Homework assignment #1

At the end of the first session of Dev Game, I promised those attendees who were interested the chance to participate in a real game development exercise. Those from the blog knew what game I was referring to; it occurred to me that this was a very good opportunity to not only add another few hundred questions to the game, but let them experience the development process in action.

The attendees appeared to find it useful. One wrote:

I did find the first session quite informative and it ignited my DRIVE to learn more and get involved in the game industry, starting with our first homework assignment. I am looking forward to the next session. 

You don’t have to be a Dev Game attendee to participate in this exercise, of course. It’s not only educational, it’s rather fun to research new games and come up with questions for them. And the game itself is turning out to be a history lesson of sorts; I can even envision it potentially becoming an edutainment tool because you end up learning more, more rapidly, than I had imagined when I designed it.

Instructions:

• Select a game that is NOT on the list of games below.
• If you know the game well, great. If not well enough, download it, emulate it, buy it, research it, and play it.
• Write a list of 10 trivia questions about the game: four Easy, three Medium, two Hard, one Expert. Easy questions should be totally obvious;
  anyone who has played the game should be able to get them right. Don’t
  be clever, as we don’t want trick questions.
• Write down both the fill-in-the-blank answer and four multiple choice answers for each question. The fill-in-the-blank answer must be one of the multiple choice answers, the other three should be credible, but incorrect answers.
• Arrange the questions and answers in a spreadsheet (.xls or .ods format) in the following format. Each set of brackets represents a separate spreadsheet cell. [game][difficulty][question number][question][answer][multiple choice options][correct multiple choice answer][your name]. Be sure to separate the multiple choice options by semicolons with no spaces after them.

For example:

[Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri][easy][1][On which planet is the game set?][Chiron][1=Hermes;2=Vesta;3=Chiron;4=Eunomia][3][Jason]

[Ms. Pac-Man][easy][2][What is the fruit on the first board?][Cherry][1=cherry;2=strawberry;3=peach;4=banana][1][Vox Day]

• Check to make sure you’ve got the formatting correct. Only correctly formatted submissions will be credited.
• Email the spreadsheet to me.

Below is a list of the games for which we already have questions. We particularly need games for the following categories.

1980/90 console sims, 1980/1990 PC sims, 1990/2000/2010 arcade action,
2000/10 console sim, 2000/10 mobile/online strategy, 1980/2000/2010
console strategy, 1990/2000/2010 mobile/online action, Console sims,
2010 pc sims, Mobile/online strategy, 1990 console strategy, 1980 PC
strategy, Arcade action, 2000/2010 mobile/online RPG, 1980/1990/2000
console RPG.

Academagia, Adventure, Age of Empires II: Age of Kings, Agent U.S.A., Akalabeth: World of Doom, Annals of Rome, Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura, Armello, Baldur’s Gate, Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn, Bomberman 64, Command & Conquer, Command & Conquer: Red Alert, Conquest of the New World, Counter Strike: Global Offensive, Covert Action, Crash Bandicoot, Dark Souls II, Darklands, Destiny, Destiny of an Emperor, Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, Dishonored, Dominions 4: Thrones of Ascension, Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest, Doom II: Hell on Earth, Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King, Dragon Warrior, Dwarf Fortress, Dynasty Warriors 8, Elevator Action, Elite: Dangerous, Emperor of the Fading Suns, Europa Universalis IV, EVE Online, Executive Suite, Fable: The Lost Chapters, Fallout, Fallout 2, Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, Final Fantasy III, Final Fantasy VIII, Galactic Civilizations II, Geneforge, Golden Sun: The Lost Age, Grand Theft Auto V, Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony, Half-Life, Half-Life 2, Heroes of Might and Magic II, Heroes of Might and Magic III, Hitman: Absolution, Homeworld, Journey, King of Dragon Pass, King’s Quest, L.A. Noire, Left 4 Dead 2, Long Live the Queen, M.U.L.E., Mario Kart Wii, Master of Magic, Master of Orion, MechCommander 2, Mega Man, Mega Man 2, Mega Man 3, Mega Man X, MegaTraveller 2: Quest for the Ancients, Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Minecraft, Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge, Ms. Pac-Man, NetHack, Neverwinter, Phantasie, Phantasy Star Online, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, Planescape: Torment, Plants vs. Zombies, Postal 2, Quest for Glory II: Trial By Fire, Quest for Glory III: Wages of War, Quest for Glory: So You Want To Be A Hero, Robot Odyssey, RollerCoaster Tycoon 2, Romance of the Three Kingdoms X, Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3, Sid Meier’s Alien Crossfire, Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri, Sid Meier’s Civilization II, Sid Meier’s Civilization IV, Sid Meier’s Civilization V, Sid Meier’s Pirates!, SimCity 4, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Space 1889, Space Quest III: The Pirates of Pestulon, Star Control II, Star Trek: 25th Anniversary, Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II, Star Wars: Rebel Assault, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Swashbuckler, Swords & Serpents, Swords and Serpents, Taipan, Team Fortress 2, The Bard’s Tale: Tales of the Unknown, The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall, The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, The Operative: No One Lives Forever, Thief Gold, Thief II: The Metal Age, Tomb Raider, Tomb Raider 2013, Turok: Dinosaur Hunter, Typhoon Thompson: Search for the Sea Child, Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny, Ultima VI: The False Prophet, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War, Wasteland 2, WaxWorks, Wipeout 2097, Wizardry VI: Bane of the Cosmic Forge, Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord, Worlds of Ultima 2: Martian Dreams, Worlds of Ultima: The Savage Empire