Jelly Jungle: Become a 3D World Architect
Build a procedural 3D adventure with an adult-operated Astra-style creation assistant, then verify its world, controls, and spring island.
Web browser with WebGL · Keyboard and touch · Ages 9-10, 11-13, 14-16
A parent or guardian unlocks the missions. Starter projects use fictional data and require no paid AI key.
Your project
Original five-island starter inspired by the family Jelly Jungle astra-version project
- Distinguish creation assistance from runtime rules.
- Construct a world from shared coordinate data.
- Implement a spring with feedback.
- Verify recovery, collection, reachability, and graphics separately.
Before you begin
- Comfort editing a JavaScript object; Bounce Lab or equivalent helps.
- An adult can prepare Node 20.19+ or 22.12+ and a WebGL browser.
Materials
- Computer with WebGL browser
- Prepared Node runtime and editor
- Paper for coordinate mapping
Your tools
- Jelly Jungle starter
- Complete original procedural 3D game and model tests.
- Download /lab-starters/jelly-jungle-3d.zip; run npm install, npm test, and npm run dev.
- Three.js and Vite
- Render and develop locally.
- Three.js 0.180.0 matches source; classroom Vite 7.3.6 replaces source 7.1.7 after verified development-server advisories. Installation needs internet.
- Adult-operated AI or JR Playground
- Brainstorm and review one bounded change at a time.
- An adult operates the assistant; gameplay does not require an AI service or learner account.
Your mission sequence
MISSION 1 · 90 MINUTES
Plan your first floating world
Run a five-island 3D world and define one improvement you can explain.
Architect skill: A creation assistant helps write code; a finished game still needs explicit rules and evidence.
MISSION 2 · 90 MINUTES
Build with coordinates and predictable state
Change shared world data and trace a deterministic simulation.
Architect skill: A clear representation makes geometry, collision, and testing easier to reason about.
MISSION 3 · 90 MINUTES
Make movement feel intentional
Tune one movement value and test interruptions across control methods.
Architect skill: Inputs should express intention consistently across devices.
MISSION 4 · 90 MINUTES
Grow a spring island
Add a spring launch with matching feedback and testable rules.
Architect skill: A feature joins data, a state transition, and a visible explanation.
MISSION 5 · 90 MINUTES
Test beyond the happy path
Verify recovery and a complete route, separating model evidence from browser evidence.
Architect skill: A 3D world needs deterministic checks plus observation of its visible behavior.
MISSION 6 · 90 MINUTES
Present your world as an architect
Demonstrate the complete world and defend the decisions that made it playable.
Architect skill: A handoff combines purpose, architecture, evidence, and known limits.
Learn online
Six weekly 90-minute sessions: 10 minutes to predict, 15 to explain, 40 to build, 15 to test, and 10 to reflect.
Plan around 90 minutes per session; pause and revisit at your own pace.
Adult support: A facilitator prepares tools and operates AI through JR Playground or an adult-managed assistant. Learners make choices, edit, and verify; no personal AI account is required.
Build at camp
Five days with 180 planned minutes per day, including project work and group activities. The course outline does not reserve a camp place.
Day 1: Day 1 — Brief and working model
- Complete the first two lessons in paired studios.
- Alternate driver and navigator and take a movement break between studios.
Day 2: Day 2 — Controls
- Players compare two control variants and report observations rather than visual preference.
- Use remaining studio time for rehearsal, peer feedback, breaks, and individual practice.
Day 3: Day 3 — One meaningful feature
- Act out the landing gate: only descending contact triggers the spring card.
- Use remaining studio time for rehearsal, peer feedback, breaks, and individual practice.
Day 4: Day 4 — Failure detectives
- Trade worlds and return one reproducible model observation plus one visual observation.
- Use remaining studio time for rehearsal, peer feedback, breaks, and individual practice.
Day 5: Day 5 — Future Architects showcase
- Host a World Architects gallery with playing, route-map, and design-question stations.
- Use remaining studio time for rehearsal, peer feedback, breaks, and individual practice.
Facilitator preparation
- The same six outcomes apply online and at camp; additional camp studio time supplies practice, not extra required content.
- Choose guided, independent, or stretch tasks by confidence. Ages 9–10 often pair with an adult; ages 11–13 own bounded changes; ages 14–16 can justify and test architecture choices.
- Prepare starters before class. Keep family repositories and personal data out of student workspaces.
Show what you built
Deliver a small playable game for a chosen player, demonstrate a tested improvement, and explain its input, state, rules, output, and one design tradeoff.
- Purpose
- A brief names the player, loop, finish, and one idea left for later.
- Working system
- A fresh run reaches the intended finish; recovery and restart match the specification.
- Evidence
- A record contains normal, boundary, failure, and repeated-after-fix checks with device details.
- Architect explanation
- The learner explains a changed rule, a tradeoff, and how an AI suggestion was checked.
Portfolio badge: 3D World Architect
Use the rubric with a guardian or mentor and record your evidence in your builder notebook.
Build with care
- Use fictional player names and original shapes; no child photos, contacts, passwords, or API keys belong in the starter.
- An adult operates external AI and manages any public sharing; verify each suggested change with a prediction and check.
- Take movement breaks and offer partner-operated controls when needed.
Inspired by our projects
- Jelly Jungle 3D — astra-version
- User-reported Astra-assisted creation; inspected source demonstrates Three.js geometry, fixed-step physics, procedural assets, and separate art responsibilities. No Astra runtime integration is claimed.