“BOTS” is the working title for a computer game currently being developed by Kevin Meergans within the VRLab. The game was designed as a serious game aiming not only to entertain its players but to teach, inform or train them by incorporating specific content.
The narrative of the game takes place within a computer and is set in a fictional future, where all work within computers
is controlled and conducted by miniature robots. The player takes on the role of such a “Bit-Bot” and is confronted with dangers and challenges that arise from a virus infection of the system. A virtual advisor assists the player in completing his tasks. The player is able to freely navigate a 3d environment and can control the game from a first-person view. The Razer Hydra is intended as input device and will allow to transfer the player’s movements directly into the game.
As learning content, BOTS features a number of algorithms mainly employed in the context of operating systems, such as algorithms used for memory management or process scheduling. These algorithms are directly integrated into the game and will have to be applied by the player in certain locations, for example in order to start a generator and progress within the game.
Tasks within the project include the complete modeling of environments, objects and characters, as well as the animation of these. Most of this work is done within Autodesk 3ds Max. The actual game is created within the game engine Unity by importing and combining all required assets and resources to an executable game. This includes programming game logic with C#.
