Advanced Higher Computing Project
Concentration Card Game
Alan Fordyce
SQA Number: 063789356
Baldragon Academy, Dundee
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Alan Fordyce
Contents
Project Proposal
Page 3 - 5
Project Specification
Page 6 - 7
Alternative Solutions
Page 8 – 9
Design
Page 10-14
Pseudocode
Page 15 - 19
Testing
Page 20 - 34
User Guide
Page 35- 40
Technical Guide
Page 41 - 42
Evaluation
Page 43 - 46
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Alan Fordyce
Project Proposal
Background
Card games are very familiar both on and off computer systems. For my Advanced Higher Project I
decided to create a matching card game that would be fun and challenging to play. Playing this
game with ordinary cards is very time consuming as the player/s have to constantly flip the cards
to show and hide them. The player also needs a large area to lay out the cards. A computer
version of this game is much easier as all the player/s have to do is focus on remembering where
the cards are located and gaining matches. Playing similar games on a computer system usually
involves the player having to visit a webpage and installing the necessary plugins to handle the
game. This version will only require an operating system from Microsoft e.g. Windows XP or
Windows 7.
Support
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







Programming Games with MS VB 6.0, by Catherine Muir Dwyer and Jeanine Meyer, 2001,
Course Technology, Thomson Learning, USA, pages 43-60
http://www.vbforums.com/showthread.php?t=546633, Code to Implement a sleep function,
User LaVolpe, Date accessed: 09/12/11
http://www.vbforums.com/showthread.php?t=138280, Code to implement form and
controls resizing, User Achichincle, Date accessed 06/02/12.
Code to get the Windows Username of the current player. I am unable to find the correct
website for this code.
Scholar, Standard Algorithms, Sorting
Scholar, Data Structures, Implementation of a Record
Microsoft DreamSpark, Microsoft Visual Studio, Date accessed 29/11/11,
https://www.dreamspark.com/default.aspx
Card Images were taken from Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playing_card#Styling
The Icon Image was taken from Wikipedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:French_suits.svg
Main Features of the Solution







The program should have an attractive background and card design
The user should be able to exit the game at any time
The program should continue until all matches have been made
The program should time the player and display it at the end
The program should store 50 user names and times
The program should be able to display the best 50 times in descending order
The program should show all the card values at the start then flip them over to start the
game
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Alan Fordyce





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The program should allow the user to replay until they decide to quit
The program should allow the user to search the best times for their name and display
them
The program should display the current time and matches while playing
The program should allow the user to view the cards again for help
The program should have a help feature such as a walkthrough or tutorial
The program should provide feedback that is easy to understand
The program should provide the user with audio feedback
Hardware, Software and Resources Needed
To complete this program I will require a computer that is capable of running and has the chosen
Software Development application installed. Front and back images of a full deck of cards will be
required for the program. The computer will also require a graphics application to make edits to
the card images. The graphics application I will use is the pre-installed Windows ‘Paint’ application
by ‘Microsoft’. The application will be used to resize and crop the card images. To edit the audio
files the application ‘Audacity’ created by ‘The Audacity Team’ will be used.
Stage
Estimated Time
Analysis
5 Hours
Design
4 Hours
Language Learning
1 Hour
Implementation
20 Hours
Testing
5 Hours
Documentation
5 Hours
Evaluation
5 Hours
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Alan Fordyce
Gant Chart
45
44
43
42
41
40
39
38
37
36
35
34
33
32
31
30
29
28
27
26
25
24
23
22
21
20
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
Hours
March
February
February
February
February
February
February
February
February
February
February
January
January
January
January
January
January
January
January
December
December
December
December
December
December
December
November
November
November
November
November
November
November
November
November
October
October
October
October
October
September
September
September
September
September
Analysis
5 Hours
Design
4 Hours
Learning
Language
1 Hour
Implementation
20 Hours
Testing
5 Hours
Documentation Evaluation
5 Hours
5 Hours
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Alan Fordyce
Project Specification
Scope and Objectives
The scope of the project is to create a program which simulates the card game known as
‘Concentration’ (Memory). The objective of the project is to simplify the playing of Concentration
by randomly shuffling cards and turning them over when chosen to speed up the game for the
player.
Activities
To complete the project the program will have to be designed based on the specification. The
necessary resources will have to be obtained and edited for use in the program. The user interface
and the program code will have to be designed. The rules of the game will have to be identified
and included in the program. Implementation of the program in my chosen programming language
will be carried out. The project will be tested based on the specification.
The Solution
The finished program will need to be usable so it will have to handle the rules of the game and be
able to respond to user inputs. The solution will have to output feedback to the user which is easy
to understand. This includes rule breeches, animation and scoring.
Boundaries
To create this game within the time-scale of Advanced Higher the solution will need to be limited.
The game should be able to do all the features outlined earlier and should not be expanded upon.
One feature that I will not include is a difficulty setting, which is included in similar programs to
make the game easier or harder. This will create a fun and challenging game within the level of
Advanced Higher that will not take a large time-scale to complete.
Issues of Feasibility
Economic
There are no costs involved with creating this project as all resources and support are available for free
from various sources.
Legal
The images that will be used for the program will be taken from Wikipedia under their GFDL license. This
license allows the images to be used and modified for commercial or non-commercial use. Microsoft Visual
Studio 6 can be acquired from Microsoft Dreamspark’s Website.
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Alan Fordyce
Time
The project has timescales in place to make sure that the finished program is completed before the hand in
date.
Technical
The necessary technology is available to create this program.
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Alan Fordyce
Alternative Solutions
Present Solution
To currently play the game of Concentration you can either use real cards or visit a Website and
play the game in your Browser.
Drawbacks
To play Concentration with real cards the player/s have to gather and shuffle the cards. They also
constantly have to flip over the cards until all matches have been made. This can be timeconsuming and cards may get muddled up as the game progresses.
Playing concentration on a Browser website requires that the correct plug-ins are installed to run
the embedded application. Most internet applications are in flash which can be very unstable on
some systems causing the player to lose their progress. An internet connection constantly must be
required to play the game which may not be available for some players.
Criteria used to compare methods
1.
2.
3.
4.
Can an appropriate HCI be created using this tool?
What type of language is it and is it suitable?
Is the language available for me to use?
Does the program have High Level Language constructs that are complex enough for an
Advanced Higher Program?
5. Do I have any experience with the programming environment?
Software Development Environments Available




Flash
Java
Visual Basic
Python
Language Comparison
1. Creation
of HCI
Flash
Java
Visual Basic
Python
From my past
experiences with
flash applications
(such as browser
games) I have seen
that HCIs can be
made. A HCI
appropriate to this
program can be
Also from past
experience with Java
applications
(browser games etc.)
I have seen that
appropriate HCIs can
be made for my
program.
Visual Basic allows
objects to be dragged
and dropped using a
GUI. Each object can
be linked to sections
of code. This allows a
HCI to be easily
implemented and
changed
Python uses toolkits
to allow a
programmer to
program a GUI to
meet their needs
based on the toolkit
they choose
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Alan Fordyce
2. Type of
language
3. Is the
language
available?
4. Complex
High Level
Language
Constructs
5. Personal
experience
made
Flash is an ObjectOriented language.
