@TwAdven

On the Sunnyside – a history of the town (part 2)

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by Alexander Rudge PhD
(C) Rudge, Ipswich Press, 1978

Local Mythology

Moshup (also spelled Maushup, Maushop, and several other ways by different tribes, and sometimes referred to as a “transformer” by folklorists.) was an Indian Giant, who had lived in harmony with the People of the First Light to the South East, but had fallen out with them because they would not heed his warnings of the coming of pale evil. For details of how Moshup was asked to let the People fend for themselves and was turned into a white whale, see Appendix 2. For details on how Moshup the Giant warned the Wampanoag People to the South, then left them forever, see Appendix 3. NOTE: several conflicting accounts exist of Moshup’s fate after leaving the Wampanoag.

Moshup met Squant the Sea Woman, after defeating the man-eating Bird Demon. For details of how they came together, see Appendix 4. When he resisted her embrace and returned to his wife, he found that she was lying with the Bad Indian of the North. Enraged he returned to Squant’s embraces, not realising that his wife had been true to him, and had been forced to lie down.

Granny Squannit – Moshup’s wife even though, as leader of the magical woodland Little People (makiawisug), she married only to bring balance with the large and great beings her husband represented – came to Eagle Bay in search of her husband, fearing for him in his sadness at her shame. For details of Granny Squannit, see Appendix 5. When she found him in the embrace of Squant in a round cave of salt water she flew into a rage. her magical powers over the sea and with storms had often resulted in devastating weather caused by Squannit’s arguments with her husband. She stamped her tiny rabbit feet, leaving the shape of the bay delta seen today off the coast of Sunnyside, which caused the whole northern side of the land to rise like a ripple on a pond. It is said that the Manuxet River runs now where the shore line used to be; and, in deed the river does run remarkably parallel to the shore. The cave where Squant and Mashup lay sleeping was raised up above the sea, and Granny Squannit stamped her feet again to make the (Manuxet) river flow round, rather than into the basin, to deprive Squant of water so she would wrinkle and age in the Sun, and be beautiful no more. It is said that the unusual salt deposits found at the base of Sunnyside are all that remains of Squant’s sea spirit body.

When Squant felt the sea taken from her, she awoke and was angry. However, she had been nestling Moshup so he would not wake, so was too slow to escape. Squannit called to the local people, and told them to gather stone and special earth and bury Squant, so she would never escape. This punishment for her husband and his lover seemed good to the People, so they agreed to bring stone and special earth and built the mound upon them both. When Squant felt the special earth and stone placed upon her, she cried out a curse. One day a whale would come and walk the land, and fly in the wind, and would steal the fire from inside all that had laid a hand to burying her and Moshup, who kept sleeping, unaware of any of his wife’s revenge. And so it was that the People Who Live near the Great Hill (Massachuset) were burned and scattered as dust, and are no more.

For a list of other significant deities, see Appendix 6

#1GAM #onegameamonth, Proposal/Game Idea

Cluthulhu – A #OneGameAMonth game

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tl;dr
Cluthulhu is a game for 2-7 players that uses an existing Cluedo board with some extra counters. Players have to escape from an unknown horror that has infected their country mansion. Think “The Blob” meets “The Thing” at Cthuhlu Manor

Cluthulhu requires:
1) A copy of Cluedo (or Clue, if you are from the Colonies), but you won’t be solving a murder, but fighting for your very lives! All the existing pieces of the game will be used. If you have the deluxe version of the game, with extra weapons or player characters that’s fine, but I will be assuming you have the more commonly available basic set.
2) A good few dozen green counters, cubes or meeples, small enough to fit on each square of the board; technically the board is 24×24 squares, but rooms are not divided up in an unmodified board. Ideally, twelve counters per player should be sufficient, but you can probably work with 6-8 per player.
3) An extra die as 2D6 are required; technically 1D6-1D6 to be exact, giving a range of movement from 0-5; the lower die is subtracted from the higher.
4) (Optional) A thin permanent marker and a ruler or straight edge.

