PIGE
    Home
    .plan
    FAQ
    .log
Compiling
    Linux/UNIX
    Mac OS 8 & 9
    Mac OS X
    Windows
Downloads
    Source Code
    Executable Demos
    Thesis
Screenshots
    Crate
    Room
Tutorials
    Collision Detection
    Creating Icons
    OpenAL
    A*
Resources
    OpenGL
    OpenAL
    Game Dev
    Books
.plan
The intro covers the basics of what I plan on covering with PIGE. As with any large scale project, this list of intended items may shrink (probable) or grow (not as likely), depending on the amount of available time, brain power, and resources.

Here is the list of topics I will be covering with PIGE
  • 3D Game engine
  • Collision detection
  • Textures
  • Picking & selection
  • OpenAL and/or other sounds
Autumn 2001
During the Autumn of 2001, I am taking 3 credits of thesis, and during this time, my main goals involve setting up simple programs and getting them running under Mac, Linux, and Windows operating systems, and then begin constructing a simple example of the game engine. This first example may not include too much past a few corridors which the user can move about in. These are some of the intended goals to be fulfilled by the end of December.
  • Full screen mode
  • Lighting effects (from torches and/or overhead lights)
  • Navigating using keyboard and mouse events
  • Simple 3D engine
  • Texture mapping
Summer 2002
In the Summer 2002, I worked primarily on OpenAL. Proper tutorials and documentation are not easy to come by for OpenAL, and even more so in regards to OpenAL and Mac OS X. My current work is trying to separate the information and demos which I have found, and properly organize the code for PIGE. Especially in this realm, the PIGE project is not just its own project for a game engine, but it is also providing some useful and necessary information on OpenAL.

Autumn 2002
Yet another semester, and now time to pull out the magic hat and start pulling out some rabbits (and a few miracles along the way). Here is a loose schedule on what I'm planning on accomplishing along the way this semester.
  • Week 1 & 2 (3 - 14 September 2002) : Finalize OpenAL code and get a small sample working.
  • Week 3 (15 - 21 September) : Get certain items (like the cursor) to always appear on top of everything so it does not rotate or cut through the models.
  • Week 4 - 5 (22 September - 5 October) : Get picking and selection working.
  • Week 6 - 7 (6 - 19 October) : Implement collision detection
  • Further time will be spent on creating scenery or adding other features to the demo, such as switching between scenes/screens/rooms
  • Create documentation for the project. Need to make note of major and minor differences between the code of various platforms.
  • Fully test Linux, Windows, and Mac versions of code to assure that everything is working correctly.


Spring 2003
One more semester...that's all...this time. Or that is what I keep saying. If all which is planned goes as planned, the plan is, that the initial version of PIGE will be completed. In addition to the various components of getting a 3D engine working such as proper collision detection and object picking/selection, I might also incorporate some AI technologies such as path finding and using the A* search.
  • Week 1 & 2 (15 - 25 January) : A*
  • Week 3 & 4 (26 January - 8 February) : Object picking & selection in 3D space
  • Week 5 & 6 (9 - 22 February) : Collision detection in 3D space
  • Week 7 & 8 & 9 (23 February - 15 March) : Port code to Linux and Windows
Also during this time I should be doing my thesis write ups, in addition to posting information and code on this site. If I have more time at all, I will try and add lighting and fonts to the thesis.

Future
For this project, I am trying to create a core set of tools which should be easily extendible for other technologies to attach themselves to PIGE. Other areas I'd like to see PIGE reach towards are importing various file and model formats, whether it be Quake 2 models, or scenes from Maya or 3D Studio Max. Also, providing the proper tutorials for advanced lighting and shadow techniques. The proposed final result for PIGE is to develop it into a sophisticated and abled enough gaming engine to create the 3D RPG/Adventure game Psychomancer.
Page created: 20. September 2001
Last modified: 13. January 2003