Software:Costello (online game)

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Costello
File:Costello logo qbl.jpg
Developer(s)Adrian Cohen, James Hobbs, Jason Hitt, Christopher Sprague, Ford Nickel
EngineMudOS
Platform(s)Platform independent
Release1995
Genre(s)Educational MUD
Mode(s)Multiplayer, Single-player

Costello is an educational MUD — a text-based online role-playing game — designed for teaching English as a foreign or second language.[1] It is offered online as a free service.[2] Created in 1995,[3] it was innovative in its use of the MUD medium for EFL/ESL instruction,[citation needed] and has received positive critical response.[1]

Characteristics

File:Costello login.png
A screenshot of Costello's login screen as seen in the Java applet client

Costello is intended to function both as an engaging game and a teaching environment,[2] following the reasoning that players will be more motivated to learn if their skill acquisition aids them in their game-play. To avoid degrading the value of language skills acquired, the game's command parser avoids support for ungrammatical shorthand forms; where a typical MUD might allow a player to examine a hat with the syntax l hat, Costello requires look at the hat. An integrated dictionary provides explication of unfamiliar terms.[1]

The game may be played through a Web browser using a Java applet[2] or using a Java client distributed on a CD-ROM with the course textbook.[4] A non-networked standalone application version of Costello is also included on the CD-ROM.

Costello's tagline is "Quest-Based Learning", reflecting its structuring of learning experiences through quests.[5] An earlier tagline was "English Through Imagination".[1]

Technical infrastructure

Costello runs on the MudOS game driver and a version of the Ain Soph Mudlib from Lost Souls, with customizations engineered by former Lost Souls developer Jason "Rand" Hitt and others.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Gromik, Nicolas (March 2005). "Costello—English Through Imagination". TESL-EJ 8 (4). http://tesl-ej.org/ej32/m3.html. Retrieved 2010-04-27. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Costello Online". Costello Publications. 2005-10-12. http://costellopublications.com/online_index.html. Retrieved 2010-04-27. 
  3. "About the Authors". Costello Publications. 2005-07-29. http://costellopublications.com/textbook/about_authors.html. Retrieved 2010-04-27. 
  4. Cohen, Adrian (2005). Costello: Quest-based Learning. Costello Publications. ISBN 0-9550525-0-5. 
  5. "Costello—Quest-Based Learning". Costello Publications. 2005-11-10. http://costellopublications.com/. Retrieved 2010-04-27. 

External links