Final Blog for Engineering 253

Okay, so this is the final week of Engineering 253: Design and Communication II. The format for this week is to write a few paragraphs on what we accomplished this week and what we thought. So, this week we started off with us putting the finishing touches on our games and then they were marked individually by Dennis. This didn't go so well I dont think, He didnt look very impressed. We also worked on our final reports for the Mustard Seed project and started to put the finishing touches on our logbooks. This led us all to Thursday, which was the Open House for this project.

The Open House consisted of every great piece of Engineering work form 253 right up to 3rd and 4th year projects. Our lab group had Jamie, Julia, and Jovana showcasing our project to the many people who felt like looking, and more specifically, the Engg 253 co-ordinators and the Mustard Seed Representatives. The Open House didnt really go over that well either, I dont think that the Mustard Seed really appreciated the idea of a computer game to help the homeless and it looked as though they felt that they had to be there more than wanted too. Anyway, I hope they didnt think too badly of us, seeing as how we actually did try really hard on this project.

Friday was a pretty lazy day considering it was BSD and I think many instructors were surprised at how many of us showed up. This was our time to finish up our logbooks early to hand them in early so that we could study all weekend. We all accomplished the PM reflection and put the table of contents into our logbooks.

Project Management Reflection:

Compared to the PM team that was used in the RGM project, we as a group feel that this method was much more successful. Because a member of each team was on the committee, ideas were relayed with efficiency and work packets were distributed effectively. This prevented a big scurry like the RGM project, we had a nice flow and the project came together with ease. We met all our deadlines resulting in a huge relief off our chest. Everybody in the PM team felt they knew exactly what was going on in the lab, which is an excellent thing. All grade A amazing members who we could almost trust our lives with, great team, beautiful people. Although we did feel this project was a bit restrained, even thou major measures were put in place as to do the exact opposite. We were using freeware off the Internet.


This week in lab we accomplished quite a lot. Both the poster and design manual were completed with time to spare leaving us plenty of time to prepare for the open house. As a lab we feel the open hose went very well and the product we were presenting was very strong. All the feed back we have received about the open house and our final game has been very positive, reaffirming our confidence in the quality of our work. Also this week, Denis and company marked our projects on a table to table basis and it seems to have gone very well.

From our perspective there isn’t a lot we would have changed about the execution of this project. All groups worked very well together, and the timeline put in place by the project management was followed almost flawlessly resulting in a timely and successful completion of aspects the video game. Great time overall.

White lab A Final Blog

The final product of the mustard seed project was compiled this week and final testing and changes were made in order to make it have the least amount of errors possible. The computer sprites in some of the games needed to be changed to become more professional and some other games needed code changes to stop freezing or control errors. The board games were also altered during this time to appear more professional.

Preparation for the open house was also done this week. The poster was made by Gerry, Rachel and Connor while Shaun and Colin worked on finalizing the computer games. Kyle and Josh worked on making a presentation for the open house and organized the games to bring to the event.

In the final lab everyone sorted through assignments to fill their portfolios and continued working on the final reports that are due on monday. All lab pieces were found and accounted for and everyone shook hands as they parted ways. Overall their was a good experience of group work and community in our lab and everyone will be missed.

It is done! This week all tables finished their levels, and the final game was made! The design manuals were printed as was the poster ... Huzzah!! The surprise presentations held during the long lab this week were not much appreciated by the students. No-one was certain what was expected in the presentations, nor on what the marking guides were... was there ever any information posted on this?? But we somehow, just somehow, managed to get trough it.

Then came the Open House. Dressed very professionally, and might I say very sexy, Michael Mund and Arpad Soos were left in charge of manning the tables. Accompanying them were some members of the lab, and their presence was much welcome. Although some passersby, and other students stopped to marvel at our amazing poster, and try a shot at our game (which we were told was awesome!) , it was pretty much a dull morning. The presentations themselves weren't too exciting either ... we didn't get any feedback from the Mustard Seed or the lab coach. All in all, it was quite uneventful.

