Tom+Donker+Unit+4

**__Unit Question:__** How Can I Contribute A Solution To A Problem Facing My Country?
=**__Deadlines:__**=

__**Investigation:**__ 3rd May


 * __Design:__** 12th May


 * __Plan:__** 17th May

__**Create:**__ 28th May

__**Evaluate:**__ 31st May

=__**Investigation:**__=

__**Design Problem:**__

The big problem that the Netherlands is facing is that the country is almost under sea level. Half of the Netherlands lies below a meter above sea level and an eighth of the country lies below sea level. The reason why the Netherlands isn't prone to flooding is all the different networks of dams and dykes around the country. However, with climate change happening rapidly these networks of dams, dykes and dunes wont be enough to stop the country from flooding and this will have a dramatic impact on the Netherlands, socially and economically.

__**Research:**__ ICE Case Studies, Sea Level Rise and the Future of the Netherlands, [], Accessed: 30th April 2013

[], Accessed: 30th April 2013 ||
 * The Netherlands is a low-lying country which also is very flat. The country has many lakes, rivers and canals round it. About 6,500 square km of the Netherlands consist of reclaimed land. This was the result of a process of careful water management which started in the medieval times. Man power and horsepower were used to drain the reclaimed land of water but they were later replaced with windmills The larger water-control projects were in the second half of the 19 th  century and in the 20 th  century, when stream pumps and later electric or diesel pumps came into use. ||
 * Encyclopædia Britannica, Netherlands,


 * Floating homes can be anchored to the shore or to the sea floor. The floating houses are different then boats because the floating homes don’t have a propulsion system. The rising sea level has encouraged the design for floating on a much large scale. The development of a single family home to an offshore airport in the Netherlands’ North Sea and floating hotels and restaurants close to Dubai. The electricity, water and the wastewater infrastructure would be supplied to a floating building through flexible pipes. ||
 * Spur, Strategies for Managing Sea Level Rise, [], Accessed: 30th April 2013 ||


 * Reinforcing the coast is one of the most commonly used methods throughout the world. It takes different forms depending on where it is used. Concrete seawalls and bulkheads reinforce the shoreline against strong wave activity and sand bags can be used as well in case of emergency. There is also a softer approach to this, beach nourishment. This is adding sand to a breach to maintain and restore eroding beaches. ||
 * Spur, Strategies for Managing Sea Level RIse, [], Accessed: 30th April 2013 ||

Dam: a dam is a barrier that traps water. It is used to keep water in a specific place. This is not so much used to manage or prevent water flow onto land. || Wikipedia, Dams, [], Accessed: 3rd May 2013 ||
 * Dyke: a dyke is an artificial slope or wall that regulates water levels.
 * Wikipedia, Dykes, [], Accessed: 3rd May 2013

__**Design Brief:**__

To solve this problem, I am going to make a game to inform the people about what the results are on different countries because of global warming. The game that I want to try and make is a game where a map of the Netherlands is shown and the sea is rising and the player has to prevent this. The aim of the game would be to prevent the sea from taking the land of the Netherlands. To do this, the player has to place dams and dykes to stop the water from taking the land. This would show the players that places like the Netherlands that things can change for the better and that sea level rise is a huge issue for loq-lying countries.

__**Design Tests:**__

I then asked 5 different people to fill in the questionnaire. When I got the results i decided to graph them to make it easier to analyze them. Here are the different graphs:

From these results, I know what the design specifications need to be for a good effective design. My design specifications will be:
 * game should be colorful
 * game should be a cartoon
 * animations should be included in the game
 * game should have music playing
 * game should include action
 * game should be include adventure

With these different specifications, the game will be more of a success for the people that will play it.

When my final project has been made, I am going to evaluate it with tests that I am going to make. The tests will evaluate the different aspects of the game, such as the educational level of the game, how fun it is for the different players, and other aspects. To do this, I will ask several different people to play my game and then after, they will answer a questionnaire that relates to the game. I will then analyze the data I have collected and from that, write my final evaluation, explaining what improvements can be made.

