Program Idea

Product Line of Arcade Games

An arcade game is a game in which moving objects interact with each other and with non-moving objects. The moving objects are guided by the laws of physics and sometimes input from the user. There have been many such games developed since computer graphics made them feasible. Brickles and pinball are two examples of this type of program.

The business idea is that an example product line would be of interest to others who are contemplating using a product line approach for their company. It would allow someone to examine the artifacts and understand the relationships among them. For this purpose it is not necessary that the games be elaborate or have high-quality graphics. We propose using free labor of a faculty member and students to produce the assets and example products. The output of the effort will be made available free of charge to the public.

A product line is a set of related programs. The product line development approach leverages the relation among programs to reduce the effort, time and expense required to produce the programs. In a product line several programs are planned at one time. Then a set of assets is created that are used to build all of the products in the product line. The products may either be constructed after all the assets are ready or a product may be built as soon as the assets needed for that product are ready.

Currently the product line has 2.5 products. Brickles and Pong are completed to the level we care to produce them. The bowling game still needs work on the scoring and perhaps enhancement of the ball throwing mechanism.