Design Practice EXERCISES
CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING EXERCISES BASED ON CHAPTER 10 of ERNEST ADAMS.
READ THE CHAPTER AND DO ONE OF THE FOLLOWING: Due 4/29
1. Devise and document the core mechanics for a traditional analog alarm clock.
The alarm clock possesses the following indicators: an hour hand, a minute hand, a
hand indicating the time at which the alarm should go off, and a buzzer. It also has
the following input devices: a knob to set the time, a knob to set the time at which
the alarm will go off, and a two-state switch that arms the alarm when the switch
is in one position and cancels it in the other. (Assume that it is an electric clock
and does not need to be wound.) Explain what entities are needed inside the clock,
what processes operate within it, and what conditions and mechanics govern the
functioning of the alarm. (Explain the movement of the hands in terms of the passage of time not the workings of the clock.)
2. Research the history and rules of Tetris, then perform the following exercises:
a. Devise an entity that contains enough attributes to describe the tetromino (a
Tetris block) that is currently under the player’s control. Name each attribute in
the entity; state whether it is symbolic or numeric; and if symbolic, list its possible values.
Your entity should include one cosmetic attribute.
b. Document the effect of each of the player actions allowed in Tetris on the
attributes of the currently falling tetromino. Bear in mind that some actions
have different effects depending on which tetromino is currently falling. Where
this is the case, be sure to document the effects of the action on each different
type of tetromino.
c. Document one of the scoring systems for Tetris (there are several; you may
choose one), indicating what condition of the play fi eld causes the score numeric
entity to change and by how much. Your mechanic for changing the score
should include as a factor the current game level (another numeric entity). Also
document what makes the current game-level entity change.
3. Using a real-time strategy game or construction and management simulation of
your choice (or one that your instructor assigns), write a short paper describing its
resources, sources, drains, converters, production mechanisms that are not sources
(if any), and traders (if any). Note whether the game has any feedback loops or
mutual dependencies; if so, indicate whether any mechanism exists to break a possible deadlock.
4. Define a mechanic for a trap that harms a character when it detects the character’s
presence and then must wait for a period before it can detect another
character. Document the condition that triggers the trap (the nature of the sensing
mechanism), the character attribute(s) that change when the trap is triggered, and
the length of the reset wait period. Incorporate one or more nonuniform random
numbers to determine the amount of damage done and explain how they are computed.
Indicate what states the trap may be in and what causes it to change from state to state.
Include a vulnerability in the sensing mechanism that could either
(a) set off the trap without harming a character or (b) allow a character to move
within range of the trap’s sensor mechanism without setting it off. (For example, a
pressure-sensor in the fl oor would not go off if the character weighed less than a
certain amount.) Propose a means by which a clever player could exploit this vulnerability to avoid the trap.
Design Practice QUESTIONS
1. What entities and resources will be in the game? Which resources are made up
of individual entities (such as a resource of airplanes consisting of individual planes
that the computer can track separately) and which are described by mass nouns
(such as water, which cannot be separated into discrete objects)?
2. What unique entities will be in the game?
3. Which entities will actually include other entities as part of their defi nition?
(Remember that an avatar may have an inventory, and an inventory contains
objects.)
4. What attributes describe each of the entities that you have identifi ed? Which
attributes are numeric and which are symbolic?
5. Which entities and resources will be tangible, and which will be intangible?
Will any of them change from one state to another, like the resources in Age of
Empires?
6. What mechanics govern the relationships among the entities? Remember that
any symbolic entity requires mechanics that determine how it can get into each of
its possible states and how other entities interact with each possible state.
7. Are there any global mechanics in the game? What mechanic governs the way
the game changes from mode to mode?
8. For each entity and resource, does it come into the game world at a source, or
does it start off in a game world that does not provide a source for additional entities or resources? If it does come in at a source, what mechanics control the
production rate of the source?
9. For each entity and resource, does it go out of the game world at a drain, or does
it all remain in the game world and never leave? If it does go out at a drain, what
conditions cause it to drain?
10. What conversion processes exist in your world? What trader processes exist? Do
any feedback loops or mutual dependencies exist? What means have you provided
to break or prevent deadlocks?
11. Can your game get into a state of equilibrium, static or dynamic? Does it include
any form of decay or entropy that prevents states of equilibrium from forming?
12. How do mechanics create active challenges? Do you need to establish any
mechanics to detect if a challenge has been surmounted?
13. How do mechanics implement actions? For each action that may arrive from the
user interface, how do the core mechanics react?
14. For autonomous entities such as nonplayer characters, what mechanics control
their behavior? What mechanics defi ne their AI?
CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING EXERCISES BASED ON CHAPTER 10 of ERNEST ADAMS.
READ THE CHAPTER AND DO ONE OF THE FOLLOWING: Due 4/29
1. Devise and document the core mechanics for a traditional analog alarm clock.
The alarm clock possesses the following indicators: an hour hand, a minute hand, a
hand indicating the time at which the alarm should go off, and a buzzer. It also has
the following input devices: a knob to set the time, a knob to set the time at which
the alarm will go off, and a two-state switch that arms the alarm when the switch
is in one position and cancels it in the other. (Assume that it is an electric clock
and does not need to be wound.) Explain what entities are needed inside the clock,
what processes operate within it, and what conditions and mechanics govern the
functioning of the alarm. (Explain the movement of the hands in terms of the passage of time not the workings of the clock.)
2. Research the history and rules of Tetris, then perform the following exercises:
a. Devise an entity that contains enough attributes to describe the tetromino (a
Tetris block) that is currently under the player’s control. Name each attribute in
the entity; state whether it is symbolic or numeric; and if symbolic, list its possible values.
Your entity should include one cosmetic attribute.
b. Document the effect of each of the player actions allowed in Tetris on the
attributes of the currently falling tetromino. Bear in mind that some actions
have different effects depending on which tetromino is currently falling. Where
this is the case, be sure to document the effects of the action on each different
type of tetromino.
c. Document one of the scoring systems for Tetris (there are several; you may
choose one), indicating what condition of the play fi eld causes the score numeric
entity to change and by how much. Your mechanic for changing the score
should include as a factor the current game level (another numeric entity). Also
document what makes the current game-level entity change.
3. Using a real-time strategy game or construction and management simulation of
your choice (or one that your instructor assigns), write a short paper describing its
resources, sources, drains, converters, production mechanisms that are not sources
(if any), and traders (if any). Note whether the game has any feedback loops or
mutual dependencies; if so, indicate whether any mechanism exists to break a possible deadlock.
4. Define a mechanic for a trap that harms a character when it detects the character’s
presence and then must wait for a period before it can detect another
character. Document the condition that triggers the trap (the nature of the sensing
mechanism), the character attribute(s) that change when the trap is triggered, and
the length of the reset wait period. Incorporate one or more nonuniform random
numbers to determine the amount of damage done and explain how they are computed.
Indicate what states the trap may be in and what causes it to change from state to state.
Include a vulnerability in the sensing mechanism that could either
(a) set off the trap without harming a character or (b) allow a character to move
within range of the trap’s sensor mechanism without setting it off. (For example, a
pressure-sensor in the fl oor would not go off if the character weighed less than a
certain amount.) Propose a means by which a clever player could exploit this vulnerability to avoid the trap.
Design Practice QUESTIONS
1. What entities and resources will be in the game? Which resources are made up
of individual entities (such as a resource of airplanes consisting of individual planes
that the computer can track separately) and which are described by mass nouns
(such as water, which cannot be separated into discrete objects)?
2. What unique entities will be in the game?
3. Which entities will actually include other entities as part of their defi nition?
(Remember that an avatar may have an inventory, and an inventory contains
objects.)
4. What attributes describe each of the entities that you have identifi ed? Which
attributes are numeric and which are symbolic?
5. Which entities and resources will be tangible, and which will be intangible?
Will any of them change from one state to another, like the resources in Age of
Empires?
6. What mechanics govern the relationships among the entities? Remember that
any symbolic entity requires mechanics that determine how it can get into each of
its possible states and how other entities interact with each possible state.
7. Are there any global mechanics in the game? What mechanic governs the way
the game changes from mode to mode?
8. For each entity and resource, does it come into the game world at a source, or
does it start off in a game world that does not provide a source for additional entities or resources? If it does come in at a source, what mechanics control the
production rate of the source?
9. For each entity and resource, does it go out of the game world at a drain, or does
it all remain in the game world and never leave? If it does go out at a drain, what
conditions cause it to drain?
10. What conversion processes exist in your world? What trader processes exist? Do
any feedback loops or mutual dependencies exist? What means have you provided
to break or prevent deadlocks?
11. Can your game get into a state of equilibrium, static or dynamic? Does it include
any form of decay or entropy that prevents states of equilibrium from forming?
12. How do mechanics create active challenges? Do you need to establish any
mechanics to detect if a challenge has been surmounted?
13. How do mechanics implement actions? For each action that may arrive from the
user interface, how do the core mechanics react?
14. For autonomous entities such as nonplayer characters, what mechanics control
their behavior? What mechanics defi ne their AI?
No comments:
Post a Comment