=__**Design Stage:**__=



This design is a puzzle game. However, from my investigation, I saw that people didn't like puzzle games, and that an action or an adventure game was better. So I didn't choose this design for my final project.
 * || Colorful || Cartoon || Animations || Music || Action || Adventure ||
 * Yes || Yes || Yes || Yes ||  ||   ||   ||
 * No ||  ||   ||   || No || No || No ||

This is an Adventure game where you go around in a boat saving the people from the flood. This is an adventure game so based from my investigation, people who play it will like it. I chose this design because I think it will be more interesting than the other game. I also think that it is like a racing game, and the youth of today are interested in these sorts of game, so I think it will be more of a success. I also think that the the other game would be complicated to play and so people might get bored of it, where as this game is simple and isn't hard to play.
 * || Colourful || Cartoon || Animations || Music || Action || Adventure ||
 * Yes || Yes || Yes || Yes ||  ||   || Yes ||
 * No ||  ||   ||   || No || No ||   ||

I made a few modifications to this design. Firstly, I made it like a PacMan game instead of a boat racing game. I also took out the timing system so you just see your score. And Finally, I also took out the 'Game Over' page to the game.


 * __Plan __**
 * Time Plan: **

Monday 20th May 2013: this is a single lesson so I have 55 minutes. In this lesson I am going to make the title page for the game and the ‘how to play’ page.

Tuesday 21st May 2013: this is a double lesson so I have an hour and 50 minutes. During this lesson, I want to get the beginning of the game, where the player starts to control the boat.

Thursday 23rd May 2013: I don’t have a lesson on this day, but I will work at home. I will make the map of the Netherlands with the different rivers and canals where the player has to navigate through.

Monday 27th May 2013: this is a single lesson so I have 55 minutes. During the lesson I will continue making the map of the Netherlands and get that finished.

Tuesday 28th May 2013: this is a double lesson so I will have an hour and 50 minutes. In this lesson, I am going to finish up the final game and have a test run, and let other people in the class test the game.


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Resources Plan: **

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Monday 20th May 2013: in this lesson, I will need to watch tutorials of Scratch so that I know what to do and how to do it.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Tuesday 21st May 2013: in this lesson, I may also need to watch tutorials again just to be sure I know how to do it.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Thursday 23rd May 2013: in this lesson, I will need a map of the Netherlands so that I can make the map on the game.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Monday 27th May 2013: in this lesson, I will need the map of the Netherlands to finish the game off.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Tuesday 28th May 2013: in this lesson, I won’t need any resources because I am touching up my final product.


 * __<span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;">Create Stage __**

Here is a link to my game uploaded onto the Scratch website: []

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I followed the plan that I made when I made the game. However, I didn’t really follow the resources plan to its full extent. I didn’t follow the resources plan exactly because when I started to make the game, I found that I didn’t need all the resources that I had listed. I think that the plan helped me when making the game because it organized what I had to do and when I had to do it to finish my game.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I made a few modifications to my original design. Instead of having a view of the boat and the sea moving, I have the boat moving around a maze, sort of like a PacMan game. This was easier to make and I think it was more effective. I also took out the timing system of the game and only had it based on the score the player got. Other than that, I didn’t modify my game too extremely.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I used all the time on my plan, including some extra working hours at home to try and finish my final product. However this wasn’t enough time to finish the game completely. I think that I made a good plan, but I didn’t take into account that making the game would actually take more time then I had thought.


 * __<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;">Evaluation Stage __**

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The game that I made is a game that spreads awareness about how some counties, such as the Netherlands, can vanish due to the rise of sea levels. The game is like PacMan, where a boat sails around the sea collecting stranded people. When a person is collected, the score increases by 1. During the game, if you touch the land, its game over.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I think that my performance during this unit was good. I did all the design cycle stages following the criteria. However, I think that my time management during this unit wasn't the best. During the create stage, I didn't have enough time to finish the game. This was due to my time management that I didn't finish the game. I didn't finish the scoring system of the game, but all the other elements I finished. If had managed my time more, I think that I could have finished the scoring system and have a better game.

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I gave a questionnaire to 5 different people after they played my game. here are the results: <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 0px; overflow: hidden;">

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 0px;">Based on these results, my game almost met all the design specifications, so based from the investigation stage, it is a good game. However, all games can still be improved. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5;"> The first improvement that could be made is that maze the boat has to travel. I would have preferred to have more than one maze for the boat to travel around and have the player choose which one he/she wants to play. Another improvement that I would have preferred is that when you lose, you go to a separate page that shows you your score and the high scores.