Fortune Hunter
Game Elements
Today is November 29, 2024.
Contacts
Jonathan Meschino (4th Year)
email: jmeschino@mail.rit.edu
Eric Kenvin (3rd Year)
email: eric.kenvin@mail.rit.edu
Preston Johnson (3rd Year)
email: ppj4700@g.rit.edu
David Silverman (3rd Year)
email: drs5669@g.rit.edu
News Feed
This spot is dedicated to larger news announcements.
→ 09.22.09 - Current GIT repository can be found here.
→ 10.01.09 - Watch a brief demo of our game on youtube.
→ 11.12.09 - MPG has become Mathematical Adventure: Fortune Hunter (MAFH)! This name change is permanent.
→ 11.12.09 - Fortune Hunter now has a blog!
→ 11.12.09 - Join the Fortune Hunter mailing list via Google Groups and stay up to date with our progress and news info!
Introduction
Mathematical Adventure: Fortune Hunter draws on teaching children of a global scale fourth grade mathematics through the guise of a dungeon styled adventure game. Players will be able to explore dungeons and fight fearsome battles with various monsters, each pertaining to a unique mathematical concept. The player controls a protagonist that must progress through maze-like dungeons, solve puzzles / problems, and defeat enemies in a two dimensional world. It is a single player adventure with room for ad hoc cooperative play in the future.
MAFH follows the story of Arith, a determined young researcher dedicated to finding all of the world’s best hidden secrets. One day she stumbled across a piece of blank papyrus during the time she spent studying in Egypt on a dig site. She quickly brought it to her best friend and colleague, Lytic. They were determined to find out more about this strange paper, but the two could not unearth its secrets in such a short time.
Three months later, the dig ever deeper into the earth, Arith noticed a faint glow emanating from a random pile of dirt. “What’s that over there?” she asked Lytic, who was standing nearby with his shovel. Digging it out, Lytic noticed that it was a small amulet. It let off the strangest beautiful teal glow. “Strange,” he remarked. Lytic stared deep into the light, his eyes widening as if in a trance. "Just what are you?" he questioned. The glow got even brighter and then went dim again. Now the amulet appeared to be as plain as any other stone. Confused, the two left the site to turn in for the night.
Upon bringing this find to back to their living quarters, Arith tossed it lightly on the table. It landed near the old blank papyrus that she had found months earlier. Only this time, the papyrus wasn't blank. The light seemed to be the key and filled the papyrus with teal characters and symbols. The two stared amazed at the sight. Nothing made sense. It was no language they’d ever come across before. Upon closer inspection, only one thing was certain. The image of a giant pile of treasure, larger than anything you could imagine. The other familiar symbol was an image of a human mind and mathematical symbols surrounding it. Apparently, those who desired this treasure must be intelligent and versed in the ways of math. The first leg of this treasure hunt was underway.
The next day, Arith and Lytic, found themselves in a strange place face to face with a mysterious and ancient building, relics in hand. “You wait here. I’ll go take a look around,” Arith told Lytic. “Okay. Good luck.”
Arith entered the dark and dank structure alone, not knowing what lays in wait…
Objectives
The objective of this project is to reiterate teachings of fourth grade mathematics to students in a fun and unique way, primarily through the use of creative interactive software. The project is intended to be used as supplemental material to classroom education. See Curriculum Elements for incorporated curriculum topics and Lesson Plan for a lesson plan to use in the classroom.
Game and Wiki Terminology
- Dungeon: The game world that the player is exploring which covers the lesson the student is currently on.
- PC Mode: PC Mode is when you are using the laptop with the keyboard.
- GB Mode: GB Mode is when you are using the laptop with the buttons on the monitor piece and not using the keyboard.
- HP: This represents the player's health within the game world. When it reaches 0 the player loses and their character dies.
- Power: this is a bar that starts out full for each attack and slowly diminishes until the attack is completed. When the attack is completed the amount of damage it does is based on how much was left in the power bar. Each attack does some minimum amount of damage that is increased if the power bar is not at 0.
- Damage/Dmg.: this is how much HP a character or the character's opponent loses when an attack is successful.
