This is an individual exam. Turn in an electronic copy (in .txt, .tex, .doc, .docx, .pdf, or .html format; plain text or PDF preferred) via bblearn. I think bblearn may be setup to encourage you to answer each question separately. In the event of bblearn failure, by e-mail to jeffery@uidaho.edu. You may read anything you want, but do not discuss your answers or consult anyone (no classmates, no internet forums) other than Dr. J; you may e-mail or visit him only if you need to clarify or disambiguate. Note: this exam is intended to be completed by you in approximately 2 hours' or less time, and the level of depth of answers expected is capped at that amount. If you have more time than that available to spend on my class, please work on your homework. However, it is up to you to decide how much time each problem deserves.
1. (20 points) Give an example of a time when new computer hardware enabled a new category of videogames, or when a videogame drove the creation of a new component or feature of computer hardware. Suggest a new category of videogame that might be likely as a result of some new computer hardware that is coming out, or likely to come out, or a videogame that might drive the creation of some new component or feature of computer hardware.
2. (20 points) Computer games are generally rated by the ESRB, and the book says in 2007 more than 50% of computer games were rated E for Everyone. Yet, I observe that when someone is playing Call of Duty, a rather violent first person shooter rated M for Mature, many of their opponents seem to be 8-year-olds that use horrible bad language. Is the ESRB rating system a failure, or does it serve a purpose? Should it be discontinued, or fixed?
3. (20 points) Judging from our homeworks this semester, it seems to be much more difficult to write a game that is fun to play than it is to write a game that is possible to play. Unfortunately, fun seems to be a subjective and personal trait that is difficult to "engineer" into a game. Describe three or more elements of a game design that contribute to it being fun. You may use an example from an existing game or games, but assume that the reader has never played it/them and explain what is fun and why.
4. (30 points) Design a narrative story line for a game that is about driving an automobile or other vehicle at night. You should include a golden path and appropriate storytelling techniques, while describing something that is interesting and feasible in game format.
5. (10 points) What are game "Entities"? What Entities did you have, and how did you represent them in memory, in the games that you wrote for homeworks #2 (Blizzard Blast) and #3 (Pac-Checkers)?
6. (10 points) Why is memory use in computer games more of an issue than it is in any other computer application? Under what circumstances might a game developer need to employ special techniques related to memory management?
7. (20 points) Why is the game Pac-Checkers (a mash-up of Pac-Man and Checkers), a fundamentally more difficult premise than the game Blizzard Blast, in which a person in a snow plow struggles hopelessly against natural forces that eventually overwhelm them? List several legitimate technical reasons based on your experience and ideas.