1 / 27

Sergiu Dascalu April 13, 2005

CS 491m / CS 691m Computer Games A Software Engineering View on Game Development (and perhaps the other way around). Sergiu Dascalu April 13, 2005. Outline. 1 Background 2 Looking around 3 Notes 4 Lights ahead 5 References. 1 Background. Hits at google

alda
Download Presentation

Sergiu Dascalu April 13, 2005

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. CS 491m / CS 691mComputer GamesA Software Engineering View on Game Development (and perhaps the other way around) Sergiu Dascalu April 13, 2005

  2. Outline 1Background 2 Looking around 3 Notes 4 Lights ahead 5 References

  3. 1Background • Hits at google • The Renaissance man or mathematics and arts • Harder than you think • Why computer games? • Why software engineering? • A bridge too far?

  4. Background hits at google ‘fun software engineering (design)’ 26 ‘fun games development (design)’ 339 ‘rigorous software engineering (design)’ 1,347 ‘rigorous game development (design)’ 4

  5. Background mathematics and arts Computers:a fine combination of mathematics and arts Renaissance man:“a man who has broad intellectual interests and is accomplished in areas of both the arts and the sciences” [answers.com, 2005] Computer games:the work of “Renaissance men & women” Goethe in Italy, from www.answers.com

  6. Background philosophical roots Excellent lecture by Ernest W. Adams at GDC 2004 [Adams, 2004]. Excerpts: “Game developers … are the Victorians of our time” “You can make The Lord of the Rings in a video game … But you can’t make The Grapes of Wrath into a video game - not yet. Not now,anyway.” “The Matrix is the epitome of the nerd aesthetic.” “Engineering is as essential to the game developer as words are to the writer, as paint is to the painter. But we need to restore the balance between the two.” More on Ernest W. Adams can be found at http://www.designersnotebook.com/

  7. Background harder than you think Another excellent article [Blow, 2004]. Factors that make game development very challenging (“… it was all fun and games. now it’s blood, sweat, and code”) … size and complexity … workflow and multiplatform development … 3rd party components and full-figure option … highly domain-specific requirements … depth of simulation, profiling, and risk The article can be found at http://www.acmqueue.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=114 More on Jonathan Blow is available at http://number-none.com/blow/

  8. Background why computer games? … because they are awesome! [see, for example http://www.buzzcut.com] but, pay attention, they might mean “the end of your social life” [http://www.computergames.ro]

  9. Background why software engineering? … because it is necessary! see, for example[Elmqvist, 2004] but, hackers might say that game programming is a “black art” that doesn’t really need it [idem, available at http://www.cs.chalmers.se/Cs/Grundutb/iss/kurser/simul/doc/lecture-3.pdf]

  10. Background a bridge too far? … i don’t think so! … on the contrary… “it’s a hard, dangerous job that of a bridgeman, but he likes it” [Open Video Library, Bridging of San Francisco Bay, 1937]

  11. 2Looking around • Software engineering for game development • Game development for software engineering • Various projects • Conferences, magazines, websites • Round table at GDC-2004

  12. Looking around software engineering for game development Software engineering includesprocesses, activities, techniques, and tools for systematic software development Processes:from waterfall, through incrementaland evolutionary, to spiral Activities:typical are specification, design, implementation, integration, testing, and evolution (maintenance)

  13. Looking around software engineering for game development Techniques: various, e.g.,brainstorming, risk analysis, requirements tracing, checklist validation, reviews, inspections, top-down integration, black-box testing, white- box testing, and many other Tools:broadly, can be classified in modeling notations (e.g., UML), and CASE tools (e.g., diagrammatic editors, programming environments, CVS, etc.) Computer games are software-intensive applications hence all the above do apply

  14. Looking around game development for software engineering There is an interesting reverse of the coin in this case Since computer games are software-intensive applications they can be used to bring software engineering “into the limelight” This includes • teaching software engineering [Oh, 2002] [Overmars, 2004] • playing for improving design tools [Tenzer, 2004] • simulating management environments [Rauch, 1990] • providing support for collaboration [Jern, 2002] [Siti, 2004] • stimulating innovation in the development process [Torvinen, 1998]

  15. Looking around various projects • Examples: • SE framework for game development [Emqvist, 2004] • Game Unified Process (GUP) [Flood, 2003] • Agile game development [Keith, 2005] • Improvement of processes and practices for F/OSS game development [Scacchi, 2003]

  16. Looking around various projects Examples (cont’d): • Applying game features in non-game applications [Fitzmaurice, 2003] • Test-driven game development [Llopis, 2005] • Serious games [David, 2004] [Handy, 2005]

  17. Looking around conferences, magazines, websites Game Development Conference March 2006, San Jose, CA IE-2005 The 2nd Australasian Conference on Interactive Entertainment November 2005, Sydney, AUS (deadline June 15, 2005) ENSYS-2005 The 1st International Conference on Entertainment Systems December 2005, Hawaii, (deadline July 1, 2005) Online Magazines: ACM Queue; Computer Games Magazine; DIGRA Online Journals: Game Studies: The International Journal of Computer Game Research Websites: buzzcut.com, gamesfromwithin.com, gamedev.net

  18. Looking around round table at GDC-2004 Three sessions, covering, among other [Llopis, 2004]: • Techniques • Coding standards • Code reviews • UML • Processes and methodologies • SCRUM • Test-driven development • Extreme programming

  19. Looking around round table at GDC-2004 Three sessions, covering, among other [Llopis, 2004] (cont’d): • Languages and tools • GUI development APIs • Documentation • Bug tracking More information is available at http://www.gamesfromwithin.com/articles/0403/000015.html

  20. 3Notes • By Sergiu, Eric, and Leo • By all present

  21. Notes by Sergiu, Eric, and Leo • Clearly, computer games are a different type of software • Yet, they are still software (perhaps even more so “software”) • Very exciting, challenging, rewarding • You can make a living while having fun • The game concept is crucial • Requirements are highly specific, complex, difficult to capture

  22. Notes by Sergiu, Eric, and Leo • Design seems to be “melted” into specification • In general, a “whole” approach for the project seems to be needed • Difficult to manage large teams • Specific principles, processes, activities, techniques and tools are needed; hence, very promising area of research • Both Aftermath and Partyopolis have taken shape very nicely

  23. Notes by all • _? • _? • _?

  24. 4Lights ahead • This class • Finish Beta versions • Have nice public demos • Perhaps more (Dr. Louis) • Other classes • Dr. Louis, Fall 2005? • In CS791z, for Spring 2006 the theme “Software Engineering for Game Development” is strongly considered

  25. 4Lights ahead • Beyond classes • Game Lab at CSE/UNR • Specific research topics identified and prioritized • Summarize experience and plan for the future • OSS repository • Your intentions, comments, suggestions?

  26. 5References Full references are available upon request [Adams, 2004] [Blow, 2004] [David, 2004] [Elmqvist, 2004] [Fitzmaurice, 2003] [Flood, 2003] [Handy, 2004] [Jern, 2002] [Keith, 2005] [Llopis, 2004] [Llopis, 2003] [Oh, 2002] [Overmars, 2004] [Rausch, 1990] [Scacchi, 2003] [Siti, 2004] [Tenzer, 2004] [Torvinen, 2004]

  27. Addendum • Video clips from CHI-2005, Portland, OR, April 2-7, 2005 • Martial arts in virtual environments • Intelligent lightning in games

More Related