RALEIGH – Middle schoolers and kids everywhere can explore the wreck of Blackbeard’s purported flagship, Queen Anne’s Revenge (QAR), in the new Blackbeard’s Escape video game. It was June 1718 that the Queen Anne’s Revenge ran aground in Beaufort Inlet. Players now get to fire cannon and attack a ship in flashbacks to the 1700s, and also learn about recovering and conserving artifacts today from the QAR wreck site.
The game comes with instructions and explanations on how it works as well as the research and design process. It will help students and teachers learn to navigate and appreciate the game, downloadable at www.BlackbeardsEscape.com. It requires the full version of Unreal Tournament 3 and the 2.0 patch to run. Instructions on downloading are provided. Blackbeard’s Escape is a non-violent educational game, but parents should note that some violent games also are on the Unreal 3 platform.
Developed by computer science and industrial design students at N.C. State University (NCSU), the game lets students learn while having fun. Computer science students of Dr. R. Michael Young, and industrial design students of Dr. Timothy Buie, formed teams to develop this game and a futuristic pirate based game employing light and physics. Blackbeard’s Escape is played in the role of a junior archaeologist who uses a pneumatic chisel to clean shipwreck recovered objects, and also visits the time period when the item was in use. Developed in cooperation with historians and conservators from the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources, the game likely is the most accurate game depiction of piracy available. Players learn about good diving practices and artifact recovery as well. Teachers and students too can learn more about pirates and the shipwreck recovery process.
After an exhaustive few weeks of wrap up, the game was kid-tested at project presentations at semester’s end at NCSU. The student designers were delighted that Blackbeard’s Escape was a hit. “We were surprised at how well they took to it,” recalls Mike Winters, team leader. “In some cases they were better than us.”
“Some of the kids referred to other games they had, like Halo and Call of Duty,” explains Tyler Arehart, who worked on artificial intelligence. “They quickly figured it out.”
The probable QAR shipwreck was located in November 1996 by Intersal, Inc., with information provided to Operations Director Mike Daniel by company President Phil Masters. Subsequent research led by state archaeologists over 12 years supports the shipwreck identity as the QAR.
For additional game information contact Mike@mike-winters.com. For shipwreck information contact Fay.Mitchell@ncdcr.gov or (919) 807-7389 o. The Queen Anne’s Revenge Shipwreck Project is administered by the Office of Archives and History in the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources, the state agency dedicated to the promotion and protection of North Carolina’s arts, history and culture. Now podcasting 24/7 with information about the Department of Cultural Resources available at www.ncculture.com.