Assessment 2

Assessment 2

1. Existing Text-Based Adventure Games

   • The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1984)
     • Arthur Dent, a hapless Englishman is rescued by his alien friend Ford Prefect just before Earth is destroyed to make way for a hyperspace bypass.
       • It is a satirical adventure exploring a chaotic, absurd universe, focusing on themes of bureaucracy, existence, and the search for the ultimate answer to life.
         • Pros
           • Profoundly Philosophical
           • Relatable Protagonist
           • Unique, Clever Humor
         • Cons
           • Lack of Character Development
           • Weak Narrative Structure
   • Forest of Lyrica
     • A text-based HTML5 adventure game.
       • It is a educational coding project—often used in tutorial videos—where players learn to use JavaScript arrays and HTML to create a functional, image-based text adventure game.
         • Pros
           • High Immersion and Imagination
           • Interactive Storytelling
           • True Open-World Freedom
         • Cons
           • Frustrating Input Limitations
           • Obsolete Design Approaches

2. Ideas For Story

   • Health System
     • Both players and enemies have health.
       • e.g. PLAYER HP: 7 ENEMY HP: 2
   • Combat
     • Able to deal and receive damage.
       • e.g. Your Sword did 7 Damage!
   • Medieval theme
     • Set in a fictional and fantasy world back in time.
       • Villages, castles, knights, kings, dragons etc.

3. Self-Determined Criteria

   • No colour changes
     • No other colours apart from black and white.
     • The game must have no changes in colour while playing.
     • No ANSI code.

4. Prescribed Criteria

   • You must use a WHILE loop.
     • A WHILE loop must be used in the game.
   • You must use variables that match your storyline.
     • The variables must fit the story.
   • You must have at least two choices for each input (IE. Yes | No, Left | Right, Buy | Sell).
     • The choices must have different pathways for the story.
     • Each input must have at least 2 choices.
   • Your story must have at least 10 different variables in total.
     • All the variables must be different.
     • All the variables must serve a purpose to the story.
     • The variables must be appropriately named to fit in the story.

5. Coding Constructs

   • IF Statements
     • The 'if' statement is one of the most basic and simplest controls flow statements. The IF statement can be used when we want to execute a group of one or more script statements only when a particular condition is met.
       • e.g. CALCULATE totalCost IF (totalCost > $10) THEN OUTPUT 'no delivery charge' ELSE OUTPUT '$5 delivery charge' ENDIF OUTPUT 'thank you'
   • Loops
     • FOR Loop
       • Used when something is repeated over and over again, so anything where the program goes round in a loop.
         • A FOR loop is used when it is known exactly how many times to go round the loop.
       • Typically programmed using code such as WHILE, REPEAT and FOR statements. See the example of Pseudocode using a FOR loop to write out numbers 1 to 10:
         • e.g. DECLARE count SET count TO 0 FOR count = 1 to 10 OUTPUT count ENDFOR OUTPUT 'finished'
     • WHILE Loop
       • In comparison, a WHILE loop is used to repeat while a condition is true or false. In this example, the WHILE loop will loop until a pile of items are all counted.
         • e.g. DECLARE count SET count TO 0 WHILE (there are items in a pile) ADD 1 TO COUNT ENDWHILE OUTPUT the number of items

6. Algorithm Constructs

   • Modularisation
     • Modularisation is used to reduce the complexity of a system by deconstructing it into independent units or modules.
       • The term "function" is what they are called in most of the popular programming languages of today.
         • Functions are important because they allow us to take large complicated programs and divide them into smaller manageable pieces that are more easily maintained.
           • e.g. FUNCTION delivery_charge CALCULATE totalCost IF (totalCost > $10) THEN OUTPUT ‘no delivery charge’ ELSE OUTPUT ‘$5 delivery charge’ ENDIF OUTPUT ‘thankyou’ END FUNCTION
   • Iteration
     • Iteration is also called repetition and is used when something is repeated over and over again, so anything where the program goes round in a loop.
       • Typically programmed using code such as WHILE, REPEAT and FOR statements.
         • NOTE: A FOR loop is used when it is known exactly how many times to go round the loop.
           • e.g. DECLARE count SET count TO 0 FOR count = 1 to 10 OUTPUT count END FOR OUTPUT ‘finished’
   • Selection & Condition
     • Uses a condition to select, or determine, the next line of the program that is to be executed.
       • These statements help to make decisions and change the flow of a program.
         • e.g. CALCULATE totalCost IF (totalCost > $10) THEN OUTPUT 'no delivery charge' ELSE OUTPUT '$5 delivery charge' ENDIF OUTPUT 'thank you'
   • Assignment
     • Used to store the value of an expression into a variable.
       • They are similar to the variables that you would have seen in maths (e.g. x=5).
       • In programming, this is exactly the same idea, except computers can remember anything not just numbers. Additionally, the variables are generally given more meaningful names that relate to the data they contain e.g. studentName = "Tom".
       • Assignment is the way that a variable is told to remember a certain value.
         • e.g. DECLARE studentName SET studentName TO Bob
   • Sequence
     • A number of instructions that are processed one after the other.
       • Sequencing is important since it is crucial that the steps in an algorithm are performed in the right order - otherwise the algorithm will not work correctly.
       • Each step is an instruction to be performed. Sequencing is the order in which the steps are carried out.
       • For example, a very simple algorithm for brushing teeth might consist of these steps.
         • . Put toothpaste on toothbrush . Use toothbrush to clean teeth . Rinse toothbrush