I was once a member of an open source project that didn't go anywhere, although it had a really cool idea. Project Embassy was supposed to teach programming through a virtual battle-bots game.

Classes started today at NC A&T, and my professor made a reference to something the school is considering using for a freshman-level class. Alice is an open source system that, according to its website, is supposed to make it easier and more fun to learn programming.

Also, another professor at another university is working on a free game engine specifically for battles and such.

I wonder if anyone wants to combine the two.