Interactivity—AdventureGame (Treasure Hunt)
Basic Software-Engineering Principles
The software-engineering process involves analysis, design, implementation, andtesting.Developing complex software systems requires good analysis and problem-solvingskills. Good software begins with good design. Programming languages are justtools used to implement that design. Here are the features of a good design:
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Correctness.
The software should closely match the requirements.
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Robustness.
The software should operate as expected over a period of timeunder different circumstances.
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Ease of use and validation.
It should be easy to test the software and easy for end users to use the product.
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Maintainability.
The software should be easy to maintain and shouldoperate efficiently.
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Reusability.
Modules should be designed so that they can be reused.
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Scalability.
The software should be able to grow along with growing futurerequirements without major changes to the code or design.
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Portability.
The end product should be able to execute in a new environment with minimal changes.
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chapter 3
Object-oriented design (OOD) is based on objects or entities and their opera-tions. The designer identifies the objects in the problem and the operations thatthese objects need to perform.
Introduction to Game Design
Game-design process can help you structure your ideas and build your gameintelligently and efficiently and help you turn your finished product into one thatplayers can enjoy.
Design
refers to everything about your plan, including youridea, your code, audio, and the graphical elements of your game.
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Every game should have rules and objectives and criteria for successor failure.
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The game designer should provide an environment or terrain with objectsor assets, such as robots, spaceships, animals, characters, balls, etc.
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The game should have a story line that involves character development.
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The player should be able to achieve a goal (e.g., solve a puzzle, shootspaceships, or win money).
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The game should have some challenge associated with it.
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Periodically, rewards (like collection of points or money) should be givento the player.
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A game should provide variety with incentives for the player so that it isfun to play.
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The game should be easy to learn but tough to master.
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Rules should be simple, and quick feedback should be available throughthe game.
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Sound effects should be used to increase fun and excitement.
Importance of a Storyboard
The first thing you should do is determine the basic idea behind your game. Is ita shooting game, a maze or puzzle, an adventure game, or some mixed combi-nation? What is the objective of the game? Does the main character rescue others?Does he kill bad characters or just explore a strange environment? What time
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Interactivity—Adventure Game (Treasure Hunt)
frame is your game set in, or does it even have a time frame? Keep your audiencein mind and target your idea to fit. Then decide on the look and feel of yourgame.A
storyboard
tells the story, scene by scene, through the use of rough sketchesof each scene. A storyboard basically enables you to create a visual layoutof the entire game, based on the story. Having a storyboard to referencehelps ensure that you don’t lose sight of the story when you get into heavy development.Even if your game is a simple action game, developing a story line helps you toestablish the landscape and think up creatures to populate your game world.Putting your game in the context of a story also brings the game player closer to your world. For games in which the story is a more integral part, it is often usefulto develop a storyboard along with the story line.A storyboard also makes experimentation possible. You can try out new thingsand easily change your story line when it is in the storyboard stage.In a storyboard, you should put screen shots of scenes of your Flash program inan order that clearly tells your story. Plan your story so that the visual images andthe script can be clearly understood by reading your storyboard. Make sure thereis a smooth, clear, logical flow from shot to shot and scene to scene.
Functions
A function in Flash is a block of ActionScript code that can be reused.A function can be simply defined as a block of code that does a specific task andreturns a specific value. A function can take as input values called arguments orparameters that it uses to complete its task. For example, you could have afunction tocalculateareaofacirclegiventheradius.Thiscalculation requires thecircle’s radius, which can be passed as a parameter or argument to the function.The function uses this value to calculate the area and returns the area to the mainprogram.If you pass more parameters than the function requires, the extra values areignored. If you don’t pass a required parameter, the empty parameters areassigned the
undefined
data type, which can cause errors during run time.To call a function, simply use the function name and pass any required para-meters. Parameters appear within parentheses after the function name and are
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