COMP4002-E1 COMP4002-E1 Turn over The University of Nottingham SCHOOL OF COMPUTER SCIENCE A LEVEL 4 MODULE, SPRING SEMESTER 2020-2021 GAMES Deadline for submission: see the Moodle submission box Open-book examination. Answer ALL questions Suggested time to complete the paper 1 hour. This open-book examination will be marked out of 100. You may write/draw by hand your answers on paper and then scan them to a PDF file, or you may type/draw your answers into electronic form directly and generate a PDF file. Guidance on scanning can be found through the Faculty of Science Moodle Page Guidance for Remote Learning. Your solutions should include complete explanations and should be based on the material covered in the module. Make sure your PDF file is easily readable and does not require magnification. Make sure that each page is in the correct orientation. Text/drawing which is not in focus or is not legible for any other reason will be ignored. Submit your answers containing all the work you wish to have marked as a single PDF file on the module’s Moodle page. Use the standard naming convention for your document: [Student ID] [Module Code] [Academic Year]. Write your student ID number at the top of each page of your answers. Although you may use any notes or resources you wish to help you complete this open-book examination, the academic misconduct policies that apply to your coursework also apply here. You must be careful to avoid plagiarism, collusion or false authorship. Please familiarise yourself with the Guidance on Academic Integrity in Alternative Assessments, which is available on the Faculty of Science Moodle Page Guidance for Remote Learning. The penalties for academic misconduct are severe. Staff are not permitted to answer assessment or teaching queries during the period in which your examination is live. If you spot what you think may be an error on the exam paper, note this in your submission but answer the question as written. COMP4002-E1 COMP4002-E1 Turn over 1. Topic: Categorising Games a. Provide an example of a computer game that would be primarily considered as indicative of each of the following genres. Note that games in the same series (e.g. FIFA 20, FIFA 21) only count as one game. a. Strategy game. b. Simulation game. c. Role-playing game. [6 Marks] b. Some games exhibit elements associated with several different genres. Select one such game, and briefly explain why it can be regarded as having features corresponding to at least three different genres. [6 Marks] c. Briefly explain the difference between premise and narrative. [4 Marks]
d. Why might having branching, or open-ended narrative structures in a game be considered difficult or problematic, and for whom [4 Marks] End of Question 1: Total 20 marks 2. Topic: Game Elements Martin is playing CyberFunk 1977, a first-person action-adventure game, for the first time. In the game, the player’s character can run, slide, jump and aim, and make use of a variety of close-combat (“melee”) weapons as well as some that can operate at a distance (“ranged”), with both kinds either doing physical or “hacking” damage that require different abilities to repel. As the character is sent to different locations in the city, they encounter groups of enemies who must be defeated to progress. a. Explain, with the aid of a diagram, how Martin’s skill might be expected to change over time. [5 Marks] b. By referring to the game mechanics and game elements detailed above, explain how the level(s) should be designed to become perceivably more difficult for Martin as he plays. [10 Marks] c. What should the main source(s) of uncertainty in the game be [5 Marks] d. Discuss whether or not it would be a good idea to adjust the difficulty level of the game in response to how well or how badly Martin was playing. [5 Marks] COMP4002-E1 COMP4002-E1 END e. The company is so pleased with the success of CyberFunk 1977 that they decide to release a multi-player deathmatch game as a spin-off, and have asked you to design a level for it. Referring to the game elements above, describe what you would need to include in the level to ensure that the game is balanced, and demonstrate that your proposition is balanced using an appropriate justification. [15 Marks] End of Question 2: Total 40 marks 3. Topic: Physics and Simulation a. Explain why a game engine such as Unity has a both FixedUpdate and an Update call. [5 Marks] b. Why is the value chosen for Δt not arbitrary [5 Marks] c. Martin is playing CyberFunk 1977 when his character squeezes down a narrow passage. Suddenly, his character is thrown violently backwards at high speed and he finds himself 200 metres away from the passage. By considering how the physics engine is likely to have been designed, explain why this might have happened. [8 Marks] d. CyberFunk 1977 takes place in a complicated game environment with a large number of objects that Martin can interact with, including concave shapes. State and explain the optimisations that should be made and the processes that should occur during the physics simulation to enable the largest number of objects possible to be simulated. [22 Marks] End of Question 3: Total 40 marks