cs56-games-maze

CS56 W16 Note:

• If running locally, the music works fine
• If exporting the graphics remotely, the music will not play

A program that generates a solvable rectangular maze at random.

Before W14:

• Archive page
• Mantis page

After W14:

• [Javadoc page] (http://www.cs.ucsb.edu/~loganortega/cs56/W14/loganortega/cs56-games-maze/javadoc)

F16 Final Remarks

• We've added music, arrow key controls, random controls mode, home screen, and bug fixes
• Most of the logic is still in MazeGui.java. You may want to refactor this to use a more elegant approach
• For example, the controls should probably encapsulated in another class
• In general, there are way too many inner classes. You may want to make these into actual classes for a more logical organization
• The MazeGui constructor is huge. All the setup stuff happening there should be moved to another method or class
• If you're going to edit the key bindings, make sure you know how the ActionMap and stuff work(yes, it looks like the key binding are declared twice. They're both necessary)
• There aren't any major bugs that we noticed, but a lot of the buttons in the menu don't do anything
• General advice: make your changes in very very small increments, testing the program after each change. You never know when an innocuous-looking change will break everything

W16 Final Remarks

• We've added game mdoes and new customization options
• Game Modes:
  • Updated progressive reveal
  • The user's previous path is now hidden
  • Inverse Mode
  • Player's controls are inverted
  • Memory Mode
  • The player's position will update after five movement inputs
• Customization (Options in the tool bar)
  • User has four color schemes to choose from
  • User can choose between being a rectangle and circle
• We've added fun, engaging music
• Final Remarks:
  • Majority of code is handled in MazeGui.java, in order to add different game features such as two players or an enemy, a more more object oriented approach would be needed. Thus, next year's students should look into refactoring much of the code.

project history

 W14 | jstaahl 4pm | loganortega, richardwang94 | A program that generates at random a solvable rectangular maze

User View

Maze Generation

The game creates a maze slower than the actual maze-generation time, so that you can watch it grow. It is the user's job to then solve it. The algorithm used to generate the maze is based off of the recursive back-tracker algorithm. If the user changes maze settings, the generation of the maze responds appropriately.

Gameplay

To launch the game simply use the command: ant run

Navigation

The player always starts in the top left corner, and must always traverse to the lower right corner, unless specified otherwise by the user, by using WASD keys to move the player marker (bold square).

New Button

The user can abandon a maze in progress and start a new maze by pressing the New Button.

Solve Button

If at any time the player is stumped and is interested in the maze's solution, the player has the option to click the solve button to see a highlighted path of solution. Below is an example of the Solve feature.

How to Button

The user has the option to display text involving an explanation of relevant gameplay keys.

Menu Bar

Multi Chain, Alt Step, New Step Generators

Each of these options represents a different method of random maze generation.

Progressive Reveal

In Progressive Reveal mode, only a small portion of the maze is revealed to the player at a time and all visited cells are retained as visible.

Settings

The user has the ability to change maze dimensions, via number of rows and columns, maze cell thickness, end maze location, and Progressive Reveal radius.

Save

The user has the option to save an in-progress game at any point during gameplay.

Load

The user has the option to load any previously saved game with the same position and time as when saved.

Sharing

Upon winning a maze, players can save the maze, along with their name and time. If this file is then loaded by another player, they will be prompted to beat the previous best time and save their name and time to the maze.

Gameplay Demonstration

Developers View

More Info on Maze Generation

The maze generating algorithm is modified from the recursive back-tracker algorithm. It is set to run first off of the newest added cell, then the oldest added cell in each iteration. This form of the algorithm generates a sort of branching effect from the point of origin. In addition, the modified algorithm has the ability to randomly spawn new points of origin at a certain specified frequency, either from command line arguments or default values, as the algorithm runs. This creates a sort of "bushy", more complex maze with more frequent path branching.

• More Information on Back-Tracker Algorithm

Notable Files (Buried Useful Content)

• MazeGrid.java
  In this file, each Marker's actual identifying attribute is explained.
• MazeGui.java
  In this file, the main can be found. Also, several methods involving new maze generation, loading a saved maze and binding keyboard strokes to player navigation.
• MazeSettingsPanel
  In this file, methods to save and implement user defined settings can be found.
• MazeTimerBar
  In this file, action listener's for the New, Solve and How to buttons can be found. Also, several methods involving retrieval of elapsed time.

Future Enhancements

• Add arrow key navigation functionality
• Add spacebar key game pause functionality
• Develop a Score count algorithm based on maze dimensions, moves and time elapsed
• Create a High Score table panel accessible from menu bar