Arcade game architecture

 

Features:

  1. Continual behavior
  2. Real time and highly interactive:
    1. Updated often 30 frames a second
    2. Discrete simulation – event driven
    3. Avoid clunky action—want smooth animation
  3. Make use of 2D graphics
  4. Simple physics
    1. Velocity
    2. Elastic collisions
    3. No mass
    4. No acceleration

 

Objects:

  1. Static objects: background objects drawn once and tend not to come back à can still be very complex
  2. Dynamic objects – sprite – must be updated 30 times a sec à small number of pixels
    1. Player sprite – gun, woman, critter etc
    2. Game sprite – enemies

                                                    i.     Main interaction is collision

  1. Semi-static – rarely change and don’t move à Walls islands etc

 

 

Console development

  1. Expensive, best to work with established publisher 8 –10000 to purchase the cross development tools
  2. Art work – remember the user has a TV not a monitor à don’t get the really high resolution

 

Playstation

  1. CPU R3000A (MIPS/SGI) 32 bit RISC, 33.8 MHZ
  2. 512K ROM
  3. 64K RAM
  4. Multithreaded multitask operating system
  5. Graphics processor
    1. 2 special graphics co-processor

                                                    i.     Geometry transfer engine – handles polygon specific tasks and runs around 66 mips

                                                  ii.     Digital video processor (DVP)—supports JPEG and MPEG compression, helps to read data from off the CD

  1. 16 million colors
  2. Resolution 256 by 224 to 740 x 480

 

Sound

  1. Full DSP 24 channels
  2. CD quality audio
  3. Midi instruments 512K sample wave forms

 

Memory

  1. Main Ram 16 MB
  2. VRAM 8 MB
  3. Sound 4MB
  4. Buffer for CD streaming
  5. 128K RAM cards

 

CD-ROM

  1. Only double speed
  2. 300K per second transfer rate
  3. 660 MB capacity

 

Development kit -- $18000

 

Sega Saturn

  1. CPU 2 Hitachi RISC CPU’s – 28.6 MHz 25 mips, 4K data cache, math subroutines, CD data bus, 2nd bus for video and sound
  2. Graphics processing
    1. 2 major chips

                                                    i.     VDT1 – handle sprite and geometry engines

                                                  ii.     2x 256K frame buffers

                                                iii.     512 texture RAM cache

    1. VDT2 –concentrates on background graphics maintains 5 backgounds and 2 playing fields

                                                    i.     Resolution 320 x 224 to 720 x 576

                                                  ii.     True 24 bit graphics

                                                iii.     16.8 million colors

  1. Sound
    1. 2 sound chips

                                                    i.     Motorola 68E000 11.3 MHz

                                                  ii.     Yamaha FH1 2

    1. 8 fm channels
    2. 32 PCM channels
    3. 44.1 KHz CD sampling
    4. 16 channel mixer
    5. DMA

 

  1. Memory
    1. 2MB ram
    2. 1.5 MB VRAM
    3. 512k audio ram
    4. 512K CD ROM cache

 

  1. CD
    1. Double speed
    2. 320K transfer rate