Flash is suitable to
create this program
Java is an ObjectOriented language
which is suitable to
create this program
Visual Basic is a
Procedural Language
with elements of an
Object based
language. Visual Basic
is suitable because it
works based on user
interaction which is
needed for this
program
Visual Basic is
installed with Visual
Studio on most
School computers. It
is also available to
download from
Microsoft
DreamSpark, which I
have access to
Python is primarily
an Object-Oriented
language with
elements of
procedural and
other types. Python
is suitable to create
this program
Other students in
my class are using
this language to
create their
Advanced Higher
Project, from this I
know that this
language has the
necessary High level
Language constructs
available
I have no experience
in this language.
Learning this
language may be
faster than the
others because of
the amount of help
available online.
The language is
open-source and
works with several
open-source
compilers.
Although none of
these compilers
can be installed on
the School
Computer System
which limits the
languages use to
Home
From my studies
into this language I
have found that
this language has
the necessary High
Level language
constructs
available
GNU Compilers are
available to install
and use but none of
these compilers can
be installed which
limits me to home
use
From my past
experience I believe
this language has the
necessary High Level
Constructs available
to satisfy an
Advanced Higher
Project
Visual Basic has the
necessary High Level
Constructs needed.
Code can be used to
access files, create
multi-dimensional
arrays and implement
searching and sorting
I have no
experience in this
language. Learning
this language to a
level suitable for
Advanced Higher
will take a large
amount of time.
I have limited
experience with this
language but not
enough to be able to
use the language to
create a program at
a level suitable for
Advanced Higher.
I have used Visual
Basic since Standard
Grade so I have the
necessary experience
to complete the
project with this
language.
The language and
compiler are opensource but as with
the previous
languages the
compliers cannot be
installed on the
School Computer
System
Conclusion
Although each of the languages above can be used to create this program I only have experience in one of
them. Visual basic is the best choice for programming because I have the most experience in this language
and have code available from other programs which can be integrated into my program. Visual Basic is the
most readily available language I can use because all school computers have Microsoft Visual Studio
installed as well as my home computer which was obtained from Microsoft DreamSpark.
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Alan Fordyce
Design
User Interface
The following section will describe the User Interface of each screen on my program. The screens are; Main
Menu, High Scores, How to Play, Rules and the Game Board. The User Interface of my program will be a
Graphical User Interface with an attractive layout that is easy to use and can provide meaningful feedback
to the player to allow them to enjoy the game to the fullest. Each screen will have a button that will take
the player back to the main menu if needed.
Main Menu
The Main Menu Interface will contain a small intro to the game, an easy to understand layout and buttons
that link to the other forms in the program. These buttons have links to; an instruction screen to show the
player how to play the game; a screen that displays the rules of the game; a screen that allows the player to
play the game; exiting the game; and a screen that displays the list of high scores.
Game Title, Information
about the game. SQA
Details etc.
Menu Buttons
High Scores
The High Scores interface will contain a locked text box in the middle of the form that will output all the
High Scores in an easily understandable format. The background colour will be the default Visual Basic grey
with black font for text.
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Alan Fordyce
Menu Buttons
High Scores
Output
How to Play
The how to play interface will be split up into steps each separated by a black line. Each step will contain
text and an image showing an example of the step. The lines will be thick enough to stand out as separators
while both the text and lines will be coloured black. The background colour will be the default visual basic
grey.
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Menu Buttons
Images
Separators
Rules
The Rules interface will contain a locked text box in the middle of the screen with a button to return to the
main menu when needed. The locked text box font colour will be black with the form using the default
Visual Basic grey background colour. The rules of the game are;
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Only two cards can be picked in one try.
The picked cards must be of the same rank, colour does not matter, to gain a match.
The game should only be played with one player.
The player has to successfully match 26 cards to complete the game.
The cards will be turned over and one added to the amount of tries if the match is unsuccessful.
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Menu Buttons
Rules Output
Game Board
I have decided to create the Game Board Interface in Black, White and Green to simulate a real Card Board.
The card images on the Game Board will be in Black and Red to help identify their suit. The Card Images
have a number (or letter) to identify them and also have a suit image.
The Game Board Interface will provide the player with a real-time update on their current score, which
includes Time, Tries and Matches and this information will be easily identifiable along the bottom of the
Board. This will provide meaningful feedback to the player. The game board includes options such as;
Restart; Main Menu; Reveal Cards and Begin a New Game. The Game Board will also have links to the How
to Play and Rules screen if the player needs them.
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Alan Fordyce
Menu Buttons
Playing Area. Space
for 52 Cards
Current Game
Scores
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Alan Fordyce
Pseudocode
Main Menu
1. Get the current Windows Account name from the System.
1. Check if the Name has already been found (the program will have links to the main menu so
there is no point in getting this again).
2. Ask the user if they would like to use this name or input their own.
1. If they decide to input their own show an input box and store the name.
3. Set the Global variable PlayerUserName to either the Windows Account name or a userdefined name.
2. Check if the High Scores file exists and if not then create it.
3. Show the Main Menu Interface to the user and wait for a click on one of the buttons.
1. If the User clicks the High Scores button then load the high scores form and close the main
menu.
2. If the User clicks the How to Play button then load the How to Play form and close the main
menu.
3. If the User clicks the Rules button then load the Rules form and close the main menu.
4. If the User clicks the Start button then load the Game Board form and close the main menu.
5. If the User clicks the Exit button then end the program.
High Scores
1. Get the High Scores from the External Text File.
1. Set Count = to 1 for the number of Lines in the file, starting from line 1.
2. Open the External File for Input.
3. Begin Loop.
4. Get the Text on the Current Line represented by Count in the string HighScoresTemp.
5. Set Temp = “”
6. Get the first two characters from the HighScoresTemp string into the Temp string.
7. If the first character in Temp is a 0 then only the second number is needed.
8. Do steps 5-7 for the 4th and 5th characters in the HighScoresTemp string.
9. Do steps 5-7 for the 7th and 8th characters in the HighScoresTemp string.
10.Get the Player name which starts from the tenth character until the end of the line.
11.Convert the Strings to Integers and store them in the High_Scores record array.
12.Set Contents = to Contents + a formatted output of the High_Scores record array.
13.Add one to Count.
14.Loop Until the End of the File.
2. Set the Text Box to Contents.
How to Play
None
Rules
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Open the External Rules text file.
Begin Loop.
Get the current line text and store it in a string.
Add the contents of the string into the textbox.
Loop Until the End of the File.
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Alan Fordyce
Game Board
1. Get the User Name from the Global variable and set a label to display it.
2. Show the Best Time for the current User Name (if any exists).
1. Set Count = to 1 for the number of Lines in the file, starting from line 1.
2. Open the External File for Input.
3. Begin Loop.
4. Get the Text on the Current Line represented by Count in the string HighScoresTemp.
5. Set Temp = “”
6. Get the first two characters from the HighScoresTemp string into the Temp string.
7. If the first character in Temp is a 0 then only the second number is needed.
8. Do steps 5-7 for the 4th and 5th characters in the HighScoresTemp string.
9. Do steps 5-7 for the 7th and 8th characters in the HighScoresTemp string.
10. Get the Player name which starts from the tenth character until the end of the line.
11. Convert the Strings to Integers and store them in the High_Scores record array.
12. Add one to Count.
13. Loop Until the End of the File.
14. Set the Users best Minutes and Seconds score to 99.
15. Counter for the Number of Items in the Array.
1. If Minutes(Counter) is less than the Users Best Minutes score and if the User Names are
equal then set the Users Best Minutes Score to Minutes(Counter), the Users Best Seconds
Score to Seconds (Counter) and the Users Best Tries to Tries(Counter).
