Chapter 6 – Playing games

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on designing of computer-based games. The important issues in the use of class diagrams, discussion of the benefits of states, and interaction diagrams are presented. The case study in the chapter examines mechanisms for exploiting abstraction and for describing implementation. The issues concerning Internet-based systems that benefit from examination of unified modeling language (UML) facilities for describing deployment are summarized in an information box. The initial focus concerns the design and development of a simple two player game program, called “Battleships and Cruisers.” The problem stated in a figure provides an outline description of the problem and requirements of the game. The simplest use case diagram for a board game and two class diagrams are provided. Models of both the external behavior (interaction diagrams) and intimal behavior (statechart) of a system are presented. Using the “combined statechart and collaboration diagram” for a game one can explore how the system will behave. The chapter explores how to separate the core (business) logic of an application from its user interface. What is clear is that a similar approach can be used, using an abstract target for input and output requests. These abstract targets can then be provided with appropriate specializations to embed the application within a particular environment.