children's educational web game

Set at the local fairgrounds, this fun little game was conceived in an effort to give kids an entertaining way to learn various business skills: supply & demand; budgeting; quantity vs. quality; location, location, location; inventory control; on-the-fly change-making; and thirsty-mob-taming.

Players first got to choose their location among neighboring refreshment stands (the most desirable being the salty variety). Next, they checked the weather report for the week in order to make inventory and pricing decisions, and shop for supplies (at which time deciding on whether to purchase powdered, frozen, or the real thing). Each of these variables, along with players' skill and speed in serving customers and making change, would affect the size and mood of the thirsty crowds, which would, in turn, affect eventual profit or loss.

Built in Director, the biggest challenge with this project was in keeping the file size down. We had to design to technical standards of 640x480 resolution, 28.8 dial-up modems, and a limited color palette (web 216), so I had to make every pixel count. Every screen element was hand-drawn, shaded, and animated pixel-by-pixel (bottom images at left are true-size examples). It was maddeningly tedious, and yet one of the most enjoyable projects I've ever worked on.