Feuding Families was a very interesting project for me, as it allowed me to work on something that I feel has never been done before... Bringing strong game play elements together with real learning. Most learner games around at the moment use very simple game play to aid the learning, some of which is merely traditional learning games on an electronic canvas. I decided to look at creating a game which brought these elements together through context, allowing them to not interfere with each other.
The game makes the player learn a foreign language (French) which is being used as a secret code by some of the dwellers of the vault. By learning their language, they infiltrate a section of the vault to gain access to a cave system to find the real cause of current disturbances.
The level design had to be well thought out, with areas designed for both learner and hardcore gamers to enjoy and understand. It is split into three main areas to meet with the games purpose and story, with the vault areas used for advancing the learning. Here, game play elements such as exploration and interaction are used here which can transcend into stronger game play later on. The level then has a cave system, which is where the stronger game play takes place, with players fighting off some off the trickiest creatures Fallout 3 has to offer to advance the story.
The game uses Fallout 3’s dialogue system to implement the main learning areas of the game. Players will interact with other game characters, learning key phrases of the French language to then use in a conversation-game. Here, players have to hold a conversation with main characters, selecting the key phrases to progress through it. If they get a part of the conversation wrong, there are different consequences, invoking the player to learn from their mistakes in different ways.
The biggest achievement of the game is how it uses learning and game play elements in a way that all gamers can enjoy, starting simple and then becoming more challenging. The story is engaging with some clever surprises and twists, taking advantage a strong script with voice acting in game. I am very pleased with how the game is currently looking, and will be looking into ways in which to make the overall game much more enjoyable for all gamers.
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