Watson Game, Fall 2004:

The Server Group

1. The Protocol

Joseph Wong

WAG Protocol

• TCP Connection– Port 1500

• Communication between:– Server and Client– Server and Database

Watson Game Protocol

• Data stream format

CMD;CMD_ID;PARAM1=ARG1;…;PARAMk=ARGk\n

– ; used as the delimiter– Both client/server talk in same format

Command Number

Number to identify the command

List of arguments for the command

End of arguments list

Commands• Command Numbers:

– 1 – Login– 2 – Logout– 3 – Create– 4 – Load Player– 5 – Load Game State– 6 – Save– 7 – Load Challenge– 8 – Complete Challenge– 9 – Get DARs

• Examples– Can be found in previous semester’s PowerPoint slides.

Scoring Module

• Old Scoring Module– Fake GPA:

• Number of question correct / Number of questions * 4 = GPA

– Example:• 11 correct, 15 questions• GPA = (11/15) * 4 = 2.933

• Required a score of 4.0 to beat the game.

Scoring Module

• New Scoring Module– More efficient and “real”– Requires a 2.0 GPA to graduate

2. The Score Module

Martin Goldman

In the Current Scoring System...

• Course grades are precise numeric representations

• GPA = (Class1Grade + Class2Grade + ... + ClassNGrade) * (4/5N)– Example: Class1Grade = 3/5,

Class2Grade = 3/5, Class3Grade = 5/5•(3+3+5)*(4/5(3)) = 2.933

In Real Life...

• Course grades are letters -- loose representations

• The new scoring module will attempt to simulate this concept more closely

• GPA = (Class1GradeValue + Class2GradeValue + ... + ClassNGradeValue) / N

An Example

• Example: Class1Grade = 5/5, Class2Grade = 3/5, Class3Grade = 3/5– Pick a grading scale, e.g. A=5/5, B=4/5,

C=3/5, D=2/5, F=1/5 or 0/5– Class1Grade = 3/5, Class2Grade = 3/5,

Class3Grade = 5/5– Class1GradeValue = 2.0, Class2GradeValue

= 2.0, Class3GradeValue = 4.0– GPA = (2.0 + 2.0 + 4.0) / 3 = 2.667

3. Game Statistics

Ryan Andrew

Watson Game Server

• Has five global singleton objects– ChallengeDispatcher– DatabaseObject– Scorer– WGListener– GameKeeper manages the game

statistics• I will focus on this object

Watson GameKeeper

• getPosition() / setPosition()• addNewItem() / dropItem()• addNewPlayer() / dropPlayer()• getTotal()• setWorldDescription() /

getWorldDescription() • showAll() - // debug• showItems() - // debug

To Be Added…• Statistics button to Client• When pressed, GameKeeper receives a

request for statistics of all players in the database currently logged onto the Watson Game

• GameKeeper does a database query through the DatabaseObject

• Format results and send back to the Client for the player to view

To Be Added…

• Statistics to return to Client about currently logged on players– Total time logged on this game session– Total time logged on in total– Total number of times player has logged on

• Proper fields must be added to the database– With timestamp and calculations

My Responsibilities

• Debug showItems(), and showAll() if necessary

• Interact with Client and Database groups to design Statistics button handling and database field creation

• add necessary functions to display and track these new statistics

4. Challenge Dispatching(Part 1)

Gene Cumm

Challenge Dispatching•Seems complete•Ensure functionality of current dependencies:

WatsonGameServer.getDatabaseObject()

DatabaseObject.getChallenge()WGCommand.getCmdID()WGConnection.writeToClient()WatsonResultSet: .nextRow(), .getData(), .hasMoreRows()

Challenge Dispatching•Ensure functionality with client

Output matches Protocol Client expects

•Ensure that the Table attribute names are correct

Matches with Database•Work with WGConnection owner to integrate ChallengeDispatcher

5. Challenge Dispatching(Part 2)

Larisse Voufo

Input and Dispatching Visualization

Process and Output: Methods Used

• getChallengeInfo – Text and choices– Correct answer– Major

• checkChallengeAnswer– Right answer?– Return correct answer to client?– Allow second-chance if wrong?

Future

• Incorporate the level and type of challenge while getting the Information?– Player’s level vs. Challenge’s difficulty

level– Add True/False questions.

6. Challenge Trigger Handler

Roy Chung

Goals

• New hot spots will have to be defined.• Some will be constant, for example, the

elevator button, opening/closing doors.• Others hot spots will be at specific

points, i.e. a specific corner or a certain wall.

• A challenge will be generated depending on the hot spot.

Handler Duties

• Client will send a message stating that the player has triggered a challenge.

• The handler will determine whether the challenge is academic or a residential life challenge.

• This can be identified by keeping track of the hot spot ID.

Handler Duties• The handler will respond with the

appropriate type of challenge. • A query will be made to the database to

get the appropriate challenge.• The handler will then send the

challenge back to the client.• Since players can only attempt one

challenge, other current challenges will have to be suspended.

Implementation Ideas

• New challenges will have to be devised and entered into the database.

• May need a new field to designate the type of challenge (academic or residential life).

• Have specific ID numbers assigned to hot spot, i.e. academic starts with ‘1’ and residential life challenges start with ‘2’

New Challenges• Possible new residential challenge

ideas:• Bumping into the wall that causes

damage to laptop which will require repairs.

• Delivering packages to other professors or teaching assistants and possibly getting a reward (like money).

• This will allow players to familiarize themselves with the environment.

New Challenges

• Posting flyers on bulletin boards around the building

• Buying items from vendors, i.e. extra pencil or paper.

• Other ideas?

7. Login-Logout Support

Steve Safranek

What the LoginLogout Class Does:•Handles logging in the player

•Authenticates player

•Logs player out

How the Class Accomplishes This:•User enters name and password

•These are sent to database

•Database returns int value for one of three cases

•User exists and password is correct, 1

•A logged in message sent from db connection

•User exists and password is incorrect, 0

•Message sent telling user incorrect password has been entered

•User does not exist, -1n

•Message sent to user asking if they are new to the game

8. Player Maintenance &

Character Creation Support

Priyal Shah

PlayerMaintenance Class

• Purpose: keep track of user activity– If a character in the database has not

played the game for three months, activity status turns to Inactive

– No activity for six months leads to account deletion

Player Maintenance (2)• Implementation Requirements:

- Need a Date field in Character Table of the database to keep track of most recent user login

- Another Number field in Character Table to keep track of user activity

0 – Active 1- InActive• methods in DatabaseObject class:

• lastLoginDate(String username)• activityStatus(String username)

Player Maintenance (3)Variables:Two final int variables: ACTIVE & INACTIVEDatabaseObject to connect to the

databaseMethods:getLastLogin(String username)setActivityStatus(int activity)getActivityStatus(String username)deleteAccount(String username)activate(string username)

Player Maintenance (4)

When is it used:• While internal Maintenance is run• On Login:

– Checks if the user is active– If active – Normal process path– If inactive – sends a message to

client, so that it can prompt the user to activate the account before he/she can login

Character Creation support

• Currently, code for character creation is stubbed off in WGConnection.

• Fix code in WGConnection• Test the support code in

CharacterCreation,• LoginLogout, ChallengeDispatcher

classes• Fix code where needed

9. Game Status Info&

Database Object Support

Brian Wolf

Wrap-up

• Time is short; we wish to especially update comments & documentation

• Many hands make work light• Bugs & commented out code now

examined by new eyes

The End

(Applause)