Teen’s computer game mimics Seattle monorail

EVERETT – Eighth-grader McKaulay Kolakowski feels almost ready to debut a computer game that he designed.

His deadline is getting closer. The Heatherwood Middle School student wanted his monorail game to be perfect before March 24, which marks the 50th anniversary of the Seattle Center Monorail.

McKaulay, 14, sat with his father’s laptop at the kitchen table in his home recently. He opened the game, pressed a button on the keyboard and watched as the monorail’s doors slid open, then closed.

“I’m really pleased with that,” he said.

McKaulay has worked since August on the game that allows players to choose a red or a blue monorail and then drive it along the track, passing Seattle landmarks and buildings that include the Space Needle, Experience Music Project, Bank of America and Macy’s.

He built the game using Scratch, a programming software for beginners. He was introduced to it over the summer at a computer animation course at Lakeside School in Seattle.

McKaulay was inspired by an interactive cable car on the San Francisco Cable Car website. He decided to combine his lifelong love of trains and his interest in the history of the Seattle Center and came up with an idea for his monorail game.

McKaulay researched the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair and discovered the Seattle Center Monorail was built for the event. He learned the monorail opened to the public about a month before the fair began and was built by Alweg Rapid Transit Systems.

“I learned they pioneered the monorail design and that it can go up to 50 mph on its track, which is pretty amazing,” McKaulay said. “I thought the history of how it came to Seattle was interesting.”

McKaulay spent over 200 hours programming his game, using Google Street View to make it reflective of the real monorail’s surroundings and keeping everything to scale.

“I think one of my longest buildings to make was the Macy’s building just because that’s one of the most massive buildings on the route,” he said.

In the future, the game can include more of Seattle’s landmarks and businesses that aren’t part of the actual monorail’s route, which runs between the Seattle Center and Westlake Center.

“The neat thing is if people get interested in this, it doesn’t have to end where the monorail does,” said his father, Giles Kolakowski. “McKaulay can make it go by anything.”

McKaulay is building a website, www.McKaulay .com, where he plans to share his completed work.