CS435 Billiards Project Requirements

Version: 3.0

1. Introduction

The goal of this project is to build a software simulation of a billiards game, which will simulate the physical interactions of a cue stick, billiards balls, and table. Unlike other billiards games which "fake" effects of friction, angular momemtum, etc., this game will address these issues using a physical simulator. As a result, it will be possible to use advanced billiards techniques such as Masse' and hopping of balls.

The system will present the user(s) with an interface that allows them to choose a game type (8-ball or 9-ball) and interact with the billiard balls as if they were playing a real game (within the constraints of the physics model implemented). In the finished version of the software package, the user will have the options of a 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional view of the table. Users of this product are assumed to have a reasonable familiarity with computers, but not necessarily with any particular platform or window manager. They are also assumed to understand the basic concepts of billiards, although they probably will not know all the rules of a particular game.

1.1. About This Document

This document is intended to be read by the software development team members, managers and the client and/or the client's representative. This is a new project; therefore, there is no summary of previous versions. In this document, we describe the overall product and three milestones which the customer has specified. We then lay out all the requirements for the whole system, indicating the appropriate milestone(s) for each. Use cases are located in a separate document. The goal of this document is to provide the system developers with both the user requirements and a detailed specification of the system requirements for each milestone of the software product.

Each section of the requirements addresses a different aspect of the system. Requirements use a standard schema, which has ID, name, description, importance, and planned delivery milestone. Requirements are numbered by section. Priorities are: 1: critical, 2: very useful, 3: useful, 4: nice to have, 5: wishlist. Requirements with priorities 1-3 are necessary for successful completion of the project.

1.2. Changes from Previous Versions

1.2.1 Changes from the High-Level Requirements

The requirements in this version of the document are a synthesis of those developed by the project members (who started with the high-level requirements developed by the managers). They have been validated by the client.

• Use cases have been moved to a separate document.
• The requirement to kibitz a networked game has been dropped.
• The "pool hall" functionality of the networked version (to find and start games) has been lowered in priority. A simpler, higher-priority requirement for direct connection games has been added.
• Multiple players per team is out. (i.e. the networked version is between 2 computers only, although each computer can have multiple people.)

1.2.2 Changes from Version 1.0

Network play has been dropped in order to allow the developers time to create a solid product. During milestone 2 it was realized that implementing "real" physics is too difficult to do in M2, so it was extended to M3. A number of less important requirements have been pushed from M2 to M3, and from M3 to the wishlist.

1.2.3 Changes from Version 2.0

Masse' and English have been dropped. Jumping has also been dropped. Audio has been moved to a wishlist item. Animate Ball rolling in both 2D and 3D have been dropped to wishlist. "Ball aimer" view has been dropped to wishlist. Friendly/Competitive play was moved from wishlist to M3. A requirement was created for the website.

2. Scope and Overall Schedule

Functionality will be added to the system in 3 phases, called milestones. The general requirements listed above will all be implemented by the first milestone. The second milestone will add a 3-dimensional interface to the software. The third milestone will add realistic physics. At each milestone, all functionality from the previous milestones should be preserved. Users can connect to and play other users remotely. The projected deadlines for completion of each milestone are as follows:

• Milestone 1, 3/1/2004
• Milestone 2, 4/2/2004
• Milestone 3, 4/24/2004

Scope requirements later in the document help to define the scope in more detail.

3. Project Development Requirements

This section describes requirements outlined by the client, including tools and documentation.

3.1. Tools

This section outlines the various tools we will be using including the software language, code commenting, graphics package, build system, testing tools, and source control. It describes which tools will be used in each milestone.

3.2. Documentation

This section outlines the various documentation requirements at each milestone.

4. Functional Requirements

In this section the functional requirements are outlined for gameplay, the user interface, the game-playing interface, taking a shot, shot animation for the 2D version as well as the 3D version, physics simulation, and networked games.

4.1. Gameplay

This section outlines the functional requirements relating to gameplay. Included in this are game rules, exiting/starting a game, and various other details related to specific functionality of the game.

4.2. User Interface

In this section we present the requirements for the overall user interface of the game.

4.2.1. The New Game Interface

4.2.2. The Game Playing Interface

4.4. Taking a Shot

This section describes the requirements for the portion of the game in which the user aims for a shot.

4.3. Shot Animation

This section describes the requirements for the portion of the game after the user has specified a shot, in which the results of the shot are animated. The general requirements are given first, then the specific requirements for the 2D and 3D versions.

4.3.1. 2D

4.3.2. 3D

4.5. Physics Simulation

This section lays out requirements pertaining to the physics simulation including: Spin, "english", elasicity of rails, and computation speed.

4.6. Networked Games

This section contains requirements pertaining to networked games. Most requirements in this section are for Milestone 3.

5. Non-Functional Requirements

In this section the non-functional requirements are outlined. Memory leaks, usability, testing, invalid input, and unhandled exceptions are all discussed in this section.

6. Performance and Environmental Requirements

This section lays out the performance and environmental requirements.