1. Games Development 2 semester 1 Review & Revision
CO3301

2. Today’s Lecture Exam Overview Exam Structure Module Overview
Entity IDs & communication, update & rendering
Resource Management
Data for Games / XML
Scripting for Games / Python
Component-based Entities
Concurrent Programming
Tools for Games / C#
Picking
Example Questions

3. Exam Overview
Third year exams have a different focus than your second year exams:
2nd year: Explain process X; Describe concept Y
3rd year, some of the above
But also: Evaluate process X for use in situation Y; Compare techniques A & B
Some marks for explaining module content
But many more marks for being able to evaluate what you have learnt
Discussing topics rather than repeating them
Applies to a greater or lesser extent to all exams

4. Exam Structure Structure of this module’s exam:
Answer four questions out of six
Covering semester 1 and semester 2 material
3 hour exam
Many questions are focused on comparisons between techniques
E.g. Compare use of entity pointers with UIDs
Case studies often used as basis for discussion
Use notes and experience from labs / assignments to provide an intelligent discussion

5. Topics: Entity IDs & Comms
Need for and examples of entity identification
Identification alternatives:
Entity pointers, named entities, entity UIDs
Usage of each of the above
Discussion of relative merits
Implementing UIDs; Hash tables
Enitity interaction alternatives:
Direct entity-entity class interaction
Use of member functions
Messaging system; implementation issues
Pros and cons

6. Entity Update and Rendering
Unique update function for each entity type
Contrast with single scene update function
Pros and cons
Rendering functions, including pre- and post- rendering
Comparison with Model / Mesh approach
Presented turning & movement work in week 2
Supports Gareth's material
Method is examinable
With formulae

7. Resource Management Loading resources Resource Manager Resource IDs
At scene setup
Using setup script (c.f. XML)
Resources from templates
Streaming resources (large environments)
Resource Manager
Dealing with shared resources / resource destruction
Reference counting
Late loading of resources
Resource IDs
Kinds of resource

8. Text-based Game Data / XML
Hard-coded data
Examples
Limitations
Consider manual scene-setup & similar
Rationale for using structured data language in games
Flexibility
Future-proofing
Contrast between scripting and data languages
XML as a game data language
Pros & cons, alternatives

9. Scripting for Games / Lua / Python
Explanation of game scripting
Rationale
Ease of use, iteration time, scripts as assets, flexibility
Drawbacks
Performance
Clumsy interface code
Need for shared data between main code and script
Consideration for use of scripting or not
Case studies
Scripting languages
Lua / Python
Key features
Simple programming

10. Component-based Entities
Limitations of entity hierarchy / OO approach
Rigid hierarchy - inflexible
Tight coupling between parent & child etc.
Component based alternative:
Components represent entity properties or abilities
Add / remove components dynamically
Entities become simple containers
Pros & cons
Hierarchy much simplified
Great flexibility
Much more message passing
May be difficult to control precisely

11. Concurrent Programming
Explanation of concurrent programming
Distinction from parallel programming
Processes & Threads
Difference
Data / Resource Coordination
Example problem situations
‘Race’ Conditions
How to resolve
Synchronisation techniques
Critical Sections, Mutexes, Semaphores
Timers, Events
Deadlocks

12. Tools for Games Tools programming Tool chains
Tool types and uses
Tool development
Tool chains
Examples
Increasing use of other high level languages (e.g. C#)
Rationale for use in games tools

13. Material not on Exam
The mathematical detail of camera picking will not be examined
An overview of the process involved may be required though
Both Lua and Python may be covered
Especially comparative questions
However, any short scripts you are required to write will be in Lua

14. Example Questions i) Evaluate three methods for entity identification
ii) What are the advantages and disadvantages of component-based entities
i) Discuss the rationale for scripting in a large-scale commercial game
ii) Suggest a scenario when “.ini” files would be a justifiable alternative to XML files for text-based game data
Further examples provided on past paper and worksheet