Progress Report

Work on the programming side of the MiniTanks project continues to progress as we near Milestone 2.
Code for the bases is now ready to be implemented in the main version of the game thanks to Matt's hard work.
The team selection GUI has been refined further and now offers the functionality we desire for the end product.
Interim models have been successfully implemented in one build and mysteriously failed in another copy of the same build. Due to time constraints we do not have time to investigate the cause of the failure and as such we will use the successful build as the main version adding elements from other builds to it. The final models continue to cause great pain due to their complexity.
Documentation is moving forward with in depth Technical Documentation of the Random Terrain system being completed and some very small progress on the Game Design Documentation.

As of next week we will formally be stopping all code work to focus solely on documentation and the presentation. It is our intent to use the milestone 2 presentation as a practice run for the final presentation and as such the time between Milestone 2 and the Final Presentation will be used to refine or revise what we present at Milestone 2.

Milestone 2 and the Final Presentation Dates

Tim provided the dates for Milestone 2 and the Final Presentation today.

Milestone 2 will take place on the 26th of November and the
Final Presentation will take place on the 11th of December.

This leaves 6 weeks until Milestone 2 and one week between Milestone 2 & the Final Presentation in which to finish the Project. As the Programming team has decided to spend two weeks before the Final Presentation working on documentation and the actual presentation, we will need to finish work on the actual game before the 19th of November.
In the next 5 weeks the Programming team hopes implement the following features:

• Fixed tank models
• Team selection
• Interim HUD
• Player data save system
• Tank type selection
• Bases

We also hope to create documentation covering some of the following Game Design Documentation:

• Descriptions for: Tank types their abilities, customisation & upgrade options; Upgrades options for the Tanks; Power-ups and special weapons.
• Features of the engine
• Gameplay Mechanics: Pillars; Save/Load Scheme
• Level Layouts
• User Interface

In addition we will attempt to document the Technical Design of features we have implemented so far, such as:

• Random Terrain
• Random Terrain object placement
• The Tank

Finally we want to have a task list and a Gantt chart.

As things stand we should be on target to hopefully achieve most of our goals.

Revised Plans

The uploaded image is the proposed final document template. I have uploaded the template to the share (in the Programming Documentation folder), unfortunately it is only compatible with Word 2007 (it uses all the shiny new stuff).
For our first class of the new term Dhiren and I have revised the tasks schedule (the new version of Milestone2_Tasks.xls is on the share in the Programming Documentation folder), and discussed future plans. We have also talked Tim into doing some graphics work for our in-game interface (the HUD) and clarified how much time remains before Milestone 2 & the Final Presentation.
Included in the new tasks schedule is a list of some potential documentation to be created. The list is divided into Game Design Documentation (GDD) and Technical Design Documentation (TDD). The new task schedule acknowledges completed work (multiplayer implementation - dedicated server functionality only), removes various unnecessary tasks, and formally adds documentation as a task for all members.
Finally in regards to my own first task of the base code I have been a bit uncertain on how to start as I do not recall if we defined the object that would be used as the base and the method the base will use to carry out it's functions (i.e. use a trigger object - though problems arise with drawing a trigger dynamically around a randomly positioned base). As such I would greatly appreciate being able to talk to the full programming team at the next Project class, if not before.

Milestone 2 - 18/11/08

Exactly what milestone 2 is and when it will take place have yet to be finalised. However it is known that the final presentation at the end of the semester is to be Milestone 3 and that a rough plan exists to use the two weeks before Milestone 3 as preparation time for the presentation. As such Milestone 2 should be expected sometime around the Eighteenth of November, 7 weeks into second term (assuming the presentation will take place on the Ninth of December in the second last week of semester; second last because the last week is usually reserved for catch up).
28 hours of class time minus 8 hours for planning, discussion, and other miscellaneous tasks leaves little time to achieve our goals. Before the term break the programming team assigned prioritised tasks, with estimated work time, to each member. Below is the working task list:

Jordan

1. Implement multiplayer - 1 hour
   
2. Light Tank Model - 6 hours
   
3. Light Tank Code - 3 hours

• Total: 10 hours

Brett

1. Base Code 3 hours
2. Power-up Code 6 hours
3. Power-up Model 3 hours
4. Upgrade Power-up Models 12 hours
5. Refine Power-up System 12 hours

• Total: 36 hours

Dhiren

1. Implement Multilayer 1 hour
2. HUD Graphics 6 hours
3. HUD code 6 hours

• Total: 13 hours

Matt

1. Base spawning code 12 hours
2. Scoring 12 hours

• Total: 24 hours

As seen above the time for assigned work is not completely balanced, however it is important to note that the estimations for the time required for most tasks was made optimistically and it there was an unspoken agreement to not place too much on the schedules of all members so as to allow those members to be able to deal with unexpected issues that may arise. Already since this plan was created a previously overlooked task has arisen; this task being the loading and saving of player data from an external database. Alternately it is notable that some of the above tasks are complete or nearing completion.

At the commencement of the new term it would be advisable to have a meeting involving the entire class in order to restate our goals, refine the tasks required to reach them, and give members a better understanding of what others are doing and how that may relate to their own work.