The Sims Go to College - And It's Not Another Add-on Module

Would you like to create video games but find yourself daunted by the fact that displaying a simple message in Windows can take hundreds of lines of code? Perhaps Alice can help.

Who?

Alice is a program developed by the Stage 3 Research Group at Carnegie Mellon Univeristy. The innovative program offers novice coders a 3D graphics development environment that allows them to concentrate on learning and experimenting with programming concepts instead of suffering through proper syntax and complicated code structure. Details can be gleaned from this 12 minute demo. However the basic appeal for students is that instead of typing this:

if(((GetAsyncKeyState(VK_UP) & 0x8000) ? 0: 1) && (ball_ptr->radius<MAX_RADIUS))ball_ptr->radius ;

Alice users create much more intuitive statements such as:

If [the user presses the up arrow key] and [the ball's radius is less than the
maximum] then [increase the radius of the ball by 1].

Much easier to read, isn't it? The program, free to anyone who wants it, has thus far used rudimentary and, to be blunt, unattractive 3D models created in 3D Studio Max. A recent collaboration with Electronic Arts will guarantee that Alice has the looks to go with her personality because version 3 will be incorporating art assets from the Sims (read the press release here).

"Getting the chance to use the characters and animations from The Sims is like teaching at an art school and having Disney give you Mickey Mouse," said comp sci prof Randy Pausch, director of the Alice Project. "The Sims is EA's crown jewel, and the fact that they are willing to use it for education shows a kind of long-term vision one rarely sees from large corporations."

Version 3 of Alice will be developed over the next 18 to 24 months and could well be positioned as the national standard for teaching software programming.

AE: Imagine if Carnegie Mellon had teamed up with American McGee to revamp Alice's looks... If used correctly Alice could be very helpful to students who are easily frustrated by the rudimentary "Hello World" projects that most programmers are subjected to at one point or another. It's encouraging and more fulfilling to be able to produce something functional and attractive in a short amount of time. However, writing code is a mandatory skill for professional programmers so applications like Alice should only be used in an introductory capacity.

-Reporting from San Diego, GP Correspondent Andrew Eisen

GP: Not to jump in on Andrew's excellent report, but I wanted to add that The Sims connection may have something to do with the fact that Will Wright is very high on the Carnegie-Mellon academic program. He mentioned to me at E3 2003 that Maxis has been wowed by the caliber of interns they've had from CMU.