Senior Design

Spring 2010

Milestone 1

General Project Info

• Team Members:– Lauren Bissett– Dan Maguire– Nicholas Woodfield

• Project Goals:– Expand Spark Engine (our 3D engine)– Develop a 3D Game that implements SE

Background• Extension of last semester’s project• Established a Game Engine with a

prototype game, included:– 3D Graphics

• Terrain (texture splattering)• Collision Detection• Basic model pipeline (integration of external animation

software package)• Scenegraph (data structure used for efficient updating

and rendering)

– Primitive Artificial Intelligence– 3D Audio

Background• Development:– XNA Environment (C#)– Pre-existing conventions

• Code:– GoogleCode repository– Message board

• Limitations:– Sky’s the limit!

Goals & Motivation• Want to further develop:– 3D Graphics Engine & Content Pipeline– Build complete, feature-rich, FUN game

• Why?– Games are fun!– Challenge: games are hard to make!– Encompass nearly all fields of CS• Graphics• Computational Physics• Sound Processing• Artificial Intelligence

Plan Of Action

• Each team member will have responsibilities based on traditional areas of game development– Art & Design• Designer• Animator

– Development & Implementation• Programmer• Producer• Tester

NicholasEngine Architect

• Primary Responsibilities:– 3D Engine (Honors Thesis)• General engine architecture• Animation package• Particle effects• Lighting

– Game Development• Game architecture• Integration of game with 3D engine

Nick’s Timeline

Feature January February March April

Engine •Lighting•Normal Mapping•Content Pipeline•Animation Research •General Architecture•Code Rewrites•Documentation

•Animation Package•Particle Effects System•Specular mapping•Parallax mapping (?)•Environmental mapping

•Honors Thesis •Honors Thesis

Lighting •Per-pixel implementation •Further development•Optimization•Portability

Particle Effects

•Basic particle system•Fire•Dust•Etc.

•Game-specific effects using system

Continue

Game •Foundation•More robust collision/physics

•Specific gameplay mechanics•Stairs

Continue

LaurenTechnical Director

• Primary Responsibilities:– Art Development (Video)

• Modeling – Making 3D models

• Rigging – Creating skeletons to control movement and binding

them to geometric models• Animation

– Animating the rigged character• Content design and creation

– Level Design• Level architecture• Staging

– Setting up objects and lights in scene

Lauren’s Timeline

Feature January February March April

Design •Floor plans•Character design•Content list

•More floor plans

Modeling •Playable character model based on character design•Level building•Prop building

•Level building•Prop building

•Level building•Prop building

Rigging •Generic skeleton•Rig generic skeleton

•Tweak rig for playable character

Animation •Assist in content pipeline development and testing by providing custom animations

•Walk cycle •Animate •Animate

Game •Lighting•Staging

•Lighting•Staging

DanProduction Engineer

• Primary Responsibilities:– Everything else

• Gameplay programming– Simple scenario: if the character is in front of a treasure chest,

we need to write a proximity trigger, coordinate user input (e.g. user presses ‘A’ button) with scene entity so that it performs an action and/or plays an animation.

• Artificial Intelligence– Path finding– Line of sight– Decision making

• Sound Design– Background music– Sound effects– Voice acting

Dan’s Timeline

Feature January February March April

Game •Puzzle design•Character design

•Research•Investigate game architecture•Gameplay

•Inventory System•UI•Gameplay

•Gameplay

AI •Review algorithms •Research•Path finding•Line of sight

•Decision system•Path finding•Line of sight

•Decision system

Audio •Compile expected effects •Sound effects•Background music•Voice acting

•Sound effects•Background music•Voice acting

•Sound effects•Background music•Voice acting

Gameplay / Setting

• Style– Third Person View– Action-Adventure

• Story– Egypt in 1918, closing months of WWI– Band of travelers uncover mysterious

pyramid, the tomb of Egyptian demon Ammit the Destroyer, devourer of souls • Harrowing passages, intricate puzzles, perilous traps• Mummies, demons, other creatures of the underworld• Invaluable treasures and amazing riches

Anyquestions

or comments

forme (Dan), Lauren or Nick?