Virtually Endless

The

Virtually Endless Boardgame

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NAE GRAND CHALLENGES FOR ENGINEERING http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/challenges.aspx

TECHNICAL REPORT #3:

FINAL PRESENTATION –PROTOTYPE OF A NAE GRAND

CHALLENGE THEMED BOARD GAME

DATE: 04/25/2023

TEAM NAME: It’s Just A Prototype ltd.
TEAM MEMBERS:

1.Clark Morrison

2.Richard Dannan

3.Luis Menendez

4.Zach Bowman

5.Marc Hyser

EXTERNAL TESTING TEAM: Bobby’s Builders

INTRODUCTION TO THE NAE GRAND CHALLENGE [Clark]

• Enhanced Virtual Reality

• The Societal Problem

• There is a lack of public knowledge around virtual reality and its applications.

• Virtual reality is starting to be used in a media outside of gaming as it has been in the past.

Development of more practical applications for VR means we need a better public understanding of its
new uses.This is important if development is to speed up.

• Proposed Solutions to the Grand Challenge

• More sources of public education on the subject
• More educational board games like the one our team made
• NAE Grand Challenges website

Multiple Choice

What was the NAE Grand Challenge our team used for the board game?

• Secure Cyberspace

• Reverse-Engineer the Brain

• Enhanced Virtual Reality

• Advance Health Informatics

Physical Requirements: Part 1 –
Components or Technology and Physicality [Zach]

Technical Requirements: Functionality

Game Board

• The board design was based on the amount of trivia questions

• The 54 playable spaces are divided based on the amount of knowledge cards in the game

• Playing Pieces

• The playing pieces represent different real-world gaming consoles or pieces that incorporate VR

elements

• The requirement is 3-6 players

• Game play allows 2-6 players

• The 6 pieces maximizes play

• Game Box or Carrying Case

• The game box has a futuristic theme with neon accents & cityscapes

• The box fits all components of the game in a sleek manner

Physical Requirements: Part 1 –
Components or Technology and Physicality [Zach]

Technical Requirements: Functionality

• Mechanics or Rules and Instructions [Show and Tell]

• Rule Book contains information on:

• Rules

• How to play

• How to win

• All answers to knowledge cards

• Intended Players/Age Group(s)

• College level age group & older

• Virtual Reality is taking over the gaming industry & engineering as a whole

• ALL materials used in the Game Design can be considered to be readily available

• Box: Foam board | Board: Foam Board | Cards: Printer paper/cardstock | Pieces: Painted plywood

Multiple Choice

What age group was our target audience?

• College

• Middle School

• Elementary

• Highschool

Physical Requirements: Part 2 -
Conceptualization and Interaction of Core Components and Players [Marc]

Technical Requirements: Functionality
Players – At least three and can be played with up to six

• Minimum three to play, only six character cards, so there is a limit on how many players can play

• Roles – Time master and character cards

• We had a time master that made sure no one dragged out the trivia
• Different character cards gave players different abilities

• Knowledge cards - 33 trivia questions

• Split into three levels of difficulty
• Move players forward different amounts based on difficulty
• Cover wide variety of topics

• E.g. What is virtual reality? A fully simulated experience that can be interacted with in real time.

• Chance Cards – 12 unique cards

• 6 “risk” and 6 “benefit” cards

• Benefit: “You win a coupon for Microsoft Flight Simulator! Advance 1 Space”

• Risk: “Take a Risk, Flip a Coin. Heads: Advance 5 spaces. Tails: Move back 5 spaces.”

Multiple Choice

How many "character" cards did our game have?

• 4

• 5

• 6

• 7

Physical Requirements: Part 2 -
Conceptualization and Interaction of Core Components and Players [Marc]

Technical Requirements: Functionality

• Choices for the players/roles

• Players choose who is the time master

• Character cards allow players to decide on different actions

• Actions for the players/roles

• Character cards change the actions certain characters are able to perform

• Each character card has a unique action

Physical Requirements Part 2: [Clark]

• Potential Additions for Market Version (6)

• More knowledge, chance, and character cards to increase replayability.

• Knowledge cards would have more trivia about VR applications.

• Printed cards, box, and board for a more professional look. Also would be more durable.

