Editing Jwir3:csproposal

= Integration of Crystal Space into BZFlag =
Scott Johnson<br>
email: scottj@cs.umn.edu<br>
irc nick: jwir3<br>
<br><br>
== Synopsis ==
Crystal Space is a 3D SDK for game development.  One of the long standing goals of the BZFlag project has been to integrate with an existing rendering engine, in order to improve graphics capabilities.  This project seeks to utilize the benefits of Crystal Space as a game engine in order to improve the BZFlag project, and make it extensible for future enhancements using Crystal Space.

== Benefits to the BZFlag Community ==
Integration of BZFlag into the Crystal Space environment will allow for more realistic graphics to be placed into the game.  In addition, the community will see the benefit of cleaner, easier to understand code, as well as additional functionality included with Crystal Space as windowing tools and plugins.  Since Crystal Space is an application framework, it will be able to handle normal game application details, such as opening windows and drawing user interfaces, without the BZFlag application needing to clutter its code up with these items.  Finally, the Crystal Space libraries are designed with speed and real-time gameplay in mind, and optimized for many different platforms, so render times may see a slight increase.  

== Deliverables ==
According to [1], several of the integration details for Crystal Space have already been accomplished.  This project would seek to build upon these foundations, and add functionality for the radar renderer and debugging capabilities to the BZFlag client.  The world element will be completed using Crystal Space, and menu selection will be implemented using Crystal Space's CEGui plugin.  The Crystal Space plugin for ode will be used to re-implement collision detection.  Finally, improvements will be made to graphics including: addition of shadows, better shading capabilities, and lightmaps.  If time permits, CEL will also be utilized to create a more structured, rigorous re-development of parts of the game.

== Functionality Details ==
The focus of what has been done up to now in the Crystal Space integration has focused on reconstructing what is currently available in the 2.0 version of BZFlag, except using Crystal Space.  Additional functionality will be added to support better shading and lighting, including shadows.  Since Crystal Space has the ability to support more complex graphical operations on a variety of platforms, there are a vast number of opportunities for extension once the initial integration is completed.  Thus, the major focus of the project will be to finish the integration of Crystal Space into BZFlag, and achieve what is already available in the 2.0 version.

== Implementation Details ==
Since Crystal Space is a C++ library, the integration will be in C++.  Crystal Space's CEgui plugin will be used to re-implement DisplayMenu.  World will be redeveloped, entirely created using Crystal Space's format and API.  Focus will be first on getting the client using Crystal Space to be as close to the current 2.0 version as possible.  Once this is completed, additional features will be added.  Playability of the game will be maintained at all times, so when a new feature is to be added to CVS, it will not compromise the ability of others to play the Crystal Space Client branch in CVS.  Shading will be addressed, utilizing interfaces in Crystal Space's SCF system.  Improvements in overall lighting and effects will be made, as deemed necessary by the mentors.  Interface design will be taken into consideration, and it is possible that functionality and/or updated visual aesthetics will be added, as the community feels is necessary.  Debugging will be re-implemented, using Crystal Space's bugplug plugin.  Finally, the overall design will be reevaluated to determine if CEL can be used as an additional layer to improve object-oriented design later on.

== Development Methodology ==
The development will proceed according to a flexible iterative software engineering design process.  At the beginning of the process, specifications will be designed outlining exactly what will be added, and this functionality will be broken into disjoint sets of functions.  The sets will be added to the code, one by one, and then tested and debugged.  Once complete, the procedure will move to the next set of functions to be added, until there are none remaining.  Once this process is complete, the entire system will be tested rigorously, and submitted to the community for an initial evaluation.  Any final bugs will then be eliminated from the system-wide test before final release of the code.  At each stage, complete documentation on how each function works, the design considerations, and possible avenues for future work will be written and added to the BZFlag wiki.  

== Project Schedule ==
The first task will be to integrate the bugplug plugin, in order to facilitate debugging of other items of the code.  When this is complete and tested, the functionality will be broken into iterations as described in the development methodology.  Implementation, testing/debugging, and documentation will take up the largest portion of the project, and is estimated to take roughly 1.5 months.  Once complete, the project will be delivered to the BZFlag community for evaluation and initial recommendations.  Final testing and debugging will then be done before final submission to Google.  The initial project schedule will be:

   * May 28 - Jun 10:  Integration of bugplug
   * Jun 11 - Jun 16:  Development of Specifications
   * Jun 17 - Jul 25:  Implementation of Specified Functionality
   * Jul 26 - Aug 1:   System-Wide Debugging, Initial Release
   * Aug 2 - Aug 13:   Final Debugging
   * Aug 14 - Aug 19   Final Code Documentation and Code Polishing
   * Aug 20:           Final Release to Google and Community

It is possible that this schedule will change, due to the nature of the project.  As was previously stated, some of the code has already been developed for this integration, and I would be working as a member of a team in order to ensure its completion by the end of the summer.  Thus, there may be situations where a patch or feature will need to be added which wasn't described in this project outline.  The schedule is definitely flexible and open to change.

== Bio ==
I am currently attending the University of Minnesota as a PhD student in the Computer Science department.  My specialization/research area is in Graphics and Visualization.  I have roughly 4 years experience working with Computer Graphics.  I have 10+ years of experience working with C/C++ programming, and have a passion for software engineering, especially when it comes to games and other entertainment software.  I am an advocate of open source software, because I believe it gives inexperienced software engineers the chance to work with those who have had years of prior experience in design, development, and debugging of code which they would not otherwise have had.  In my free time I enjoy playing the violin and practicing martial arts.

== References ==
[1] http://my.bzflag.org/w/Google_Summer_of_Code#Graphics_Engine_Integration