Ball Bearing Video Game (Android App)

BALL BEARING VIDEO GAME (ANDROID APP)Student: John Connolly – 09005970(Multimedia & Computer Games Development)Supervisor: Dr. Patrick Healy

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

TEETER

ICUBE

MY VISION• The game will be of a similar concept to that of Teeter• Analysis of Teeter type game vs. iCube type gameReasons for choosing Teeter type game:• Timescale• Scale of the project• Complexity

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

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

MY VISION (CONT’D)What I am talking about!

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

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……

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

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

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

Timeline

Research

Mock Ups

Game Objects/Models

FYP Report

Product Development & Coding

Level Design

Working Tilt Mechanism

A Fully Working Level

2013 Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan2014 Feb Mar Apr 2014

Today

Cut-off Date for both Report and Product

24/4/2014Final FYP Report Submission Date

17/4/2014Final Product

Submission Date

7/4/2014Demo Days

2/4/2014Draft Report

13/3/2014Interim Report

2/1/2014Deadline Agreement

Form

14/11/2013

Supervisor Marking Scheme

14/11/2013

FYP Presentation18/10/2013

Project Proposal Deadline

23/9/2013

2013 Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan2014 Feb Mar Apr 2014

Today

Cut-off Date for both Report and Product

24/4/2014Final FYP Report Submission Date

17/4/2014Final Product

Submission Date

7/4/2014Demo Days

2/4/2014Draft Report

13/3/2014Interim Report

2/1/2014Deadline Agreement

Form

14/11/2013

Supervisor Marking Scheme

14/11/2013

FYP Presentation18/10/2013

Project Proposal Deadline

23/9/2013

11/11/2013 - 17/2/2014

11/11/2013 - 3/2/2014

11/11/2013 - 13/1/2014

Product Testing & Debugging24/3/2014 - 7/4/2014

11/11/2013 - 7/4/2014

24/11/2013 - 17/4/2014

24/10/2013 - 29/11/2013

24/10/2013 - 29/11/2013

23/9/2013 - 29/11/2013

Chronology Table

Milestone(s)

Date Description

23/9/2013 Project Proposal Deadline

18/10/2013 FYP Presentation

14/11/2013 Supervisor Marking Scheme

14/11/2013 Deadline Agreement Form

2/1/2014 Interim Report

13/3/2014 Draft Report

2/4/2014 Demo Days

7/4/2014 Final Product Submission Date

17/4/2014 Final FYP Report Submission Date

24/4/2014 Cut-off Date for both Report and Product

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

Task(s)

Duration(Days)

Start Date End Date Description

68 23/9/2013 29/11/2013 Research

37 24/10/2013 29/11/2013 Mock Ups

37 24/10/2013 29/11/2013 Game Objects/Models

145 24/11/2013 17/4/2014 FYP Report

148 11/11/2013 7/4/2014 Product Development & Coding

15 24/3/2014 7/4/2014 Product Testing & Debugging

64 11/11/2013 13/1/2014 Level Design

85 11/11/2013 3/2/2014 Working Tilt Mechanism

99 11/11/2013 17/2/2014 A Fully Working Level

Thanks for listeningAny Questions?