Although our final project was what could be expected with the time limit, available program, and experience, some simple changes could be made. First of all, a better "start-up" screen for the game, could have been created. Although it had been decided upon to create a splash-screen where the player could choose what level they wanted to play, this , for some strange reason, was not created. Another change that could be made would be to make each level more similar. Although there were many aspects of the game that resembled one another from level to level, it was clearly seen that the game had been created by separate teams/people. A final change could have been to make the games easier. Some of the levels were found to be quite difficult to beat, so simplifying them would have made for a better overall final game.h

White Lab D friday april 9

White lab D this week

- The PM committee is approaching completion for the open house poster

- Each Table completed their part of the video game and the process of interconnection via a hub world has begun

- Certain individuals were chosen to represent the lab at the open house on the 15^th

- The PM committee started discussion as to how we will approach the open house and made some progress on the design Manual

- Mark, Devon and Mark made a phenomenal blog

Goals for next week

- Finish Hub World and have all games attached and working.

- Present each game in its glory

- Finish Poster and prepare for the open house

- Have open house presentation ready

- Make Friday a blur

A1 Accomplishments:
- Integrated the mastermind game with the lab's game menu.
- Fixed a couple of glitches caused by the integration of the game.
- Created a visually-appealing button that links the general menu with the mastermind game
- Purchased the needed materials for the board-game of lines and dots
- Started to work on lines and dots

A1 Goals:
- Create an instructions booklet
- Prepare the oral presentation
- Finish the two remaining games.

A2 Accomplishments:

- Programmed instructions for computer game and physical game

- Tested computer game and made changes accordingly

- Finished menu system

- Started final testing on physical game

- Integrated main game into main package

A2 Goals:

- Work on presentation poster for thursday

- Finish final report

- Finish testing

A3 Accomplishments:
-Put scoring system in games for group
-Finalized games for group
-Amended contract for penalties to late games for integration
-Integrated 4 games into the final package for the final product
-Menu+menu graphics completed

A3 Goals:
-Receive and integrate remaining games
-Follow up on contract amendment + apply penalties as necessary
-Polish finished project

A4 Accomplishments:

- Finished computer based game

- Completed board game

- Bought materials to make board for board game and spin piece

- Made board game pieces

- Tested computer game and made changes accordingly

A4 Goals:

- Work on final report

- Make design manual for lab

- Finish assembling final product for board game

A5 Accomplishments:

- Completed the final draft of the game

- Had a teem meeting to discuss progress

- Team members creating the game met twice to work out all of the kinks

- Final report was started

- Work packages were adjusted

A5 Goals:

- Have the rough draft of the final report done by Tuesday

- Help out wherever else is needed

- Help work on the poster for the open house

A6 Accomplishments:

- Completed animal chess game on game maker

- Integrated animal chess with PM team

- Finished making the board for the gear game

A6 Goals:

- Finish gear game

- Make final report

A9 Achievements:
- Finished the tutorial section of the game
- Worked on graphics of the game
- Integrated the individual parts of the game into a group game
- Created M.C.Q.S related to time management and organization
- Went through the errors in functionality requirement report

A9 Goals:
- Fix the errors in the game, Add sound and time options
- Integrate the game with lab
- Finish final report

Grapical Report # 5 for Lab C

Here is graphical report #5 for Lab c on where the lab is, vs. where the lab planned to be.

White Lab B - Mustard Seed Challenge Week 6

OVERVIEW OF PROGRESS

TABLE B1

What was done this week

• Document editing
• Finished the manual
• Almost finished the game (still debugging)

What is going to be done next week

• Finish the game
• Final report

TABLE B2

What was done this week

• Finished one part of the game (still undergoing debugging)
• Finished the manual
• Started working on the final report
• Functionality requirement for the final report if finished

What is going to be done next week

• Debugging the game
• Parts of the final report
• Integrate final report

TABLE B3

What was done this week

• Finished game development (undergoing continual debugging and testing)
• Intermediate testing is finished and final testing in progress
• Finished the manual

What is going to be done next week

• Finish the final report
• Finish testing of the game

TABLE B4

What was done this week

• Finished their game
• Continued debugging and testing
• Divided up work for the final report (started work on it)
• Finished the manual

What is going to be done next week

• Final report
• Finish testing of the game
• Prepare for the Open House

TABLE B5

What was done this week

• Almost finished the game and changing the sprite
• Finished the manual
• Started work on the final report

What is going to be done next week

• Final report

TABLE B8

What was done this week

• Finished the manual
• Printed off the errors
• Finished the lab poster
• Decided on the sprite to be used by the lab
• Almost completed the game (still debugging)

What is going to be done next week

• Debugging of the game
• Final report
• Prepare for the Open House

MONITORING AND CONTROL

A linked Gantt Chart is presented to visually demonstrate the expected and actual progress of the lab over the past week.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

With the end in sight many teams are nearing completion of the game. Testing and debugging is being finished and work on the final report starting/continuing. Many teams are excited to be finishing not only the project, but the course, the term, and the first year of engineering... However, with this comes finals (yikes!).

