[kde-edu]: GSoC Proposal: krobots

[Albert Astals Cid]

A Dimecres, 1 d'abril de 2009, Mauricio Piacentini va escriure:
> Rodrigo Gonçalves de Oliveira sent me a very cool proposal for
> appreciation, based on an idea that has been on techbase for a couple of
> years:
>
> http://techbase.kde.org/Projects/Games/Proposed_Games#Robot_Battle_.28Progr
>amming_Game.29
>
> Rodrigo was recommended by Gustavo Boiko, from Mandriva, and he first
> contacted me about GSoC a few weeks ago. I did not know, but he kept on
> working on his proposal, and yesterday he sent me an updated version. I
> hurried him to post it to the Google SOC site.  It is interesting
> because it is a game (a complex one) but ties also into KTurtle, from
> KDE Edu. Niels, are you registered as a mentor? Maybe this can be
> something of interest to you as well.
>
> I am posting the draft here for you guys to have a look at, waiting for
> Rodrigo to post the final version at the gsoc site.

My take: It seems interesting to me, but i can't mentor anyone, so we is the 
new generation of mentors?

Albert

>
> Regards,
> Mauricio Piacentini
> TAbuleiro
>
> ----
>
> Google Summer of Code 2009  Proposal
> KRobots – A simple robot programmed game for KDE
> Rodrigo Gonçalves de Oliveira - <mdkcore at gmail.com>
>
> Proposal:
> The proposal of this project is to develop a simple game based on
> Robocode[1], where computer programmed robots fight among themselves.
> More advanced robots can care of statiscal analysis and use neural
> networks on their programmation.
> The Robocode game uses Java programming language on their robots, but
> for this project I prefer to create a based version of the Logo[2]
> scripting language to control (and program) the virtual agents on the
> game. This language is used as a support tool to the regular education
> and for begginers on computer programming; the typed commands are
> interpreted and the result is shown on the screen.
> There is a development environment lightly based on Logo on the K
> Desktop Environment, the KTurtle[3]. This environment aim to teach a few
> simple mathematical and  geometrical concepts and the initial steps of
> programming, through the TurtleScript[4].
> On this way, the user can program a little robot (with a tank format,
> for example) and play missions to complete specific objectives.
> The main ideia (inspired by a proposed game to the KDE, the Robot
> Battle[5]) differs from the original Robocode as follows:
>
> – Integrating the TurtleScript system, already developed and consolidated;
> – Creating 3 game modes:
> – Missions: simple tasks as: get items, find resources, defend some
> strategical places and destroy the enemies;
> – Arena: Simply search and destroy the enemy, taking care of your own
> resources, energy and weapons;
> – Multiplayer: special mode to play through the internet against several
> enemies. It can be missions, arenas or some group activities.
> – The robot skills could increase, according with the earned point
> through the levels. New resource options could appear, as strenght,
> weapons and energy.
> However, through a scripting language, the user can create patterns and
> necessary actions to your robot fight and confront several situations
> so, when the robot enters some mission or level, he will battle for
> himself. The robot will act alone and will have only their weapons,
> energy meter and a radar, to get your actual position, find enemies,
> resources and/or specific objetives.
> Your skills will increase when he passes each level. With the new earned
> points, he can upgrade the radar grasp, speed, armor, max energy level
> or the weapon power.
>
> Project timeline:
> The project will follow these steps, according to this timeline:
> – Before 23rd May
> Research and study on the necessary APIs and libraries, like libkdegames
> and TurtleScript. Also on this step, I must create the full
> specification on the game modes and graphics.
> – 23rd May - 6th June
> Development of the base graphical interface, with the game area, a test
> map and a robot graphic prototype.
> – 7th June - 27th June
> Integration of the TurtleScript in the project and implementation of the
> basic robot controls.
> Also the first mode of the game (missions) will be developed, containing
> the tasks that the virtual agent must do and the maps structure at all.
> At least 3 maps must be created on this step.
> – 28th June - 25th July
> The arena mode will be developed, with the basic “search'n'destroy”
> task. After this (6th~13th July), the third and last game mode will be
> developed, adapting the other two modes (missions and arena) to run
> under a local network or over the internet. Here at least 3 maps must be
> designed for the arena mode.
> – 26th July - 9th August
> Finishing the implementation.  Must  do tests,  bugfixes and improve the
> project documentation.
> Between each development step should be tests to find possible errors
> and bugs in the program. Also, it's good to have basic documentation
> reviews.
>
> Why develop this project?
> With the increase adoption of KDE by many users and the popularization
> of open source,
> there is a great demand for high quality entertainment. The development
> of games to the KDE project contributes to suppress this demand and to
> motivate new projects to appear.
> With this on mind, this project aims several goals with your development:
> – reach people who are new in the programming world or enthusiats,
> giving them an introductionto  the logic of programming;
> – encourage other similar projects, raising the range and variety of
> games to the KDE;
> – encourage the creation of high quality games for the open source
> environment;
> – create a community to exchange experience in the fields covered up by
> the project (games, artificial intelligence, scripts, etc);
> – self learning;
> – create a healthy competition environment and have fun, a lot of fun.
> Why me?
> I have experience in developing open source applications, affection with
> artificial intelligence and a great enthusiasm with compilers. Along
> with all this is the desire to develop something useful, and the game
> development is my passion.
>
> Details of my past experiences:
> I worked in the research group on computer vision, image processing and
> computer graphics IMAGO[6], inside the Federal University of Paraná
> (UFPR)[7], where I'm an undergraduated student in Computer Science[8].
> In IMAGO group, I helped in the development of some accessibility tools
> for the GNU/Linux system, like the Mouse Loupe and Accessible Linux[9].
> Later I developed the RedeIFES[10], a system that connects the
> communication channels of several public universities in Brazil.
> As my graduation work, I developed the vICon, a videoconference system
> using cheaper webcameras and human skin tracking.
> Actually, I'm a trainee at Mandriva Linux, working with bugfixes and
> KDE/QT programming.
> References:
> [1] Robocode - Open Source robot educational game
> http://robocode.sourceforge.net/
> [2] Logo Programming Language - Computer programming language used for
> functional
> programming
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logo_programming_language
> [3] KTurtle - An educational programming environment for the KDE Desktop
> http://edu.kde.org/kturtle/
> [4] TurtleScript Programming Reference - KTurtle Script Language
> http://docs.kde.org/development/en/kdeedu/kturtle/reference.html
> [5] Robot Battle - Proposed Game in KDE Projects/Games
> http://techbase.kde.org/Projects/Games/Proposed_Games#Robot_Battle_.28Progr
>amming_Game.2
>
> 9
> [6] The IMAGO Research Group
> http://www.imago.ufpr.br/en_index.html
> [7] UFPR - Federal University of Paraná
> http://www.ufpr.br/
> [8] Dinf - Department of informatics
> http://www.inf.ufpr.br/dinf/
> [9] Accessible Linux - Open source accessibility tools for people with
> special needs
> http://www.imago.ufpr.br/en_linuxacessivel.html
> [10] RedeIFES - A media center for all Brazil Federal Institutions of
> High Education
> http://www.redeifes.ufpr.br/
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