Play by the Numbers

Remember John? He works with instructor Jason as part of Game-U’s Accelerate program. John’s been developing a number collection game, first using the professional-level gaming engine Unity, and now with Unreal, another industry-grade engine that specializes in highly realistic graphics and animation. John’s determined to make the best game possible!

First, John followed Jason’s instructions to transfer his TinkerCAD number models into Unreal. Once the guys had models to work with, Jason introduced John to materials, which allow game developers to create custom surfaces and textures for their designs. For his number models, John created a glowing material that fades in and out (so that the numbers match their neon hexagonal bases). John also created his first blueprint! Using blueprints, he can add the glowing number models to his game, define their behavior, and manipulate the events that control their behavior. Events, like tick, collider, and collision, play a key role in determining the model’s actions. For instance, when the player collides with a number, the computer executes the code for that event – causing the game to play a sound and remove the collided number. It’s been collected!

Next, John gave players a specific collection goal. Since the object of his game is to only collect numbers that are multiples of nine, John and Jason added more number models from TinkerCAD and got to work. Now, when the player tries to collect a number not divisible by nine, the game plays a special warning chiptone and decrements the player’s health. It’s nine all the way in this game!

Great ideas here, John! You’re creating a fun game that also teaches important elementary mathematical concepts. Lots of students would enjoy your game and hone their math skills at the same time. So keep us informed about your progress!