Assignment 4: Boggle (modified Sudoku from text)

This is an individual assignment due Wed Feb 6 by end of day.

Note: This assignment will be VERY time consuming for those completely new to Android, and especially for those also brushing up on Java. Please start early!

The purpose of this assignment is to help you learn more of the basics of creating Android apps and to move you towards an interesting project. To make that simpler, you are starting with the Sudoku example from your textbook and turning it into a functioning Boggle game.

The Sudoku game is similar to Boggle in some respects.

• It displays a grid of text on the screen
• It is possible to select items from that grid
• Based on how the grid is touched certain key events happen in the game
• It pops up various types of common screens/dialogues
• It saves the state of a game

All the basic components that you need to create a Boggle game are used in the Sudoku game, such as use of 2d graphics. Your goal is to study the Sudoku code (reading the chapters in the text related to it) and figure out how to modify the Sudoku game into a functioning Boggle game. The game can have a simple look and feel, but it needs to work robustly.

There are numerous Boggle-like games on the Market and on the Internet (most are not named Boggle because that name is trademarked). This type of word search game is simple yet, for many people, totally addictive. It can also be modified to play with other people, and small variations in game design can make it more or less fun to play.

To get started, find some variations on Boggle and play them for a bit. A search for Boggle on the Android Market will turn up many games: ICED (Lite), BoggleDroid Lite, Dropwords, WordTwist Lite, etc. Make notes about what you like or don't like about game design, interaction, scoring, etc. They are all a bit different. Please do not skip this, because you will see how small changes in the GUI can impact overall experience. Decide on how your would like your game to work. Try to come up with at least one or two ways that your game can be distinctive and stand out from the crowd.

Your game must have the following:

• A "New Game" button that creates a new 4x4 letter Boggle board. For each new game, a new board should be generated with a randomly selected set of letters. Gameplay will be better if you do not randomly pick lettters, but instead weight the selection of letters by how useful they are, and prevent a very large number of the same type of letter.
• A "Pause" button that stops the clock and pauses the game
• A "Resume" button that appears if a game in progress was paused
• A "Quit" button that shuts down the game
• Click sounds or vibration when letters are pressed
• Detection if the selected string of letters is in a master word dictionary
  • Assume the rules from standard Boggle: "The words must only use a single letter on the Boggle board once (unless it appears twice- having more than one die with an "s" on it, for example), and all letters in the word must be connected on the Boggle board horizontally, vertically, or diagonally." This will be obvious if you play the game a bit. Only words of 3 or more letters should result in points.
• Code to prevent the same word from being entered twice
• Code to compute how many points a word generates. You can develop your own scoring or go by Boggle rules: "Boggle players receive one point for each unique three or four letter word (that no other player wrote down). For words with more than four, players receive one point plus one additional point for each letter over four. So, for example, a six letter word in Boggle would be worth three points. One point for the first four letters and then two points for the fifth and sixth letters. Words less then three letters receive no points in Boggle."
• Text showing the current score
• Text showing a counter counting down during each game
• A special sound when a valid word is identified and points are earned
• A rules or intro screen that describes the rules your game uses for computing points (or, have these tips built into the game)
• Different background music than Sudoku
• An acknowledgements screen that acknowledges the following: (1) sources all images/icons used in the game if you did not design them on your own, (2) sources of all significant amounts of code used to develop the game that you did not write (which should be very little), and (3) any people who helped you in any significant way as you developed the software.
• And most importantly, ROBUST BEHAVIOR. Your game should not crash or behave erratically on Android 2.3.3. Please do systematic testing to ensure this!

You should use this wordlist (compiled from the http://wordlist.sourceforge.net/ website).

You are welcome to change the way the game is scored if you want, but if you do change the game from the basics, add an "Intro" button that will explain the game play.

Your game could have the following additional features that will boost your score:

• Sound effects that contribute to game play (countdown sounds when timer close to running out)
• Determining target "bonus" words that someone gets extra points for finding
• Allowing a user to select desired board size
• Saving scores long-term
• Doing something clever with the seeding of the board
• Clever ideas you come up with

You are building this game for educational purposes only, not for actual release, so feel free to grab graphics from any source and use them in your game if you want. (Important: For an actual game that was being released you would need to design the graphics yourself or get permission to use all graphics you incorporate, therefore, if you do want to use this app outside of class someday, you might want to design your own graphics or find graphics that you know do not have copyright restrictions).

Your game should be added to your existing app on the Market. Add a new button on your apps initial screen, "Boggle," which will start your game. Your main app on the Market will then have 5 buttons: About (with your team info), Generate Error (generates error), Quit (exits), Sudoku (runs Sudoko from Assignment 1), and Boggle (runs assignment 4). Do not add a new icon and launcher for this game ... It should be launched from the home screen of the same app you had for Assignment 1.

As you complete this assignment and have “aha!” moments where you figure out tricky things that might hold other people up, you should help out your classmates on Piazza.

Your app should be available on the Play Store by the assignment deadline, and your Git repository should be up to date with your code (and easily buildable from scratch should we need to download it and compile your project).

You will be graded based on how well you follow the instructions above using the app that is downloaded from the Play Store Sunday night. Your application will be tested on an actual Android phone, not the emulator.