Development of educational 3D games in Unity

Igranje videoiger je vsako leto bolj priljubljeno (Newzoo, 2018, Statista, 2021), otroci, ki odraščajo ob moderni tehnologiji, pa virtualni svet dojemajo kot del svoje okolice (Prensky, 2001a). Raziskave (Backlund in Hendrix, 2013Chatzeparaskevaidou in drugi, 2017Harrington, 2012, Prensky, 2001a, Prensky, 2001b) so pokazale, da izobraževalne igre pripomorejo k motivaciji in dobremu počutju pri učenju. Na Pedagoški fakulteti se študentje 4. letnikov, smeri dvopredmetni učitelj, vezava računalništvo, preko aktivnih oblik dela seznanijo s snovanjem in izdelavo izobraževalnih iger (angleško Game Design-Based Learning). Pod mentorstvom profesorja dr. Jožeta Ruglja ter somentorstvom asistenta Mateja Zapuška, izdelajo izobraževalne igre, ki so tudi uporabljene in preizkušene v okviru pedagoške prakse na osnovnih šolah (Zapušek in Rugelj, 2014). Na fakulteti se zadnjih nekaj let izobraževalne igre razvija v razvojnem okolju Unity, ki omogoča izgradnjo iger za vrsto platform. Okolje Unity skupaj s C# knjižnicami omogoča ogromno funkcionalnosti (Unity User Manual 2020.3, 2020). Večina študentov Pedagoške Fakultete se z razvojnimi okolji in skriptnimi jeziki sreča prvič, pri čemer razsežnost okolja Unity pomeni prednost na kreativnem področju, slabost pa na področju učenja uporabe in razvoja. Da si olajšamo delo, si je smiselno pomagati s kvalitetno Unity dokumentacijo, brezplačnimi spletnimi video vodiči, prav tako pa so nam lahko v veliko pomoč diplomska in magistrska dela, v katerih so opisane in pojasnjene funkcionalnosti okolja Unity ter skriptnega jezika C#. Brglez (2017) v svojem diplomskem delu opiše osnove programa Unity, Abram (2019) pa predstavi nekatere naprednejše funkcionalnosti programiranja in uporabe okolja Unity. Za razliko od omenjenih del se v pričujoči diplomski nalogi osredotočimo na predstavitev izdelave dobrih osnov za 3D videoigro – pojasnimo izdelavo skript za premikanje v prvi in tretji osebi, uporabo in skriptno implementacijo animacij glavnega lika, nadziranje kamere ter zaznavanje trkov kamere (camera-collision). Predstavljena izdelava skript s pojasnili predstavlja dobro osnovo za izdelavo izobraževalne 3D videoigre s kontrolami, ki omogočajo prijetno uporabniško izkušnjo. Primere sem izdelal samostojno s pomočjo Unity dokumentacije, stremel pa sem k uporabniški izkušnji, ki jo nudijo popularni naslovi, kot sta igri The Witcher 3 ter The Elder Scrolls Skyrim.Video games are gaining popularity each year (Newzoo, 2018, Statista, 2021), while kids growing up with modern technology consider virtual worlds as part of their everyday reality (Prensky, 2001a). Research (Backlund in Hendrix, 2013, Chatzeparaskevaidou and others, 2017, Harrington, 2012, Prensky, 2001a and Prensky, 2001b) has shown that educational video games help to maintain motivation and well-being throughout the learning process. At the Faculty of Education, 4th year students, majoring in the two-subject teacher programs, studying computer science, get acquainted with the game-design based learning. Under the mentorship of professor dr. Jože Rugelj and co-mentorship of assistant Matej Zapušek, students get to make educational games, which are practically tested in the context of pedagogical practice in primary schools (Zapušek and Rugelj, 2014). In the last few years, at the Faculty of Education, educational games are developed in the Unity game engine. The Unity environment along with the C # libraries provide tremendous functionality (Unity User Manual 2020.3, 2020). Majority of Faculty of Education students encounter game development tools and scripting languages for the first time, thus the vastness of the Unity game engine appears to be an advantage in the creative area and a weakness in learning how to use and develop. To make our work easier, it is useful to use high-quality Unity documentation and free online video guides, as well as diploma and master\u27s thesis that describe and explain the functionalities of the Unity environment and the scripting language C # in detail. In his work Brglez (2017) describes the basics of the Unity program, while Abram (2019) presents some more advanced functionalities of programming and use of the Unity environment. In contrast to their works, the present thesis focuses on how to create good foundations for 3D video games – by explaining how scripts for first- and third-person character control are created, the use and script implementation of main character animations, camera tracking, and the implementation of a smooth camera collision. The explanatory scripts presented provide a good foundation for creating a 3D video game with controls that provide a pleasant user experience. I created examples of my own using the Unity documentation, basing them on the user experience of popular titles, such as e.g. The Witcher 3 and The Elder Scrolls Skyrim