Month 16: Engine Development 2. Game Networking and More Plunder

Wow almost in final project, we are all excited. This month we wrapped up the last core material class and learned a whole lot. In ED2, Matt Norris taught us many useful techniques that pro-game developers use in their own games. In GNW, Darryl Malcomb showed us how to get networking in our games and how the internet works. Those of us on the programming team for Plunder, the pirate-themed education game, also got to present our games this month.

In ED2, we added tour knowledge of game engines with many techniques. We learned various types of collision and response algorithms and more spatial partitioning systems. We also learned many lighting techniques such as deferred lighting, radiosity, ambient occlusion and normal mapping. We also got a chance to do terrain following.

We presented the Plunder prototype this month and had great responses. The mini-game I worked on helps students differentiate fragments vs. run-ons. The students do this by correcting a paragraph and then running across it to test their strength of the knowledge. We learned a lot and got to use an engine that took some getting used to, but all in all it was an awesome experience.

In GNW, we learned to use WinSock to pass data along a network. We also got to use RakNet and XNA networking APIs. We learned how to use TCP and UDP to send streams and datagrams. We also learned how to use non-blocking sockets. We learned how sockets communicate through ports and how data is sent and received in various methods throughout the internet. We learned about DNS and the services it provides to make web surfing user friendly. We made a chat program and a networking pong clone.

All and all it’s been a crazy trip and it’s about to get crazier with final project. These last two classes really showed us the ground work that good game modules and engines need to work fast and efficient. I can’t wait to be working on a game in the near future, all our hard work is paying off. The classes were interesting the teachers were cool, overall just another month in game dev.