Developing Games in Alice using Workflow

1. Mahmood Doroodchi and Amin Roudaky Developing Games in Alice using Workflow

2. What is Workflow? Workflow is the software implementation of business process or business logic A Workflow Activity What’s the value of Workflow? Transparency Flexibility Extensibility

3. Software as Process • A process defines the way activities are organized, managed, measured, supported, and improved to reach a goal.

4. Examples of workflow analysis of real problems • Sales Workflow • Service Workflow • From: http://www.edrawsoft.com/Workflow-Examples.php

5. Sales Workflow

6. ServiceWorkflow

7. Development Steps • Define the game goals, main objects, scenarios, and storyboard. • Perform the workflow analysis on the scenarios, and create the workflow diagram of the game • Create the objects in the scene • Develop the code using workflow diagram. • Test the software

8. Workflow and Games • Computer games can also be considered as processes, and consequently can be modeled using workflow. • Workflow analysis makes the visualization of the game process very simple to understand.

9. Workflow Analysis • We first think of the game as one big process with one activity, and then break it into more activities. • To expand an activity, we start from the entry points. • An entry point is the event which activates or triggers a process. In most cases, entry points are the results of user interactions with the game. • After indentifying the entry points, the activities that are going to be executed should all be listed and sketched in a workflow diagram.

10. Workflow Analysis • For every scenario, the workflow model is formed. • Later, these individual workflows are combined together based on their interaction and synchronization mechanisms. • In other words, the overall game workflow will be formed from these individual workflows.

11. Car Dart Game Development • In this game, the player controls a car. • The main goal is to let the player drive the car into a wall of crates and knock the driver out of the front windshield. • The driver flies toward a giant dartboard, and gets stuck in it. After three tries the game ends, and the score will be shown.

12. Entry points • Game starts, Car starts moving • Player presses right or left button • Driver flies out of the car

14. Workflow Figure 8- Mapping the workflow for the Car Dart Game to the implementation in Alice. Figure 9- Mapping the entry points to the implementation for the Car Dart Game. Figure 10- Mapping the entry points to the Alice implementation for Race Ball Game. Figure 11- Mapping workflow to the implementation for Race Ball Game.

16. First World Method • Play the game sound and then call the Car to Start

17. Car Start Check still driver left Call the Count Down Move the car forward Game Start

18. Car Launch

19. Flail driver

20. Students Reflection • Two groups of students: undergrad and grad students (5 in each group) • They were requested to reflect on the effectiveness of workflow method in understanding, analyzing, and designing the game.

21. Students Reflection • Undergrads found workflow presentation method effective in helping them follow the game from the starting point and visualizing the entire process. • However, they were more interested in the present approach in programming with Alice which includes tutorials and predefined constructs. This was also the graduate students’ main suggestion while they all found the workflow very effective.

22. Conclusion • Based on this experience, we concluded that workflow is a good complementary tool to the current teaching method. • In addition, in order to make workflow effective in Alice environment, certain models or constructs needs to be available to the developer similar to the existing tutorials and constructs.

23. If interested in trying workflow in your classes, please • Email me @ • mdoroodchi@gmail.com