2. Else if the Minutes(Counter) = The Users Best minutes and the User Names match then
check if the Seconds(Counter) is less than the Best Seconds. If it is less then set the Users
Best Seconds to Seconds(Counter) and Best Tries to Tries(Counter).
3. Next Counter
16. Set the Labels to display the Users Best Score.
3. Wait until the User Clicks Start or Clicks on any of the Buttons.
1. If the User Clicks start then Skip to Step 4.
2. Other Buttons that the user can click are below this section.
4. Load and play the Start sound.
5. Initialize the temporary card arrays, 4 of them in total.
6. Initialize the filled Boolean array and set all of them to false
7. Generate a random value for the first quarter of the cards and check that there is only 1 card of
each.
1. Counter for all the 13 values in the Card integer array.
2. Generate a random number between 1 and 13.
3. Begin Loop
4. Check if the card value exists
5. If the value exists then generate a new random number, set valid to false. If the value does
not exist then exit then set valid to true.
6. Loop until Valid = true
8. Repeat Step 7 for the second quarter of cards.
9. Repeat Step 7 for the third quarter of cards.
10.Repeat Step 7 for the fourth quarter of cards.
11.Add the first, second, third and fourth quarter values to the fulldeck array, which holds 52 values.
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Alan Fordyce
12.Using the fulldeck array values and an array of Imageboxes set the first quarter of the cards to Club
images based on their number e.g. a value of 1 becomes a Club Ace image.
13.Using the fulldeck array values and an array of Imageboxes set the second quarter of the cards to
Diamond images based on their number e.g. a value of 1 becomes a Diamond Ace image.
14.Using the fulldeck array values and an array of Imageboxes set the third quarter of the cards to
Spade images based on their number e.g. a value of 1 becomes a Spade Ace image.
15.Using the fulldeck array values and an array of Imageboxes set the fourth quarter of the cards to
Heart images based on their number e.g. a value of 1 becomes a Heart Ace image.
16.Counter for all the card and back Imageboxes. Set the Back Imageboxes visible property to false. Set
the Card Imageboxes visible property to true. This allows the player to see all the cards at the start.
17.Disable and enable the required menu functions for the game.
18.Start the timer with an interval of one second.
1. Add one to the StartShowSeconds Integer variable.
2. Set the Label to display the value of 7 – StartShowSeconds.
3. If StartShowSeconds is greater or equal to 7 then hide the Cards.
1. Counter for all the Card and Back Imageboxes. Set the Card Imageboxes visible
property to false. Set the Back Imageboxes visible property to true.
19.Start the timer with an interval of one second. This loops throughout the program.
1. Add one to the CurrentSeconds Integer variable every interval.
2. Set the Time label to display the CurrentMinutes and CurrentSeconds value every interval.
3. If CurrentSeconds is greater than 59 then add one to CurrentMinutes Integer variable and
Play the Minute sound file.
20.Loop until all matches have been made. Wait until the user clicks a Back image box.
1. If the User’s first choice is 0 then set UserChoice(1) to the clicked card value by using the
Array of Imageboxes and the FullDeck array.
1. Hide the clicked back Image box and show the clicked card Image box.
2. Set the HideBack variable to the back array Index value.
3. Add one to the CardsClicked integer variable.
2. If the User’s first choice is not 0 and the User’s second choice is 0 then set UserChoice(2) to
the clicked card value.
1. Hide the clicked back Image box and show the clicked card Image box.
2. Add one to the CardsClicked integer variable.
3. Pause the program and show the two clicked cards
3. If the CardsClicked variable = 2 then.
1. Set CardsClicked to 0.
2. Add one to the number of Tries.
3. Check if UserChoice(1) = UserChoice(2).
1. If they equal then.
1. Add one to Matches.
2. Play the Match sound.
3. Disable the first card and back using the HideBack value.
4. Disable the second card and back by using the Index value.
5. Set the Matches label to the new Matches value.
2. If they don’t equal then.
1. Play the No Match sound.
2. Show the Back Imageboxes and hide the card Imageboxes.
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21.When all the Matches have been made.
1. Stop the Timer.
2. Play the Win Sound.
3. Hide all the Back Imageboxes and set the Card Imageboxes to the Win Image.
4. Display the Users score.
22.Save the Users Score in the High Score file.
1. Check how many entries are in the High Score file.
1. Open the file for input.
2. Loop until end of file.
3. Get the text on each line.
4. Add one to the number of lines.
5. End loop and close the file.
2. Check the number of lines.
1. If the Number of lines is less than 50.
1. Open the High Scores file for append.
2. Check if the Minutes have only one digit and if so add a 0 before it.
3. Check if the Seconds have only one digit and if so add a 0 before it.
4. Check if the Tries have only one digit and if so add a 0 before it.
5. Print the User’s Minutes, Seconds, Tries and Name to the file.
6. Close the file
2. If the number of lines is equal or greater than 50.
1. Open the High Scores file for output.
2. Counter for the High Scores 1 to 49.
3. Check if the Minutes have only one digit and if so add a 0 before it.
4. Check if the Seconds have only one digit and if so add a 0 before it.
5. Check if the Tries have only one digit and if so add a 0 before it.
6. Print the Minutes, Seconds, Tries and Name to the file.
7. End Counter.
8. Check if the New Minutes have only one digit and if so add a 0 before it.
9. Check if the New Seconds have only one digit and if so add a 0 before it.
10.Check if the New Tries have only one digit and if so add a 0 before it.
11.Print the User’s Minutes, Seconds, Tries and Name to the file.
12.Close the file.
23.Sort the High Score File.
1. Counter for all the 50 High Scores.
2. If the Player Name is blank then use a dummy Minutes, Seconds and Tries value of 99.
3. End Counter.
4. For Outer = 1 to 50.
5. For Inner = 1 to 50.
6. If the Minutes(Outer) are greater or equal to the Minutes(Inner).
1. If the Seconds(Outer) are greater than the Seconds(Inner).
1. Set Minutes Temp to Minutes(Outer).
2. Set Minutes(Outer) to Minutes(Inner).
3. Set Minutes(Inner) to Minutes Temp
4. Set Seconds Temp to Seconds(Outer).
5. Set Seconds(Outer) to Seconds(Inner).
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Alan Fordyce
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
6. Set Seconds(Inner) to Seconds Temp
7. Set Tries Temp to Tries(Outer).
8. Set Tries(Outer) to Tries(Inner).
9. Set Tries(Inner) to Tries Temp.
10. Set Player Name Temp to Player Name (Outer).
11. Set Player Name (Outer) to Player Name (Inner).
12. Set Player Name (Inner) to Player Name Temp.
2. If Minutes(Outer) are less than Minutes(Inner).
1. Set Minutes Temp to Minutes(Inner).
2. Set Minutes(Inner) to Minutes(Outer).
3. Set Minutes(Outer) to Minutes Temp.
4. Set Seconds Temp to Seconds(Inner).
5. Set Seconds(Inner) to Seconds(Outer).
6. Set Seconds(Outer) to Seconds Temp.
7. Set Tries Temp to Tries(Inner).
8. Set Tries(Inner) to Tries(Outer).
9. Set Tries(Outer) to Tries Temp.
10. Set Player Name Temp to Player Name (Inner).
11. Set Player Name (Inner) to Player Name (Outer).
12. Set Player Name (Outer) to Player Name Temp.
Next Inner, Next Outer
Open the High Scores file for output.
Counter for the High Scores 1 to 50.
If the Player Name is blank then add one to counter.
Check if the Minutes have only one digit and if so add a 0 before it.
