Mission Biotech
A single-player game for the National Science Foundation to teach middle and high school students the concepts, procedures and tools used in biotech laboratories.
Client:
NSF
Developer:
Virtual Heroes
Platform:
Unreal Engine 2.5
Release Date:
February 2010
About
In Mission Biotech the player explores and investigates a biotech laboratory in order to get to the bottom of an ongoing epidemic disease. The game features detailed lab and office environments that contain clues and tools to help with this task. Funded by the University of Florida, the game encourages students to pursue a career in the biotech field.
As the Technical Director I was primarily responsible for ensuring that the game met all technical and educational requirements, and that it shipped on time. We used a modified version of the conversation engine that we developed for Pamoja Mtaani to drive the interaction with computer controlled NPC and interactive objects in the environment.
The game also featured a number of usable laboratory equipment, such as autoclave sterilizers, centrifuges, PCR detectors and sample containers. Students have to learn using these devices in the proper way in order to detect diseases and anomalies in samples.
Some concepts, such as DNA denaturation and annealing are demonstrated with interactive mini-games that use the Box2D library for physics and Unreal’s 2D drawing API for graphics.
Gallery
Press Coverage
- Mission Biotech – free, educational science video game
March 2012 ~ Educational Technology Guy