3DBoom!

The goal of this project is to implement a 3-D version of the classic Atari 2600 game, "KABOOM!". In the original 2-D version of the Atari game, the "mad bomber" (or whatever he/she is called) at the top of the screen repeatedly (at discrete intervals) drops bombs (or some kind of explosives, for that matter) while randomly moving back and forth to the left and right. It is then the job of the player to use a paddle controller to move horizontal "bomb catching devices", one above another (i.e., with respect to the altitude of another), back and forth to the left and right at the bottom of the screen in order to "catch" and put out the bombs. When a bomb hits the ground, there is an explosion and the player loses a "life". The number of player "lives" is represented by the number of bomb catcher surfaces present, initially a value of 3; for each time that a life is lost, one bomb catcher surface disappears, making the catching of all the bombs passing by even more difficult. The required skill in playing the game is speed and reflex; as the rounds ("bomb sets") increment, the mad bomber moves around and drops the bombs more rapidly.

However, this project will add 3-D to this classic challenge (both in terms of programming and playing) by adding depth to the playing field. The mad bomber and bomb catchers still remain at constant altitudes (apparently the actual screen height), but the mad bomber (in an airplane) and the bomb catchers now can move around forward (apparently into the screen) and backward (apparently out of the screen) in addition to the left and right. Within a landscape scenery, both the "bombs" and the "bomb catching devices" (the latter of which is controlled by mouse movement) will be scaled to indicate a sense of depth perception, and each bomb will have a laser-beam from its tip down to the ground in order to aid further in the player`s positioning of the bomb catcher. Also, a high score list will be kept track of in a file on disk.

The various implementation divisions that I have planned for this project, each to be assigned to a different member of the team, are (1) graphics and sound design of the title screen(s), (2) interface (main menu) control (play, quit, view high scores, etc.), (3) static graphics and sound design of the playing field screen, including the drawing (but not the animation) of the playing field and its various components (mad bomber in his/her airplane, bomb catcher, etc.), and (4) animation and game play control.

For additional information on the implementation of 3DBoom!, you may view the project writeup.

last revised / updated on 11/21/97, 9:26 a.m.