- Hit: This is a successful attack.
- Critical Hit: An especially effective attack that gives the student the chance to do more damage to their opponent if they solve a simple multiplication problem.
- Miss: This occurs when an attack is not successful and means the attack does 0 damage.
- Attack: This is how the player does damage, and defeats an opponent.
- Basic Attack: A move that the student can make when in battle that has a chance of either hitting the opponent, missing the opponent or producing a critical hit. It requires no math unless the student gets a critical hit.
- Fraction Attack: This is an attack which requires the player to solve a problem using fractions to perform a successful attack.
- Geometry Attack: This is an attack which requires the player to solve a problem using geometry and/or graphing ideas to perform a successful attack.
- Shop: This is where the player can purchase new equipment, and items to use in battle, in the game using the in-game currency.
- Boss: This is an especially powerful enemy which requires completion of specialized problems based around the entire lesson.
- As we get farther into development we will name different pieces of the GUI and such and define those.
Story & Characters
Story
Zale, the protagonist, stumbled across one day a piece of blank papyrus while during the time he spend studying in Egypt on a dig site. He was determined to find out more about this relic, but couldn't unearth its secrets.
Three months later, the dig ever deeper into the earth, Zale noticed a faint glow emanating from a pile of dirt. Digging it out, Zale noticed that it was a small amulet. It let off the strangest beautiful teal glow. Zale stared deep into the light, eyes widening as if in a trance, "Just what are you?" The glow got even brighter and then went dim again. Upset at the thought of not finding the answers sought, Zale left the site to turn in for the night. Upon bringing this find to back to the living quarters, Zale tossed it lightly on the table. It landed near the old blank papyrus that Zale had found months earlier. Only this time, the papyrus wasn't blank. The light seemed to be the key and filled the papyrus with teal characters and symbols. One thing was certain, though, and that was the picture of a giant pile of treasure, larger than anything you could imagine. There was another familiar symbol was an image of a human mind and mathematical symbols surrounding it. Apparently, those who desired this treasure must be intelligent and versed in the ways of math. The first leg of this treasure hunt was underway the next day, Zale finding herself in a strange place face to face with a mysterious building, relics in hand.
Protagonist
The protagonist learned of treasure that was hidden deep within the dungeon and embarked on a quest for the riches. He explores the dungeons, in a constant search of anything he can find out that will lead him to his fortune. The Player controls him as he explores the dungeon and attempts to find the hidden treasures.
Enemies
Enemies stand in the way of our hero.
So far we have two types of enemies:
Division Enemies: Enemies that must be fought by solving problems relating to division.
Geometry Enemies: Enemies that must be fought by solving problems relating to geometry and graphing.
Gameplay
GUI
There is a number pad for answer input which is attached to the player's first person perspective on their wrist. There is also a stats screen which will display the player's statistics such as health, power, money, items, etc. and allow the player to save and quit.
Conceptual First Person Perspective Model
Conceptual Battle Screen Model
Menus
Within the game there will be multiple menus. Here we will outline what each menu's purpose is and each of the buttons/controls that will be available through the menu.
Main Menu
The purpose of the Main Menu is to allow the player to begin a game and exit the game if they want to stop playing.
- Tutorial/instruction - Material to be covered before playing the game
- New Game - The player can start a new game from the first level.
- Continue - This will bring the player to the Continue Menu.
- → Class Stats - This option has not been developed yet and is something we will do only if we have the time. It would allow the player to view how well each student is doing in the game.
- → Options - This option has not been developed yet and is something we will do only if we have the time. It would allow the to change different game options.
- Close Game - This would simply close the game.
Continue Menu
This menu would let the player choose whether they want to restart from where they left off, or just start from one of the lessons they have already completed.
- Continue - This would let the player start back up from the most recent Continue Point.
- Level Select Dialog - This would allow the player to start from the beginning of any lesson/level they have already completed rather than starting from where they left off last time.
- Back -This would take the player back to the Main Menu.
Stats/Inventory
This menu would allow the player to view their stats and health and stuff.
