Professor Pi – professor of math games

It has been a while since I have done game programming.  The last true game I wrote was back in 1999.  So, I think it is about time I started again!

I do have an interesting background in game programming.  My first endeavor was back in the early 1980′s, on the VAX/VMS system at the Rochester Institute of Technology.  Later, in the mid 80′s, I wrote several games using BASIC, including “Glory of the Empire”, which was a somewhat popular Star Trek ‘Starfllet vs. Klingons’ game.  Later, I began game programming in C++ and Assembly.

All of the games I produced in the past were purely for pleasure.  This is my first attempt at programming educational games.  The trick is to make it engaging enough for people to want to play, and yet provide a means for the player to become better at mathematics.  A tall order!  Well, I have an idea on paper that might foot the bill.

Writing this math game might take as short as a month, or it may take several months (it is hard to find the time sometimes with two toddlers and an infant).  Regardless, I hope to have a beta version out in a few weeks.  I hope that I can get some beta testers to try it out and let me know if it works well on their systems, and also to give me their feelings on the game (i.e., is it a good game, or is it a steaming pile of crap!).   Well, anyway, please stay tuned!

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This first product was made with two objectives in mind.  First, I wanted something that my kids would enjoy, and, secondly, I wanted something that my users would like and would be willing to beta test for me.  Well, my kids liked it – they are able to point out and name numbers from 0 to 9.  If you wish to add it to your set of screensavers, please let me know of any bugs and the operating system you are using.  I have tested it out on several computers, and it worked fine on all of them.

I plan on generating more math programs in the near future.  I’ll make some more math screensavers, and I am planning to make some downloadable and online math games.  Anyway, I hope your kids will enjoy this math screensaver, and I hope it will help them with their math skills!

Numbers Saver Math Screensaver

Numbers Saver is a math screensaver for children.  It displays comical digits from 0 – 9.  Here is a screen capture:

Download File Name:

Numbers Saver Install.exe (672 kb)

Requirements:

Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7

Installed File Size:

844 kb

Click Here to download.

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The patterns on the soccer ball are very distinct.  In fact, the ball itself is based on a geometric solid called a truncated icosahedron:

Truncated Icosahedron, made by w:en:User:Cyp using POV-Ray

It has 32 faces, composed of 12 regular pentagons, and 20 regular hexagons.  The pentagons are dark in color (usually black), and the hexagons are light in color (usually white).  The material used in the construction of the soccer ball is usually leather or plastic.  The construct becomes spherical due to the internal pressure of the air in the ball.

This pattern has not always been used in world cup soccer.  The official soccer ball for the 2006 World Cup was made from 14 curved panels.  This year, Adidas introduced the jabulani 2010 world cup soccer ball, which has “grip’n’groove” technology which gives it accuracy and stability in flight (although it has been argued that the ball’s trajectory becomes unpredictable during game play).

For detailed information on this spherical solid, please visit this Wikipedia Entry.

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