Ball Bearing Video Game (Android App)

1. Ball Bearing Video Game (Android App) Student: John Connolly – 09005970 (Multimedia & Computer Games Development) Supervisor: Dr. Patrick Healy

2. Project Description • Navigating ball bearings through mazes were once popular toys • The goal of this project is to develop an android version of these • Examples: Teeter, iCube

3. Teeter

4. iCube

5. My Vision • The game will be of a similar concept to that of Teeter • Analysis of Teeter type game vs. iCube type game Reasons for choosing Teeter type game: • Timescale • Scale of the project • Complexity

6. My Vision (cont’d) Levels • Maze style levels with an end point to reach • It will contain obstructions and areas where balls can fall of the grid causing a fail state • Contemplating random generation of the levels • Pros: Learning and experience, impressive feature (more research needed) • Cons: Restricts control of level difficulty as you cannot predict the generation of the level, therefore hard to provide game rewards justifiable to the difficulty completed

7. My Vision (cont’d) Levels (cont’d) • Have different zones split into 3-5 levels like in Sonic the Hedgehog or Super Mario • This helps to vary the game graphically to keep it vibrant and interesting instead of dull and boring

8. My Vision (cont’d) What I am talking about!

9. My Vision (cont’d) Rewards • 3 stars in total can be received for each level • 1 for completion, 1 for collecting all objects and 1 for completing the level within a certain amount of time • These stars will be used to unlock levels to increase difficulty of progression

10. Environment & Tools • Language: Java, some XML • Development Environment: Eclipse with ADT plugin (Android Development Tool) • Choice between Eclipse and Google Android Studio • Chose Eclipse – ‘Better the devil you know’ so to speak • Google Android Studio is relatively new and can be prone to being buggy • GAS – probably the future of Android development……

11. Environment & Tools (cont’d) • Unity: Will use this as the tool to create the game and the levels • It’s free and multiplatform from Android to PS3 to iOS to Xbox • AAA quality and performance • Again ‘Better the devil you know’. It’s a program I have used before

12. Environment & Tools (cont’d) • Stagelight: I will use this for music production and creation for my game • Professional tool created by Open Labs in conjunction with Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park • Very cheap at $15 for a professional tool • Blender: To model all the objects in the game • Again it’s a free, high quality popular tool

13. Environment & Tools (cont’d) • API Guides: Will be using the Android API Guides to manipulate the motion sensors in the android phones here: http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/sensors/sensors_motion.html

14. Timeline

15. Research 23/9/2013 - 29/11/2013 Mock Ups 24/10/2013 - 29/11/2013 Game Objects/Models 24/10/2013 - 29/11/2013 FYP Report 24/11/2013 - 17/4/2014 Product Development & Coding 11/11/2013 - 7/4/2014 Product Testing & Debugging 24/3/2014 - 7/4/2014 Level Design 11/11/2013 - 13/1/2014 Working Tilt Mechanism 11/11/2013 - 3/2/2014 A Fully Working Level 11/11/2013 - 17/2/2014 Supervisor Marking Scheme Supervisor Marking Scheme Today Today 14/11/2013 14/11/2013 Sep Sep Oct Oct Nov Nov Dec Dec Jan 2014 Jan 2014 Feb Feb Mar Mar Apr Apr 2013 2013 2014 2014 23/9/2013 23/9/2013 18/10/2013 18/10/2013 14/11/2013 14/11/2013 2/1/2014 2/1/2014 13/3/2014 13/3/2014 2/4/2014 2/4/2014 7/4/2014 7/4/2014 17/4/2014 17/4/2014 24/4/2014 24/4/2014 Project Proposal Deadline Project Proposal Deadline FYP Presentation FYP Presentation Deadline Agreement Form Deadline Agreement Form Interim Report Interim Report Draft Report Draft Report Demo Days Demo Days Final Product Submission Date Final Product Submission Date Final FYP Report Submission Date Final FYP Report Submission Date Cut-off Date for both Report and Product Cut-off Date for both Report and Product

16. Chronology Table

17. Timeline: 23/09/2013 - 24/04/2014

19. Thanks for listening Any Questions?