Student employees develop games tailored to Ball State

<p>There is a large touchscreen in the&nbsp;Ball Communication Building that is known for their games that are developed by Digital Corps, which is located across the hallway. The screen, Multi User Touch Technology, was put in BC in 2012 to help the&nbsp;Digital Corps keep up with current technology. <em>DN PHOTO BREANNA DAUGHERTY</em></p>

There is a large touchscreen in the Ball Communication Building that is known for their games that are developed by Digital Corps, which is located across the hallway. The screen, Multi User Touch Technology, was put in BC in 2012 to help the Digital Corps keep up with current technology. DN PHOTO BREANNA DAUGHERTY

Other games to try on Game Salad: 

Lub vs. Dub

This game has two people playing against each other at the same time, on the same device. The goal is to run and jump in an effort to collect hearts.

Yops

On the website, the game's steps are explained as tapping dots to delete neighboring dots of the same color, which also changes the color of the original dot. Each successful move is rewarded with one point.

Disturbed Koala

This game involves getting a koala through obstacles and trying to stay alive, while unlocking interesting koala facts throughout the game

Tiny Goalie

In this game, players move across the screen trying to save soccer balls while avoiding flying water bottles.

Most students have walked past the large touchscreen mounted in the Ball Communication Building. The screen is most known for the game "Flappy Cardinal," a game similar to "Flappy Bird." But few people know much about the detail put into the games developed by Digital Corps, which is located across the hallway.

The touchscreen is actually named Multi User Touch Technology or MUTT, because it can process up to 32 individual touches at once. MUTT was hung in the building in 2012 as part of the Digital Corps’ effort to keep up with current technology.

Flappy Cardinal was installed on MUTT in 2014 and was the first game to really be a hit on the touchscreen. In the game, the player or players fly Charlie the Cardinal through various obstacles. If you recall, few players made it past two or more obstacles. This is probably due to the fact that there is a one-fourth of a second delay between the controls and the action on screen.

Digital Corps decided to create Flappy Cardinal as a project for their students to gain experience working with a new technology, GameSolid, and to demonstrate MUTT to the public. Though it is no longer available on MUTT, those who still want to play Flappy Cardinal can access it for free at gamesalad.com.

All of the material available on MUTT is created by the Digital Corps. Ideas are submitted by designers and a team of developers and designers vote on which one to create. Then the game is made by a team usually consisting of two designers and two developers in a process that can take anywhere from about two weeks to a semester. There are currently no plans for any new games to be developed.

The team that developed Flappy Cardinal represented a collaboration between telecommunication and computer science majors including Mitch Hannon, a telecommunications major and a 2015 graduate, and Tyler Vernau, a journalism graphics major and 2014 graduate.

While the MUTT games are based off of popular games, Riley Pauls, Facilitator for Training and Design, stresses that the games adapt popular trends into something original with a Ball State focus.


That is certainly apparent in the games that MUTT currently hosts: "Charlie Eats Worms" and a Ball State trivia game.

In Charlie Eats Worms, the player touches worms for Charlie the Cardinal to eat while avoiding bombs. According to the website of one of the game’s designers, Alex Dils, Charlie Eats Worms is based off of the game "Monster Wants Candy." In Charlie Eats Worms, the worms are designed to look like Ball State’s football rivals. A counter keeps track of how many worms players have gotten Charlie to eat.

The Digital Corps are located behind the glass windows that line the side of the hallway opposite of MUTT and is a very unique organization. Despite their highly visible location, few students are familiar with the program.

As specialist designer Aaram Kamli puts it, “[The group is] the best little thing that no one’s heard about.”

Digital Corps is a multi-team environment that produces videos and programs for Ball State and occasionally for outside organizations, like NPR and the Smithsonian.

The group isn’t organized like a traditional class or club. Instead, students work together in teams and move through three titles: Apprentice, Specialist and Master. Participation in the Digital Corps can earn some credit, as well as pay.

Currently, the Digital Corps consists of seventy employees but they are hoping to expand — and not just in numbers. They have acquired the space beneath their current location on the second floor of the Ball Communication Building. 

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