Instructions for modification of the basic game.
The first thing to do is decide if you don’t mind changing your board; this won’t prevent you from playing the original game. While this isn’t strictly necessary, it will enhance the playing experience greatly by allowing for player movement inside rooms to be fairer. In the original Cluedo game, movement inside rooms is rather like teleportation, with the entire room space being a single move (which is daft really). If you are happy writing on your board, you should use a ruler to extend the existing lines for the corridor squares carefully across into the room spaces. I personally wouldn’t draw over the walls. However, using a thin permanent marker will allow rooms to be broken into squares, just like the hallways. Remember, although it’s recommended to use a permanent marker, if you mess up you can probably clean up any flaws with solvent, provided you have not pressed too hard and make corrections quickly. Making these changes does not ‘break’ the original Cluedo game, provided that players remember that movement costs are not relevant for room spaces, even though this is weird; this might explain the location of doors in Cluedo rooms, which otherwise makes little sense. If you don’t want to mark the board, then so long as the alien (yes, Alien!) jumps across rooms from door to door as well, we’re all good. No further physical modification is necessary.
Modified Cluep Board
Modified Cluthulhu Board
Set up for Cluthulhu
Firstly, sort the weapon, location and people cards into separate piles. Shuffle each pile and deal out face down in a line the weapon cards, then deal on top of them enough of the location cards to give each a location. These pairs are then turned over to determine which random weapon is in which random location. Place the relevant counter/marker for each weapon in the relevant room. Then take back the location card and shuffle the full deck again. Deal out all the player character cards and, again, lay out locations on each. This will randomly locate all the player counters (Col. Mustard for example). All player counters are to be used, no matter how many players are taking part; human players will play any and all the characters anyway. Finally, take one of the unused location cards at random. (Alternatively, allow the player playing the Alien (Yes, Alien!) to choose from an unoccupied room; this option should not include rooms with weapons.) This is where the Alien (Yes, Alien!) will start spawning. Place one counter anywhere in the room. Finally, the Alien (Yes, Alien!) secretly chooses one of the player character cards. This will be the secretly infected human. If they escape successfully, then Humanity is DOOOoooMED! Initial Alien Spawning
Beginning in the ro

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On the Sunnyside – A history of the town

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by Alexander Rudge PhD
(C) Rudge, Ipswich Press, 1978

Location
In Essex County, Massachusetts, in land and up the coast from Innsmouth with a commanding view of Cape Ann and Falcon Point to the East. The town of Ipswich, Massachusetts is geographically nearer, but restrictive local geography (notably the Manuxet River, which forms a loop around the settlement) and the absence of decent highways makes road transport only possible via Innsmouth. Access by sea is possible to the North via a small inlet in the South West of Plum Island Sound, which still shows evidence of the original fishing settlement from which Sunnyside owes its origins. A natural ford across the Manuxet historically linked this important fishing harbour with what was to become Ipswich, but there is no explanation as to why forest trails never developed into more traditional roadways, as one would have expected, although it is apparent that bridges and viaducts would have made such connections costly. This might also explain the lack of rail links to the village. Forestry on the banks of the river near Sunnyside are remarkably well preserved, with many sections being what arboriculturists describe as ‘primary’; essentially an unchanged and undisturbed botanical ecosystem.
Description
Unlike its neighbours, Sunnyside is rather cramped in construction, space being constrained by the river bend and encroaching forest. It should be a quiet hamlet, but shows a dearth of vitality that a semi-rural setting should exhibit. The church steeple looms ominously to the northern, seaward horizon, and the communal clock has not worked for 60 years. The predominent architecture of aged gambrel roofs and peaked gables matches that of nearby Innsmouth, but is better preserved, due to less salty air. two notable Georgian exceptions are the village school and the combined Town Hall and Jailhouse, with square hipped roofs, cupolas, and excellent examples of rooftop “widow’s walks”, which dominate the central square.

On the northern shore only the ruins of wharves remain, along with a now derelict canning factory, to provide evidence of Sunnyside’s former major industry of preserved fish, which died out in the last century when the local salt mines gave out. It is hard to envisage what economic miracle could bring round this sad, quaint habitat, with many young families understandably leaving for the more affluent nearby conurbations.

