I am not sure where to start. If we split the project up, I would like to work on the ai part. If we want to work on one part till it is ready then that works to. I have no project management experience so I don't know the best way to do this.
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
Well, I've got no experience in game design, 3D graphics, or Java (plenty of C/C++ experience however), so I'm currently reading up on that to get a better grasp of the task ahead.
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
I'm going to have to agree with Ben on this one. I think splitting up the work would be a bad idea given our experience. I know personally I wouldn't be able to do anything on my own with my current knowledge. I think a collaborated group effort on single tasks will help us all figure out we're doing much more quickly.
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
The point I was trying to make, is that without proper knowledge it's difficult to write a plan. Ben has suggested we deal with the networking code 1st. To be honest, the beginning of this project will probably be somewhat haphazard as we get over the initial learning curves, and become more organized as we learn more about what we're doing.
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
Our grasp of Java and all of the non-standard libraries we are going to use (JOGL, JOAL, etc) is severely limited.
We have no experience using a game engine to make a game, much less making the game itself.
None of us have ever worked on a group programming project like this, or used a versioning system all that extensively.
Simply doing some research without attempting to write some code may not give us enough insight to determine how we should go about this.
That being said, I have always been expecting that this will require a significant amount of learning through research, and through trial and error.
After looking into how DirectX works, it appears that all of the subcomponents (Direct3D, DirectSound, DirectPlay, etc...) are simply bundled together into one lump, but seem to have no interdependencies. Considering this, I still feel that getting our feet wet with networking is a good idea. It's okay if we have to rewrite every bit of code due to our initial lack of organization (although I think I do have some fairly good ideas of how to organize the networking package).
If we jump into it we'll have the advantage of honing our Java skills, being able to test our knowledge of the Java networking API, getting used to working in a group, and using git.
Once we take a first round attack at networking we should also have had more time to research graphics, physics, AI, etc.. and combined with what we learned while trying to program the networking stuff, we can decide how to better approach this. And then most likely completely rewrite our networking lib again before moving on to graphics or sound.
I do not think we should EVER divide parts of the project amongst us, seeing as how we are all inexperienced and learning. Divide and conquer would be disasterous. The purpose of this project isn't simply to finish an engine as quickly as possible, but to learn. We should all try writing and/or improving code for every class/interface. The repo will make it easier for us to look at each other's programming approaches for the same problem, and speed up our learning.
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
I am not sure where to start. If we split the project up, I would like to work on the ai part. If we want to work on one part till it is ready then that works to. I have no project management experience so I don't know the best way to do this.
Well, I've got no experience in game design, 3D graphics, or Java (plenty of C/C++ experience however), so I'm currently reading up on that to get a better grasp of the task ahead.
I'm going to have to agree with Ben on this one. I think splitting up the work would be a bad idea given our experience. I know personally I wouldn't be able to do anything on my own with my current knowledge. I think a collaborated group effort on single tasks will help us all figure out we're doing much more quickly.
The point I was trying to make, is that without proper knowledge it's difficult to write a plan. Ben has suggested we deal with the networking code 1st. To be honest, the beginning of this project will probably be somewhat haphazard as we get over the initial learning curves, and become more organized as we learn more about what we're doing.
We have several problems:
Our grasp of Java and all of the non-standard libraries we are going to use (JOGL, JOAL, etc) is severely limited.
We have no experience using a game engine to make a game, much less making the game itself.
None of us have ever worked on a group programming project like this, or used a versioning system all that extensively.
Simply doing some research without attempting to write some code may not give us enough insight to determine how we should go about this.
That being said, I have always been expecting that this will require a significant amount of learning through research, and through trial and error.
After looking into how DirectX works, it appears that all of the subcomponents (Direct3D, DirectSound, DirectPlay, etc...) are simply bundled together into one lump, but seem to have no interdependencies. Considering this, I still feel that getting our feet wet with networking is a good idea. It's okay if we have to rewrite every bit of code due to our initial lack of organization (although I think I do have some fairly good ideas of how to organize the networking package).
If we jump into it we'll have the advantage of honing our Java skills, being able to test our knowledge of the Java networking API, getting used to working in a group, and using git.
Once we take a first round attack at networking we should also have had more time to research graphics, physics, AI, etc.. and combined with what we learned while trying to program the networking stuff, we can decide how to better approach this. And then most likely completely rewrite our networking lib again before moving on to graphics or sound.
I do not think we should EVER divide parts of the project amongst us, seeing as how we are all inexperienced and learning. Divide and conquer would be disasterous. The purpose of this project isn't simply to finish an engine as quickly as possible, but to learn. We should all try writing and/or improving code for every class/interface. The repo will make it easier for us to look at each other's programming approaches for the same problem, and speed up our learning.