Released in 2002, America's Army (AA) is the most successful serious game created. A high-quality downloadable game, funded and developed by the United States Army boasted over 8 million users in 2007. America's Army is a robust, fun first-person shooter (FPS) game, as well as a showcase of Army values. As a multiplayer game, it pits two opposing teams against each other in a battle to complete a variety of missions. Two teams of Champlain students were challenged to create a polished, playable mission level under the guidance of AA's development team. The Mission Editor, a tool included with the game comes with all of the art assets (textures, objects, sounds, etc) to create a map. Given the pieces, the students used them to design and create a believable environment and a fun, playable mission. Both District and Canyon maps were worked on throughout the Summer and Fall 2008 semesters. They were accepted as official America's Army maps, launched for public use on December 12, 2008, but are no longer available in the new version of America's Army.
District is an atmospheric urban map, taking place in a small section of a vaguely eastern European city. It is a night-time scenario, creating an interesting experience through the placement of environmental light sources. The teams start in opposite corners of the level - one in a park, the other in a warehouse, and each one must capture two objectives located in buildings near the center to win.
Canyon takes place in a Middle Eastern mountain village where a local warlord has recently gotten hold of a cache of heavy weapons. The players are charged with securing these weapons caches while enemy combatants are in the area.
A student-team worked with IBM Fellow, John Cohn to create an interactive multimedia companion piece for an electronic game that IBM developed for Engineering Week 2008. The educational product is delivered in a multimedia way that kids relate to, and it illuminates what makes up an electronic game and what courses of study and careers are available in game-related fields.
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Launch the IBM Game Tomorrow in Flash
In partnership with the UVM College of Medicine and Dr. Peter Bingham, the Emergent Media Center took an innovative approach to reaching children with Cystic Fibrosis by creating an electronic game prototype encouraging the improved adoption of breathing exercises and furthering the research into the effectiveness of such a game. This project has completed the production stage and is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Champlain College Faculty Advisor is Joe Manley.
Ludicross is a Flash-based racing game that utilizes a breath biofeeback device to incorporate breathing exercises, commonly used by individuals with Cystic Fibrosis (CF), as a secondary racing mechanic. The overall style suggests a playful tone, making the idea of breath drills easy and lighthearted.
In Creep Frontier, players receive missions to neutralize the threat of an infesting "sludge" that is infiltrating their usually harmonious world of untouched wilderness. The fauna are becoming more aggressive and the flora is wilting. The players, called Creep Riders, operate out of a mobile base that travels around the world looking for locations heavily populated by the sludge.
In partnership with the Population Media Center and at the request of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the Emergent Media Center has designed and created a game to address the issue of violence against women (VAW). The goal of this undertaking is to bring the changing world of electronic media to bear on the public health and human rights crises impacting women. Students, faculty and staff have conducted research and testing in South Africa and St. Lucia, as well as within New England. For more information please visit here.
BREAKAWAY launched its first chapter during the 2010 FIFA World Cup and has been played in over 128 countries (as of June 2011). Five full chapters of the game have now been released. Current work now focuses on creating a facilitator's guide and launching an international marketing campaign.
Click to Meet the Student Team
Over 60 students have worked more than 23,000 hours to make BREAKAWAY a reality.
Population Media Center
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UNFPA
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United Nations
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In the summer of 2011 the Emergent Media Center began working on a project with The Ford Foundation and Yellow Wood Associates to create a game that explains the basis for their ongoing initiative for "Wealth Creation in Rural Communities," and illustrate the effectiveness of "Wealth Creation Value Chain" concept. Since then, the team has worked to build a enjoyable, entertaining, and educational game founded in the concepts of this initiative. The game launched in March 2014.
The WealthBuilders is a game about negotiations. You are an intermediary, and your rural community needs your help to develop their wealth creation value chain. By resolving the issues of the companies in your value chain, you can improve the seven (7) forms of wealth in your virtual community.