Check if the Seconds have only one digit and if so add a 0 before it.
Check if the Tries have only one digit and if so add a 0 before it.
Print the Minutes, Seconds, Tries and Name to the file.
End Counter.
Pseudocode for User Interaction Code
 If the User decides to Exit the Program or Clicks the Main Menu button then ask them if they are
sure.
 If the User clicks the Rules button then show the Rules window. The game will continue running in
the background. The User can exit the Rules window by clicking the Red Cross at the top right and
return to their game.
 If the User clicks the How to Play button then show the How to Play window. The game will
continue running in the background. The User can exit the How to Play window by clicking the Red
Cross at the top right and return to their game.
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Alan Fordyce
Testing
Create Test Data
To fully test my program test data has to be created that can fully push the program to its boundaries or
even further by causing a crash or error during execution. This will ensure that all errors and bugs are
discovered before the program leaves the programmer (Me) which can then be corrected. Individual
procedures will be tested to make sure they take the correct inputs and give the correct outputs. The whole
program will be played several times to make sure it works from start to end without any errors or bugs
and to ensure it gives the correct outputs. The procedures will be listed in order from the start of the
program to the exit of the program.
Main Menu
The Main Menu has one variable it needs to get from the User and needs to respond to a user clicking on
Menu buttons.
No.
1
2
2.5
3
Activity
Get the Player
Name into
strUserName.
Get the Player
Name into
strUserName.
Get the Player
Name into
strUserName via
an Input box.
Click the “Start
the game” button.
Input
“Use the Windows
Account Name”, Yes.
“Use the Windows
Account Name”, No.
Type “Alan” into the
Input box.
Type
“12345qwerty!”£$%”
into the Input box.
Click Button: “Start
the game”.
4
Click the “How to
play” button.
Click Button: “How to
play”.
5
Click the “Game
Rules” button.
Click Button: “Game
Rules”.
6
Click the “View
High Scores”
button.
Click the “Exit the
game” button.
Click Button: “View
High Scores”.
7
Click button: “Exit
the game”.
Expected Result
The program will set the
strUserName variable to my
school login account name.
The program will set the
strUserName variable to
“Alan”.
Reason for Choosing
To check that the program
can get the username of the
current user.
To check that the program
can get a custom name from
the user.
The program will set the
strUserName variable to
“12345qwerty!”£$%”.
To check that the program
accepts special characters or
numbers.
The Main Menu will disappear
and the Game Board will
show.
The Main Menu will disappear
and the How to play window
will show.
The Main Menu will disappear
and the Game Rules window
will show.
The Main Menu will disappear
and the High Scores window
will show.
The program will close.
To check that the user can
get to the game board to play
the game.
To check that the user can
get to the How to Play
instructions.
To check that the user can
get to the Game Rules.
To check that the user can
get to the High Scores.
To check that the user can
exit the program.
How to Play
The How to Play Window has no Variables and only needs to respond to the User clicking the “Return to
Main Menu” Button.
No.
1
Activity
Click the “Return
to Main Menu”
button.
Input
Click button: “Return
to Main Menu”.
Expected Result
The How to Play Window will
disappear and the Main Menu
will show.
Reason for Choosing
To check that the user can
get to the Main Menu from
the How to Play Window.
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Alan Fordyce
Game Rules
The Game Rules Window needs to open an external text file and load the contents into a Textbox. The
Rules Window has 1 variable, a text box and a button to return to the Main Menu
No.
1
2
Activity
Click the “Return
to Main Menu”
button.
Get the Rules
from the External
File into the
Textbox.
Input
Click button: “Return
to Main Menu”.
Expected Result
The Rules Window will
disappear and the Main Menu
will show.
The program will get all text
from the file and display it in
the Textbox.
Reason for Choosing
To check that the user can
get to the Main Menu from
the Rules Window.
To check that the user can
view the rules.
Expected Result
The High Scores Window will
disappear and the Main Menu
will show.
The High Scores Window will
appear with the Textbox filled
with the High Scores from the
High Scores file.
Reason for Choosing
To check that the user can
get to the Main Menu from
the High Scores Window.
To check that the program
can successfully get the
correct High Scores and
display them.
Input
Click button: “Return
to Main Menu”. Click
Message box button:
“Yes”.
Click button: “Return
to Main Menu”. Click
Message box button:
“No”.
Click button: “How to
Play”.
Expected Result
The Game Board Window will
disappear and the Main
Menu will show.
Reason for Choosing
To check that the user can
get to the Main Menu from
the Game Board Window.
The Game Board Window will
not disappear.
The Rules window will appear
and the Game Board will stay
visible.
The program will no longer
play any sound during the
game.
The program play sounds
again during the game.
To check that the user can
cancel exiting the Game
Board if they accidentally
press the wrong button etc.
To check that the user can
view the How to Play
information while the Game
is running.
To check that the user can
view the Rules while the
Game is running.
To check that the player can
Mute the game while
playing.
To check that the player can
unmute the game while
playing.
To check that the user can
exit the program.
Text from an External
File into RulesText
variable.
High Scores
No.
1
2
Activity
Click the “Return
to Main Menu”
button.
Load the Window
to get the High
Scores.
Input
Click button: “Return
to Main Menu”.
Click the High Scores
button on the Main
Menu.
Game Board
No.
1
Activity
Click the “Return
to Main Menu”
button.
2
Click the “Return
to Main Menu”
button.
3
Click the “How to
Play” button.
4
Click the “Rules”
button.
Click button: “Rules”.
5
Click the “Mute
Audio” button.
Click button: “Mute
Audio”.
6
Click the “Unmute
Audio” button.
Click button:
“Unmute Audio”.
7
Click the “Exit
Game” button.
8
Click the “Exit
Game” button.
Click button: “Exit
Game”. Click
Message box button:
“Yes”.
Click button: “Exit
Game”. Click
Message box button:
“No”.
The How to Play window will
appear and the Game Board
will stay visible.
The program will close.
The program will not close.
To check that the user can
cancel exiting the Game if
they accidentally press the
wrong button etc.
21 | P a g e
Alan Fordyce
9
Form Load. Get
High Scores and
the Best Score for
the Player.
The program will get the High
Scores from the external file
into the High_Scores Record.
The program will get the Best
Score for the Current User.
10
Sort the High
Scores file
11
Click the “Begin
the Current
Game” button.
Generate the
Random Numbers
for the Cards.
Click button: “Begin
the Current Game”.
Random numbers
into Card1, Card2,
Card3 and Card4
integer variables.
12
Fill the
Imageboxes with
the correct card
images based on
the random
numbers.
Show all the cards
to the player.
FullDeck integer
variable.
The program will use a simple
sort to sort the High Scores
file based on the best to
worst time. The High Scores
file will be sorted.
The random numbers for all
the cards will be generated
and placed into the FullDeck
variable. There will be an
even amount of each card
e.g. two 2 of Spades or four
King of Clubs.
The Imageboxes will be filled
with the random integer
numbers from the FullDeck
integer variable.
Hide the cards
after seven
seconds.
Click one card.
StartShowSeconds
integer variable is
greater or equal to 7.
Click one back image
box. UserChoice(1)
integer variable is
empty.
16
Click a second
card.
17
Check for a
match.
17.5
UserChoice(1) and
UserChoice(2)
match.
Click on a second
back Image box.
UserChoice(1)
integer variable is
not empty.
UserChoice(2)
integer variable is
empty.
UserChoice(1) and
UserChoice(2)
integer variables are
both not empty.
UserChoice(1) and
UserChoice(2) match.
