CS 117 Final Project

The Project

Write your game so it is fun to play. You should design your user interface with ease of use in mind, so users can concentrate on strategy instead of being annoyed by the things required to enter their moves. An aesthetically pleasing display of the game board or hand, if appropriate, also adds to the fun of playing a game. Think about computer games you have played, and what makes some of them a pain to play, and others a delight.

Your choice of game will determine what will be required to make the game fun. For example, if you select a two-person game like Battleship, you will have to program the computer with a strategy, since having two people play Battleship with one screen is a pain. On the other hand, adventure games (you walk from room to room discovering stuff) don't require a smart computer strategy. Similarly, Tic-Tac-Toe is tedious at best, but it's really dumb if the computer is an idiot about choosing its moves.

Be warned that even very simple games can be tricky to implement, so don't try something like Backgammon or Hearts unless you're sure you have plenty of time to devote to the project.

A little advice

Have a careful plan of the small steps you will take in travelling from no program to the final program. Design your program modularly, so you can make the modules work one at a time.

Don't go to sleep without a program that compiles and runs without crashing. It doesn't have do anything--just don't try to do so much at once that you can't wrap up the day's work into a running, partially complete, program.

Make copies of your program before making changes.

Don't assume that a text-only game is no fun. An interesting game is interesting whether it's played on paper or in the dust on the ground or on a high-powered graphics workstation.

Grading criteria

• You must meet the deadlines listed below.
• Your final program must compile and run. If it does not compile, I won't grade it at all. If it compiles, but crashes a lot, you will get a low grade. I would much rather see a functioning program that does not do everything than a program that tries to do everything but does none of it successfully. Top-down design will help you meet this criterion.
• An A program will have good documentation, easy to read code, and a simple to use user interface. An A program needs to show some ambition, as well as good execution. A C- program will have documentation, and will allow a user to play the game to completion. A B program will fall somewhere between. Extra features will help your grade only if you get the basics right in the first place.

The Schedule

• A brief description of what your program is intended to do.
• A description of the user interface. You need to think carefully about how the user and your program will communicate in a way that is convenient for the user. If your program uses a menu structure, all the menus should be presented here.
• A functioning skeleton of your program. This should include declarations of global variables (with explanatory comments), type definitions, a complete main program, and fully commented stubs of all functions and procedures called by the main program.
• A list of the order in which you will implement the features of your program. This list should keep in mind

Due noon Friday, March 15 (via HSP)

• Your fully commented source code
• A description of the program (the description from the March 7th part of the assignment would be fine)
• A description of the status of your program (what works, what doesn't, and etc.)

Miscellaneous

Talk to me. I can help. I will hold regular office hours during reading and exam days. I will post my hours on my office door.

Start early, keep in touch, and have fun.