History
Sunnyside was founded in 1646, noted for fishing and meat preserving before the Revolution, bit was only mildly prosperous in the early nineteenth century as a minor factory centre, due to the local supply of salt. The loss of salt production due to sabotage during the War of 1812 caused the town’s profitable trade to dwindle in a surprising parallel with its neighbour Innsmouth, which had provided ships and tackle. By 1828, only the White family fleet was still operating, but canning was relocated further down the coast, but even this remnant of “honest trade” was devastated in 1840 when Innsmouth demonstrated an unprecedented upsurge in its own burgeoning fishing industry; commanded over by the Marsh Family, of long good standing in that parish.

It could be speculated that had the White’s weathered the financial storm, when Innsmouth was devastated by plague in 1846, their fortunes could have rallied. Sadly, however, this ill wind arrived too late to save the village. The White Family are still present in the village, but are no longer affluent.

In the Prohibition Era, Sunnyside was regularly suspected of providing local bootleggers with AppleJack – freeze distilled cider-based hard liquor – but no significant arrests were ever made. it is likely that such illegal activity, rather than the prosperous orchards, might be responsible for the continued existence of the village.

@TwAdven

Sunnyside Chronicle (Saturday morning Edition)

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News
Redmore Killer still at large
Sheriff Jonah Johnson (44) repeated assurances that the killer of Rev Redmore was “almost certainly a stranger to our community who has likely already absconded.”

The crime, a most vicious and unprovoked attack in his home two weeks ago, appears to have been an opportunistic robbery gone horribly wrong. “There were signs of several struggles” Johnson confirmed, “but DNA samples sent off to Innsmouth a fortnight ago have been inconclusive.”

Events
Sunnyside Fete
This Saturday sees a return of the Sunnyside School Fete, a welcome diversion in recent troubled times.

The Sunnyside Fete has a long tradition, reaching back centuries, possibly pre-dating the town’s founding fathers. The settlement was an ancient centre of trade, being at the natural ford of the Manuxet River immortalised in Native American myth and legend.

While the fete’s return may not herald a welcome turning point in the fortunes of this benighted town, it can be considered a glimpse of hope. It was cancelled 3 years ago as a mark of respect after the unexpected sad departure of the Rev. J.S. Samuels, who died of a sudden stroke on the eve of festivities.

Since then, the interim acting head, Mr Albus Smith, didn’t feel it appropriate to reinstate the proceedings. When asked about its return to Sunnyside’s rather sparse social calendar, Mr Smith referred us to the Board of Governors. “New brooms sweep clean. It will be good to return to teaching Chemistry.”

Albus was, no doubt, referring to news that he will be stepping down as acting head, to be replaced by a ‘Ministey approved’ external candidate, Ruth Less (34), who this reporter has confirmed as being responsible for the welcome resurrection of the Sunnyside Fete. “A fete is not worse than Death” she is reported to have quipped to the Board and local Councillors recently.

Obituaries
Reverend Charles Redmore (67)
It is wrong to speak ill of the dead. A line we will all have heard often over the last few decades that our faithful vicar presided over funerals in Sunnyside. Redmore had an infinite capacity to see the Good side in all of us. This, more than the stirring sermons spoken to far too few, will most be missed.

Charles – Redmore disliked formality and titles – was the pinnacle of ‘good shepherd’. Perhaps it was this that was his downfall. A violent attack in his own home has shaken the faith of this reporter, as well as the whole town. The ongoing police investigation has done little to settle a troubled parish, although the Sheriff remains cautiously optimistic of a conviction.

Redmore was not liked, but he was respected. His resignation from the Board of Governors of Sunnyside Primary over ‘differences in direction’, including appointing an external candidate as Head Teacher, caused much controversy. The vicar’s regular outspoken defence of the Youth of the town was often cited as divisive, splitting Sunnyside in two as to how to deal with its very real social problems.

Father Redmore leaves behind a troubled town, no less so because of the manner of his sudden departure. His replacement, Father Malcolm Malcolm, will begin this week. Let us hope he has more imagination than his parents naming ability.

