CS134 Fall 2004Practice Midterm 2

[Student generated solutions]

To study for the midterm I would suggest you: (1) Know how to do (by heart) all the practice problems. (2) Go over your notes three times. Second and third time try to see how huch you can remember from the first time. (3) Go over the homework problems. (4) Try to create your own problems similar to the ones I have given and solve them. (5) Skim the relevant sections from the book. (6) If you want to study in groups, at this point you are ready to quiz each other. The practice midterm is below. Here are some facts about the actual midterm: (a) The midterm will be in class . (b) It is closed book, closed notes. Nothing will be permitted on your desk except your pen (pencil) and test. (c) You should bring photo ID. (d) There will be more than one version of the test. Each version will be of comparable difficulty. (e) If your cell-phone or beeper goes off you will be excused from the test at that point and graded on what you have done till your excusal. (f) One problem (less typos) on the actual test will be from the practice test. (g) The test will cover material since the second midterm.

1. Give a sequence diagram showing what happens when a critter's draw method is called to draw its sprite.

2. Explain how to use cSpriteDirectional to get a sprite that can change its image according to your direction.

3. When is a critter's collidesWith method called? How often is it called?

4. In the worst case given n critters how many possible collision pairs do we need to check each update? Suggest ways this could be reduced for a game like Pacman.

5. What is the difference between an elastic collision and an inelastic one?

6. Explain how the cListenerViewerRide class can be used to set the viewpoint controls in Pop.

7. Explain how you implemented the cable in HW2.

8. In Pop when a cCritterArmed object shoots and hits its target, it is a different critter (the bullet) that is involved in the actual collision. So how is the cCritterArmed object notified to be awarded points?

9. In Spacewar, when a cCritterAsteroid is hit, but its health is not yet zero, it splits into several asteroids explain how this is accomplished.

10. In Defender 3D the polygons come towards you from the back of the world. How is this done?