GEARUP
and NMU's Computer Science Programby Jeffrey Horn
(Associate Professor, Computer
Science)
- Added a screen shot.
- Added links to the NMU "GEARUP" web page throughout this page. (7-14-09)
- This whole page! But I hope to add more later, so please consider checking back here in a few weeks (or months). (7-12-09)
- Go straight to the "DOWNLOAD" instructions.
WHAT THIS IS ALL ABOUT
The main point of this web page is to allow you to download the 3D computer game that was developed on afternoon in summer of 2009 by a ten high school students visiting NMU. The "GEAR UP Swarm" game is a modification of a modification of a demonstration level that came with the 3D game engine licensed from Conitec.
The game illustrates some of the research into 3D game technology (e.g., use of intelligent particle swarms) and evolutionary computation (e.g., the evolving wandering rovers) that we conduct at NMU's computer science labs.
The GEAR UP students and I merely added the ability to carry weapons out of the Shooting Range and into the rest of the level (hey, we only had a couple of hours, with a lot of other topics to cover too!).
There are some parameters of the particle swarm that you can change (in the text file "SWARM_PARAMETERS.txt"), such as the size and behavior of the swarm. You can actually try experiments that have never been performed before, and, if you find an interesting behavior, you can contribute to the research community by reporting the results (to me!). Perhaps you can also come up with ideas for incorporating such a swarm into an actual game!
To get to the game, go to the DOWNLOAD section below. The rest of the page contains important (and interesting!) background on the developers, the technology, the algorithms, and the state-of-the-art of current research in the fascinating intersection of "emergent computation" and interactive 3D virtual worlds (i.e., "3D games").
WHAT WE DID ON A SUMMER AFTERNOON
On Tuesday, June 23 2009 a group of bright, ambitious high-school students enrolled in the GEAR UP program attended an afternoon workshop run by Dr. Jeffrey Horn in one of the Mathematics and Computer Science department's labs on the campus of Northern Michigan University. The students were given a demo of some of the equipment, most notably the head tracker and how it could be used with a commercial 3D game engine (in this case, 3D Game Studio made by Conitec). Craig Reynolds' original algorithm for flocking and swarming behavior was also discussed, as well as how it has been used in movies, its potential use in 3D games, and the development of the field of swarm intelligence. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, we looked at the behavior of a swarm of particles created by NMU student Corry Perry and Dr. Horn in 3D Game Studio. The GEARUP students were instructed as to how they themselves could could modify the behavior of the swarm and generate never before observed results by using a published version of the game free of all royalties.
For the students who attended, welcome back! The game has been posted to this website with the modification we discussed during the workshop. You can also make your own changes to the game by adjusting the numbers in the text file that was pointed out.
THE GAME
Well, it isn't much of a "game" just yet, but I do think it is fun to walk around Conitec's "techdemo" level and see that AI game technology demonstrations that we have added, in particular the evolving rovers and the intelligent particle swarm. These are both in the Static Light Room which is the first door on the left as you look down the hall from the starting position.
You can also get shooting weapons from the Shooting Range Room further down the hallway (on the right). Allowing you to take weapons out of this room was the one small programming change that we implemented during our little "GEARUP 2009" session. (You can't really do anything with the weapons just yet except make temporary "holes" in static surfaces like walls and floors.)
You can change the behavior of the particles in the swarm by modifying a few key numbers in the text file named "SWARM_PARAMETERS.txt". You can find this file in the game folder (see "DOWNLOAD" below.)
The game comes as an executable file in a folder that contains all needed files. It will only run on a MS Windows computer with a graphics adapter.
The game comes as a compressed folder:
EXTERNAL LINKS
The flocking algorithm used by the intelligent particle swarm:
The Game Engine we use: 3D Game Studio from Conitec Data Systems.