17.5
UserChoice(1) and
UserChoice(2) do
13
14
15
The Card Images will be
shown to the player.
UserChoice(1) and
UserChoice(2) do not
The Card Images will be
hidden and the Back Images
will be shown.
The back Image box will be
hidden and the Card Image
box will be shown.
UserChoice(1) integer
variable will be set to the
Card Number based on the
FullDeck integer variable.
The back Image box will be
hidden and the Card Image
box will be shown.
UserChoice(2) integer
variable will be set to the
Card Number based on the
FullDeck integer variable.
To check that the program
can load the High Scores and
to check that the program
can get the Best Score for the
Current Player so they have a
target to beat.
To check the program can
sort the High Scores file so no
problems arise later from an
unsorted list.
To check that the program
can generate an even
number of random values to
fill the cards with.
To check that the program
can display the cards in their
correct position based on the
FullDeck variable.
To give the player a hint of
where the cards are located
as the game starts.
To check that the cards can
be hidden after the player
has been given a hint.
To check that the player can
select a card to match.
To check that the player can
select two cards.
The program will check if
UserChoice(1) and
UserChoice(2) equal.
To check that the program
can check for a match.
The program will play the
match sound (unless the
mute button has been
pressed) and add one to
Matches. The matched cards
will be hidden. One will be
added to tries.
The program will play the No
Match sound. One will be
To check that when a match
is found the program can
respond.
To check that when a match
is not found the program can
22 | P a g e
Alan Fordyce
not match.
match.
18
Click more than
two cards.
Click three or more
cards.
19
Time goes above
99 Minutes.
20
Tries goes above
99.
21
All 26 Matches
have been made.
Matches = 26.
21.5
Click “Yes” to
viewing the High
Scores.
Click “No” to
viewing the High
Scores.
Click Input box
button: “Yes”.
21.5
Click Input box
button: “No”.
added to tries. The cards
Imageboxes will be hidden
and the back Imageboxes
shown.
The program will display a
message telling the user to
play the game properly and
will not register and matches.
The program will display a
message saying the player
has lost and allowing them to
restart.
The program will display a
message saying the player
has lost and allowing them to
restart.
The program will play the win
sound. All the card Images
will be changed to Win
Images and shown. The
program will display the
Users score. The program will
ask the User if they want to
view the High Scores.
The Game Board will
disappear and the High
Scores window will display.
The Game Board will
disappear and the Main
Menu will show.
respond.
To check that a player cannot
break the rules by clicking a
large amount of cards.
To check that the play time
cannot go higher than 99
minutes which will break the
High Scores.
To check that the Tries
cannot go higher than 99 as
this will break the High
Scores.
To check that the program
can respond to the Player
matching all the cards.
To check that the Player can
view the High Scores after a
game.
To check that the Player can
leave a finished game and
return to the Main Menu.
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Alan Fordyce
Initial Testing
Initial testing was carried out while implementing the program in Visual Basic. Visual Basic allows the
programmer to run the programmer while it is still being implemented. This is useful as it allows the
programmer to test the code as new code is added. The following problems were discovered:








Most bugs encountered were due to typing errors such as Variables not being spelt correctly.
The Code for generating the Random Numbers used for the cards did not function correctly. The
code was not creating a double for each card which made the game unwinnable.
The code to show all the cards again caused the sleep timer to break; this meant that the player
could not see the second card image when they clicked on it.
The player could freeze the program if they tried to select three or more cards while playing the
game.
The code to get the best score for the current player could not find any values lower than one.
The High Score code could not recognise values of 0.
The code to play sound would not function.
Using an executable and loading the game board would show an error message and crash if Visual
Basic was not installed on the system.
Once identified the problems above were all fixed except from two. The ‘Show all cards again’ function was
removed and the Crash if Visual Basic was not installed was ignored. This was ignored because a final
version of this program could be packaged with the required Component which would make it work
without Visual Basic.
Testing Using Test Data
The following steps were followed in order unless the same procedure was needed by the next step or the
Window was closed by clicking a button e.g. clicking the “Game Rules” button on the Main Menu. If the
window was closed the program was restarted and testing continued from the next point.
Main Menu
The Main Menu has one variable it needs to get from the User and needs to respond to a user clicking on
Menu buttons.
24 | P a g e
Alan Fordyce
No.
How it Was Tested
Expected Result
Actual Result
1
Started the program
using run in Visual Basic
with a breakpoint at the
end of the form_load
procedure.
The program will set the
strUserName variable to my
school login account name.
The strUserName variable was set to my school
account login name. This name is the same one I
use to log into the School Network.
2
Started the program
using run in Visual Basic
with a breakpoint at the
end of the form_load
procedure.
The program will set the
strUserName variable to
“Alan”.
The strUserName variable was set to ‘Alan’.
2.5
Started the program
using run in Visual Basic
with a breakpoint at the
end of the form_load
procedure.
The program will set the
strUserName variable to
“12345qwerty!”£$%”.
The strUserName variable was set to
12345qwerty!”£$%”.
3
Clicked the button and
waited for the Window
to appear.
The Main Menu will disappear
and the Game Board will show.
The Main Menu disappeared and the Game
Board was shown.
4
Clicked the button and
waited for the Window
to appear.
The Main Menu will disappear
and the How to play window
will show.
The Main Menu disappeared and the How to
Play Window was shown.
5
Clicked the button and
waited for the Window
to appear.
The Main Menu will disappear
and the Game Rules window
will show.
The Main Menu disappeared and the Game
Rules Window was shown.
6
Clicked the button and
waited for the Window
to appear.
The Main Menu will disappear
and the High Scores window
will show.
The Main Menu disappeared and the High
Scores Window was shown.
7
Clicked the button and
waited for the program
to close.
The program will close.
The program closed.
How to Play
The How to Play Window has no Variables and only needs to respond to the User clicking the “Return to
Main Menu” Button.
25 | P a g e
Alan Fordyce
No.
How it Was Tested
Expected Result
Actual Result
1
Started the program using
an executable, opened the
How to Play window then
clicked the ‘Main Menu’
button.
The How to Play Window will
disappear and the Main Menu
will show.
The how to play window closed and the
Main Menu was shown.
Game Rules
The Game Rules Window needs to open an external text file and load the contents into a Textbox. The
Rules Window has 1 variable, a text box and a button to return to the Main Menu.
26 | P a g e
Alan Fordyce
No.
How it Was Tested
Expected Result
Actual Result
1
Started the program using
an executable, opened the
Rules window then clicked
the ‘Main Menu’ button.
The Rules Window will disappear
and the Main Menu will show.
The rules window closed and the Main
Menu was shown.
2
The Rules window was
opened from the Main
Menu.
The program will get all text from
the file and display it in the
Textbox.
When the Rules window was opened the
text appeared in the Text box. The text
was checked against the External Rules file
and found to match.
27 | P a g e
Alan Fordyce
High Scores
No.
How it Was Tested
Expected Result
Actual Result
1
Started the program using
an executable, opened the
High Scores window then
clicked the ‘Main Menu’
button.
The High Scores Window will
disappear and the Main Menu
will show.
The High Scores Window closed and the
Main Menu opened.
2
Started the program using
an executable then opened
the High Scores window.
Checked the Contents of the
Textbox with the contents of
the Text File.
The High Scores Window will
appear with the Textbox filled
with the High Scores from the
High Scores file.
The High Scores Textbox and Text File
match. The High Scores Textbox is
formatted correctly with the information
in the High Scores File.
