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Edugames are a subtype of video games that have a declared didactic intent and are generally combined with one or more fields of knowledge. Exactly like other video games, with which they share the main graphic engines, they can be an effective source of interactive fun. But unlike videogames, its narrative aims to encourage the teaching-learning process of a given subject. Explicitly, on the design elements involved in creating an edugame, its layout should involve a lot of visitors of different ages, cultures, levels of studies, etc. (Thomas, 2019). Fortunately, a point shared by a number of museum directors, technology experts, and those working on museum education (Stakeholders of this paradigm shift where videogames start to be an opportunity more than a threat) “digital games are seen as ways of recreating historic worlds, affording empathetic and affective engagement, and increasing interest in and understanding of historical periods or processes, working in complementarity with material exhibitions and artefacts on display” (Beavis et al., 2021). These objects of the museum collections (artefacts) can also be scanned in 3D as will be described in a later section of this work. Taking a step back, “at first glance, a museum experience may appear to have little in common with on in videogames. But at their cores, both museum visitation and player engagement are driven by experience design” (Beavis et al., 2021). On the other side “the videogame industry has tremendously elevated the player’s ability to experience their content, be it through direct gameplay, cinema-quality cut-scenes, multiplayer engagement, high-fidelity graphics, procedurally generated content, or gameplay. How this mode of entertainment interests this research comes from the level design principles that frame these experiences in combination with the narratives that drive players to keep playing, and the potential lessons that stem from their creation. Thus, this study aims to bridge the gap between the two sectors by developing an applicable set of design lessons, built out of videogames, for the purpose of “designing compelling exhibits” (Ibidem). The interest of the stockholders previously listed has meant that under the impetus of these “forces” educational video games have grown in number and impact, “Museums are looking at videogames as both an art form and a means to reach a wider audience. It can seem a strange relationship between the “houses of the past” and the ultimate creative medium” (Viola, 2017). This cultural and educational context made the authors of this work interested in creating with high school students a video game that could be accepted by a museum as an educational tool.
This work is divided into several paragraphs: describe the game and the stages of development of independent software; the possible horizons regarding the future of video game products in museums (sales, online downloads, etc.); the new frontier offered by the 3D scanner for the realization of independent 3D games. By independent game (indie) experts mean a game that is not made by large software houses (that produce games for consoles, such as Ubisoft or Activision). Digital assets can be subdivided according to their size: 1) small archaeological finds can be scanned through portable, multifunctional and hybrid 3D Scanners such as ExScann Shining 3D held by the LabH of the University of Salerno, when larger through the ReCap Pro, which includes advanced photogrammetry features; 2) for monuments, instead, some free resources were thought to be downloaded from online databases (such as thingiverse.com), but they too can be made through photogrammetry; 3) the landscapes instead can be realized through the technique of the GPS maps, that are downloaded from Google Maps and similar sites and then raised within the terrain present as the 3D object of Unity (docs.unity3d.com/Manual/script-Terrain.html); 4) finally, the characters and convenient to download from the Unity3D Assets store, but they can be created if this is useful to the project.