- Basic game with support of obstacles
- However, we found this version too complex, especially for our target audience of programmers with little to no programming experience
Game: Stage1
For i from 1 to 3
Stage:
Name: Stage{i}
Length: 60
Speed: 10 * i
NextStage: Stage{i+1} if i < 3 else None
Obstacle:
Height: 5
Location:
Stage: Stage1
Coordinate: (10, 10)
Condition:
IF:
Action: Pass
Location:
Stage: Stage2
X: 30
Y: infine (<= if the birds pass at x = 30 on stage2, it happens)
Def FireballEffect
Argument: StageName
Body:
Fireball:
Radius: 5
Location:
Stage: StageName
Coordinate: (10, 40)- Make the DSL even simpler and more intuitive to use
- Each obstacle can have a condition for which stage(s) it applies to
create game
name: My Game
height: 20
width: 60
// Feature 1: Loop to define multiple levels
create stage for i from 1 to 3
name: Stage{i}
// speed increases with each level
speed: i
// wall obstacles
create wall
height: 5
at x=3 and y=10
// Feature 2: Object creation dependent upon some condition
create wall
height: 3
at x=0 and y=RANDOM
if stage=2
// Feature 3: Loops for objects
do every 2000 ms
create fireball
speed: 2
radius: 3
at y=4
if stage>=2- Further simplify the DSL by making the language simpler
- Make stage declarations separate rather than a loop
- Introduce nested stages, where each stage can have 0 or more child stages
create a game
called MyGame
of height 20 and length 60
// Feature 1: nested stages
create stage 1
with speed 2
create stage 2
with speed 3
with parent stage 1
at x=2 and y=10
score * 2
create stage 3
with parent stage 2
at x=100 and y=4
score + 500
// wall obstacles
create a wall
of height 5 and length 1
at x=3 and y=10
// Feature 2: Object creation dependent upon some condition
create a wall
of height 1 and length 3
at x=0 and y=RANDOM
if stage=2
// Feature 3: Loops for objects
do every 2000 ms
create a fireball
at y=4
with speed 2
if stage>2Applying feedback from user studies
- Polish definition of stages and levels (more similar to substages in mario) by introducing concept of substages
- Array-like declaration of walls
- Wall declaration uses coordinate syntax, and now can have multiple coordinates per wall declaration
/**
* Creation of a game
*/
create a game
called MyGame
of height 50 and length 200
reward 50 every 5 units traveled
/**
* Feature 1: Levels and nested stages
* - Each level can have mini levels called substages. This is similar to Super Mario Bros where the Mario can enter into another substage through the green pipe
* - Substages can be more challenging, and thus can reward with score multipliers
* - If a substage is not entered, the character moves to the end of the level and onto the next level
* - When a character reaches the end of a substage, they return back to where they were in the level
*/
create level 1
with speed 2
if hit (2,10) go to substage 1
if hit (50,25) go to substage 2
create substage 1
with speed 3
score * 2
create substage 2
with speed 4
score + 500
create level 2
with speed 2
if hit (20,20) go to substage 1
create substage 1
with speed 3
score * 3
/**
* Obstacle: walls
* - walls of varying dimensions can be placed in levels and substages
* - walls can be reused across levels and substages
*/
create walls
of height 5 and length 1
at (3,10)
/**
* Feature 2: Object creation dependent upon some condition
* - Walls can be reused across future levels or stages to make them more difficult
* - Walls can be applied to specific substages or levels
*/
create walls
of height 1 and length 3
at (0, 20), (10, 10), (20, 30)
if level = 1
if substage > 0
/**
* Feature 3: Loops for fireballs
* - Fireballs come from the right side of the screen, move left, and disappear once they exit the screen
* - Fireballs take precedence over walls
* - Loops can be defined to reuse fireballs
*/
do every 2000 ms
create fireball
at y=4
with speed 2
if level > 2Applying feedback from user studies
- All the obstacles and objects now belong to a level
- Same obstacles can be reused in multiple coordinates and levels
- Support non-recurring fireball and move the loop INSIDE the declaration of the fireball
Note: Please see the results of our user studies for all that we changed and the feedback we got
/**
* Creation of a game
*/
create a game
called MyGame
of width 200
reward 50 every 5 units traveled
/**
* Feature 1: Levels and nested stages
* - Each level can have mini levels called substages. This is similar to Super Mario Bros where the Mario can enter into another substage through the green pipe
* - Substages can be more challenging, and thus can reward with score multipliers
* - If a substage is not entered, the character moves to the end of the level and onto the next level
* - When a character reaches the end of a substage, they return back to where they were in the level
*/
create level 1
with speed 2
with walls 1, 2
with fireballs 1
if hit (2,10) go to substage 1
if hit (50,25) go to substage 2
create level 2
with speed 2
with walls 1
if hit (5,5) go to substage 1 // reuse of substage across levels
if hit (20,20) go to substage 3
create substage 1
with speed 3
with walls 1
score * 2
create substage 2
with speed 4
with walls 2
with fireballs 2
score + 500
create substage 3
with speed 3
with walls 1, 2
with fireballs 2
score * 3
/**
* Obstacle: walls
* - walls of varying dimensions can be placed in levels and substages
* - walls can be reused across levels and substages
*/
create walls 1
of height 5 and width 1
at (3,10)
/**
* Feature 2: Object creation dependent upon some condition
* - Walls can be reused across future levels or stages to make them more difficult
* - Walls can be applied to specific substages or levels
*/
create walls 2
of height 1 and width 3
at (0, 20), (10, 10), (20, 30)
/**
* Feature 3: Loops for fireballs
* - Fireballs come from the rightmost side of the screen/frame, move left, and disappear once they exit the screen
* - Fireballs take precedence over walls
* - Fireballs can be re-occurring or can be triggered once the character passes an x-coordinate
*/
create fireball 1
trigger every 50 units
at y=4
with speed 2
create fireball 2
trigger at x = 30
at y=4
with speed 2