Game Board
No.
How it Was Tested
Expected Result
Actual Result
1
Started the program using an
executable, opened the Game
Board then clicked the ‘Main
Menu’ button. Clicked Yes on the
Confirm Box.
The Game Board Window
will disappear and the Main
Menu will show.
The Main Menu opened as soon as the
Main Menu button was clicked. The
confirmation appeared afterwards.
Clicked Yes and the Game Board closed.
The Actual Result did not match the
Expected.
2
Started the program using an
executable, opened the Game
Board then clicked the ‘Main
The Game Board Window
will not disappear.
The Main Menu opened as soon as the
Main Menu button was clicked. The
Confirmation appeared afterwards.
28 | P a g e
Alan Fordyce
Menu’ button. Clicked No on the
Confirm Box.
Clicked No. The Game Board did not
close but the Main Menu was still visible.
The Actual Result did not match the
Expected.
The How to Play window opened and the
Game Board was still open.
3
Opened the Game Board then
clicked the How to Play button.
The How to Play window will
appear and the Game Board
will stay visible.
4
Opened the Game Board then
clicked the Rules button.
The Rules window will
appear and the Game Board
will stay visible.
The Rules window opened and the Game
Board was still open.
5
Opened the Game Board, clicked
the Begin button. Clicked on a
card to hear sound. Clicked the
Mute button. Clicked on another
card to hear sound.
The program will no longer
play any sound during the
game.
The sound still played after the Mute
button was clicked. The Actual Result did
not match the Expected.
6
Clicked the Unmute button after
doing No. 5 then clicked on a
card.
The program play sounds
again during the game.
The sound was already playing from a
bug in No. 5. The Actual Result did not
match the Expected.
7
Clicked the Exit button. Clicked
Yes on the confirmation.
The program will close.
The program closed.
8
Clicked the Exit button. Clicked
No on the confirmation.
The program will not close.
The program did not close.
9
Opened the High Scores file and
edited the High Scores. My best
score was set to 2 Minutes and
25 Seconds with 47 Tries. Used
Visual Basic to run the program
with breakpoint to check the Best
variables.
The program will get the
High Scores from the
external file into the
High_Scores Record. The
program will get the Best
Score for the Current User.
The variables were set to the correct
score and the program displayed my best
score formatted correctly.
10
Opened the High Score file and
used Cut and Paste to move
items about. Put the best time in
the middle. Opened the Game
Board then checked the High
Scores file again.
The program will use a
simple sort to sort the High
Scores file based on the best
to worst time. The High
Scores file will be sorted.
The High Scores file was sorted from
lowest to highest based on time.
11
Added code to have the program
output the Random Numbers to a
The random numbers for all
the cards will be generated
Every card had a double which it could
be matched with.
29 | P a g e
Alan Fordyce
Text file. Used the Text file to
check that there was an even
amount of each number. Added a
breakpoint after the Random
Number generation to pause the
execution.
and placed into the FullDeck
variable. There will be an
even amount of each card
e.g. two 2 of suite or four
King of suite.
12
Continued after the Breakpoint in
No. 11 with another Breakpoint
placed after all the cards were
filled and shown. Checked the
Card Images against the Text file
from No. 11.
The Imageboxes will be filled
with the random integer
numbers from the FullDeck
integer variable.
The Images in the Imageboxes matched
the Random values that were outputted
into the Text File.
13
Tested in No. 12 using a
breakpoint after the code to
show the cards.
The Card Images will be
shown to the player.
The Card Images were shown correctly.
14
Opened the Game Board and
started a New Game.
The Card Images will be
hidden and the Back Images
will be shown.
The Card Images were shown then a
timer appeared indicating the time left
until the cards would be hidden. The
cards were hidden after seven seconds.
15
Started a Game with breakpoints
during the Card Click code to find
the value of UserChoice(1).
Checked that this value was the
same as the Card that was shown
on Screen.
The back Image box will be
hidden and the Card Image
box will be shown.
UserChoice(1) integer
variable will be set to the
Card Number based on the
FullDeck integer variable.
The back image box was hidden and the
card image box was shown.
UserChoice(1) was set to the value of the
card as shown on screen.
16
Continued from the Breakpoint in
15 with another breakpoint
during the Card Click code to find
the value of UserChoice(1).
Checked that this value was the
same as the card that was shown
on screen.
The back Image box will be
hidden and the Card Image
box will be shown.
UserChoice(2) integer
variable will be set to the
Card Number based on the
FullDeck integer variable.
The back image box was hidden and the
card image box was shown.
UserChoice(2) was set to the value of the
card as shown on screen.
17
Continued from the Breakpoint in
16 with another breakpoint at
the end of the procedure.
Checked if the Boolean variable
Match equalled true or false.
The program will check if
UserChoice(1) and
UserChoice(2) equal.
In this case Match was set to false
because the Card numbers did not
match.
17.5
Started the program again and
The program will play the
In this case two Kings were clicked. The
match sound played, one was added to
30 | P a g e
Alan Fordyce
looked for two equal cards during
the 7 seconds the cards were
shown. Clicked on these two
cards.
match sound (unless the
mute button has been
pressed) and add one to
Matches. The matched cards
will be hidden. One will be
added to tries.
the number of matches which became 1,
one was added to tries which became 1
and the Matched cards were hidden.
17.5
Started the Program then clicked
the first two cards after the cards
were hidden. Cards on the same
line should not match with each
other.
The program will play the No
Match sound. One will be
added to tries. The cards
Imageboxes will be hidden
and the back Imageboxes
shown.
The match sound played, Matches
stayed at 0, one was added to tries which
became 1. The cards were hidden and
the back images were shown.
18
Attempted to click on 6 cards
instead of 2.
The program will display a
message telling the user to
play the game properly and
will not register and
matches.
A message appeared instruction me to
play the game properly however, 4 of
the clicked cards were shown.
19
During implementation a
procedure was included to allow
me to set some of the variables.
These variables are: Minutes,
Seconds and tries. Matches can
be set to 26. Using this the
Minutes was set to 99 and I
waited for the minute.
The program will display a
message saying the player
has lost and allowing them to
restart.
The program displayed a message saying
time ran out. Clicking the OK button
closed the Game Board and showed the
Main Menu.
20
During implementation a
procedure was included to allow
me to set some of the variables.
These variables are: Minutes,
Seconds and tries. Matches can
be set to 26. Using this the
amount of Tries was set to 99
then I clicked on two cards to
increase the amount of Tries.
The program will display a
message saying the player
has lost and allowing them to
restart.
The program displayed a message saying
that it had taken me too many tries to
win. Clicking the OK button closed the
Game Board and showed the Main
Menu.
21
Using the procedure that was
included during implementation,
Matches was set to 26. During
the Testing of the finished game I
The program will play the
win sound. All the card
Images will be changed to
Win Images and shown. The
The win sound played, all card images
were changed to the Win images, the
program displayed a message telling me
my score and then asked if I wanted to
View the High Scores.
31 | P a g e
Alan Fordyce
will attempt to get 26 Matches
while playing properly.
program will display the
Users score. The program
will ask the User if they want
to view the High Scores.
21.5
Set Matches to 26 then clicked
the View High Scores button.
The Game Board will
disappear and the High
Scores window will display.
The Game Board closed and the High
Scores Window opened.
21.5
Set Matches to 26 then clicked no
to view the High Scores.
The Game Board will
disappear and the Main
Menu will show.
The Game Board Closed and the Main
Menu Opened.