- Item Equip Slots(x4) - These would be options that allow the player to switch what weapons, armor and equipment the have equipped.
- Return to Game - Exits the stats screen and returns to the game.
Pause
This is the menu the player would find when they pause the game.
- Save - This would allow the player to save and continue playing.
- Save and Quit - This would allow the player to save and then return to the Main Menu.
- Quit without Save - This would allow the player to return to the Main Menu without saving their game.
Shop Screen
This is the screen the player would encounter when they enter the shop.
- Buy Menu - This leads the player to the Buy Items Menu.
- Sell Menu - This leads the player to the Sell Items Menu.
- Exit - this exits the shop.
Buy Items Menu
This menu would just be a list of all the items that a player can buy and how much they cost and then the player would select one to purchase it.
Sell Items Menu
This menu would just be a list of all the items that a player can sell and how much they are worth and then the player would select one to sell it.
BATTLE - Main Battle Menu
This menu is the main menu that is brought up when battle begins.
- Basic Attack - This performs a basic attack. If the player gets a critical hit it brings them to the Critical Hit Screen.
- Division Attack Screen (Special attack)- This brings up the screen to perform a Division based attack.
- Geometry Attack Screen (Magic attack)- This brings up the screen to perform a Geometry based attack.
- Use Item Screen - This brings up the screen to use an item.
- Flee Battle - This option gives the player a chance to flee battle.
BATTLE - Critical Hit Screen
This screen is where the player is brought when they get a critical hit. They are given a basic math problem of some kind(Add, Subtract, Divide, or Multiply) and must solve it to get extra damage.
- Numpad - This will be a basic 0-9 numpad that is used to type an answer into the dialog. It will also have an Enter, and Delete option.
- Problem Display - This will be the display which shows the problem that must be solved and will have a dialog box to put the answer in.
BATTLE - Use Item Screen
This screen will basically just have the items available to you in battle listed on it so that the player can select which they want to use.
BATTLE - Fractions Attack Screen
This screen will allow the player to perform a Fractions based attack. The layer will have some target number that they have to get through using the fractions given to them. Each time the player chooses one fraction it will be replaced on screen with a new one.
- Fraction to use(x5) - This will be a list of 5 possible fractions to use and each one will be selectable. When one is chosen it will be replaced with something else.
- Undo - This simply allows them to undo the last couple choices they made.
- Addition Display - This will be a long dialog that will have the target number they are trying to reach on one side, and all of the fractions they have chosen so far on the other. Whenever the player
chooses another fraction to add to their total the fraction will be added to the list in this dialog.
BATTLE - Geometry Attack Scren
On this screen the player will have to solve some sort of Geometry based problem y adding shapes to a graph in the right position to represent a Reflection, or Translation, etc...
- Graph/Geometry Display - This is a dialog with graph in it that will display on top of, or next to, an enemy so that the player can manipulate shapes and such on it.
- Shapes Numpad - This will be a 12 button Numpad but instead of Numbers it will have 3 basic shapes, 3 complex shapes, an Undo button, a finish button, and arrow keys to move he shapes around the graph.
The shape buttons will add the corresponding shape to the graph. The Undo button will undo the addition of the most recent shape, it will not undo movements. The Finish button will act as an Enter button and will perform the attack if the player answered the problem correctly. The arrow keys will move the currently selected shape around the graph. There will be Up, Down, Left, and Right keys.
Controls
Game Modes
There will be two primary input modes in the game.
GB Mode Controls
GB Mode is referred to as the following: The XO monitor rotated 180* and folded back down into the XO. You will then utilize the directional pad and four buttons (check,x,square,circle) for game play.
The directional pad on the left is used for movement. The check mark button on the right side acts as a select button. Circle, Square, and X inputs will vary depending on the activity/ situation and will be defined during.
PC Mode Controls
PC Mode is referred to as the following: The XO is in its original, normal usage state such as a laptop. You will then use the keyboard and touch pad for all types of input.
The touch pad, arrow keys, and W,A,S,D keys are used for movement. The keyboard and touch pad inputs will vary depending on the activity/ situation and will be defined during.