@TwAdven

“A Fete Worse Than Death” -A 21st century Cthulhu Adventure

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Sunnyside School is not the most salubrious of schools. Unruly, chaotic and occasionally criminal behaviour mars its reputation, and the children are nearly as bad as the staff. It is time for Drastic Measures. The Ministry, flush with the success of transforming Herbert West High into the very model of a modern ambitious educational establishment, have appointed its former leader, Ms. Less, as the new Head Teacher.

She arrives, unfortunately, during the tragedy of the school fete, to the surprise and consternation of Mr. Arthur Pendrákõn (44) the school’s janitorial engineer [@symatt] and Mr. Albus White (??) Sunnyside’s long-standing Chemistry teacher [@richgreen01]

Ruth, her preferred name when “off duty” requests a staff meeting when the fete is concluded. She has big plans for bringing Sunnyside round. Will Mr’s White and Pendrákõn recruit others to help her? Or will they seek to find out what her *methods* consist of. They (and you!) have to decide!

A late arrival at the fete, Father Malcolm, the new Vicar (@gmsmagazine), joins Ms Less in her office prior to the staff meeting. Perhaps his spiritual guidance will strengthen her resolve to save the souls of these poor benighted children? Or is her interest in their future more than it appears to be…

The cast is assembled. Now read on…
Cast (in order of appearance)
Arthur Pendrákõn, 44, the Sunnyside School janitorial engineer, (PC @symatt)
Arthur is from India. Moved here with family about 17 years ago. Hi has one child (boy, not yet seen) who goes to Sunnyside school. Arthur has a Masters in geography and Anthropology. He likes his job as it is. No one knows.

Various noisy 3-17 year old children

Ms. Ruth Less, 31, new Sunnyside Primary School Head Mistress

Mr Albus White, ??, the chemistry teacher, previously acting Head (PC @richgreen01)

Reverend “Father” Malcolm Malcolm, ??, new Vicar for Sunnyside after the previous one, Rev. Redmore, died in suspicious circumstances. (PC @gmsmagazine)

Mr. Leaf Carterton, 29, Sunnyside Shop Teacher, renowned for being a bully

Mrs. Angela Abercrombie, 58, Sunnyside School Crèche Teacher for under 7s

Miss Zachery, ??, (not yet seen) referred to by Mr. White

Mr. Aaron Aardvark, 63, slightly deaf, extremely senile, rumoured to possibly be from regular substance abuse, History Teacher at Sunnyside School. His parents were Peace Corp fans

Alexander Rudge PhD, 87, local Historian and cantankerous old man. Author of “On the Sunnyside – A history of the town” in 1978

Miss Spencer, ?? (but probably very old!), shrewd and wily owner of “the” shop on the corner of High Street and Main Street.

Miss Sally Buchanan, 24, Year 1 teacher, reputed to be extremely fierce and not liked. A sour, grey character.

Aderia Pendrákõn, 37, wife if Arthur, works at the local radio station.

Mrs ? Lee, ?? (not yet seen), teacher

Ms ? Simpson, ?? (Not yet seen), teacher

Mr Marvin Sanderson, 32, single by choice, teacher of English and drama, with a passion for Shakespeare and folk music. (PC @landrasgembar)
—
If you’d like to join this adventure follow @TwAdven on Twitter.
Add this search (without quotes) to your saved searches:
“#twadv, from:twadven, -RT”

Then post one tweet describing your character (adding #twadv).

You’ll be sent a ‘Welcome to…
“A Fete Worse than Death” tweet’ if accepted; there are limited player spaces, sorry. However, you can suggest story ideas to @doctormikereddy even if you’re not accepted this time.

#1GAM #onegameamonth, Proposal/Game Idea

Start Wrecking: To Boldly Roll – a #1GAM #WoGaDeMo starship combat dice pool game (for tabletop and PS Vita!)

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Made notes on ideas for design and deployment in game dev book. Main thrust is “random in” not “random out” so NO dice rolling to determine results. The idea is a (slightly) modifiable dice pool mechanic where dice are allocated to ship systems and ‘used’ to power shields, weapons, engines, etc.

Players have to select strategically between handling the ship and resource management, with 2-12 actions per turn, split between command and engineering. Of course, more dice could/should be allocated for larger ships, and 1-6 mixed actions for very small ships seems workable.

