Educational Game Design – EPICS WOLF Team (Purdue University)

Overview

EPICS, or Engineering Projects In Community Service, is an organization at Purdue University in which teams of students partner with local and global community organizations to address human, community, and environmental needs. My team worked with Wolf Park, a local wildlife sanctuary for wolves, foxes, bison, and more. Our task was to develop an interactive video game for their education center that met the following specifications:

• Designed to educate users on wolf behavior in the wild
• Catered towards elementary to middle school children
• Compatible with the center’s existing computer display

Our development followed the established EPICS design process, including rigorous documentation, iterative prototyping, and regular presentations to stakeholders.

Contributions

As a member of the coding subteam, I was responsible for designing, developing, and debugging core game functionality. I led technical improvements across the game’s frontend and backend using Python. I redesigned the frame rate system to triple performance, implemented full-screen scaling with adaptive assets, and revamped the sound and dialogue backend with a JSON-based system for easier integration and modifiability. I led development of the trivia-based hunting minigame, handling the concept, graphics, and logic; this transformed the core gameplay loop and became the game’s primary educational feature. I also introduced new UI features, background music, and animations to make the game feel more polished, along with numerous small bug fixes and improvements across the game.

The game’s trivia minigame

Challenges and Growth

The first challenge I faced was my lack of knowledge regarding Pygame and game development; this required quick adaptation through research and self teaching. Another challenge was ineffective communication within our team; lack of visibility into teammates’ contributions led to misunderstandings and resulted in decreased motivation and productivity. Furthermore, our strong personal rapport, while positive, fostered a laid-back and often unproductive environment.

These experiences taught me the necessity of resilience, proactive communication, and maintaining a balanced team dynamic and culture. Additionally, working in a large coding environment taught me the importance of efficient modular code design and documentation - especially vital when working in a team.

Outcome

The project was delivered on time to Wolf Park and meets all specifications: it effectively educates the player while being accessible for all ages and integrates perfectly into their existing computer system. This work in game development expanded my Python proficiency, especially in asset handling, smart module and function architecture, and performance optimization. Also, I learned the importance of communication, documentation, and accountability while working in a team. Seeing the culmination of all our contributions in use at the center drove home the real impact and result of our hard work. Now the game has been handed off to future EPICS teams, who will use our extensive documentation to effectively update the game for Wolf Park’s future needs.