| Costello | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Adrian Cohen, James Hobbs, Jason Hitt |
| Engine | MudOS |
| Platform(s) | Platform independent |
| Release date(s) | 1995 |
| Genre(s) | Educational MUD |
| Mode(s) | Multiplayer, Single-player (CD version) |
| Media/distribution | Online, CD-ROM |
| System requirements
Java; Web browser or CD-ROM |
|
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,[4]and has received positive critical response.[1]
Contents |
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.[5] 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.[6] An earlier tagline was "English Through Imagination".[1]
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.