All ships, no matter what size, will have 12 dice in the energy pool randomly rolled before combat. The ship’s capture/victory value is the total of the 12 starting dice (12-72 points, but 42 on average). A low value ship that wins will gain much honour.

Searched Google and BGG for “Start Wrecking”, “starship dice” etc, to check for similar game ideas, and “dice pool” for extra information on the core mechanic. Looks like the mechanic has been used before, but not the way I propose. The name “Start Wrecking” is obviously a pun, as signified by “To boldly roll”* placing us clearly in Federation space. However, I’d like to have an Imperial theme as well, to cover both major fan bases:
“StraW Ars: May the Dice Be With You”** comes to mind, but doesn’t have the same finesse, somehow; “I’d like the ‘straw arse’ dice game please…”

Notes
* “To boldly roll…” is a name idea I suggested to a fellow game designer, who seems to have settled on “Boldly Rolling”. Never throw away a good pun, I say!
** “May the dice be with you.” is Paco’s end tag line for the G*M*S Magazine podcast we co-host

#1GAM #onegameamonth, Proposal/Game Idea

HexStatic – A #1GAM #onegameamonth tile laying strategy game for 1-3 players

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Introduction
HexStatic is a tile-laying puzzle strategy game of Red Green and Blue. Players attempt to make loops and lines by selectively laying tiles to form their own structures while blocking those of the other players. But first you need to fight for the right to own a colour in the first place! Will you rush in early, or play a waiting game of blocking?

What you will need?
Scissors (optional), a Printer, paper and/or thin card, or blank Hex tiles.

Print out the PDF file (link below) and paste on to thin card, or use red, green and blue pens (or colours of your own choice) to create your own pieces using purchased blank hex tiles.

How to play with 2 or 3 players
All the tiles except the nexus tiles (tiles where all three colours are end points) are turned over and shuffled.
[Insert picture of Nexus tiles]

Players select 6 tiles randomly, which they can look at but must keep secret from the other . Then the starting player chooses one of the nexus tiles to play first, and the rest are shuffled among the remaining face down tiles. Who gets to be starting player? The last winner of the game, or you can choose randomly. This ends the starting player’s first turn.

Then play commences in a clockwise direction. Each turn, players choose one of their six tiles to lay, where lines of the same colour always line up on all connected sides. Once played, a replacement tile is randomly chosen from the remaining face down tiles. If a tile could not be played, or the player chooses not to lay a tile, one tile is discarded for a random replacement then the remaining face down tiles are shuffled.

When the first structure is completed, either by having a line finished with two end tiles or by creating a self-contained loop, the successful player is assigned that colour for the rest of the game. Similarly for the second player to complete a structure. In a 3 player game, the remaining colour is allocated to the final player. In a two player game the last colour counts as neutral.

Play continues until no more players are able to lay legal tiles. If all players agree, play can be suspended and remaining tiles turned over to confirm no legal moves remain. If there are tiles that can be laid, play continues in the same order, but with all tiles being available to each player in turn order until legal moves are exhausted.

Scoring can be done continuously during play or at the end of the game, as follows:

  1. Loops – count the number of tiles in a loop when completed and multiply by 4. So, a loop of 3 (the smallest possible) scores 12 points.
  2. Lines – count the number of tiles including the two end tiles when a line is completed, and multiply by 2. So, a completed line can be as short as 2 (only two end tiles), which would score 4, but could be significantly longer!
  3. Fragments – lines that have one end tile only are scored by counting the number of connected tiles, excluding the end tile. This should only happen at the end of the game.
  4. Connected tiles – Fragments that don’t have at least one end tile are NOT counted unless there is a tie with scoring for Loops, Lines and Fragments. This should only happen if there is a draw at the end of the game.

How to play a Single Player Game
Set up is the same as for multiplayer, in that 6 tiles are chosen randomly from shuffled face down tiles, excluding the nexus tiles (those consisting solely of line ends), a nexus tile is chosen and played, with the rest being shuffled into the remaining tiles.

