CS638 Fall 2001: Project Stage 1.0
Splash Screens, Menus and other 2D Features
Due Date: 5pm Friday Oct 19
This stage is to be done with your group.
Overview
In this stage of the project you will gain experience with 2D aspects of game
design, particularly menu systems and interfaces for changing game settings.
Along the way you will gain greater familiarity with LithTech. The project is
intended to reinforce the event based model of system design.
There are four tasks for this project stage. Each task is worth 50 points.
The maximum number of points that any individual can get is also 50. That means
that a group of two should complete two tasks, and a group of four should
complete all the tasks.
The Tasks
Here is a set of tips and
resources to help you with this stage of the project.
- Display a splash screen when the game starts up. Somewhere on the screen
there should be a button or active area. When the user clicks on it, either
the game should start, or they should be taken to the menu system that you
implement in task 2. Here are some tips and
resources for implementing this stage.
- Build a menu system with the following menu options:
- Start Game: Begin a game.
- Load Game: This could load a previously saved game. But for the purposes of this
task, selecting this item should pop up a dialog box of some sort that simply
asks whether they want to load a game.
- Save Game: This should provide the same functionality as the load game
option.
- Exit: This has the obvious interpretation.
Of course, if you
want to try to implement a complete save and load game you are welcome to do
so. No bonus points, however. Here are some tips and
resources for implementing this stage.
- Include another menu option for Settings. This should take the user
to another screen at which they can set options such as mouse smoothing, mouse
speed or field of view. Feel free to implement whatever options you like. The
settings should be functional. That is, if the user changes the mouse speed
the mouse speed really should change. Here are some tips and
resources for implementing this stage.
- Add a game pause option. When the user hits some key
while playing the game the game should be suspended. If you implemented Task 2, the
user should be taken to your menu system. They should then be able to save,
load, exit, resume or restart. If you didn't do Task 2, the same key
should resume the game. Here are some tips and
resources for implementing this stage.
Directory Space, Submission and Grading
Each group will be assigned a directory in
/p/course/cs638-schenney/public/groups. Each member of the group will have
read/write permission, unless you specifically request something different. You
are free to store your project files in there in any way you like, but we
strongly recommend placing a CVS directory there and using CVS to manage your
files. For
information on CVS look here.
Grading will be by demo. Time slots will be allocated in room B240 at which
each group can demo its game. You must demo or you get zero. Absent group
members will have 10 points taken off their personal final score unless they can
provide a very good reason as to why they couldn't make it, preferably before
they fail to appear.
Late Policy
You may submit your project late, with a penalty of 5% of your score per day
or part thereof that you are late.
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