Programming Game Worlds

1
Programming Game Worlds

• Introduction
• Bryan Duggan

2
Learning outcomes

• Demonstrate an understanding of trends and
  advances in computer game technology.
• Solve common problems in computer games such as
  entity position, orientation and movement by
  using a variety of mathematical tools.
• Program a scene in 3D using standard APIs.
• Represent and program a flexible camera suitable
  for a variety of game types (FPS and RTS).
• Implement simple collision detection algorithms
  and demonstrate an understanding of the issues
  surrounding collision detection in commercial
  games.
• Use UML and object oriented design to model
  computer games programs.
• Program realistic entity movement by implementing
  various individual and group steering behaviours.
• Critically analyse how the techniques learned on
  the course are used in commercial games.

3
You will like this course if

• You like programming in C
• You like using maths to solve problems
• You enjoy computer games and always wondered how
  they work

4
You will not enjoy this course

• If you do not like programming in C!!!
• Because there is lots of programming
• Lots of self directed learning in the labs

5
Structure

• Lectures
• Monday 1600 1800
• Labs
• Thursday 1700-1800
• Friday 0900 1000

6
Course Overview

• Introduction to 3D games
• hardware
• APIs
• Game genres
• Maths refresher
• 3D Coordinate Geometry
• Trigonometry
• Vectors
• Matrices

7
Course Overview

• OO Refresher
• Procedural programming
• Classes objects
• Access
• Inheritance
• STL Vectors, Lists, Queues

8
Course Overview

• Introduction to Direct3D programming
• Anatomy of a game engine
• Creating an IDirect3DDevice COM object
• The IDirect3DDevice state machine
• Introduction the game engine
• Basic drawing
• The rendering pipeline
• Local space, world space, view space
• The camera and frustum
• Vertex formats
• Creation of vertex buffers index buffers
• Drawing primitives

9
Course Overview

• Basic drawing Part 2
• Colour
• Shading
• Intro to texturing
• Introduction to meshes
• Maybe terrain rendering particle systems
• Stuff we are leaving out
• Lighting
• Blending
• HLSL
• The effects framework
• Stencilling

10
Course Overview

• Building a flexible camera
• Using your knowledge of co-ordinate geometry,
  matrices and 3D graphics
• Building a movable game object
• Dalek and projectile
• Simple collision detection
• Point\Bounding sphere\bounding 3D box collisions
• Game asset management
• The Singleton pattern

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Programming Game Behaviour (Semester 2)

• Introduction
• Bryan Duggan

12
Learning Outcomes

• Compare approaches to implementing perception and
  propose optimised solutions to perception
  problems.
• Critically analyse how perception is implemented
  in commercial computer games.
• Implement a variety of path following and path
  finding algorithms.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the issues
  involved in practical, optimised path finding.
• Use UML and object orientated design to model
  both technical architectures and behaviours in
  computer games.
• Propose architectures for NPC higher order
  decision making.
• Critically analyse how the techniques learned on
  the course are used in commercial games.

13
Course Overview

• Graphs
• Navigation graphs, dependency graphs and state
  graphs
• Implementing a flexible graph class using C
  templates
• Automatic generation of navigation graphs
• Graph search algorithms
• Dijstras shortest path algorithm
• The A algorithm
• Advanced locomotion
• Neutons laws of force and acceleration

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Course Overview

• Perception
• FOV
• Intersection of 2 lines
• Intersection of ray and plane
• Intersection of 2 planes
• Game AI using state machines
• The state machine design pattern
• State transition diagrams
• Agents?
• Modding?

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Assessment

• 1 in class test/preliminary deliverable (mid
  semester 1) 5
• Assignment 1 Due January 2005 10
• A partial game engine in C
• 3d engine for a RTS
• Something similar in semester 2

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If you know all the above, you will have a good
grounding in how modern game engines are
constructed
17
Books

• Semester 1
• Introduction to 3D Game Programming with DirectX
  9.0
• Frank D. Luna
• Semester 2
• Programming Game AI by Example
• Mat Buckland

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Tools

• Microsoft Visual C (Anything from version 6.0
  or above with the latest service packs will do
  fine)
• Latest DirectX 9 SDK

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Web Resources

• Course Notes
• http//webcourses.dit.ie
• Games Developers
• http//www.gameasutra.com/
• http//www.gamedevelopers.ie
• General Gaming
• http//www.pczone.co.uk
• http//www.gamespot.com