia Antipolis, France",
  url          = "http://graphics.tudelft.nl/Publications-new/2007/WKBMB07a"
}