MbShea@PWP@English@UMCP

ABSTRACT: This documentation is for a video game I am developing based off of the Asteroids arcade game. The game will be very functionally similar, but have enough new ideas to be its own game. This documentation a high level documentation that is intended to serve as an outline during the development process. High level documentation summarizes the project goals and flow, and excludes in depth technical explanations. This document outlines my goals, the game’s features, resources, and ideas that I have throughout the process.The game will be built using Java and the ObjectDraw framework. The game features a spaceship that will be controlled by the user and the user will attempt to navigate past oncoming asteroids. This document will explain this while also going into depth about the gameplay, potential control schemes, and ways to differentiate the game from previous iterations of the Asteroids arcade game. This document also serves as a guide to any new developers who I introduce to the game, so that they can get up to speed on the development process and be able to jump right in and begin working on implementing other game features or improving upon current ones.
WC = 196

READER’S PROFILE: I am imagining a future me who is trying to understand what present me is thinking and has not worked on the game in a while.
READER’S RESPONSE: Alright, so I see a breakdown of different features. If I take a look at one of these features I can see a history of the past ideas I had as well as the current working idea. Now if I look further into the documentation I can see the design workflow and what features are the most urgent for implementation. I can try and look at the code and see how far I was in the feature timeline and get back to implementing that feature. Including my thoughts on how I felt about different ideas would have been beneficial.

PROBLEM STATEMENT: It hasn’t changed much - Create a high level documentation that will serve as a guide throughout the development process and serve as a board for me to keep track of my ideas.
VOICE: Informal throughout the document. Potentially semi-formal in some places, but as am I writing to myself, maintaining a semi-formal tone isn’t necessary.
CITATION: Citations will be listed at the end under resources. They are sources that are used in my project rather than sources that I am referencing in my writing.

Z, I am really impressed that your difficult reader is YOU. Yes, we can forget details and progress. Your document can anticipate how to serve that future self, to bring up to speed efficiently on this game.

I also know that making a game, with such documentation, is a very worthy project.

You might also make notes on how to make the case to employers, professors, or venture capitalist -- what this game process means in terms of your coding prowess and creative abilities.

I am glad to have been taught today that a hard-to-reach reader is the writer! Thank you.