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Bertka, B. (2010). Modding for Emergence: Using Cellular Automata, Randomness, and Influence
Maps in the Source Game Engine. (Unpublished master's thesis). Texas A&M University, College
Station, TX
Recent advances in the field of educational technology have promoted the
re-purposing of entertainment-oriented games and software for educational applications.
This thesis extends a project developed at Texas A&M University called Room 309, a
re-purposed modification of Valve Software’s Source Development Kit that models
classroom scenarios to pre-service teachers. To further explore effectiveness in the area
of re-playability, this work incorporates emergent game behaviors and environments
using cellular automata, randomness, and influence maps within the existing nonemergent
structure. By introducing these qualities game play is expected to become less
predictable, thus increasing the effectiveness of Room 309 as a learning tool.
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Bertka, B., Bajandas, N., Srinivasan, V. (2010). Using the Source Game Engine as an Applied Gaming
Platform. Unpublished poster submission: Foundations of Digital Games 2010, June 19–21, 2010, Monterey,
California, US
We describe the design and development of a methodology for
using the Source game engine as a tool for applied gaming
projects. We demonstrate the use of this methodology through a
project titled Room 309 that uses an interactive first person virtual
environment to engage pre-service teachers in situations found in
a classroom. We show how our development pipeline allows for
streamlined integration of new learning scenarios into the game,
as well as the creation of alternate versions of the game. The
result is a methodology that allows the Source game engine to be
used as a platform for applied gaming research.
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Bertka, B. (2008). An Introduction to Bezier curves, B-splines, and Tensor Product Surfaces with
History and Applications. (Unpublished undergraduate thesis). The University of California, Santa
Cruz, CA
In the 1960s a mathematician and engineer named Pierre Bezier changed everything
with his newly developed CAGD tool called UNISURF. This new software allowed designers
to draw smooth looking curves on a computer screen, and used less physical storage space
for design materials. Beziers contribution to computer graphics has paved the road for CAD
software like Maya, Blender, and 3D Max. His developments serve as an entry gate into learning
about modern computer graphics, which spawned a relatively new mathematical object known
as a spline, or a smooth curve specified in terms of a few points. This paper demonstrates splines, exaplains a method for computation, and shows
the reader sample code for creating a spline in OpenGL
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