October 18-20, 2002
Sponsored by:
For questions, comments and more information:
mechmania@acm.uiuc.edu
Home|Story|Details|History|Registration| Conference
| Registration is Closed Any additional teams attempting to register will be placed on the waiting list |
Game Overview
| What you need to know: |
C++ programming experience is expected. No knowledge of graphics or network programming is required. The game engine contains no user serviceable parts |
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| What you will write: |
All C++ classes and game engine code will be provided -- your team must code the AI that controls your mechs during the game. One or two complete sample clients will be provided. Using the API and framework we provide, you will implement a 'Team' class that controls the behavior of a "team" of "mechs" competing with another team in a virtual arena. The API will provide methods for examining the game environment and the opposing team and sending commands to your team. |
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| Who will write it: |
Teams of three members each. At least two of the players must be currently enrolled students. Single player teams are allowed, but are discouraged. Multiple player teams will be given precedence. The game administrators will make final determination on eligibility. |
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| When you will write it: |
You have 17 hours to write and debug your code (only 10-15 should be needed, so feel free to take breaks to eat, go to other conference events, etc.) We will take a break on Saturday the 19th from 1:00 to 3:00 PM to allow participants to attend the keynote address.
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| Game Details: | Details of the game and the API will be released to all teams at the kick-off session, Friday Oct 18 at 7pm. It's all hush-hush till then. Past scenarios have ranged from a one-on-one fighting game to mining vinyl from the asteroid belt. Check out mechmania's history for a full run down |
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| Food: |
Pizza, Sub Sandwiches, and Soda will be provided throughout the contest. There is no food or drink allowed in the lab, so keep this in mind if you want to bring your own snacks or beverages. |
The Tournament
| Open season: | After last minute lab hours Sunday morning, each team will be be pitted against every other team in MechMania Open Season. Scores will be collected and used to place teams in the final showdown |
| Final showdown: | Sunday afternoon, the sixteen teams will compete tournament style until only one is left standing. 1st, 2nd and 3rd place teams will receive plaques, prizes, and resume bragging rights |
Language and Development Environment
| Language: | C++. Specifically, the compiler is GNU g++ version 2.96, but you shouldn't need to know that. |
| Platform: | Your team will be allocated two PCs running Linux. The development environment will be Linux, but actual code is platform independent: you don't need to be a Unix guru. We'll provide the standard Unix emacs/vi/make environment, plus KDevelop for those of you who are more comfortable in a Visual Studio style IDE. |
| Additional knowledge: | We assume that all contestants know and are comfortable using C++. It will also be useful to have at least one team member familiar with the Standard Template Library(STL). You'll only need how to use STL strings and vectors (which are easy), but knowing about some of the other tools will make coding a lot faster. |
| More Resources: | You may bring any textual references you like - Stroustrup, MIL-STD-2525b, Sun Tzu's "The Art of War", whatever. However, since all code must be typed during the contest, on-line references are not allowed. If you have a favorite on-line reference, print it out and bring it. |