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Virtual-U (SimUniversity) Now Available
Ben Sawyer writes "The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's Virtual U project recently shipped a new version our university simulator. This software simulation game, available at www.virtual-u.org lets you play as president of a U.S. university. You choose how faculty spend time, allocate funds, and decide if you should give special admission to athletes. Version 2.0 improves the model, and adds new features. The product is supported through a grant by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The product runs on Windows 2000/XP/9X/ME. The software is being used by a number of university education programs, and is part of an overall project to improve thinking about how universities are managed." No word on if virtual-u features a "BSA attack" scenario.
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Naturally, tuition goes up every year no matter what. I will also enfore the no-reusing-of-textbooks policy set by my forefathers. Lastly, I will work harder to admit more students who only want to party. They know they're buying the degree, not the education, so let's have a wet t-shirt contest instead of a group study. Pass the beer bong, dude!
Can't see that happening with this- would you skip class to play at going to class?
From the website: Virtual U is a caricature of real academic life grounded in authentic conceptual structures and data.
Silly me, I always thought academic life was a caricature of reality already, how could they caricaturize it further?
"I hate quotations. Tell me what you know." -Ralph Waldo Emerson
Any good sim game has to have scenarios you can play where an impending crisis looms before you. Here are my thoughts on some possible scenarios:
- Your campus' Athletic fraternity have lost their frat house to a natural distaster. They, in turn, kick the nerd fraternity out of their house. Do you let the Athletes stay in the house or help the nerds get on the Greek council?
- The RIAA is threatening to sue your university over student mp3 servers running on network. Do you rebuff the RIAA or crack down on the warez sites?
- Students have petitioned administration to switch the student computer labs over to linux, saving thousands. The Evil company providing your university with their OS, has bound you with restrictive licences. Do you ignore the students or try and find a way around the licences?
Speaking of the BSA: Did anyone else notice the graphic on the BSA's website of a copyright symbol superimposed over the earth? Maybe I'm just paranoid....
"We are far too easily pleased." --C.S. Lewis
(1) Backstabbing and in-fighting among the professors. Let's face it, not all profs are looking out of the best interest of the students. Some just want to do their research and not be bothered by such pesky details such as students who want to learn. At the Univ. I'm at, the chair of the deptartment I'm in is about to retire; in other words, there is blood in the water, and there is going to be a ego/pissing contest to get that seat.
(2) A lazy student gov't Let's face it, what is the job of student gov't? To serve themselves and get laid, what else! Really, the student gov't where I'm at is corrupt and has done nothing for the students. However, I hear their desks are used for more than writing papers...
(3) 'Loopy' Deans Overheard to between a dean and a prof: Dean "You need to get the enrollment up in your program before we can fund it anymore" Prof: "You need to fund us, since we are near broke and need money for facilities and staff to get studnets in the program" Dean: "You need to enroll more students to get more money" (Now, think endless loop...)
(4) 6 Chancaller, 10 year... We go through head hanchos like toilet paper, each with their own 'texture'... Really though, there seems to be little direction from the top.
Ok, really, this is a cool game; I just hope it can help teach the next generation to run a university (and NOT run it into the ground)
Accentuate the positive, don't waste your mod points on the negative.
The game would definitely benefit from either a tutorial
,or maybe this (22 MB zip file)
;)
hmm something like this (241 KB PDF)
lots of info listed right below the click here to download link