MSc Project Proposals for 2004/5

Piotr Kosiuczenko

Multi User Dungeon: A Mobile Game

We use mobile gadgets like mobile phones or palms in our everyday life. We know how to use them for contacting other people and doing small computations. But we do not use them in the whole extend. In particular, except of applets, we do not use mobile software. The goal of this project/s will be to implement a mobile computer game called MUD (Multi User Dungeon), capable of running on mobile devices like handy or hand-held or move from one host to another. Different users may play a simple game like tick-ta-toe on distance using their mobile gadgets or PC instated of game boards. This may happen, for example by exchange of SMS messages. Such a way of playing would prove rather very expensive, since the users would have to pay for each move. Mobile software reduces the communication overhead and costs. Instead of sending messages or calling a remote methods, executable code is sent. In the project(s), the idea is to send a strategy in the form of executable code, which will then play with another user or another strategy. If a player or a strategy wins, then the winner gets some points and may decide to play with another user or to send the strategy elsewhere. Ideally, a mobile device or PC will provide a virtual room for game to be carried out. A virtual room provider may charge the players for each game or for each move. The virtual room owner has to provide the prices for playing in his room. The owner can not change the amount charged for a move while two players are playing in the room. After arriving to a room and checking the prices, a virtual player may decide to face a rival or not. It can see some information like IP-number of the device the player is originating from. For example, if the opposite player wan several games, the virtual player may decide not to play with another player. If there are players in the room, but no one is willing to play (the room owner included), the room owner is supposed to pay the amount charged for a play. The players may also set the amount they win/loose in a game.

The project executor will have to do proper requirements specification, design. He/she should also implement at least the basic functionality of the game. There exist proper graphical notations for modelling of mobile systems (cf. SDM, ADM). There exist also programming languages for mobile system implementation like Mobile Java and Jade. See: Sequence Diagrams for Mobility (SDM), Activity Diagrams for Mobility (ADM), Homepage von Jade (Downloads and Documentation), Java MIDP MID Description.

Two different platforms can be used for implementing this game: an Agent Platform like JADE and the Micro Java Platform. In the first case, the student should know the basic features of the Agent Platform and be able to write programs for this platform. In the case Micro Java Platform, basic knowledge of and the ability to write programs for this platform are required. In this case also two different projects are possible: a project devoted to mobile platform implementation and a project devoted to the game itself. These two projects require close cooptation.