The Fort Ross Virtual Warehouse Project: A serious game for research and education

In March 2011, California State Parks entered an agreement with University of California Merced (UCM) to create an interactive, learning game able to educate students, schools and visitors about Fort Ross: the “Fort Ross Virtual Warehouse Project” (FRVWP). It is a web-based 3D game platform developed in Unity 3D that currently supports single player use, and in the near future will be developed for multiplayer functionality. This pilot program indeed demonstrates the value of an educational pre-learning tool for parents and students along with the teachers that come to the Fort to re-enact history. Through the use of this game, students have the opportunity to experience educational content and “role-play” in an environment that is immersive and highly interactive. The narrative, digital storytelling, and virtual reconstructions of buildings and environment, all count an accuracy based on scientific, historical and archaeological data. Ultimately, through user interaction, PCs and NPCs (non player characters) create an interesting dialogue between the site (real) and the experience of place (virtual and real).