• Single player as time trial. For example, in how few turns can the player reach the end.

• Online single player version with a public leaderboard so players could “compete” with each other.

• Add chance cards that increase the players’ understanding of the NAE Challenge.

• Putting color of knowledge cards on back

Multiple Choice

When pushing our design to a final prototype ready for market, our team would print the cards, box, and board to make them more durable.

• True

• False

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS [Luis]

❑Physical Requirements: Part 3 - Playing & Testing

• Playing Options – At least two

• Group: 4-6 players

• Solo: Single player, Time Trial, (Very not recommended)

❑The Board Game is Educational

• Explain/describe/summarize how playing the game It will help the general public players gain an

understanding of the “Challenge” to encourage the support for the development and adoption of a
“Solution”.

• This game can explain entry level questions while also introducing more in depth topics that allow

players to contemplate the alternate applications of VR. Doing so can keep the participants
engaged while also asking some of the key aspects of what makes Virtual Reality important and
how it works.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS [Luis]

❑Original Design & Materials:

• The board game is an original design.

• This is an original design, while some may argue that it does bare some resemblance to other

board games there is no one game that was used as an inspiration for our board game.

• The materials used in the prototype design are ‘readily available’/’off the shelf’ and

‘cost appropriate’.

• The final price for the prototype ended up being around $25-$30, with some give since that

range is including the price of printed, with no exact price because the price calculated included
early phases and unused parts.

❑Finished prototype is delivered to the customer on April 20, 2023

This game was play tested by the present team before the delivery date to ensure quality

External Testing[Zach]
-> Respond to the questions asked by the evaluating team in your final presentation.

• Clearly state the questions and comments made by the Evaluating Team.

• Game addressed the NAE Grand Challenge: YES

• Physical Requirements met: YES

• Chance cards increase players’ understanding: NO

• Clearly state the responses to both the questions and the comments.

• Our group took in the feedback and possible changes for marketing, such as addressing the

chance cards to increase the players’ understanding of the NAE Challenge

• Propose resolutions or design revisions to concerns or problems identified by the

evaluating team.

• Physical requirements were met, designs are not likely to be altered

Summary[Marc]

❑Design:

• Met Requirements:

• Got full marks in areas graded by external testing team

• Met Client’s Needs:

• We believe this board game will increase public understanding of VR technology and its

applications

Multiple Choice

According the the external testing team, our board game met the requirements.

• True

• False

Conclusions: [Richard]
Lessons Learned from the Experience of the Design Process

• Two Technical (e.g., design, build, test, etc.):

1.Takes a lot longer than we thought it would to build everything

2.Budgeting is very important

• Specifically: What did you learn by ‘prototyping’?

1.Playtesting was very important as it allowed us to make appropriate changes to improve the game

2.The first cut is rarely going to be your final design as changes usually need to be made

• Specifically: What did you learn and apply from the “Client Visit”?

1.In depth instructions were important as our presentation didn’t do the best job of explaining how
exactly the game was played

2.We needed to make more cards, chance and knowledge, to make it more replayable

• Two “Effective Teaming”:

1.Brainstorming can last the entire design process, as we always need to new ideas when problems arise

2.It’s important to keep up good communication with every team member and be flexible when it comes
to work distribution

Multiple Select

What were the two technical lessons that our group learned from this project?

*select all that apply*

• Importance of time management.

• It's not important to communicate with teammates.

• Importance of proper budgeting.

• Quality of work isn't important as long as the work is done on time.

First Team

Meeting

Feb. 9

Final Product

Created

March 9

April 2

‘First Cut’

Team Meeting

Team Contract

Signed

March 22

First Prototypes

Created

April 17

April 19

Internal
Testing

April 20

April 25

External
Testing
Client
Visit

April 6

Final

Presentation

March 26

TR #1

April 11

TR #2

BIBLIOGRAPHY: ALL SOURCES USED IN THE PRESENTATION [TEAM]

1.

VR cover image:

https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRBuO3zQn5PJeak0ixWmvZf-_XzYjx-V

H_JdVdiAgj_EMETKXKv

2.

6 Examples of Virtual Reality Applications and How it Works – HowToCreateApps

3.

https://virtualspeech.com/blog/history-of-vr

4.

http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/challenges.aspx

Open Ended

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