Coursework - how to submit?

In-class presentations: Friday 30 March
Submissions due to: Monday 2 April

This submission may be an intermediary project development report. This means that your game does not have to be finished. It is however absolutely essential to submit this report before the deadline.

The projects must be finished before the 2nd Coursework deadline which is 8 May.

Notice that, as a result of numerous demands, 2D games will be accepted in the 1st assessment under the condition some other advanced mathematical concept is demonstrated within your application. Still 3D (billboard-based) solutions have better chances to earn good marks.

In-class Presentation

This submission will reflect the current development stage. Therefore it should clearly state:

• what was already done
• what is the current state of the project
• what is planned to do.

If you are not ready with your project and you are preparing a presentation for Friday, just focus on those three points. Try to explain what you have found difficult in your implementation and if it is possible, try to locate particular problems that made you late (or even stuck) with the project. While presenting, try to show your best achievements so far. It's good to demonstrate any working piece of software. If you for example are planning to create a space shooter game and you have already implemented your spacecraft and its steering, show it. You don't have to show enemy ships if they're not ready, and you don't have to show how you shoot if you can't. However a good idea would be to spend some extra time on filling the space with the stars - technically, the problem is relatively simple, but the effects may be visually stunning. Explain what your goal is - what your game is going to contain once it is finished. Supplying static images (mock-ups) would be great.

Of course your presentation is going to be much easier to prepare if you are ready with your project by now. It is just enough to show your game in action!

What should be done in the Written Report

Each information project comprises three basic steps, analysis, design and implementation, and not surprisingly computer games are not an exception. You are supposed to have already finalised the analysis of your project and also design should be outlined by now, however it is possible to introduce some corrections on the further stages. Your implementation does not have to be finished.

Your final report should contain following elements:

• Game Concept (or idea) - what the game is about, what is its goal, what you think may be its highlight. You can supply scripts (i.e. screenplays), storyboards, a legend (an epic story behind the game), graphical designs etc.
• Requirements. These are short sentences defining what is expected from a game. From simple things (e.g. the rocket shoots the asteroids, ball can reflect and bounce, car may turn left and right) to much more transcendental (e.g. vehicle should behave realistically when steered, the user should have a feeling like with a real thing). The requirements should cover all the functionality of the game - however in case of a small game they can be in most cases kept brief. NOTE: Requirements are strictly technical - use proper, precise language, keep them brief and informative, apply a bulleted list style to enumerate them.
• Technical Analysis - what particular methods did you apply to model the in-game world. This is primarily where you are supposed to discuss the mathematical basis for your game, and possibly also physics standing behind.
• Software specification - what classes have you planned to use, what variables do you use, what your functions do (especially onUpdate and onDraw should be precisely and clearly specified).
• Sample screenshot / prototype / mock-up may be added if needed. If you decide to include this part, please keep it concise - submit just the essential things.

Your report is a technical text. Keep it simple, consistent and concise. Use clear formatting. Bulleted lists, figures, diagrams are always welcome. Explain every picture (add captions). Never write things that I already know. For example it is enough to say that you apply Newton's second law, don't write about this law. Don't document classes that are supplied to you - they're already documented. The only part of your report where you can play storytelling is the Game Concept - all the rest is a formal technical documentation, not an essay.

Good luck!