MindRover: The Europa Project
MindRover: The Europa Project
| by Dale Farris, President, Golden Triangle PC Club March 2001 Been watching a lot of "Battlebots" (The Comedy Channel), or "Robot Wars" (PBS) lately? If so, then you know what all the latest fuss is regarding robots and building them to compete with others. This is reflective of today's hot interest in electronic robot devices. If these television programs have not yet caught your fancy, you may instead have been intrigued by the increasing number of electronic robot toys that have begun to sell very well. In this calendar year 2001, look for an explosion of many new and improved versions of electronic robots, from programmable dogs, cats, insects, to mechanical babies. In the midst of this increasing interest in robotics arrives a super computer game from Cognitoy, LLC, called MindRover: The Europa Project. MindRover is a marvelous program that will appeal to children, as well as their parents. MindRover is the creative output from the mind storm of very clever folks with the CogniToy, LLC company in Acton, Massachusetts. Building on sound engineering, math, and scientific principles, in MindRover, players build their robot, wire it with easily attached commands, and then let it go to run its programmed course in various scenarios included in the game. These scenarios simulate what many times happens in the "Battletbots" program. You design and engineer the robotic vehicle, and then turn it loose to "battle it out" on a various types of playing fields. In MindRover, all this is acted out on a computer. This super sharp program is an "intelligent robot simulation," or maybe you might call it a 3d strategy performance game involving robots. The game represents a totally new and unique programming approach to computer games, something that for the foreseeable future will likely stand alone without equal. The folks at CogniToy, LLC have literally invented a totally new genre of computer game, something that encompasses the depth of play found in strategy games, with a new concept in player control. You are the master of your robot. You program its intelligence that will be necessary in order to successfully overcome the challenges in the various scenarios that are included in the game. You play the role of a researcher on Europa, a moon of Jupiter. In your free time, you reprogram the moon rovers to race around the hallways, battle it out with mini lasers and rocket launchers, and find their way through mazes. Obviously, there seems to be a lot of free time on Europa. Once you choose a challenge, equip your vehicle (hovercraft, wheeled, or treaded) with various sensors, movement components, and weapons, then you program the behavior of your vehicle in a graphical interface where you wire the components together and set their properties. Then, you let it go in the arena, and watch how it does, just like in "Battlebots." At any time, you can stop the competition, and further tweak your vehicle until it does just what you want it to do. All the competition takes place in a 3d world that simulates the area in and around the space station Europa. Growing Interest in MindRover Since the recent release of this amazing program, there has resulted a rapidly growing number of very excited MindRover fans all over the country. These active robotics designers are actively programming their MindRover vehicles to not only overcome the various scenarios in the program. In addition, they are now taking advantage of the way the program saves the files that contain the data about the vehicle, to share with their friends. CogniToy continues to update MindRover by providing Internet access to new battle scenarios and new and different add-ons to further enhance a vehicle. Also accessible at the site are patches for licensed users, as well as other related files for use in troubleshooting the program. CogniToy also provides extensive user group support in various online chat areas for customers to share their experiences and ask their questions. Importance of MindRover in the Market What makes this game so different is the degree of involvement of the gamer, way beyond what happens in most thumb twitch games that challenge your patience, nanosecond firing accuracy, or precision jumping ability with game characters. While the primary market for high end computer games does continue to be first-person-shooter (FPS) and role-playing games (RPG), nevertheless, there is still a vast market of potential computer gamers that are more inclined to want to play a game that involves their intellect and their cognitive abilities rather than their hand-eye coordination. With MindRover, the emphasis is less on pressing triggers, and more on rationally reasoning out all the design options of a vehicle based on the selected scenario challenges, using the superb user interface that literally translates all the requisite coding logic into a simple drag and drop approach. Game Overview After you load the game, you should prepare yourself to set aside some serious time to work with the excellent tutorial built into the game. Here, you will learn the basics about selecting a vehicle and adding the components you want. You will choose from among various weapons, sensors, navigation systems, and even debugging tools. All these can be added, and then altered, connected, timed, and triggered, for lasting fun. The level of customization is nearly limitless, all driven by the extensive, behind-the-scenes coding that the programmers diligently worked to produce such a well presented and user-friendly graphical interface. Once you have programmed your robot, then it's time to see how it does in