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By Erin Mussolum
THE computer lab at Trinity Western University is
buzzing with excitement. Colourful images are seen on monitors.
A couple of students listen to headphones while others are
involved in intense discussion. Everyone in the class has a job to do.
It was a little over a year ago that Alma
Barranco-Mendoza and Kevin Schut, professors at Trinity Western University,
decided to embark on a project which would engulf their lives and the lives
of 24 students for more than a year.
The purpose? To produce a computer-based video game
which would be created by students from a multitude of disciplines across
the university – ranging from computer sciences to music and art.
In late June, Barranco-Mendoza, Schut and the students,
going under the name Bonus Marks Entertainment, launched the turn-based
strategy game Label: Rise of Band to the public.
Like a board game, the downloadable digital production
allows players to assume the persona of an independent music label in
fictional Badger City, as they battle to gain popularity with musical acts
by booking the bands into venues across the city. They are opposed by
the evil corporation Parasol Music Group, which rules the
city’s status quo music scene. A successful strategy positions the
indie label to rise in power, ultimately triumphing over Parasol.
As the head of a label, a player is allowed to give
singing lessons to the bands, put on publicity stunts, arrange for a name
change, find and book new bands, send out talent scouts and even arrange
for photo shoots – all to make the label more popular and thus more
powerful.
The professors took into account what could reasonably
be accomplished in a year; the students then took on the task of coming up
with the creative concept for the game.
Once this was established, the software engineering and
game design commenced, and then art and music students produced original
artwork, and composed and recorded the soundtrack. While this was
occurring, students in communications wrote the game’s narrative, and
the final marketing plan for the release and distribution of the product
was created by business students. More than 50 individuals –
including staff, faculty and students – engaged in testing of the
game as well.
When asked to describe the process of working with
students across a multitude of disciplines on a project this size, Schut
says, “First, we have always thought of the students as experts in
their fields. That was one of the main purposes for this project: to let
students exercise the expertise they had developed over the course of their
studies at TWU.
“The second tactic is that we really see the
course as a co-exploration. What that means is that rather than
telling students exactly what to do, we set general responsibilities and
team relationships and then let the students start to work out how things
will go.”
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Business major Amanda Pereira, from Langley, one of the
project managers, sums up her experience: “I haven’t been huge
into video games, but the hands-on experience for me was really appealing.
And being able to manage the different disciplines of people, working
together with them, going through the ins and outs of how to sell a product
and what that involves, and what processes you need, really helped me put
my marketing and business academic background into practice – instead
of just learning the theory of it. I was able to apply it to the real
world.”
Barranco-Mendoza and Schut created a web-based
environment, allowing students to log in and work on the game from various
points on campus.
“Both Kevin and I did quite a lot of research,
and we found that no other university or college has anything close to this
type of multidisciplinary project,” says Barranco-Mendoza, adding:
“The students also will receive a certificate in
game development foundations and will use the credit hours earned in the
program towards their degree in either computing science, communications or
information systems. We think of it as a capstone course, where students
from multiple disciplines come together and the project gives them real
life experiences – giving them an extra boost when looking for jobs
in different fields.”
The game is targeted at high school and university
students, young adults and those interested in music and business. The
collective of students who make up Bonus Marks Entertainment will also have
the rights to some of the revenue if the game is picked up by a larger
gaming company – something the group is hoping will happen.
Label: Rise of Band can
be purchased online at labelriseofband.com, and hard copies are for sale in
the Trinity Western University bookstore.
September 2008
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