But there still some work left. Michael Mund and Arpad Soos have been elected as the presenters for the Open House, and a poster created by Arpad is to be printed at Staples this weekend and unveiled on Thursday. Some final last minute programming needs to be done, and then... it's done! Good luck to all teams this final week!!

Table update - Lab C - April 9

The table accomplishments for this week are
C1 - finished the main portion of their game, only questions need to be added
- wrote their portion of the lab manual
C2 - Worked on the game
- They have finished creating all the moving sprites
C6 - completed their level of the game
- created poster and finished as much of the final report as possible up to date
C7 - Finished and started their game this week
- Divided up the portions for the final report
C8 - Finished their game
- submitted their game overview and lab manual components
C9 - Fixed their game
- They have created all the questions for their level

White Lab C - What is Going to be Done Next Week

What we, the C lab are going to be doing next week

C2:

• Prepare for open house and final marking
• Final report

C6:

• Finish final report
• Edit final report
• Edit design manual
• General open house preparation

C7:

• Final report
• Get ready for the open house

C8:

• Final report
• General open house preparation

C9:

• Finish final report
• Open house preparation

C1:

• Finish final report
• Open house preparation

Week of the 29th to the 2nd

This week in White Lab table C8

• Continued working on our games
• Started Posters and organization for Open House
• Had group meetings to see where everyone is at
  

Goals Accomplished this week:

· Poster layout has been decided by the PM team

· More game work has been accomplished

· Hub World design has started

Goals for Next week:

· Games need to be done and tested for the 6^th

· Hub world should start being put together

· Programmer should share programming woes with fellow team for final report details.

· Final Report work should start

· More Poster work to be completed

· Plan for user guide should start

White Lab B - Mustard Seed Challenge Week 5

OVERVIEW OF PROGRESS

TABLE B1

What was done this week

• Continued game development

What is going to be done next week

• Further development of the game
• Work on the final report

TABLE B2

What was done this week

• Finished the background
• The stages of the game have been made
• Distributed work and set deadlines for the final report
• Discussed about the open house and the poster
• Continued debugging of the came

What is going to be done next week

• Finish the game
• Start work on the final report and have it finished

TABLE B3

What was done this week

• Continued game development

What is going to be done next week

• Further development of the game
• Work on the final report

TABLE B4

What was done this week

• Explored more with Gamemaker (moving platforms, shooting, portals, respawning enemies, etc.)
• Designed more level maps
• Drew sketches of Sprites and enemies
• Set deadlines for components of game
• Planned game testing

What is going to be done next week

• Game creation to be at 75% of completed
• Write quiz and fine-tune documents
• Collaborate with lab on sprite to be used
• Start preparing design transfer package

TABLE B5

What was done this week

• Finished the base frame of the game
• Programming for character, enemies, collectibles, moving platforms, questions, and answers was completed
• Discussed/created questions
• Looked for additional game ideas

What is going to be done next week

• Hope to have game finished
• Implementing backgrounds and level themes
• Start work on the final report

TABLE B8

What was done this week

• Completed layout of all rooms
• Added to game: moving platforms, items, background
• Massive debugging (successful)
• Work for final report divided among group members
• Designed sprite to be used by the lab

What is going to be done next week

• Finish all levels, and wrap up development
• Test the completed game and debug as necessary
• Work on the final report

MONITORING AND CONTROL

A linked Gantt Chart is presented to visually demonstrate the expected and actual progress of the lab over the past week.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The deadline is fast approaching! Many teams are falling behind and are feeling the pressure, with finals approaching and assignments from other courses weighing down on their time. With all this in mind, many are feeling like they will not be able to complete a product of high quality in time.

Project Management: once again, you need to get your act together a little. The Open House (presentation and poster), and the design manual are all "Lab-Based". As of yet, many members of the lab do not fully know what is happening in these areas, and feel as though the PM team is failing to inform the lab members what is happening and what they have discussed in their infrequent meetings. Who will be designing the poster? the manual? Who will present? Who is in charge of the final integration of the game? All of these questions need to be assessed soon. As a lab, it would be important to get together and figure things out while there's still time.

Finally, a request by this lab has been made to the lab instructors: It would be helpful if the grading guides were posted sometime soon, hopefully before the due dates, so that we know what content is expected in each portion of this challenge.

