When Sarah, the Community Ambassador at the Champaign Public Library, started using RPG Maker with the teens, she decided to use a more question based curriculum. This allows the teens to move at their own pace and discover the various capabilities of the program as they go. The written tutorials with images at the RPG Maker website are also helpful in discovery the answers to some of the questions below and becoming comfortable with the the software.
Basic Lessons
- Design Your Own Character, Map Building – Kids design their protagonist, create a back-story, and build the beginnings of their character’s home and village.
- More Map Building, Basic Events – Kids learn advanced techniques of designing maps, and learn how to use basic events (doors, transfers, treasure chests).
- More Events – Kids learn about conditions, switches, event pages, how to sequence and trigger events in a story, etc…
Questions to consider when observing students using the software:
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Character design – Did the individual create unique character(s) with a personality/story?
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Ability to make and utilize a storyline – Did the individual create a clear story that the player could progress through?
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Map creation – Did the individual create unique environments, which could be navigated by the player without encountering glitches?
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Use of switches, events, variables, and conditional branches – Did the individual make things happen in the game, and show a basic understanding of cause/effect and if/then
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Taking into consideration the audience/player experience – Did the individual consider how the game would be played, what a player would expect out of the game (either to deliver or subvert expectations), whether it was too difficult or not challenging enough, what the playing experience would be like, etc…?
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Knowledge of the basic functions of the software – Did the individual seem to understand how to use the software and/or how to problem-solve when they were confused?
