Week 10: Graphics the GPU

Provide a summary of the findings in 10 games.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/game-performance-bottleneck,2737.html

Intellectual Property: GNU GPL Vs CCL

GNU General Public License

The GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or simply GPL) is the most widely used license for free software, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU project. The GPL is the first copyleft license for general use, which means that derived works can only be distributed under the same license terms. Under this philosophy, the GPL grants the recipients of a computer program the rights of the free software definition and uses copyleft to ensure the freedoms are preserved, even when the work is changed or added to. This is in distinction to permissive free software licenses, of which the BSD licenses are the standard examples. The text of the GPL is not itself under the GPL. The license's copyright disallows modification of the license. Copying and distributing the license is allowed since the GPL requires recipients get "a copy of this License along with the Program".[5] According to the GPL FAQ, anyone can make a new license using a modified version of the GPL as long as he or she uses a different name for the license, doesn't mention "GNU", and removes the preamble, though the preamble can be used in a modified license if permission to use it is obtained from the Free Software Foundation (FSF).


Creative Commons License

Creative Commons licenses are several copyright licenses that allow the distribution of copyrighted works. The licenses differ by several combinations that condition the terms of distribution. They were initially released on December 16, 2002 by Creative Commons, a U.S. non-profit corporation founded in 2001. As of September, 2010, Creative Commons licenses have been "ported" to 53 different jurisdictions worldwide, with 8 others under development.

Attribution (by)Noncommercial (nc)No Derivative Works (nd)Share-alike (sa)Licensees may distribute derivative works only under a license identical to the license that governs the original work. (See also copyleft.)

	Licensees may copy, distribute, display and perform the work and make derivative works based on it only if they give the author or license holder the credits in the manner specified by these.
	Licensees may copy, distribute, display, and perform the work and make derivative works based on it only for noncommercial purposes.
	Licensees may copy, distribute, display and perform only verbatim copies of the work, not derivative works based on it.

The Atari 2600 VCS

Atari released its CPU based console called the VCS, later called the 2600, in 1977. Nine games were designed and released for the holiday season. It would quickly become by far the most popular console of its generation, due to the leap in technology between it and the other consoles around at the time. Once it became public knowledge that you could play more than just 'Pong', and programmers learnt how to push it's hardware further, it's popularity grew like crazy.
For the first year, the console was built in Sunnyvale in California, and heavy RF Shielding, aswell as all 6 switches being on the front, gave the first model the nickname 'heavy sixers'. After this, production moved to Hong Kong.

Story Character

Create an NPC for a non fiction medieval period game, and list a possible situation or location that would create an interesting situation.


A small boy, with hand carved arrows and a hand made bow, keen to join the hero on his journey. Captured by bandits in a deep part of the forest, hero spends a level or two getting him back. After that, NPC joins hero as back up, providing arrow fire during battles.

Design Techniques

Create a game using 'I Wandered lonely as a cloud'.

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd, A host of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine and twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretched in never-ending line along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance, tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced;
but they Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay, in such a jocund company:
I gazed - and gazed - but little thought what wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

The purpose of the game i have come up with is to get the golden daffodil, an extra large, glowing golden daffodil, standing in the middle of a huge bed of shining daffodils. You start on the poet's couch, which hangs from the lonely cloud, above the lake. If you fall off the couch into the lake, you have to start again. You play the part of the poet, who has to gather thoughts to temporarily inflate the cloud enough to lift you up to a starry area. You now have a limited time to gather stars, which are sucked into the cloud. When you sink down again, the stars fuel the cloud and cause it to float towards the flowers. The process then starts again, but at increased difficulty.
When you reach the daffodils, they dance, and the golden daffodil is picked up, sending the cloud and couch flying off into the stars.