Developing videogames

Abstract: In keeping with the use of new technologies, Giorgia Troiani (UCSB), Jeremías Salazar (UCSB / MICOP), Guillem Belmar (UCSB), Andrew Hedding (UCSC), John Duff (UCSC), Matthew Kogan (UCSC), Natalia Gracida Cruz (UCSC), and Fe Silva Robles (Senderos) will move on to present on creating two indie videogames as an outcome of field methods classes.

Recent years have seen an increase in the interest towards the possibilities that gamification offers to language revitalization and cultural maintenance in Indigenous communities (La Pensee 2017). Developing independent videogames is a particularly exciting direction of this practice. It allows developers to maintain broad control over data representation and achieve a respectful cultural representation. Independent video game development can be seen as a process of empowerment, through which language revitalization advocates can actively exercise control over their linguistic resources and data representation. Despite the increasing interest towards independent videogames, they are still a marginal practice in language revitalization. This is likely due to the long learning curve required to gain all the skills needed to develop a videogame. Lack of technical expertise is an often-cited concern that prevents language advocates from fully taking advantage of the possibilities offered by videogames. Developers are thus confronted with two seemingly divergent requirements: a need for community members’ direct control over the language representation in the game and a lack of the technical skills required to act on the code.

In this 20-minute talk, followed by a 5-minute Q&A session, we present two ways in which we reconciled these requirements in developing two independent video games for language teaching and revitalization. In keeping with the values of digital accessibility and self-determination that inspired the projects, we share the strategies developed for coping with these issues and offer our games as templates for those who wish to develop their own versions.

The first case of analysis is the Sà'án Sàvǐ Catch Game, a side-scrolling platform game that allows children to learn and review food items in Sà'án Sàvǐ ñà Yukúnanǐ. To support the learning process, developers implemented the localization of the game into Sà'án Sàvǐ, Spanish, and English. The localization process involved the creation of a series of JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) dictionaries that users can independently modify and update to suit their representation needs. This system presents the added bonus of allowing the creation of a virtually endless amount of language dictionaries, which in turn allows advocates of other varieties to easily translate our template into the language of their choice. In fact, we have recently completed the localization of this game into P’urhépecha.

The second case features the Game of Tones, an adaptation of Pike’s Method developed for learning the tonal contrasts in Santiago Laxopa Zapotec. Game of Tones presents a series of digital cards accompanied by audio to the learner. Learners are then asked to sort the cards into groups based on the tonal melodies that they hear. This game was developed in JavaScript, enabling users to easily modify and update it to include more contrasts or localize the game to another language.

After this presentation, participants will have the option of choosing one of two 50-minute tutorials: implementing Game of Tones; or Localizing the Catch Game. The Catch Game tutorial is designed for complete beginners. If you are already comfortable working with JSON files, the Game of Tones tutorial might be a better fit.