Super Pong
Andrew S. Dunsmore
CSC436
August 2004
Presentation Overview
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Rules of the Game
The Design
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Modules of the program
Technologies Used
Program Demonstration
Lessons Learned, Final Thoughts, Future
Considerations, & Questions
What is Super Pong?
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Based on the (ancient)
game, Pong
Video ping pong
Players move paddle to
intercept ping (ball)
If the ping is missed,
opponent scores a point
Includes numerous userspecified options
Player 1: 0
Player 2: 2
What Options Are Available?
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Colors can be changed
Sounds can be turned on, off, or changed
Multiple boards are possible
Number of Players
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One Player against the computer
Two Player
Hot Seat on the same computer
 Two computers connected over the Internet
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How Should We Implement This?
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Modular Design
Components broken into modules based on the
functionality that they provide
Key Modules
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Game Loop/Control Module
Physics Module
AI Module
Input & Menu Modules
Video/Graphics Module
Audio/Sound Module
Why use a Modular Design?
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Negatives are minimized – modules have high
cohesion & low coupling
Advantages
 Big problems are divided into several smaller
problems
 Implementation can be in stages
 Troubleshooting and debugging is limited to individual
modules
 Future changes or additions are easy
 Modules can be reused in the future
Incremental nature responsible for 95% of progress
The Game Loop/Control Module
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Broken into six areas
Controls the
program’s flow & calls
the other modules
Once a called module
completes, focus
returns to this module
Physics Module
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Maintains positions and velocities of
objects in the game world
Determines results of positions &
velocities of objects based on Physics
Model selected by the user
Currently not implemented as a separate
module from the control module
AI Module
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Used only for one-player games
Calculates ping’s future location based on
information from Physics Module
Paddle 2 then moved to the calculated location
Reductions in accuracy
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Calculations only made every x frames
Calculated location multiplied by +/- y
Computer’s paddle can only move at a fixed speed
Input & Menu Modules
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Two separate modules –the same purpose (collect user
inputs) but different behaviors
Input Module receives
 Menu Module – subkeyboard inputs from the
module of input module
user
 Uses input module to
Inputs can activate the
move through the menu
menu, move the paddles,
and to make menu
etc.
selections
Inputs are received in
 Menu selections are used
real-time and acted upon
to change the game
to change the game
environment (color,
environment
sound, board, etc.)
DirectX – Why & How
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SDK designed by Microsoft to make video
game design in Windows easier
Before DirectX, designers wrote drivers for
every video/sound/network/etc. card
Now, all DirectX supported cards can be
accessed in the same way
DirectX – What it is
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The Operating System is the software that
is most intimate with the hardware
DirectX is more intimate with the hardware
Windows doesn’t care about many
advanced features of modern hardware
DirectX polls hardware for its full
capabilities
Video/Graphics Module
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Implemented with the DirectDraw API
Utilizes a back buffer to avoid a flashing screen
Responsible for drawing all text and game
objects to the screen
Game objects are drawn by dynamically
creating single-colored bitmaps and blitting them
to the back buffer
GDI text is drawn by DirectDraw through a
DirectX compatible Device Context (slow to
draw but fast to code)
Audio/Sound Module
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Implemented by DirectSound and DirectMusic
Responsibilities
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Initializing the sound card and determining its
capabilities
Loading music (midi) and sound effects (wave)
Playing the sounds
Music and sounds are loaded from embedded
resources
If something goes wrong, program continues,
but sound is marked as unplayable
Network Module
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Not yet implemented
Utilized DirectPlay
Responsibilities
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Set up an asynchronous peer-to-peer connection
Communicate ping and paddle positions
Ensure frame synchronization and “wing it” if
necessary
MAYBE – Provide an IM-like environment for user-touser communication
Time for the Demonstration
Did you bring earplugs?
Lessons Learned
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Good references are worth their weight in
gold
Start with small goals, then build on them
It’s easier to work with well-documented
code
Having a plan before starting to code
helps (sometimes)
The Future of Super Pong
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Add Multi-Player
Add a Game Server
Improve graphics
Improve the menu’s graphics
Fix the (small) hole in the special board
detection algorithm
Design an app to make custom boards
Questions?
www.geocities.com/godlike499/index.html