Summary
It might just be time to get a mechanical engineering degree, as the University of Maryland, College Park, is offering a course that teaches the basics of machine design usingThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. The acclaimed follow-up toBreath of the Wildexpanded upon the original in so many ways, but what helpedThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdombecome one of the highest-rated games of all timeis its emphasis on physics-based challenges, typically revolving around the construction of tools and vehicles.
The groundbreaking building mechanics inTears of the Kingdomhave allowed players to create all sorts of machines, ranging from practical to absurd. Players have recreatedStar Wars’AT-AT or the USS Enterprise fromStar Trek.OneLegend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomplayer built a flying mech. Of course, none of these machines are required to complete the game itself, but the seemingly endless possibilities withinTears of the Kingdomhave resulted in quite a few players losing countless hours workshopping different ideas. It’s not just fun and games, however, as now one university is offering college credit for playing the game.
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Professor Ryan. D Sochol, PH.D. constructed a pilot course for second-year mechanical engineering undergraduates at the University of Maryland, College Park, that teaches students design and engineering through playingThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. The class, aptly named “The Legend of Zelda: A Link to Machine Design,” gives students a Nintendo Switch console, a Pro Controller, and a copy ofTears of the Kingdomto take home for the semester. The professor and longtimeZeldafan even created a short video detailing the first semester of the course, which was first discovered byGoNintendo.
According to Professor Sochol, the course is broken up into three sections. First, the students learn the basics of each machine element by playing through the game’s various shrines inThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. After this, students are required to study one of the elements in depth and even provide information about technical aspects such as horsepower and thrust. Lastly, Professor Sochol details one of the course’s machine design challenges, which tests the class' knowledge of construction within the game. One example is a race within the class that requires students to build a machine that can travel across land and water.
What is remarkable aboutTears of the Kingdomis that these building mechanics are just one aspect of a much larger game. Many believeThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomis a master class in open-world design, and this comes afterBreath of the Wildalready revolutionized both the series and the genre.
Not to mention, many fans considerTears of the Kingdoman improvement overBreath of the Wildin other aspects such as storytelling. With all these elements beautifully blending seamlessly together, it should come as no surprise thatTears of the Kingdomis one ofThe Game Awards' Game of the Year candidates for 2023.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
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The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is the sequel to the beloved open-world adventure, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. This installment once again sees Link and Zelda battling to protect Hyrule from falling to Ganondorf. This new adventure takes place in the same land of Hyrule as Breath of the Wild but sees something called the Upheaval, which allows link to travel to Sky Islands, as well as deep into the Depths beneath Hyrule. Players can use special abilities to fuse together weapons, and build items to help them progress through the release.