the various scenarios. Included in the game are various types of races, battles, or sports types of situations that you try to prepare your vehicle to overcome and win. Your brain likely will never be the same, once you have worked a while in MindRover. Each of the three types of vehicles, hovercraft, wheeled, or treaded, can include different selections that will work differently with the selected vehicle. For example, wheels need to be steered, while treads need controllers. Each of the sensors also have different ranges, different angles of vision, and unique ways to handle the data they collect. Even the weapons have different firing speeds and ranges. A rocket launcher may have great offensive power, but its weight is a hindrance. The larger engines may go fast, but these also take a ton of space. So, you might opt for a pair of lasers with a smaller engine, or switching to a heavier robot that is slower, but has more space for the types of components that may provide what is necessary for the selected scenario. There are also different limits in the different levels, through the use of weights and points. For example, easier levels give the player more than enough options and limits, while higher levels force the player to make critical decisions that can be easily changed should these not work initially. Once all decisions have been made, then you let go your creation and watch how it does in the selected scenario. The results are shown in real time, in a three dimensional battleground of the mind. Your creation spars against other vehicles that are either already included in the game, or that you can add from other MindRover designers. All these options and decisions that the gamer has to make may be perceived by computer novices as far too complex for them. However, for experienced gamers, I suspect this degree of user control will be a refreshing, welcomed level of involvement they have longed for when playing other computer games. CogniToy supports on their web site a process by which MindRover creations can be shared with others. This is quite similar to how players of other 3d simulation games can also save and share with others their designs. I think this is a shrewd decision by CogniToy, opening up this inter-collegial sharing and supporting of one another as you learn and grow with this masterly game. However, they go even further with this concept. Not only can you share your designed vehicle with others, but you can also protect your creation from being edited by others. Each newly invented robot is automatically saved in three different files, and only one of these files needs to be sent to others in order for them to battle against it. This means that the superior minds that can create a more deviously designed robot can share their work and never fear that others would copy all their hard work. Game Features Original concept in design and final delivery Challenges your mind, not your reflexes Filled with unique, innovative design features Simple, graphical user interface Based on sound engineering, science, math principles Boolean algebra naturally inherent in the game Exchange designs with others Protect design features from being altered Complex for graduate students, simple enough for high school students Diverse components can be added to vehicles Different scenarios to test vehicle design Teaches programming skills, cause and effect reasoning, planning Programming is as easy as point and click Design capabilities simulates reality About CogniToy, LLC In April 1997, after receiving their initial round of funding, CogniToy was officially launched. However, the ideas behind their first successful product, MindRover, were in the works for many years. With the help of many people, they first launched MindRover: The Europa Project in November 1999. Ever since, the program has taken off like a rocket, attracting the interests of thousands of very bright children and their parents, as they deeply involve themselves in the many unique, special features of this super game. At their web site, you can read various progress reports about this fascinating company, a sort of business "blog" for all to see. Through these insightful reports, one gets a sense of the tremendous dedication these special folks have to their goal, "to create toys and games that are fun through intellectual stimulation." In other words, "think more, twitch less." With MindRover, it is very apparent that CogniToy staffers firmly believe in their philosophy, "that there is genius in everyone. Specifically, people have an aptitude for analytical thinking and creativity." Targeted Customers While this game is rated for everyone, which merely relates to the degree of violence or other adult themes, MindRover is a challenging game that is really not for everyone. Experienced computer gamers will likely be surprised at how this "game" is designed, as the player must actually use their own brain to create and equip their vehicle. While most RPG or FPS games challenge a player's reflexes, in the case of MindRover, you will be expected to actually think through the design process and balance all the various aspects of the different components that can be added to a vehicle, in order to successfully overcome the selected scenario. This approach is similar to other simulation games that require players to balance such issues as weight, time, distance, accuracy, all in order to get the primary character from point A to point B. With MindRover, the game also integrates sound principles of engineering, which will appeal to those more inclined in the more technical fields. With computer novices, or those new to computer games, having