The Chosen Ones - Report2
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CISC 864 Group Project Report Number 2
Group Name: The Chosen Ones
Members: Edwin Locke, Sean Richards
Due: Friday March 17th 2006
Contents |
Description of the Project
Goal:
Since our first progress report, the scope of our project has changed significantly. It was originally our goal to make broad and shallow changes to the mechanics of the game, in order to give a sense of purpose to the player, and provide a challenge within the game. The general consensus was that this type of objective could not be accomplished within the restrictive structure of a semester-long university class, and so we have decided to shift focus. To this end, we have scaled down our project to a single topic -- buildings -- and have decided to do a detailed treatment of such.
Currently, there is only one building in the game: the cabin. It serves as a drop point for resources that are harvested by your ninja-citizens, and has little other purposeful or detrimental effect. It is our goal to add more buildings and building effects, and also to add the ability to buy and place new buildings, using the resources you have acquired.
Changes to game mechanics:
While the game has a method for placing buildings, it has no way for a player to choose what building he wants to place. This will be a problem that needs to be addressed when multiple types of buildings are added to the system.
At present, a player is able to place buildings anywhere on the given terrain. We have decided that this is not in keeping with the idea of a village, specifically that "Homes were situated together for sociability and defense." To this end, it is our goal to enforce a building distance rule, so that players may not build sparsely populated villages.
Buildings have no costs associated with them, which needs to be changed. The resources that your villagers collect should be used in creating your new buildings. In terms of in-game advancement, there would be certain types of resources that you could collect when you start, and those would be used to create primary buildings. Some of these building would allow you to harvest new types of resources, and these new resources could be used to upgrade some types of existing buildings and to create even more sophisticated structures. This fits with a major societal condition: that technological advance is an inherently iterative process. People use what they have available to attempt to unlock the secrets of the future.
Nick Graham has developed a general guideline for buildings which outlines many building possibilities as well as potential effects. We have decided to use some of the listed ideas, but also to modify the general flow of construction to make it more linear and less open-ended.
Buildings and their Effects
Elders' Hall:
The Elders' Hall will be the heart and soul of a village. It is the first building that a player will place, creating a nexus, as all new buildings will have to be placed in the proximity of this building.
An elders' hall can support two villagers.
The elders hall serves as a dropping point for lumber, at least until a lumber mill can be built.
This building holds the possibility of being upgraded in the future, increasing its capacity of villager support, as well as the radius in which buildings can be placed.
Lumber Mill:
The lumber mill serves as a dropping point for the lumber resource. This can be built on the side of the village closest to lumber resource nodes in order to speed up the harvesting process.
The lumber mill does not support extra villagers. Its sole purpose is in the gathering of resources.
The lumber mill costs 100 lumber to build.
Stone Quarry:
The stone quarry serves as a dropping point for the lumber resource. This can be built on the side of the village closest to stone resource nodes in order to speed up the harvesting process.
The stone quarry does not support extra villagers. Its sole purpose is in the gathering of resources.
The stone quarry costs 100 lumber to build.
Cabin:
Cabins exist for the sole purpose of supporting more villagers. Each cabin built supports one extra villager, allowing the town to grow.
Cabins cost 100 lumber and 100 stone to build.
Changes to User Interface
Minimal. Users will need a way to select the specific building that they want to place. Also, more verbose feedback from the game is required if a problem occurs (such as if the player cannot place the building they want due to lacking resources), so that the user will not be left guessing what went wrong.
Art Requirements
Minimal. Temporary building models will be provided until suitable replacements can be found.
Changes to Game Mechanics
Almost all changes to the code will take place in CAXBuilding and CAXBuildingManager. Methods need to be added for dropping new types of resources, figuring out the cost of a building, deciding if the player has enough resources of the needed type, deciding if a new building is within the allowable placing radius.
CAXGame will see minor changes to the beginning state of the game, to bring it in line with the changes proposed above.
Building templates will see some very minor changes. Namely, buildings will have a cost attribute attached to them, measured in each type of resource.
Timeline
Our timeline for the remainder of the semester is as follows.
Week 11 (March 17 - March 24):
- Modify the village's starting state to reflect proper starting buildings and villagers
- Addition of all new building templates
- Drop points for all resources
- Cost attributes for all buildings
Week 12 (March 25 - March 31):
- Develop a system by which the user can place different types of buildings
- Check for sufficient resources when a building is placed
- Check that a new building is within the placeable radius
Week 13 (April 1 - April 6):
- Final Presentation and report
Interaction with Other Groups
All group interaction will take place with the Innovative Resources group, adding buildings that tie into the new resources that they have developed as part of their project.
Lessons Learned
We have essentially learned through the course of this project the importance of setting concrete goals early, and that those goals should be small, incremental steps on what already exists.
--Edwin 06:55, 20 Mar 2006 (EST)