Bugs and Errors Corrected


Changed the Unloading Code to fix the problem where the Main Menu would show (and stay)
before the program asked the user if they wanted to leave the game board.
Attempted to fix the audio problem but discovered that the MMControl did not have any way to
mute the Audio. The MMControl could have been changed to another Component but I decided to
remove the sound functionality. Removing the sound functionality also adds the benefit of allowing
the program to run on Computers that do not have Visual basic installed and lowering the Memory
requirements.
Testing of Finished Game
After the program was tested using the Test Data the whole program was ran from start to finish multiple
times. This was to ensure that a player would be able to play through a whole game and even play multiple
games. After the program was tested by the programmer it was given as an executable to several family
members, class members and friends. These computer users range from Novice to expert. They were asked
to fill out the following questionnaire.
Problems Encountered by the programmer:



Not entering a Name into the Name Input box when starting the program would allow the player to
continue without a name.
Starting a new game after playing or winning a game would retain the score from the last game.
One card was left at the end of the game, all matches were made and the game continued.
Bugs and Errors Corrected


Fixed the program continuing if a Name was not supplied.
Fixed the program retaining scores when starting a new game.
Concentration Card Game Testing Questionnaire.
Play the game and rate the following aspects.
One Star being the Worst and five stars being the Best.
Insert a Tick or Cross into the boxes based on your rating.
Ease of Use.
Friendly User Interface.
32 | P a g e
Alan Fordyce
Difficulty of the Game.
Help features available e.g. How to Play, Rules etc.
Enjoyable.
Compared to playing this game with real cards how easier is it to play the
computer version?
Did you find any bugs or
encounter any errors?
If so Please describe
them.
Any areas that could be
improved?
Any other comments
about the game?
Feedback
Amount of testers: 6.
Concentration Card Game Testing Questionnaire.
The amount stars were added up and shown below.
Comments that were left have been added to the spaces below.
Ease of Use.
4.5 Average
Friendly User Interface.
4.2 Average
Difficulty of the Game.
2.7 Average
Help features available e.g. How to Play, Rules etc.
4.2 Average
Enjoyable.
4 Average
Compared to playing this game with real cards how easier is it to play the
4.5 Average
computer version?
Errors Encountered.
Two Testers encountered file access errors, Error Number 75 and 52.
Two Testers reported that the High Score Table would not keep your second
score.
Two Testers reported that Cards were left over that could not be matched;
one tester encountered this after quickly clicking multiple cards.
Areas that could be
improved.
Increase the Amount of Tries.
Increase the time the cards are shown at the start.
More colourful User Interface.
The speed at which the cards are displayed when clicked.
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Changes or fixes made based on Feedback
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Increased the amount of time the cards are shown at the start from 7 to 10.
Increased the amount of time the clicked cards are shown from 1.5 seconds to 1.8 seconds.
Fixed the High Score Table not keeping a second score. This bug would not have allowed any scores
after the first score to be saved.
Changes or fixes that could be made based on Feedback
Due to the timescale of this project the following changes will be omitted because of the amount of time
they will take to implement. A simpler change may be implemented if it is available.

Increasing the amount of tries would require a rewrite of several areas of the program that use the
High Scores. A simple change to this has been implemented. Since the High Scores are based on
time when a player goes above 99 tries the value can be set to a constant 99.
Changes or fixes that cannot be made

I believe the Error Number 52 and 75 can be tracked down to the Tester missing files or because of
the network restrictions in the school.
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User Guide
Basic Information and Features
Concentration is a card game in which all of the cards are laid face down on a surface and two cards are
flipped face up over each turn. The object of the game is to turn over pairs of matching cards until all the
cards have been matched. This game is a computerised version which aims to save you time over playing
the game with real cards. Playing the game with real cards can be done with one or two players but this
Computerised version only allows for one player. The computerised version offers the following features:
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Less time consuming over playing with real cards.
Your score is saved and can be used as a target for you to beat or for competition with other
players.
Easy to use game which allows beginner computer users to play without any trouble.
You can view your current play time, tries and matches while you play, no need to remember this
yourself.
The game can be run on most Windows Computer systems.
Colourful and attractive card design.
More…
User Interface
The game uses a Graphical User Interface. This allows even the most inexperienced Computer users to
easily start playing.
Getting Started
Launching the Game
To start the game you will need to double click on the executable named ‘Matching Card Game’. This
executable can be found in the same directory as this User Guide and has a small Icon which looks like:
Main Menu
After being asked to use your Windows Account Name or enter one manually you will be presented with
the Main Menu. From here you can Start the Game, view the How to Play information, view the Rules and
view the High Scores. The buttons are located at the bottom of the screen and can be clicked with the left
mouse button.
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How to Play
The How to Play screen should be your first stop before playing the game. This screen will give you the
required information to begin playing the game using a step by step approach. These steps are also listed
below:
1. Click the Begin Current Game button which is located at the top of the Game Board.
2. The cards will appear for ten seconds and your goal is to try and memorise as many of the cards as you
possibly can before the time runs out. The remaining time can be found at the bottom right of the
Game Board.
3. Once the cards turn over you will be presented with 52 Back Images. The back images represent the
location of the cards. Click on an image to pick your first card. Then click on a second image to pick your
second card and check for a match.
4. Repeat step 3 until you have made all 26 matches. You will know this because the game will display a
message stating you have won. This message will also include your score.
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Game Rules
Much like every game Concentration has several rules which must be followed. These rules allow for a
more fun and competitive experience. The rules of the game are as follows:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Only two cards can be picked in one try
The picked cards must be of the same rank, colour does not matter, to gain a match
The game should only be played with one player
The player has to successfully match 26 cards to complete the game
The cards will be turned over and one added to the amount of tries if the match is unsuccessful
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High Scores
The game is capable of storing your score. Your score consists of your name, time and the amount of tries it
took you to get all matches. The scores are sorted in descending order, this means that the best score is at
the top and the worst score is located at the bottom. As you can see below the game gives you your
position in the table to the left and your details to the right.
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Playing the Game
The game can be started by clicking the ‘Start the game’ button which is the leftmost button on the Main
Menu. The Main Menu will close and the Game Board will appear. You will see a large space in the middle
of the Game board; this is where the cards will be shown.
Once you are ready click the ‘Begin the Current Game’ button to show the cards. The cards will appear and
you will have ten seconds to memorise as many card locations as you can. Once the time is up the cards will
turn over and back images will appear.
Click one of the cards you wish to match and the card will turn over. Click on a second card to match with
this one and the selected cards will either disappear if you have a match or turn over if no match has been
made. The aim is to match all the 52 cards to get 26 matches which will win the game.
The game will tell you when all 26 matches have been made. It will display your time and tries and ask you
if you want to view the High Scores. Clicking ‘Yes’ will open the High Scores Screen and clicking ‘No’ will
show the Main Menu.
If you wish to start a new game then click on the ‘Start a New Game’ button which is located in the same
position as the ‘Start the Current Game’ button. This will ask you if you wish to close the Current Game and
start a new one. Clicking ‘Yes’ will send you back to the Main Menu; click the ‘Start the game’ button to
begin.
You will also notice that there are two smaller buttons located to the left of the ‘Start the Current Game’
button. The ‘How to Play’ button will open the How to Play information and the ‘Rules’ button will open the
Game Rules. Clicking either of these buttons does not end the game but they do not pause the game either.
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You can return to the Main Menu or Exit at any time. Clicking the ‘Back to the Main Menu’ button will ask
you if you want to leave your current game; click ‘Yes’ and you will be returned to the Main Menu. Clicking
the ‘Exit Game’ button will ask you if you want to exit the game; click ‘Yes’ to Exit.