Then play proceeds with laying a tile then taking another (or swapping a new tile for an old one and shuffling) until there are no more legal moves possible; confirmation of this may require all remaining tiles being turned over, at which point but the player has effectively given up placing any more tiles and scoring begins.

Scoring for single player games is the same as for multiplayer games, but all colours are counted and only loops and lines score. The aim of single player is to get a new high score, or beat other player’s best scores.

Notes
For a commercial version of this, I would imagine pieces similar to those for Hive; chunky hexagonal tiles with raised grooves. Ideally, I would have coloured lines of different types – dashed, thin and thick lines – to allow colourblind or visually impaired players to have an accessible version. If you’d like to publish this game, please contact me, provided you agree that this Print and Play version is allowed to remain in the Public Domain indefinitely.

Print and Play Files
To come later today. Apologies, I can’t get a decent upload connection right now.

#1GAM #onegameamonth, Proposal/Game Idea

Pixeliction – A #1GAM #onegameamonth quick game for Artists and Retro Fans

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Introduction
This is a quick “gamers’ game” especially for retro fans and artists. Pixeliction is Pixel art version of Pictionary. If you don’t have that game, or got tired and gave it away, don’t worry: it’s usually available very cheaply at charity/thrift shops or you can use this online Pictionary Word Generator to get the words.
What do I need?
A copy of Pictionary, the word generator linked above, or paper and pens and (possibly) a dictionary.
An Othello/Reversi board
How to play
Simple, instead of drawing to give clues to the word, you use black and white counters or a blank space to build an 8×8 pixel image on the board. Pixel art is dying, and this game is a way to reinvigorate the form, as well as to give players an appreciation of how hard it is to create sprites.
Options
You could use coloured counters to allow more colours, or go for 16×16 grids, but this will mean it will take longer to create an image; patience needed.

Games Writing

Games, Gandhi and Wrecked Trains – the Unedited version

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Recently, I had the honour of writing the guest editorial for Vol2, No.1 of the Computer Games Journal, but the style was a bit mangled by “gramatical error correction”, so I thought it best to reproduce the unedited version here. Please go and read the official version too. Please note, all rights reserved by the Computer Games Journal.

Games, Gandhi and Wrecked Trains
By Dr. Mike Reddy FRSA, University of South Wales
By the time you read this one of the best Games degrees in the UK at the University of Wales Newport will be no more. (Mind you, the institution itself won’t exist by then, due to Welsh Assembly Government imposed restructuring and institutional mergers.) I say, with some conviction, that this award was one of the best, not to boast – it was more the achievements and commitment of the students than it was those of the teaching staff, evidenced by a string of achievements, including BAFTA nominations, Dare to be Digital awards, international recognition of a number of graduate-seeded Indie developers, and an enviable employment rate in the UK Games Industry, reported in the Games Press when the closure of the award was announced – but to mourn its passing, and as a warning that being the best does not save an award from closure, even though it is acknowledged that universities in the UK have an over-provision of games related awards, if direct employment in the industry is the main factor.

The BSc in Games Development and A.I. began in late 2004 and lasted just under a decade, during most of which I had the honour to be teaching some of the many specialist modules; at the end, I was the only lecturer and programme leader, due to redundancies and funding council cuts in what we now recognise is a retracting HE sector. When I arrived at Newport in 2005 I knew I had my work cut out for me; my mission was to raise the standard of the award so it would survive the inevitable (to me) deflation of vocational awards aimed at the Creative Industries, when promised graduate employment did not materialise for many. Not that Newport’s BSc degree, designed by a colleague and friend Dr. Shane Lee, was not appropriate, but because like many novice institutions, we lacked the recognition and industry support, made more difficult by not being geographically situated at an existing cluster of game developers. Another factor was preparation for Skillset accreditation, but mostly we needed to consider graduate employability in a fiercely competitive first jobs market.

