Over 1,000 Games for Windows (Nodtronics)

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ Over 1,000 Games for Windows (Nodtronics) / Over 1000 Games for Windows.iso / ARCADE / SSG / TECHINFO.TXT < prev

Wrap

Text File | 1997-08-07 | 8.5 KB | 430 lines

---------------------------------------------------------- | TECHINFO.TXT - Explanations and technical info about SSG | |----------------------------------------------------------| | by Chuck Lantz and Tom Darby for CS 257 - OOD, | | Carleton College, Northfield, MN 55057. | ---------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- | CONTENTS | ---------- I. Tech/design info i. Objectives ii. Objects iii. Speed considerations II. The Game i. The plot and object of the game ii. Menu control iii. Player control III. Closing comments -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------- | I.i. - OBJECTIVES | ------------------- Spiffy Spaceguy (SSG) was written with the following criteria in mind: 1) Implementation of Object-Oriented Design techniques 2) A game that's fun to play 3) A game that's fast and will run on a 486 class machine -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------- | I.ii. - OBJECTS | ----------------- Here are the basic objects in the game (NOTE: /,-, and \ denote an inheritance): Graphics objects ---------------- Bitmap Sprite Font Menu objects ------------ Main Menu / Menu -| \ Options Menu Ship objects ------------ AI ships / Ship -|- Player ship |\ | Shrapnel \ Booms -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------- | I.iii. - SPEED CONSIDERATIONS | ------------------------------- Because of our third criterion (speed), we had to make some concessions to the first objective. Specifically, we used the "Spawn_Sprite" routines, and did not break the AI ship routine into several other derived classes. Why? Well, we decided the fastest way to do collision detection was through the use of a large "AI ship array" rather than splitting it up into several smaller arrays. This is faster as we do not have to traverse several arrays and compare each element to each element in each array, but rather simply have to traverse one single array. As a result, we called weapons and enemies AI ships and gave them values that allowed them to interact correctly. This was MUCH faster than our original multiple derivation idea. Adding other ships to the AI ship class is quite simple, and only involves a case statement. Next, we note that all the images are also stored in one array. Originally, we had the system dynamically allocate storage for the image of each ship as it was created, and deallocate as destroyed, but that turned out to be quite slow and sucked up a large amount of RAM when a large number of sprites were on the screen. Thus, the array was created and the images are accessed by way of an enumerated type which IS stored by each object. (Thus we have a sort of pointer to an image stored rather than the image itself.) Finally, the spawn sprite issue. Since we needed classes to create large numbers of objects from different classes, we needed some method for them to "spawn" (or create) a new object quickly and efficiently. The "Spawn_Sprite" functions were our answer. They are simply inline functions that declare a object to be "active" and give it some important starting information. Note that these functions are overloaded (and have default values for object specific information) and thus allow us to call "one function" to activate any object type. In this current version we do not have the system check for speed and decide on how many sprites should be active (this will be added later), so we have the OPTIONS menu which allows you to reduce the number of objects on the screen on slower machines. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------- | II.i. - THE PLOT AND OBJECT OF THE GAME | ----------------------------------------- ( NOTE: Spiffy Spaceguy I is also known as Spaceman Spiff and was changed for copyright reasons. This game is based upon SSG I which was created by Tom Darby for CS117. ) THE PLOT -------- When we last saw our hero, he was returning home to Earth after vanquishing the evil Gorkon Armada and foiling their plot to destroy the universe as we know it. In anticipation of a hero's welcome (and party), Spiffy Spaceguy was pouring his first celebritory martini, envisioning the grand gala reception that awaited him. SUDDENLY, a panicked voice crackled over the radio. Stirred but unshaken (ha ha), Spiffy Spaceguy turned to the controls of his ship and listened... "MAYDAY, MAYDAY! We are under attack by the K'irjnarr fleet! We can't stop them, there's--there's too many--anyone, help! Come in! Stop them before they reach Earth! No, no! Oh, the humanit-- *KSHZZZZZZT* Cursing, Spiffy Spaceguy threw his martini glass out the window (ha ha) and punched in the hyperdrive. Like it or not, he knew that he was the only pilot good enough to stop the massive K'irjnarr fleet and save Earth. With a blinding flash, Spiffy Spaceguy's ship leapt forward, disappearing into the vast emptiness that is space... His celebration will have to wait. THE OBJECTIVE ------------- When the game begins, Spiffy Spaceguy has just caught up to the evil K'irjnaar's first wave of ships headed towards Earth. Spiff must fight his way through them in an attempt to help decimate the fleet's multitudes and save Earth. He will have to make it through countless onslaughts of K'irjnaar ships and mine fields to ultimately save the universe. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------- | II.ii. - MENU CONTROL | ----------------------- When the game starts, the "Squeal! Production" sign will appear. If you press a key then, you will advance to the menu. If you don't, you will enter the introduction. (If you choose to see the introduction, hit a key to make the next section of text scroll up.) Once the title screen appears, hit a key and the main menu will show up. Press up and down to move the spaceship next to the option you want to select and press enter. These options are: NEW GAME - Begins a new game from WAVE 1. CONTINUE - If you died, this will start you from the wave you died on, but will set your score to 0. OPTIONS - This goes to the Options menu QUIT - Quits the game If you choose to go to the options menu, you will see a list of these settings: MAX SHRAPNEL - The maximum amount of shrapnel that can be on the screen at any one time. BOOM SHRAPNEL - The amount of shrapnel launched when a ship explodes MAX BOOMS - The maximum number of "booms" (oof, thud, blammo, etc..) that can be on the screen at any time. MAX SPRITES - The maximum number of gunshots and AIs that can be on the screen at any time. STARS PER LEVEL - The number of stars at each scroller level SOUND SETUP - Currently not implemented. Press the left and right arrow keys to change these settings, and press ESC when you are done. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------- | II.iii. - PLAYER CONTROL | -------------------------- You control Spiffy Spaceguy's ship via the mouse. Pressing the left mouse button will cause this ship's weapon to fire, and the right mouse button selects which weapon you use. Pressing the mouse button will cause the newly selected weapon to flash just under the status bar on the game screen. Other keys of interest: P - Pauses the game. ESC - Aborts your current game. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------ | IV. - CLOSING COMMENTS | ------------------------ Chuck and Tom put a great deal of effort into this project, but had a great time doing it. We hope you enjoy the game!!!