The thesis presents the development of the educational 3D video game Floris, which provides users with an interactive way of learning about plants characteristic of the Slovenian environment. The game combines exploration of a virtual environment, searching for and identifying plants, and testing knowledge through quizzes. During gameplay, users learn about the characteristics, uses, and potential dangers of individual plants and then test their knowledge by answering questions. To increase motivation, the game incorporates gamification elements, primarily a scoring system and the collection of discovered plants in an inventory.
The open-source Godot game engine was used to develop the game, Blender was used to create 3D models, and Inkscape was used to create 2D graphical elements.
The theoretical part presents the development and significance of video games, with an emphasis on educational video games, gamification, and their potential effects on learning. It also introduces the basic concepts of modern game engines, the architecture of the Godot game engine, and the fundamentals of computer graphics, the graphics pipeline, and 3D modeling.
The functionality and user experience were evaluated by 12 participants aged between 12 and 78. Before playing the game and after three gameplay iterations, the participants answered the same questions, which enabled a comparison of their knowledge. The results showed that the average quiz score increased by 25%, or 1.75 points, after playing the game. Differences in the occurrence of technical difficulties between age groups were also identified, while no reliable relationship between the frequency of playing video games and the occurrence of technical difficulties could be confirmed.
The Floris project, published on the GitHub platform, is extensible. It contains seven plants and twenty-one questions and allows new plants to be added easily. At the same time, it can serve as a framework for developing educational games in other fields.
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