Lab Update White A For Week Of Mar29 - Apr02

A1 Accomplishments:
- Implemented a graphical design for the mastermind game that matches the lab's theme.
- Implemented a system which awards the player more virtual money, depending on how quickly the code is cracked.
- Defined what the computer-integrated part of the other two games will be (Score-keeper program for "Ladies and Gentlemen", and "Casino" function for Lines and Dots).
- Implemented a set of instructions into the mastermind game.
- Finished and compiled the mastermind game by the deadline set by the lab.

A1 Goals:
- Build the physical game board for lines and dots. And design and build a physical game board or "Ladies and Gentlemen".
- Create the score-keeping function for "Ladies and Gentlemen".
- Create the "casino" function for "Lines and Dots".

A2 Accomplishments:

- Altered collision physics in computer game to make for realistic collisions

- Worked on AI in computer game to make for predictable but accurate opponents

- Finalized Ideas for physical game

- Started integrating theme into computer and physical games

A2 Goals:

- Finish game physics in computer game and finish sprite design

- Finish physical game and begin testing

- Integrate with the rest of the lab

A3 Accomplishments:

- Took pictures of all the camera parts as we disassembled it

- Reassembled the camera

- Made several changes to how our game works

- Collected everyone else’s game files

- Began integrating the other groups games into the larger program

A3 Goals:

- Integrate all of our pictures of the camera into a How-To for the game program

- Get every groups games into the program

- Make tweaks to other peoples games as necessary

A5 Accomplishments:

- Finished the game (still has some bugs to be worked out)

- Had a team meeting to discuss progress

- Changed work packages and workload for final report

- Began introduction of the final report

- All team members agreed to help eachother out if needed

A5 Goals:

- Have a game that has no bugs and works efficiently by the end of Wednesday

- Continue working on final report

- Have another team meeting to update eachother on the status of each work package

A6 Accomplishments:

- Gathered all the materials for the gear wheel game

- Completed the familiarization presentation

- In game maker, we solved the problem of sprites 'eating' each other according to their size

- Modified the gear wheel game a bit so that the board would be easier to place pieces onto

- Modified the gears a bit to fit the size of the board

A6 Goals:

- Execute the animal chess game and make it better

- Get started on the final report

- Finish the design of the other 2 hands on games

A9 Accomplishments:

- Finished first part of the game

- Tested the first part and made adjustments based on results

- Brainstormed the rest of game

A9 Goals:

- Finish the whole game

- Test it and make final changes

- Integrate it with entire lab

White Lab C - What is Going to be Done Next Week

Since this was a short week, there was not very much completed in the lab, however everyone in our lab hopes to start on the final report and since the final game is going to be marked one week from Tuesday, we hope to finish the game this week to allow time for interfacing.

Graphical Report # 4

Here is grapical report # 4 for Lab C on where the lab is, vs. where the lab planned to be.

Table update - Lab C - April 1

This week was a very short school week. For this reason not a lot was completed in Lab this week. All the tables are working on their games. Almost all of the groups have their questions developed and are working on integrating them into the game. A couple of the games are looking really good. Some groups have also started working on the final report. The PM group is working on the poster and the lab will be voting on open house related topics next Tuesday during our lab.

Week of 22-26

As a whole, our lab was quite productive this week, we:

• Handed in our reports on functionality and design
  
• Worked on our games and created data bases for our questions.
• Had a few group discussions and followed up on individual organization.
  

Table update - Lab C - March 26

This is what each table completed this week.
C1 - programed a couple of games to get the hang of Game Maker
- Written some of the questions for the program
C3 - They have created their sprites which are moving people
- They have had a couple of team meetings and they are really developing as a team.
C6 - Started their game
- Developed a database for the game questions
C7 - Finished all their questions
- Started programing a 50s racing game
C8 - they have found a way to run Game Maker on their macs
- because their questions are all developed they only have their game left to program
C9 - they have made a simple version of their game that is functioning
- created some of the sprites needed for their game

White Lab - What is Going to be Done Next Week

Here’s a look at what the White lab plans to do next week:

C9

- Choose questions to implement in the game

- Modify the game

C8

• Improve the game
• Continue making content for the game

C7

• Continue making the game

C6

• Make the game
• Finish making questions
• Get Sylvia Harrison to make sure they’re on the right track

C3

• Have the first few levels out of sixteen completed

C1

- Continue to make questions

- Continue working on the game