The Game is Up
Haley Jones
|
Lecturer, Department of Engineering, Australian National University, Canberra
|
Being a typical child, attracted to “glamorous” occupations, Haley wanted to be an astronaut when she “grew up” – a time she is still anxiously awaiting.
With no specific “Bachelor of Being an Astronaut” available at the time, I finally decided on Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Adelaide Uni. This is a choice I have never regretted and, in fact, have always felt rather smug about. Firstly, it is really interesting and, so often, fun. In my chosen field of telecommunications I get to play with mathematics, particularly sinusoids and probability theory and random variables. I get to make lots of pretty pictures – I even managed one that looked like smooth, creamy chocolate! And, for my (lack of) troubles, I get to understand how we can communicate more efficiently and effectively. What could be better than that – particularly for a woman – we all know that women have a huge need for communication. It is essential for our well-being.
But I want to tell you about some “fun” I’ve discovered as a result of studying engineering. If I hadn’t pursued engineering, I probably wouldn’t have learnt to program and wouldn’t have been so interested in computers. And one of the best things about computers is games, which are even more fun if you think you could work out how to write them yourself!
When I first started my degree I
convinced my dad to buy an Apple II computer from my, then, boyfriend’s
brother for the horrendous sum of $1000. It had an old “black and green”
screen and a princely 64Kbytes of RAM. Hard drives were unheard of. But it was
fabulous. As it didn’t actually include a word processor, I taught myself
“basic” and “programmed” my CV, including font styles which required low-level
commands
to the printer.
The printer, of course, had its own
issues (not much has changed in 16 years…). I paid a silly (I later realised)
sum for a big, lumping second-hand printer at an auction.
When I got it home it didn’t work! At least, the parts didn’t move (which is
why I prefer electricity to mechanics – no (non)moving parts…). But I
persevered using my newly acquired engineering knowledge and confidence with
electromechanical beasts. A bit of a clean and a fiddle with screwdrivers and
pliers to get the gears for the paper feeder roller moving and I was in
business! There is an enormous amount of satisfaction in gaining control over
such a seemingly unwieldy contraption.
However, despite the lack of a word processor, there was by no means a lack of games. My favourites were the text-based adventure games where you had to solve a mystery of some sort by walking through towns, talking to people, looking at (and sometimes pinching) things to find out clues. They usually came with very simple, but effective, line-based graphics. I spent many a frustrating but enjoyable hour playing these games. I don’t recall that I ever actually saw one completely through… But then much of the enjoyment, as always, is in the journey and not just the destination.
Signal Processing is like chocolate
I have recently been lamenting the
passing of such games, assuming them to have all been dead and buried. Then,
just this week, I was told of a physics lecturer, Dr Paul Francis, here at the
ANU where I am now a lecturer in the Department of Engineering, who has
written such a game as a teaching aid for first year physics
students. As I write this, the program has yet to be tested. It will be run
over the last two weeks of semester, starting next week.
The game is based upon the famous
Mt Stromlo Observatory which was so badly affected by the devastating Canberra
bushfires in January 2003. The player takes on the persona of a recently
graduated post-doc who has been given a position at Mt Stromlo. Their task is
to work out the Big Bang Theory, or come up with a theory of their own that
better describes the formation of the universe. On the way they can walk
through the corridors of the research school at Mt Stromlo, check journal
articles in the library, meet colleagues a morning coffee and, of course, make
astronomical observations on the telescopes. In this way, the student must
learn about Big Bang theory in order to progress through the game. What a
great way to combine fun with learning! Why should such things be restricted
to kindergarten?
I think that this is such a fabulous idea that I am hoping to be able to write a similar program for my telecommunications units. I have been in contact with Paul Francis and he assures me that it is a lot of work. But then what that is worthwhile, is not a lot of work? It also sounds like a lot of fun to me. Not only will I have what I believe will be a valuable learning tool, but I can realize my dream of actually writing an adventure game, to boot!
Books or reading material Haley recommends on her area of research:
I recently met Ann Moyal, an Australian scientific historian. She has written a book on the history of telecommunications in Australia. I would highly recommend it for both the historical and technological content. “Clear across Australia: A history of telecommunications”, Publisher: Nelson; (1984) ASIN: 017006266X
