CS297 Proposal
XML for Video Games
Ru Chen (ruchen98@hotmail.com)
Advisor: Dr. Chris Pollett
Description:
When designing a video game, a game designer will think of the main
characters
and actions of the game. All the details of the game will be listed in a
specification file. The specification file describes the look and feel of
the game
s
characters, background, maps of levels and environments, rules of the
game,
content, behavior, etc. The game developer will then put all these
concepts
together and implement them into graphics. The main purpose of this
project
is to
define a XML language for video games, which will be helpful for game
designers
and developers to create and generate video games. This XML language will
allow one to define properties and attributes of a game object such as its
shape,
size, location, color, movement and what kind of physical forces (gravity,
spring,
friction) apply to it. The XML language will also specify what kind of
input
devices, what kind of sound card features, and what kind of media play
features
are needed for the game. I will create a new game engine in Java which can
parse my XML language and demonstrate how all of its features work. I will
also
come up with some simple measurements to show how easy it is to use this
XML
language to design video games. Tests will be written to show how
efficient
various simple video games on my engine are compared to Rudy Rucker's game
engine.
Schedule:
Week 1 & 2 Aug 24 - Sept 4 | Read [RR03]
and
[HM02] |
Week 3: Sept 5 - Sept11 | Read[RR03] |
Week 4:
Sept 12 - Sept 18 | Read [MD00] |
Week 5:
Sept 19 - Sept 25 | Deliverable(1) due |
Week 6:
Sept 26 - Oct 2 | Download a XML parser and learn how
to
use it.
Read [MD00] |
Week 7:
Oct 3 - Oct 9 | Read [MD01] |
Week 8:
Oct 10 - Oct 16 | Deliverable(2) due |
Week 9:
Oct 17 - Oct 23 | Write a XML file to represent simple
characters in
games. |
Week 10:
Oct 24 - Oct 30 | Read [BS04] |
Week 11:
Oct 31- Nov 6 | Deliverable(3) due |
Week 12 & 13:
Nov 7 - Nov 20 | Read[JS02] and [PD01] |
Week 14:
Nov 21 - Nov 27 | Deliverable(4) due |
Week 15 & 16:
| Work on 297 project |
Deliverables:
The full project will be done when CS298 is completed. The following
will
be done by the end of CS297:
1. Get familiar with the game design process. Do HW1 from Dr Pollett's
CS134
class in fall semester of 2004.
2. Get familiar with a Java XML parser. Write a program to parse a XML
file using
the parser.
3. Create an initial version of the XML language to represent
characters
and
actions in games
4. Write a Java program to simulate the movement of the objects in
games.
The
program will be using geometric shapes to represent objects.
5. Write the 297 report of length around 15 pages.
References:
[RR03] Rudy Rucker. Software engineering and computer games / Rudy
Rucker.
Addison-Wesley, 2003.
[HM02] Harold, R. E., & Means, S.W. . XML in a Nutshell (2nd ed.).
O'Reilly.
2002
[MD00] Mark Deloura. Game Programming Gems. Delmar Thomson Learning.
2000
[MD01] Mark Deloura. Game Programming Gems 2. Delmar Thomson Learning.
2001
[BS04] Brian Schwab. AI Game Engine Programming. Delmar Thomson
Learning. 2004
[JS02] Jake Simpson. Game Engine Anatomy
101.http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,594,00.asp. 2002
[PD01] Patrick Dickinson. Building a Game Engine with Reproducible
Behavior.
http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20010713/dickinson_03.htm. 2001
|