SNBoggs

I'm in a beginners VB.NET class in school. As a final project, my teacher has given me the assignment of creating a simple game. Unfortunately, I am at a loss for what I can create. Any Suggestions?

martonx

Visit my tron game. IT is free for everyone, and the source is on rapidshare :-)

Targe

How much experience do you have? A semester or a year's experience? If a semester you might just wanna make Tic-Tac-Toe. If a year's, you could prolly step it up and make a self-learning Tic-Tac-Toe game (bases movements on past wins/losses to find best next move)...and I'm not sure why it has to be Tic-Tac-Toe except it's all I can think of right now and it's the most simplistic game. If you wanna spend a lot of time you can make something like Tron, but it's not necessarily a casual undertaking. I know my tron game has taken me over a month of hard work. :\

Eduardo Lorenzo

Is it as simple as possible? I mean, does it need to have AI?

SNBoggs

I have about a semester and a half of experience, and there really aern't any limitations to the game, only to my knowledge of the language. I thought about tic tac toe, seems rather simple, but being that its my second semester, my teacher might expect something a little more indepth.

Targe

In depth indeed, which I why I recommended self-learning "AI." It's a basic form, which is why I use quotes, but the emphasis and the possibilities are justified through it's usage. Basically, every time the player moves, the computer moves. If the computer loses, he knows not to move there again (subtract percentage points). If the computer wins or ties, he knows it may be the valid move to make in that situation. At first the computer will be random, but after 10-20 games he'll be an expert at tic-tac-toe. It's simple, it's effective, and very cool to see.

If you don't wanna do that route, just think back to classic Atari games like Frogger or something and try to mimick it.

Iceplug

I would ask your teacher if he/she feels that Tic Tac Toe is fine. If you need more complexity, ramp it up. Say, connect 4, or checkers, or, if they really want you to squirm, try to do chess.

You will want to mention that any project will have a computer with AI. If your teacher doesn't need the AI, then don't do it for a school assignment. Only do the extra stuff when you've finished your assignment and/or turned in your assignment for grading.

People often get caught and seduced by trying to make a shockingly good program for a project and get killed by the time limit that approaches too quickly. So, start at the most basic stuff and add as necessary until you get finished.
I, personally, would grade my students based on how much they were actually able to get done within the time limit. A working program is a HUGE bonus...

SNBoggs

Funny you should mention frogger, I'm working on that right now? A question, how can I code the movement of the frog so that it looks like he is "hopping" rather than simply "floating" or "flying" across the screen?

Targe

I remember only 2 specific frames in Frogger. One was the legs extended (making it appear to hop) and the other was the sitting position. So, while making him move to the next area, switch animations in a picturebox or something with the legs extended. It'll only take about 50-100 ms to move him, but while it's moving, it should be legs extended. Then after, revert back to the sitting position. It should give the impression he's hopping.

That's what I would do anyway

SNBoggs

So as a I press the key, switch the picture to the legs extended and then switch back to a sitting postion after he moves? And that can be done by simply switching between two pictures in a single picturebox?

SNBoggs

Ok, so I was working on my Frogger program in my class today and made a bit of progress, but I have a question.

First, for Frogger himself, I'm using a picture of a frog in a textbox with the BackColor property set as Transparent, that way it will assume the color of whatever surface he hops on.

Second, for the logs, I'm using a log picture in a picturebox with the BackColor property set to a matching Brown color to fill in the excess space in the PictureBox.

My problem is that when I move the frog onto the log (in run-time) the frog's picturebox turns blue to match the water, not brown to match the log. Any suggestions on how I can fix this?

Also, when I get to it, how do I get the frog to float along with the log and not just sit there as the log moves?

Targe

Match the frogs speed with the logs when the condition is true (when he's on the log).

As for the picture problem, you'll prolly need to use GDI. If you don't want to bother with GDI, make another frog picture where the background is the log color, and simply use that picture. It's a cheap effect but it works.

SNBoggs

I'm embarassed to say that I don't even knowwhat GDI stands for, let alone what it is or how do use it. I'll try using another picturebox, but in the end it might help to learn this so called GDI.

Targe

www.bobpowell.net is a good place to learn

SNBoggs

Thanks, I'll check out the link.

I've begun to code the movement of the different pictures. I've successfully coded movement into everything that moves from right to left, but I'm having difficulty figuring out code the moves things left to right. Any help you can provide is great and I can post some code in necessary.

Targe

Whatever you did to move right to left, just do the opposite.

SNBoggs

Yeah, I figured it out, thanks though.

SNBoggs

Any suggestions or sample code to make the frog "float" along with the logs?

Targe

Set a boolean variable to know if he's on the log and if true then have him move the same speed as the log.

SNBoggs

Something along the lines of this?

If pctfrog.left=pctlog.left then
blnOnLog=True

If pctfrog.top=pctlog.top then
blnOnLog=True

Could you offer some sample code?