Description
Advanced program design with C++
General description
The project is to be undertaken teams of exactly 4 members and consists of the building of a challengingly large
C++ program. The completion of the project is divided into two separate components: (1) the Intermediate Project
Delivery is a first operational build of the software, effectively demonstrating the full implementation of some
important software features; (2) the Final Project Delivery is the demonstration of the finalized version of your
software. During project deliveries, you have to demonstrate that your code includes many of the C++ features
presented in the lectures. All project deliveries are to be undertaken in the laboratory where the team presents the
implemented features to the instructor following a pre-circulated grading sheet. The individual assignments will
also be related to the project, but graded individually and separately from the project.
It is important to realize that this project description is purposely incomplete, and that it is one of your duties in this
project to: 1) elicit and formulate all the missing details before you start the implementation, 2) limit the scope of
the project according to the time that is available, 3) determine what design decisions will be made, as well as 4)
what tools will be used for the implementation. These activities require some investigations and discussions that
are important aspects of software development in this project.
Problem statement
The project is about writing a C++ program that allows the user to play a simplistic version of a Dungeons and
Dragons role-playing game. The game must absolutely follow the d20 gaming rules (see the d20 rules reference
below). Two particularly good (and free) example of online games following these rules are Dungeons and
Dragons Online and Neverwinter (see the references below).
It should be fairly obvious that it would be a Herculean feat to implement the complete set of d20 rules within a
single semester course. One of your early goals is to define what subset of the d20 rules you can implement
given your limited available resources, and that makes a complete/coherent set of game rules and features.
Below are given some guidelines as to what is expected as mandatory features. Additionally, as this course does
not have any computer graphics prerequisites, only a simplistic window-and-mouse user interface is expected.
The following describes the mandatory goals of the project in terms of game features. The main idea is that you
should have a character moving on a map. That character can interact with various game elements placed on the
map: enter combat (either as being the attacker or by being attacked) with non-player characters (NPCs i.e.
friendly or hostile characters or monsters) on the map, use a door to go to another map, or open a chest. All game
mechanics, characters, items and actions must follow the d20 gaming rules. More specifically, the game should
have:
2
The rendering of a grid map consisting of cells where characters (player or NPCs) can move and interact with
game elements.
The user-interactive creation of maps along with a save/load feature to/from a file. Allow for interesting maps
to be created, i.e. corridors and rooms by simply disallowing movement in certain squares. Cells can either be
a wall or part of a room. Room cells can contain a character (player or NPC), a door, or a chest. Each map
has an objective, which unlocks the exit door(s) of the map.
The user-interactive creation of a campaign, which is essentially a connected graph that connects maps
together, i.e. using a door in one map leads the character to the entry door of another map. A campaign is
saved/loaded to/from a file. A campaign has an objective, the completion of which ends the game.
A set of pre-generated campaigns are offered at the beginning of the game, from which the user chooses or
lets the computer chose from randomly.
A user-interactive character editor that allows to create player characters and NPCs. The characters should
be stored in a file.
A set of pre-generated characters is available at the beginning of the game, from which the user chooses to
play the game. The characters can be placed on the map as NPCs (friendly or hostile) during map creation.
Characters or NPCs need only to be minimally graphically rendered, i.e. a simple symbol in a map square is
sufficient. Animation is not a mandatory requirement.
Items (armor/shield/weapon/boots/ring/helmet), can be found in chests or on bodies of fallen characters.
Upon searching a chest or body, its content is put in the searching character’s own inventory.
A player has an inventory panel where he can view all his items, including those that are worn and those in
his backpack (i.e. not worn). This panel allows the player to select and wear some equipment from his
character’s inventory. Only items that are worn can be used or have an effect on the character. At most one
item of each kind can be worn by a character.
The user-interactive creation of items that can be found/used in the game and saved in a single file.
Movement and targeting should be limited to a certain range. Valid target squares for movement and targeting
should be highlighted in order to help the player selecting a target.
Mandatory class is Fighter, which can attack using either a bow (or other ranged weapon) or sword (or other
melee weapon), and wear light, medium or heavy armor and a shield.
The game is turn-based (as opposed to real-time), where all turns begin with an initiative roll, then taking an
action based on the board situation current at each character’s turn. Each action is limited by the
movement/attack ranges of the character and the chosen weapon, taking into consideration obstacles and
map configuration.
The game is single-player, and the actions of NPCs should be kept to an absolute minimum of complexity or
intelligence.
Combat mechanics should strictly follow d20 rules, i.e. use proper dice, hit points, ability modifiers, armor
class, attack modifiers, etc.
A console window should be available, where a log of relevant game information is output and can be used to
properly and clearly demonstrate that the d20 game rules are followed.
References
Game rules
Wizards of the Coast: Official d20 rules
Dandwiki: wiki on official d20 rules
BoLS Interactive: The Hypertext d20 SRD
Implemented games
Dungeons and Dragons Online (DDO) official site
Unofficial wiki for DDO
Neverwinter official site
Unofficial wiki for Neverwinter
