Add README

master
John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandvich 2026-03-08 23:47:59 -07:00
parent 76b4223fea
commit 8f9d446f4b
Signed by: sandvich
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1 changed files with 27 additions and 30 deletions

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@ -9,11 +9,11 @@ cd cs381
git submodule update --init --recursive
```
Navigate to the `as4` directory, create a build directory, and run CMake to
Navigate to the `as5` directory, create a build directory, and run CMake to
generate the build files:
```sh
cd as4
cd as5
mkdir -p build
cd build
cmake ..
@ -25,47 +25,44 @@ Compile the code using `make`:
make
```
This should create an executable named `as4` in the `build` directory. You can
This should create an executable named `as5` in the `build` directory. You can
run the executable with the following command:
```sh
./as4
./as5
```
# Instructions on how to use the program
Hold W and S to accelerate the selected entity forward and backward. Use A and
D to change heading direction. This allows you to steer the entity around the
environment.
If the selected entity is a penguin, hold W and S to accelerate it forward and
backward. Use A and D to change heading direction.
Use TAB to switch between entities. The currently selected entity will
be drawn with a bounding box.
When the eagle is selected, press Q and Z to change the pitch.
Use TAB to switch between entities. The currently selected entity will be drawn
with a bounding box.
# Readme Question
The entity selection system works by when TAB is pressed (key down only on one
frame), the program increments the index of the currently selected entity.
Selection wraps around to the first entity when it exceeds the number of
entities in the game. Movement keys only apply to the selected entity, which is
determined by the selected index. When drawing, the selected index is compared
to the index of each entity, and if they match, a bounding box is drawn around
the entity to indicate that it is selected.
Having a bool stored per object to dictate whether or not to draw the bounding
box could be storage inefficient as it requires an additional byte per object.
This is less apparent when using a component-based architecture (although might
not be the best solution), as the visibility component is only added to
entities that need it (you can compose it down further by having a component
specifically for bounding boxes). In the monolithic architecture, this would
require every entity to have this. In the ad-hoc architecture, it is simply not
scalable as it requires tracking multiple booleans and requires a lot of
branching logic to determine which entities should have bounding boxes drawn.
Both monolithic and ad-hoc approaches to entity management are fast to setup
since they require the least amount of code/boilerplate to get something
working. However, monolithic entities are easier to scale, since in ad-hoc, you
have to write the entire state and behavior of the entity (its variables,
methods, etc) for each entity that exists. Ad-hoc is faster to work with only
when managing few entities with very different behavior.
Calculating whether or not to draw the bounding box in the rendering system can
be more efficient, especially in a monolithic architecture. This does not
require additional storage per entity, and can be done by simply checking if
the entity is the currently selected entity. This can however cause a lot of
branching logic in the rendering system.
For this particular assignment, the monolithic approach is more suitable since
most of the entities share similar behavior (change velocity) and state
(position, speed, heading). This however still became more difficult to manage
when adding the eagle that had an additional pitch variable and flying
behavior.
Splitting bounding box drawing into a separate system can be more efficient in
terms of computation and storage. However, it is harder to maintain, since if
you want to modify how a bounded model is drawn, you would have to modify the
draw calls in multiple places.
# Extra Credit
The eagle can move in 3D space with an additional DOF compared to the penguins.
The camera follows the currently selected entity using similar.