View Full Version : I'm Making Minesweeper in Java
FEN1X
04-10-2010, 09:23 PM
Hey guys, I'm a first year student at UCT, one of my courses is Computer Science 1016, which is the second semester course of Comsci 1. I'm intending to continue with ComSci as a major and do the course on game design as well in second year.
For our final practical assignment we were given this:
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Minesweeper (aka Mines, KMines, etc.) is a classic logic puzzle game that comes packaged with many modern OSes (MS-Windows, Ubuntu Linux, etc.). The player is presented with a grid of hidden squares with potential mines and must locate all the mines using trial and error and logic. When a square is clicked on, the system will let the user know: if it is a mine; if it is clear; and how many mines there are in adjacent positions if it is clear.
Write a Java GUI-based program (using Swing) that provides the user with an interactive graphical minesweeper game. Your program MUST allow for initialisation (e.g., by loading a grid from a file or, preferably, using random assignment of mines), interaction with the user for mine detection and checking of mines (after each click). You may additionally add support for clicking with both buttons (which clears mines recursively); a timer; multiple difficulty modes; etc.
More information can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minesweeper_%28computer_game%29
It counts 10% of my CR and would like to get at least 90%. So it needs to be epic :D
Anyone got any suggestions? Or would like to to help out with artwork (we are allowed to get help with the non-programmable stuff as long as we make acknowledgements etc) etc.
Chippit
04-10-2010, 09:52 PM
A nice tip if you're looking for a little extra something (and a bit more challenge, though minesweeper itself's not really a complicated game), is to represent the game in a hex-grid instead of a square grid. It changes the dynamic of the game a little bit, but keeps the rules exactly the same. Implement it as an extra option (on top of the normal game) for bonus points!
FEN1X
04-10-2010, 10:31 PM
Yeah, the top guy in our class is doing that. He did his in one afternoon and its by no means a shoddy job:/
Fengol
05-10-2010, 07:44 AM
Check out the video of MusicMineSweeper http://www.indiegames.com/blog/2010/09/freeware_game_pick_musicminesw.html
If I might make a suggestion as a student though. Get the core/basic game working properly first and iterate from there with novel ideas. I've tried to be too creative for a varsity project before and got caught out with half a game when it came time to deliver.
A solid basic game beats a flaky, creative one.
Another suggestion for mine sweeper is to have collectables under the tiles as well as mines and to reward bonus points for picking those up.
Etiko
05-10-2010, 07:54 AM
Make it 3D :)
Why 3D you ask? Well, you are there to learn, so why not?
Use JMonkeyEngine (http://jmonkeyengine.org/) for all your Java 3D goodness.
FEN1X
05-10-2010, 09:03 AM
If I might make a suggestion as a student though. Get the core/basic game working properly first and iterate from there with novel ideas. I've tried to be too creative for a varsity project before and got caught out with half a game when it came time to deliver.
A solid basic game beats a flaky, creative one.
Thats pretty solid advice, I was thinking about that today as well. I shall definitely heed your warning.
dislekcia
05-10-2010, 02:54 PM
Make it 3D :)
Why 3D you ask? Well, you are there to learn, so why not?
Use JMonkeyEngine (http://jmonkeyengine.org/) for all your Java 3D goodness.
So you take everything you want to learn, lump it all together and just go at it? What happened to taking things one step at a time?
Etiko
05-10-2010, 03:26 PM
So you take everything you want to learn, lump it all together and just go at it? What happened to taking things one step at a time?
The best time to learn is when you are still in varsity. You usually have loads of time to play around with interesting technologies.
If he is crunched for time, then yes, I will agree that 3D is not such a good idea.
While you are still in varsity, the best thing you can do is to push yourself to learn more than what is in your text books.
FEN1X
05-10-2010, 09:19 PM
Hmmmm, well I decided on a theme,
Gonna call it Gravedigger, so instead of mines you get zombies, and instead of putting flags you put gravestones? When you lose they EAT YOUR BRAAAAAAAAAAAINZZZZZZ!
Whatcha think?
dislekcia
06-10-2010, 01:03 AM
Hmmmm, well I decided on a theme,
Gonna call it Gravedigger, so instead of mines you get zombies, and instead of putting flags you put gravestones? When you lose they EAT YOUR BRAAAAAAAAAAAINZZZZZZ!
Whatcha think?
I think that sounds like it has nothing to do with the gameplay, so why not make the gameplay work with retarded zero-effort graphics and then handle your theme. You'll get marks for the code, not the massaging you do to the game concept in order to feel interested in it.
I know it sounds harsh, but it's the reality of getting marks... Even if you really want to do something different and end up making something as interesting as OotEZ (http://www.nag.co.za/forums/showthread.php?t=11460), Gears Sweeper (http://www.nag.co.za/forums/showthread.php?t=10996) or Mamono Sweeper (http://www.hojamaka.com/game/mamono_sweeper/), you're still going to have to start with a bog-standard minesweeper implementation. Which, in all honesty, shouldn't be all that hard to do ;)
Marmalade
07-10-2010, 04:12 PM
A solid basic game beats a flaky, creative one.
Definitely, and I'd bet that most of the marks will be for a working basic implementation and not fancy extras.
Elyaradine
09-10-2010, 12:10 PM
If you need art, shout. :)
I've done the majority of my school work (due only in 4 weeks), so (gasp!) I actually have some free time for a change. ^_^ Not enough to commit to something huge, but this sounds manageable. :)
When you're done with your core and are working on extras, drop me a mail at my nick at Gmail dot com for free prettifyin'. I... uh... kind of forget that Game.Dev exists, and forget to... um... check the forum. :( I'd like at least a week before the deadline so that I can manage my time.
Mini portfolio! (http://pixofile.co.za/jonathan)
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