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Category Archives: Academics

Using StarCraft as a Game AI Testbed

By Ben Weber | Published: October 4, 2009

I’ve been interested in developing AI for StarCraft for several years now. I recently came across the Broodwar API project, which provides hooks into StarCraft. It enables developers to query game state as well as issue orders to units. The Broodwar API makes it possible to write custom AI bots for StarCraft.

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The Cycle Completes: Game Studies Scholars in Games

By Chris Lewis | Published: September 22, 2009

“Hi, my name is Ian Bogost” (press Click to Play in the top right). I’m glad there’s no English translation of the web site, I like not knowing why he’s there. It’s like when you see Matt Damon on Japanese commercials, and you have no idea what he’s selling. Ian Bogost = Matt Damon. You […]

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Rationalization’s reception

By Mike Treanor | Published: August 26, 2009

Rationalization was covered on the Indie Games blog and reviewed on Rock, Paper, Shotgun.  It was great to see that people were interested in checking out the game. Though, on Rock, Paper, Shotgun people did far more than just check it out.  There were over 50 comments and many of these were very thoughtful interpretations […]

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Xorex: An Abstract Matching-Shooter

By Adam M. Smith | Published: August 24, 2009

Screenshot showing the player’s ship charged with pink ammo, carrying some yellow inventory. Xorex is a haphazard pastiche of various games I’ve played over the years.  It has several elements you’ll feel right at home with: gems to be arranged into color-matching linear groups, a forward-firing ship with flexible inventory and ammo storage, a grid-based […]

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Software Engineering as Artifact Creation

By Chris Lewis | Published: August 16, 2009

Geek disclosure: I’ve become fascinated by the different facets of Software Engineering. Not just as a means to an end, but as a practice, as an art and as a historical artifact. I feel like I’m in Indiana Jones and the Java Temple, full of Pythons, with the riches of Perls and Rubies. My desire […]

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The Great Flu: Pandemic Education for the Masses

By Teale Fristoe | Published: August 13, 2009

In my last post, I discussed how games are being used to communicate, not just to entertain.  Today, I want to discuss The Great Flu, a game recently released by Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.  The game attempts to educate the public about the dangers of and difficulty in containing flu pandemics. In […]

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