ABSTRACT

Ucigame (pronounced 00-see-GAH-me) is a Java package that supports the programming of 2D sprite-based computer games. Designed for novice programmers, it enables students in an introductory class to write computer games that have animated sprites, music and sound effects, and event-driven keyboard and mouse handling. Ucigame has also been used successfully in a senior-level class for experienced programmers.

Categories and Subject Descriptors

D.2.13 [Reusable Software]: Reusable Libraries.

General Terms

Design, Human Factors, Languages.

Keywords

Computer games, Java, Java library, Ucigame.

1. INTRODUCTION

"Our practice of embedding a programming language in the first courses, started when languages were easy for beginners, has created a monster. Our students are being overwhelmed by the complexities of languages that many experts find challenging (typically Java and C++)... Many do not experience the joy of computing: the interplay between the great principles, the ways of algorithmic thinking, and the solutions of interesting problems." - Peter J. Denning [2].

The Ucigame (pronounced 00-see-GAH-me) framework is designed to enable novice programmers to create 2D computer games in Java. It has also been used by relatively experienced programmers in a senior-level game development course. Ucigame is a Java package, distributed as ucigame.jar, that handles many of the more complex game programming tasks, including loading and playing sound files, handling concurrency and multi-threading issues, and sprite-related tasks such as loading images from files, animating the images, and detecting
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A challenge in teaching an introductory Java programming course is to find short projects that excite the students, are not too difficult, and do not rely on Java libraries that have not yet been covered. Simple game projects with Ucigame may fulfill this need.

2. MOTIVATION

Ucigame was developed to make introductory Java programming more engaging. For many high school and college students, computer games are an important component of their culture, and also the most visible type of computer program. (The variety, frequent updates, and even the bugginess of computer games make them more visible as computer programs than the more widely used software in operating systems, office productivity applications, and electronic devices.) Familiarity, interactivity, and certainly the "fun factor" all make computer games effective programming projects for novice programmers.

Programming courses often teach, at least initially, a subset of the language and its libraries. A new programmer is learning new skills and a new way of thinking, and teachers often want to minimize complexity at the language and library levels. For example, in Java the case statement may be put off, in favor of solely using if. Sometimes teachers use a development environment that only accepts a subset of the language (e.g. DrJava [6]) or start with a different and simpler language altogether.

A related technique is to use simplified or modified versions of standard libraries, with the goal of substituting ease of learning and ease of use for flexibility and generality. A classic example in Java is to replace the console input facilities provided by System. in and the InputStream class. (The Java Standard Library's Scanner class, introduced in Java 1.5, alleviates this need somewhat.)

We have articulated two goals: to engage students with computer game projects, and to ease students' paths into Java programming with a digestible subset of the Java language and its libraries. These goals may be contradictory, since even a simple computer game can require a fairly complex implementation. We attempt to resolve the conflict by restricting the computer games to 2D, sprite-based games and by encapsulating in the Ucigame library many of the mundane and yet complex chores required for even a simple game. Ucigame contains a number of classes and objects which provide easily comprehended and used abstractions of common game components.