Movement
Players can move freely from room to room provided there are no locked doors along the way. These will require keys to be obtained first before traveling through them.
Combat
When the player moves into a room containing enemies a battle will start. The battle will be carried out by means of "clashes." Each clash represents a possible attack or action and will be shown as a math problem that the player will have to solve. The player will enter the answer in PC Mode by clicking on the text field at the bottom of the screen and entering the numerical answer using the number keys on the keyboard. In GB Mode, there will be a number pad on-screen and the player will be able to highlight a number or symbol with the directional pad and select by pressing the check button on the right side of the monitor.
Shop
The player can access the shop any time not in battle during the game by pressing the O (circle) button. Once in the shop, the player can select an item by using the directional pad or by clicking on it. They will then be able to select a quantity in the same fashion. However, it is up to the player to input how much they are willing to pay for items and up to the player whether or not to accept deals on the shopkeeper's end. This is done in order to stimulate real-world scenarios. The shopkeeper will occasionally intend to provide the player a bad deal.
Critical Path
Level Progression
Each dungeon will introduce a distinct mathematical concept, and each dungeon will be comprised of several levels of increasing difficulty.
At the beginning of each level, the player will face the entrance of the dungeon. In each room, if there are no enemies left, the player will have a decision as to where to go next based on where in the dungeon they are.
As the player moves through the dungeon, they will face enemies which they will have to fight by solving math problems. If the player answers enough questions correctly in a battle, they will win the battle. However, if they continue to answer questions wrong, they will be damaged and eventually die. When the player dies, they will be faced with the option to quit to the main screen, or to restart the level. Once the player answers enough math problems correctly or defeats enough enemies, a teleporter will appear which will take them to the next level of the dungeon.
When the player reaches the end of the dungeon, they will encounter a boss which will confront them with numerous timed math problems to ensure mastery of the dungeon's concepts. There is also a possibility of an end of level puzzle which will require players to solve geometry based puzzles to progress.
Game Completion
A player's game is completed when they find all of the fortune hidden within the dungeon.
Education
Classroom Application
This game will be used to assist with math topics taught in the classroom and will be excellent reinforcement material.
Please visit our Lesson Plan page to get a lesson plan to use in your classroom.
Curriculum Elements
This game covers elements of the fourth grade math curriculum currently in use at Boston, MA, USA. The complete listing of the curriculum is available here: Full Curriculum Framework.
The following topics are covered in this game activity.
| NUMBER SENSE AND OPERATIONS | |
|---|---|
| 4.N.3 | Demonstrate an understanding of fractions as parts of unit wholes, as parts of a collection, and as locations on the number line. |
| 4.N.4 | Select, use, and explain models to relate common fractions and mixed numbers (1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/5, 1/6, 1/8, 1/10, 1/12, and 11/2), find equivalent fractions, mixed numbers, and decimals, and order fractions. |
| 4.N.5 | Identify and generate equivalent forms of common decimals and fractions less than one whole (halves, quarters, fifths, and tenths). |
| 4.N.6 | Exhibit an understanding of the base ten number system by reading, naming, and writing decimals between 0 and 1 up to the hundredths. |
| 4.N.9 | Select, use, and explain the commutative, associative, and identity properties of operations on whole numbers in problem situations, e.g., 37 x 46 = 46 x 37, (5 x 7) x 2 = 5 x (7 x 2). |
| 4.N.11 | Know multiplication facts through 12 x 12 and related division facts. Use these facts to solve related multiplication problems and compute related problems, e.g., 3 x 5 is related to 30 x 50, 300 x 5, and 30 x 500. |
| 4.N.12 | Add and subtract (up to five-digit numbers) and multiply (up to three digits by two digits) accurately and efficiently. |
| 4.N.14 | Demonstrate in the classroom an understanding of and the ability to use the conventional algorithms for addition and subtraction (up to five-digit numbers), and multiplication (up to three digits by two digits). |
| GEOMETRY | |
| 4.G.1 | Compare and analyze attributes and other features (e.g., number of sides, faces, corners, right angles, diagonals, and symmetry) of two- and three-dimensional geometric shapes. |
| 4.G.3 | Recognize similar figures. |
| 4.G.4 | Identify angles as acute, right, or obtuse. |
| 4.G.7 | Describe and apply techniques such as reflections (flips), rotations (turns), and translations (slides) for determining if two shapes are congruent. |
| 4.G.9 | Predict and validate the results of partitioning, folding, and combining two- and three-dimensional shapes. |
| MEASUREMENT | |
| 4.M.2 | Carry out simple unit conversions within a system of measurement, e.g., hours to minutes, cents to dollars, yards to feet or inches, etc. |
Art
Concept Art Information
This is where we will place our concept art, until we have determined a specific art style.