The games media were (and are) full of criticism of games courses as being “bums on seats”, under resourced, and out of date. Common complaints from Industry were lack of real experience of the team-based nature of games development and the inability to specialise in the homogenous learning environment of a university (made worse in some institutions by the majority of modules being shared with other computing awards, due to economies of scale more than naked duplicity) when careers in games development were strongly disciplined. Graduate recruitment, conservatively forecast by some spokespeople at 25%, was considered the gold standard for evaluating an institution’s worth; not unreasonably, given that networking and “whom you know” is a common trait of many creative industries. After hard won consultations with several prominent development studios, the need for direct experience of cross-disciplinary development practices in large groups was identified as essential for Newport graduates, along with exposure to standard Industry practices. However, such heterogeneous experience was at odds with traditional, standardised individual HE assessment.

Collaboration over the last ten years with a variety of lecturers on the BA Games Design degree – thankfully not yet under threat of closure – has proven that it is possible to provide relevant experience despite the obstacles: the culture clash between students from disparate disciplines; the emphasis on process rather than product; and the need for fair assessment of individual performance; and the necessity of the importance of pipelines for production. The first year we ran the train wreck module, was as a result of ESF KEF Innovation Strategy Funding, which oiled the machinery of inter-departmental politics; as we had received external resources, eyes were on us to achieve collaboration, when traditional animosities between disciplines might otherwise have prevented such a venture. It helped when the external evaluator for the KEF programme identified Newport’s part as an “example of best practice” in collaboration, and it must be said that friction between the lecturers delivering this shared teaching was non-existent, but was apparent in attitudes of colleagues and some managers.

Thus was born what Newport games lecturers proudly referred to as “the train wreck module”, where traditionally about twelve BSc and thirty BA Year 2 students were involved. Participants were assigned to four or five groups, usually consisting of 2-3 programming students with 7-9 Arts students, a typical balance in the industry. The groups were allocated previously designed game proposals, most often coming from existing game designers in the Industry; some former graduates. Groups were then encouraged to allocate members to distinct roles: BA students were responsible for team management, interpretation of the design briefs and game assets development, while BSc students focussed upon tool development and game implementation. Lecturers acted in the role of producers, with responsibility for approving and signing off work on a weekly basis. This structure lasted until last year, being assessed by individual reflective accounts, portfolios of assets and game files, as well as formal group presentations. All students provided evidence for assessment via construction diaries and traditional meeting minutes. Cross marking was, originally performed by the two lecturers, providing a further level of inter-school collaboration.

Consultation with Industry representatives acting as mentors to the teams, usually having provide the original live briefs for the teams, confirmed that this approach to providing vocationally focussed experience for both Arts and Computing students was perceived as being directly relevant and uniquely effective in addressing many concerns by potential employers about games courses provided by HE institutions. Students did not always enjoy the team experience, but also provided positive feedback on the process. Ability to specialise within a heterogeneous team, with additional experience of large group work was extremely valuable in producing rounded graduates, better able to promote these skills in their search for employment. The approach required a large amount of good will, being difficult to timetable to provide time and resources to students from two different schools, but the results more than outweighed the obstacles.

Participants have universally agreed after the module, and in some cases a long time after, that the train wreck module was one of the most useful experiences of their academic careers. It certainly prepared them for interviews and even the Dare to be Digital competition; Newport was the first, and possibly only institution outside of the organisers, Abertay University, to have two teams accepted in one year, and has an impressive 75% success rate in being accepted into the competition, when only 16 teams are selected each year out of over 100 applications. It must be re-emphasised that these results were primarily a reflection of the student participants, but not without some resistance and occasional animosity.

As Freire pointed out in “Pedagogy of the Oppressed” the most ardent advocates of the status quo are often those with the most to gain by constructive criticism of the ‘norm’. Our experience at Newport was that many, if not most, students actively resisted the ideas behind the train wreck module: notably working with the ‘other’ (Artists and Programmers exhibiting an unusual degree of antagonism towards each other); restricted creative freedom (working to implement the idea of another designer, which would likely be the norm in a typical development environment for a recent graduate); the group product rather than individual effort (measured by quality rather than quantity), and the importance of a work-inspired simulation over standard academic assessment (the idea of being ‘employed’ by the lecturer, rather than effectively employing them, through the payment of student fees).

