tl;dr

It's a top-down space shooter with a focus on artificial intelligence.

Where do I start?

Take a look at the Class Hierarchy. That should give you an idea of the project structure.

Brief

This section is the brief we received for the project. Word for word.

Controls

• The player’s ship is controlled using the left, right and up arrows.
• Left and right arrows cause the ship to turn anticlockwise and clockwise respectively.
• The up arrow applies thrust to the ship in the direction it is pointing.
• The space bar fires a bullet.

Factories

• These produce predators while actively trying to evade the player.
• They can survive four hits from the player.
• When the player’s ship is within range they will take evasive behaviour, otherwise they wander at random.
• If factories meet they will flock.
• A factory will fire interceptor guided missiles at the player once the player is within range.
• Interceptor missiles have the same maximum speed as the player and will explode if they do not reach the player within 10 seconds.
• A factory can only have five interceptor missiles “live” at a time.

Swarm Boids

• These swarm in groups and tend towards the players ship
• Once they are within range of the ship they then plot an intercept course for the ship.

Predator Ships

• These seek out the player and intelligently engage them.
• They have the same firepower as the player ship.
• Predators move in flocks and can also collect “power-ups”!

Obstacles

• Exactly what it says on the tin

Power-Ups

• To be decided by individual game designers.

Other Requirements

• Friction operates in the game and any moving object will slow down over time if thrust is not applied to it.
• All entities try to avoid obstacles.
• Collision with an obstacle results in death.
• The screen should scroll so that the player’s ship is always in the centre of the screen.
• The game is wrap around with the total area of play 9 times that of a single screen.
• Radar will be provided for the player.