Simulating Epidemics

The Center for the Advancement of Distance Education (CADE) at the University of Illinois at Chicago is working with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention to train epidemiologists and other health care workers to respond effectively to various infection crises:

The first game, which took three months to develop, trains health workers to respond to an anthrax outbreak. A massive flu pandemic simulation is in the works.

Players learn how to set up MASH sites, evaluate patients and dispense drugs. They also are trained to distribute medications to health-care sites and notify the public, instructing people on what to do -- without instilling panic.

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The game also helps health workers and volunteers cross-train for more than one job. Crisis teams are typically understaffed. The scoring helps players determine what they are good at and what skills they need to sharpen.

A multiplayer prototype is being developed to train teams of health specialists to work together.

Sounds like valuable stuff in the light of the flu pandemic warnings we're hearing with more frequency.

New Platform for Multiplayer Online Games

Daniel Terdiman writes today about Multiverse, an ambitious business venture hoping to provide a fairly complete framework for building MMORPGs. Particularly interesting is the fact that they plan to provide only a single client application for all Multiverse-built games, and their business model:

The Multiverse technology platform is free--no upfront costs. Download the SDK (software development kit) with the full platform, the sample game, the complete documentation, and the starter assets, all for free. Multiverse makes its money through revenue-sharing. So when you make money, we make money. Not before. Traditional publishers usually only let you keep 8% to 20% of the money you make. Multiverse increases the amount you keep to 50% to 70%.

I've long thought that, since we already have "middleware" layers for things like sound, graphics, and physics, a customizable toolkit for the whole MMORPG experience couldn't be too far off. Given the tight coupling of server and client code inherent in these sorts of systems, it will be interesting to see if Multiverse allows enough differentiation among games to provide compelling experiences, or whether they'll all feel alike.

Additionally, what will their approach to educational world-building be? If you're not making a profit on the game, will it remain free? It should be interesting to see how their FAQ section shapes up as the company matures.