Occasionally, ‘creative differences’ certainly boiled over into confrontation with a few of the students. I am not (now) proud to say I threatened one or two with instant fail grades when the creative process was frustrated by obstruction of the simulated working environment. I wasn’t alone in losing my temper, although the handful of Arts-based lecturers I shared the train wreck module over the years have less incidents in total than my own; it is clear that they would make better employers than I. However to their credit, all but one of my student opponents eventually agreed that situations arose through ‘prima donna’ attitudes, usually exacerbated by stress over grades, and an unjustified concern that working in a group was going to be detrimental to their degree classification. The one exception resulted in ‘an agreement to disagree’, which taught us both a valuable lesson in avoiding direct conflict. All of the lecturers involved over the years had to engage in “good cop, bad cop” behaviour at times, but we tried later on to engage predominantly in ‘Nonviolent Resistance’; hence the ‘Gandhi’ reference in the title.
The train wreck module was an interesting experiment in nonviolent resistance both to the university power hierarchy and the student cohort, which elicited a number of personal revelations:

  1. Placing responsibility for effective group work squarely on the shoulders of the students themselves (owning the idea that if there is a problem with a member of the team, it is the team’s problem not the individual’s);
  2. Recognising that ‘breaking the silence’ was necessary when problems arose (multidisciplinary culture shock and personality clashes, concern over lack of contribution by doing too little or the control freakery of doing too much, all of which threatened the pipeline of production);
  3. Mediation and moderation (avoiding the ‘automatic obedience’ of being a tutor in what is increasingly a student dominated relationship, as well as team selection based around meritocracy, rather than random or ‘best with worst’ approaches);
  4. Reconciliation rather than retribution (including the occasional ‘sit in’ to facilitate a recognition that the experience of process is far more important than the product).

When I have presented at conference or informally discussed the train wreck module in the past, I have received from academic colleagues (and even students) numerous explanations as to how it couldn’t work in such a such environment, lecturers shouldn’t control who works with whom, the students wouldn’t put up without lecturers actually teaching (i.e. spoon feeding), the faculty couldn’t approve it, inter-departmental collaboration had been tried in the past and failed, and any number of other reason why, like the apocryphal Bumblebee’s inability to fly, it would never work. That, I have always said, is the point. If a games graduate went for interview and said they were an excellent team player and worked well with others, they would hardly be credible. If, on the other hand, they looked the interviewer in the eye and exclaimed wearily that they had first hand experience, and knew at least a few of the ways in which large groups can horribly epically fail, they might be a bit more convincing. Sadly, for me at least, the train has pulled out of the station for the final time.

© 2013 The Computer Games Journal, Candlemas 2013
Reproduction rights owned by The Computer Games Journal

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ChimeraCCG Nottingham – Many Things in One Body

IMG_3080Chimera CCG (the CCG doesn’t just stand for Collectible Card Game, but Comics, Collectibles and Games) is situated in Beeston in Nottingham, near the University. Originally sited at Ripley, before expanding to Beeston, Chimera’s owners, Andy and Heather Leach, eventually relocated “lock stock and ammo crate” to the current location, due to a more friendly environment, more affordable rates and a better ability to support its local community; including much more accessible free parking. Although it isn’t a typical “footfall” location, Andy confirmed, you have to seek Chimera out rather than accidentally discover it, as would occur if they were in a more central city location. The joy is that people do. Seek it out that is. Chimera has a loyal and growing community of players and customers, which I must confess (in the interests of transparency) includes my nephew, who introduced me to the store during a recent family visit.

IMG_3095On visiting the shop, one of the players I walked in with announces that it has changed a lot since last time she was in; the playing space and a large part of this quite spacious shop are reconfigurable, with some displays being movable to allow up to 70+ game players to be accommodated easily. Having said that, Chimera also run larger events at nearby locations, including hotels, etc, when greater numbers need to be supported for events. These competitions and tournaments are just an additional part of the service that Chimera provides to deserve it’s fan base. Andy is quite philosophical about the threat of the Internet. A Dork Tower cartoon, decorating the fridge near the counter, says it all. Without active support, the FLGS (Friendly Local Game Store) will never compete. Andy comments on the cartoon, “You get what you (don’t) pay for.”

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Dr. Mike Reddy