Milestone #2
CpSc 481/681: Sensor-Enable Game Development
Computer Science Department
Clemson University
Animation with XNA
Brian Malloy, PhD
September 26, 2008

In order to receive credit for this milestone, your solution must be submitted, using the handin command, by 8 AM Monday, October 6th, 2008. I will zip your files and move them to my directory at that time. You may submit your solution before the deadline as many times as you like; only your final submission will be considered.

Your assignment is to build a sprite animation that uses parallax scrolling, frames of animation, sound, Menus, and user input to control a player sprite. You can pick any 2D sprites off of the web. We discussed sound in XNA, using XACT, during lecture. We will discuss Menu Systems on Monday, September 29th.

Also, if you choose, you may form groups of size 1 to 3 people to build this second milestone. You should try to work with a modeler to build sprites for your second milestone. This will add a large measure of originality, color and enthusiasm to your project.

Thus, for this second milestone, your submission should include:

• Parallax Scrolling: You should have at least two ``backgrounds,'' a foreground and a background, where the foreground moves faster than the background to give the feeling of depth to you animation.
• Frames: You should have two types of objects in your second milestone: a player object and other objects, where the player object is controlled by user input, and the other objects move on their own. More importantly, either the player object or the other objects should use multiple frames of animation.
• Sound: The incorporation of sound will make a huge difference in your animation. Your second milestone should include two types of sound: a music loop that plays during the animation, and some kind of sound effect for either the player or the other objects.
• Menu: there is a very nice code sample on the Creator's Club website:

   
  http://creators.xna.com/en-us/samples/gamestatemanagement
  

  We will discuss this sample during lecture on Sept 29th. You should begin to become familiar with the sample and incorporate it into your second milestone.
• README: You should include a README file that describes your project, where you got your sprites, the strengths of the project, weaknesses or shortcomings of the project, and in the case of 2 or 3 members in a group, the contribution of each member to the milestone.

You will have to zip your solution directory and submit the whole directory using the handin command. To submit, using the handin command, you will need a CS account.

Here is the handin command:

        handin.481.1 2 *

The grading rubric will be guided by this milestone specification. For example, if you don't have time or the creativity to write a README file, you will lose 10 points. If you only have one ``background'' or your backgrounds don't scroll, you will lose 20 points. Also, and more importantly, for those of you working in groups of 2 or 3, you will be graded individually, based on your contribution to the project.