to think through the design process may overwhelm or intimidate them, and cause them to very quickly "give up." Be sure you are prepared to invest a lot of your time and mental concentration to play MindRover. One of the more important of the many qualities of this game is the virtually never ending re-playability of the game. As many gamers know, in most computer games, once you finally end up completing a game, a rarity indeed, in most cases players immediately uninstall the game as there is no value in starting it again. In MindRover, you will find yourself likely keeping this game on your machine for a long time, and also likely to find yourself totally immersed in trying to improve the design features of vehicles. I also think this game has great potential in educational settings, with teachers involved in guiding students through the learning that forms the foundation for the fun that comes from playing MindRover. The game could also be of great value with students working in teams to work together, pooling their mental resources, to further enhance their vehicle. Install and Setup Installation and setup will likely proceed smoothly, with little problems likely on most machines. Just be sure to have the minimum hardware required in the configuration requirements mentioned below. Operational Suggestions While most players will find themselves quickly immersed in the engineering of this masterly game, computer novices may find overwhelming the degree of user control over the process of creating a vehicle. There is a great deal of detail involved in the process, and while many players will eventually adjust to this, I suspect some may perceive this as "too hard," and give up. Remember, this is not a point and click game, and you do not merely react to the game. Instead, in MindRover, you control the game, by controlling all the details about the design of the vehicles, which may intimidate less experienced gamers or those more inclined to merely participate in pre-programmed action. The player is left to use their intellect and their savvy, as they create practically any type of vehicle that they pit against the game scenarios. With children, my guess is that older kids, or teenagers are maybe the right age to handle this complex game. In addition, because of the sound engineering and design principles coded into the program, I think this game has merit as a learning device for middle or high school math or science classes. With teacher guidance and instruction, students could learn to apply these programming features to their vehicles. In the process, they will of course have to learn about thinking and planning ahead, while balancing the different resource needs of the various components. Just as in "Battlebots," when playing MindRover, players must also account for the reality of size, weight, maneuverability, speed, resource needs, steer-ability, and the factors that accompany the different weapons, all to result in a vehicle that combines these in the most efficient and effective manner in order to overcome the selected scenario. When we recall the importance of the learning that comes from trying to engineer an egg container to withstand various degrees of force while not breaking, now with MindRover, we have a similarly valuable engineering experience that can be played out on a computer. Price $40.00 retail, boxed price, for version 1.07 $35.00 download price $10.00 user manual Software retailers Babbage's and Electronics Boutique now sell MindRover in their stores. CogniToy, LLC is also adding more online vendors that sell the program online. Minimum System Configuration Requirements 200MHz PC (300 MHz or better recommended) Windows 95, 98, NT 4, 2000 32MB RAM 70MB free, uncompressed hard drive space 3dfx graphics accelerator card (Direct3D or OpenGL drivers) Microsoft DirectX 7.0a drivers (NT required OpenGL instead of DirectX 7.0a) 4x CD ROM drive Sound Card NOTE: Accelerator Cards that Support OpenGL or Direct 3D Voodoo 1, 2, 3 Riva TNT 2 ATI Rage 128 Rage Pro, Rage Pro LT, Rage Mobility (NOT Rage IIC) Permedia2 Intel i740, 81x Matrox G200, G400 GeForce If you are not certain whether your graphics card will work with the program, at the CogniToy web site, you can download and install a demonstration file, that you can use to test it out before you buy the game. Also, you can email CogniToy for help about this at support@cognitoy.com This system configuration is the minimum required just to install the required program files. As any avid computer gamer knows all too well, the higher the hardware specifications, the better this and any game program will run. With the rapidly growing standard of having one of the newer 3dfx graphics accelerator cards on so many machines, this tends to lessen the problem of having to upgrade system hardware just to run this game. "Older" machines likely will NOT have such a video card, but in order to play this game, this card will have to be installed. Assuming, of course, that the system motherboard will support such a card. Also note that when considering this or any of today's newer computer game software, users will need to seriously consider the ramifications of whether just replacing a video card may not be enough to handle the higher resource requirements of this game. So, as is always the case, all other hardware components will have to also be considered, and the faster the processor and the more and faster the RAM, the better this and any software program will run. Contact Kim Quirk, CEO Cognitoy, LLC 236 Central Street Acton, Massachusetts 01720 978-264-3945 FAX 978-264-3946 kim_quirk@cognitoy.com http://www.mindrover.com http://www.cognitoy.com |