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Technical Guide
Installation
The game will be stored in a Compressed Zip Archive. This helps to reduce transfer time and reduce storage
sizes. To install the game right click on the Compressed ‘Matching Card Game’ Archive and select ‘Extract
All…’ You must be running Windows XP, Vista or 7 to extract the files. A window will appear asking you
where to extract the files to. It is advised to use the default folder which will create a ‘Matching Card Game’
folder in the current directory. Make sure the option ‘Show extracted files when complete’ is selected and
click ’Extract’. The folder will open and you should find the ‘Matching Card Game’ executable and a ‘Data’
folder.
If you are not running Windows XP, Vista or 7 then you can use an external, freeware program known as 7Zip to Extract the game. Link to 7-Zip: www.7-zip.org/
System Requirements
To play the game it is recommended that your computer meets the requirements for the Windows
Operating system as well as the following requirements:
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Link to Microsoft Windows 7 Requirements: http://windows.microsoft.com/enGB/windows7/products/system-requirements
Microsoft Windows XP, Vista or 7. See the 7-Zip extraction above for earlier versions of Windows.
20 MB of free Disk Space.
16-bit or greater display with a resolution of 1024 x 720 or more.
A Computer that does not meet the requirements may still be able to play the game but help and support is
not available.
Troubleshooting
If you encounter any errors or problems then please check the following:
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Your Computer meets the System Requirements - Check above.
The Data folder is located in the same location as the ‘Matching Card Game’ executable.
All the files are located where they should be - see the file list below.
You are not trying to open the game from a restricted location – try to create a file in the same
directory as the game, if it fails then move the game elsewhere and try again.
The Drive the game is located on has at least 5 MB of space.
File List
Using the directory where the ‘Matching Card Game.exe’ is located the following files should be located:
Matching Card Game.exe
Data/
Data/Rules.txt
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Alan Fordyce
Data/High Scores.txt
This file will be created when the game is started.
Data/Images/
Data/Images/Back
Data/Images/Back/Playing_Card_Back_1.jpeg
Data/Images/Club
Data/Images/Club/Playing_card_club_#.jpeg
Where # is 1 to 13
Data/Images/Diamond
Data/Images/Diamond/Playing_card_Diamond_#.jpeg
Where # is 1 to 13
Data/Images/Heart
Data/Images/Diamond/Playing_card_Heart_#.jpeg
Where # is 1 to 13
Data/Images/Help
Data/Images/Help/Help_Card_Click.jpeg
Data/Images/Help/Help_Card_Show.jpeg
Data/Images/Help/Help_Game_Win.jpeg
Data/Images/Icon
Data/Images/Icon/48px-French_suits_Icon.ico
Data/Images/Spade
Data/Images/Spade/Playing_card_Spade_#.jpeg
Where # is 1 to 13
Data/Images/Win
Data/Images/Win/Playing_card_win_1.jpeg
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Evaluation
Overall my project was successful in meeting its objectives. Some features of the design were not
implemented or removed at later stages but the solution fully meets its purpose and can be played from
start to finish multiple times by all computer users.
Fitness for Purpose
The purpose of my project was to create an electronic Concentration game which would save time for the
player over playing with real cards. My end program meets its purpose fully and allows the player to save
time over playing with real cards.
User Interface
The User Interface of my program can be used by most computer users without any problems. The
positions and styles of buttons are similar on all screens of my program which helps users find and identify
what buttons do the task they need. I do believe that the interface could have been more user friendly. The
colour style of my program is basic and only contains few colours which has been commented on by the
testers. The green background colour was the best choice as this matches the colour on most game boards.
Robustness
The program could use some robustness improvements. If external image files are missing or the game is
being run from a restricted location then the program will display an error and in serious cases crash. This
will only be a problem if a user has deleted the data folder or they do not have write/read permission to
the drive they are running the game from. The program may also crash if the High Scores file is edited. If
the formatting of the High Scores file is changed then the program will not be able to get or sort the High
Scores causing a crash. During Testing these were the main problems encountered by the Testers.
Reliability
Testers have reported that cards were left over at the end of the game but I and another tester have been
unable to replicate this issue. This problem may exist as a rare bug for some users stopping them from
completing the game. If the user clicks on a large amount of cards then the program may not register this
right away. This may cause some cards to be matched. Other than these issues the program gives the
correct results and can be played from start to finish as long as the user follows the rules.
Portability
Visual Basic allows an executable to be created which can be run on Windows computers. My program
executable and data can be compressed in a .zip archive using the built in Windows Zip Compression and
copied to any Windows computers. The program executable and data can be decompressed and ran on any
Windows Computer.
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Efficiency
The program is fairly efficient but could be improved in two areas. The first area is reading and writing to
the High Scores. This code uses multiple IF statements to identify whether a 0 needs to be added/removed
to/from the High Score. This could be more efficiently implemented using Case. The second area is the type
of sort used to sort the High Scores. The simple sort is used which goes through all the scores regardless if
they are already sorted or not.
Maintainability
Meaningful variable names have been used in most cases along with internal commentary to identify what
the variable will be used for. The program has been split up into modules with internal commentary
throughout them to identify what the code does. Limited parameter passing has been used and this could
be improved on. Due to my style of programming it has often been said that my code could be made
smaller and still achieve the same results. This can be seen in some areas of the program but should not
affect maintainability.
Image showing the declarations section of my program with Variable names and Internal Commentary.
Features of the Solution
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The program has an attractive background and card design.
The user can exit the game at any time.
The program continues until all matches have been made.
The program times the player and displays this at the end.
The program stores 50 user names and times.
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The program is able to display the best 50 times in descending order.
The program does show all the card values at the start then flip them over to start the
game.
The program does allow the user to replay until they decide to quit.
The program does not allow the user to search the best times for their name and display
them – this feature was not implemented due to time constraints. A simpler solution was
implemented which shows the best time for the player while they are playing the game.
The High Scores form allows the player to manually search through the scores.
The program does display the current time and matches while playing.
The program does not allow the user to view the cards again for help – this feature was
removed after being implemented because it was breaking the program by not allowing
the cards to be clicked again.
The program does have a help feature such as a walkthrough or tutorial.
The program does provide feedback that is easy to understand.
The program does not provide the user with audio feedback – this feature was removed
because the MMControl did not have any way to Mute the audio.
Schedule
Although I was originally going to follow the Gant Chart located earlier I decided to create a draft version of
the program first then use this to work backwards and create the pseudocode. The pseudocode was edited
and the changes were made to the program code. A project diary was created which lists when each task
was carried out and how long was spent on these tasks.
Time Taken for each Stage
Using the Project Diary the time taken for each stage was calculated and rounded up to the nearest hour.
Stage
Time Taken
Analysis
4 Hours
The Analysis stage took an hour less than estimated
Design
5 Hours
The Design stage took an hour more than estimated.
Language Learning
0 Hour
The Language Learning stage did not take any time because of the decision to use Visual basic. This allowed
the time to be used elsewhere.
Implementation
20 Hours
The implementation stage took the same amount of time as estimated.
Testing
8 Hours
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The Testing stage took 3 more hours than expected. This was needed to find the required testers and fix
the bugs that were found.
Documentation
3 Hours
The Documentation stage took an hour less than estimated.
Evaluation
4 Hours
The Evaluation stage has taken 4 hours which is 1 hour less than estimated.
Total Time: 44 Hours
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