Meetings

ADAM Minutes

Minutes for February 17th, 2009

Video Game Project Discussion

Game Voting

At the onset of the meeting we announced a game development project. We offered the possibility of creating either a turn-based strategy game, or a platformer. Vote results:

  • TBS – 3
  • Platformer – Overwhelming Majority

Platformer Examples:

  • Mario
  • Sonic
  • Metroid

Java is not our best option for developing platformers. We have some new programmers in this group and we don’t want to worry ourselves with performance issues related to using the JVM. Additionally, many graphical frameworks for Java are poorly documented and difficult for beginners to understand.

Flash is also not a good option for developing a platformer. Flash requires significant optimization forethought, which in turn requires deep API knowledge of ActionScript 3. Again, we have many beginning programmers in this group. Trying to teach the entire Flash platform before coding is too significant of an undertaking.

XNA Framework
[Showed videos demonstrating platformer games developed using the XNA framework]

Game Brainstorming:

  • Main character represents a particular operating system.
  • Start with kernel and upgrade as game progresses.

Ideas!

  • Graphical evolution of mascot/character.
  • Quest for upgrades — What about a money system? Where you buy your upgrades?
  • Choose particular Linux distribution
  • Bosses!
    • Viruses
    • Pixel! The graphical monster!!!
    • Steve Jobbs – We can kill the Ipad
    • Nexus one
    • Android drone
    • Other operating system characters – symbian, android, other linux, solaris, chrome OS.
    • Milo
    • OSI
  • Enemies
    • I’m a Mac and I’m a PC guy and Tux. Stick figures!
  • Hardware extensions
  • Shoot bugs and/or shoot out numbers (gun that shoots binary)
  • Shooting packets and upgrade weapon
  • Gun – Virus protected
  • Fragmentation/Defragmentation
  • Address space is level set
  • High score system
  • Cheat codes
  • Xbox level. Kill the red ring!
  • Bonus level – Speed toads
  • Environmental effects/hazards
  • Different storylines for different characters?
  • Google is the big bad boss
  • Atomic levels vs Connected levels – topic for story team to work out

IF YOU HAVE ANYMORE IDEAS SHOOT US AN EMAIL! – Please do, we are nice.
- adam.uf.president@gmail.com <— Matt
- adam.uf.vicepresident@gmail.com <— Brad
- adam.uf.publicist@gmail.com <— that’s me (Tarif)
- www.adamuf.com

Resource Management

We will create a Google Project for our game. This project will provide SVN support so that we may manage work distributed over the entire group. SVN will be explained and demonstrated at the first developer meeting.

Video game tournament:

ADAM will host a video game tournament the Saturday and Sunday (March 20th and 21st) after spring break at the Digital Worlds Institute. We are working on funding. Proposed games are CODMW2 and Madden NFL ‘10.