Goblin, Orc, and Wizard Concepts
Reference Material Information
Currently no reference materials...
Developer's Section
Meet the Team
Jonathan Meschino (4th Year Student @ RIT)
Eric Kenvin (3rd Year Student @ RIT)
Preston Johnson (3rd Year Student @ RIT)
David Silverman (3rd Year Student @ RIT)
Interested in joining our development team? Contact us for more information.
Consultants
Mel Chua (Red Hat)
Sebastian Dziallas (Sugar on a Stick)
We appreciate all of your help and suggestions. Thank you!
Meetings
Developer meetings:
Where: Game Design Labs - Building/Room No. 70-2500 @ RIT
When: 5-8pm Thursdays
6-8pm Saturdays (TBA - only if needed that week)
Meeting times and locations are subject to change as needed. For more information, contact someone on the Team.
Milestones
Today is November 29, 2024.
- denotes topic
→ denotes subtopic of above-listed topic
Precursor (September 6 - September 26)
familiarize with OLPC XOs
familiarize with open source community
familiarize with git versioning
familiarize with python
Week 1 (September 27 - October 3)
mess with GB mode
set up and familiarize new git repository
class structure
review python
familiarize with pygame
cannibalize!
Week 2 (October 4 - October 10)
- work on prototyping of tougher game elements
create class structure
begin coding world (map)
Week 3 (October 11 - October 17)
begin coding travel system
→ ability to move from room to room
begin coding combat system
→ get the 'combat stage' set up for functionality
work on placeholder graphics to be loaded into game
Week 4 & Week 5 (October 18 - October 31)
finish travel system
→ debug any issues or conflicts
→ text notifications of choices
→ polish it off to fully working
- finish combat system
→ have exchange of turns
→ menu that works for choices
→ text notification for choices
→ basic battle is functional from start to finish
- switch between travel and combat system from main world
Week 6 (November 1 - November 7)
- begin working on GUI and Menu systems
→ set up in game
→ make functional
Week 7 (November 8 - November 14)
- work on actual graphics (sets) and load them into game (replace placeholders)
- finish off all primary projects to ensure one play through of one level can happen start to finish
- game design documentation!
→ extremely detailed account of current project and future goals/ directions.
- work on data recognition
→ this is updating the topics around the players level of familiarity with a given topic. make sure older topics are still rotated in for reiteration.
- additional features:
→ student vs class progress, class vs class progress - data analysis
→ multiple levels
→ multiple graphic sets (region based)
→ possible alternate game modes
Week 8+ (November 14 +)
- TESTING!
- KEEP TESTING AND ADDING CONTENT
Future Development
updating...
Progression
- Input read from handheld mode
- Preliminary GUI coding:
Full GUI with placeholder images Text field with scrolling text Image swapping for traversal with placeholder images
- Dungeon
Reads list of rooms from text file Forms dungeon using this list
- Traversal
Player can traverse a dungeon set up from the text file Placeholder graphics used Player's viewpoint changes when they enter a room
- Battle
Basic class hierarchy finished
- Shop
Conceptual stage
- Graphics
Placeholder images for rooms
- Sound
'Door opening' SFX.
Bugs/ Fixes
Not yet. Will release a working version upon completion.
Game Suggestions
- Have the players defeat monsters and solve puzzles by solving math questions
- Have a small on-screen map to help players navigate through the dungeon