With many families on the road in today’s world, children are often left to entertain themselves. Parents would like to entertain them with something more stimulating than a movie. A specific solution to this would be to design educational travel games for a laptop. The team expects to develop 3+ games (both travel and unrelated) that kids ages 4-12 can play while riding in a vehicle that will both entertain and educate them. This will allow a family to arrive at its destination with fewer whines, less aggravation, and more peace and quiet. Laptop Travel Games for Kids Problem Statement: -Children need to be entertained while in riding in a car -Current solutions are seldom educational and are often messy General solution approach: -Develop a number of games to be played on a laptop in the car -Program should be easy to use -Games should be educational Operating Environment: -Games will be run on a laptop with no extra hardware -Laptop myst be running Windows 95 or later Intended users: -Children ages Both male and female Intended use: -Games will be played on a laptop in a moving vehicle Assumptions: -Children playing these games shall have previous computer experience -There shall be at least 3 games developed Limitations: -The maximum number of players shall be 4 -The minimum number of players shall be 1 Expected End Product: -A CD-ROM containing an installation program and the games -A user’s manual that contains installation information and game instructions Design Objectives: -Games must be simple -Program must be educational -Parents must be able to control children’s access to the computer Functional Requirements: -All games are accessible from the main title screen -Program must contain a mix between travel and non-travel based games. -Both single and multiplayer games must be created -Program must not make loud sounds Design Constraints: -Must run on Windows 95 and greater -Simple interface -Simple game rules Measurable Milestones: -Technology selection -Game and interface design -Design implementation -Product testing -Product documentation Proposed Approach: -Choose a programming platform that most easily implements simple graphical games -Design and implement games appropriate for the target age group -Test all games for bugs and entertainment value Technology Considerations: -Platforms: Laptops, PDAs. -Programming Languages: C, C++, C#, Java. -Development Software: Visual Studio, Borland, NetBeans -2D Art Software: PaintShopPro, Fractal Design Painter, Corel PhotoPaint Testing Considerations: -Personal testing of all components -Parental testing of installation -Child testing of games Other Required Resources: -Development software: free or University licensed -CD-Rs: $20 Project Schedule: Abstract Introduction Project Requirements Proposed Approach and Considerations Estimated Resources and Schedule The problem of entertaining children while traveling is not new. There are numerous products on the market intended to solve this problem: magnetic board games, sing along cassette tapes, portable video game players, and DVD player among other products. These products are helpful but have many downsides; magnetic board games are messy, sing along song can get annoying, and video games and DVD players are expensive. The interactive children’s software for laptops is an affordable solution to this problem. The design approach will analyze existing travel and education-based games to identify their benefits and drawbacks prior to concept development. The result will be a single multiple-game program which children can play on a parent’s laptop without the worry of accidental harm to the computer’s settings and data. Summary Project: May04-14 Client: Senior Design Advisor: Dr. Doug Jacobson Team Members: Jonathan Gill- CprE Mike Mundy- CprE Nick Ransom- CprE Jonathan Soike- CprE