View source for SummerOfCodeProposal jdmunro

==Introduction==

'''''Name:''''' James Munro

'''''Age:''''' 21

'''''Education:''''' Final year Games Computing BSc (Hons), progressing to MSc Advanced Games Computing at the University of Lincoln, UK

'''''Wesnoth Forum ID:''''' jdmunro

'''''IRC ID:''''' jmunro

'''''GNA ID:''''' jdmunro

'''''Email Address:''''' james AT jamesdesign.org'''''

===Basics===

I am James Munro, a student at the University of Lincoln in the United Kingdom. I am in the final year of Games Computing BSc (Hons) and after graduation I will be taking the MSc Advanced Games Computing award at the same university and department.

I taught myself to program in C++ before attending university, working on personal projects related to game development. Since attending university my skill set has increased and I have learned to employ many different programming languages for different purposes.

In my spare time I like to contribute to open-source projects (with emphasis on games) when I can by testing, bug-reporting and developing code. Recently I had my first patch accepted on the open-source game Teeworlds. This was a proud moment for me and I am thoroughly looking forward to contributing to more games in the future.

I am applying to GSoC so that I may learn and develop my skills. Specifically, I am looking forward to the opportunity of working closely as part of a team and to benefit the open-source/gaming community.

===Experience===

As previously mentioned, my first accepted patch was for the open-source game Teeworlds. Most of my development time has been focused on university assignments developing a range of game-related implementations. I consider my knowledge of C and C++ to be competent but I am always looking to learn new skills and improve my knowledge of the language.

For my university dissertation I focused on analysing the architecture of open-source game engines, in particular the Quake-series. The practical section consisted on a selection of smaller implementations including bringing concurrency/parallel execution to older engines using OpenMP and also a hard-coded approach. I also investigated enhancing an older engine (Quake II) with modern features such as native 64-bit support.

From this experience I learned a good deal about the architecture of game engines and finding my way around fairly large code bases (approximately 250,000 SLOC). I understand the principles of source/version control systems and have personal experience with SVN and also Git (see http://github.com/jdmunro).

Over the summer of 2008 I worked as a member of the Centre for Research in Open Source Software at my university on the CODEX project. I researched and developed an Ubuntu-based LiveCD for use by university students wishing to develop software for the OLPC XO-1 project and its Sugar interface. The project was successful and subsequently gained mention in the BCS magazine ITNOW and is the subject of a research paper published at The 5th International Conference on Open Source Systems (OSS 2009) in Sweden. Whilst not directly related to games, the CODEX project demonstrates my commitment to open-source and the ability to see a project through from conception to completion.

===Communication skills===

English is my native language and so I will have no problems communicating efficiently. I am also familiar with IRC communication and have used the protocol for many years.

As a game player myself, I am experienced at communicating with fellow gamers and whilst the scope of this project may not require this, it is still a good skill to posses.

I believe that constructive criticism is the key to improving your own skills and abilities. I genuinely enjoy the process of improving my work and gaining feedback is valuable to this process. I would hope to receive feedback from fellow developers and eventually end-user gamers concerning the results of my implementation.

I am happy to be contacted via email at any time and will be on IRC at reasonable GMT hours (9AM to 9/10PM). I would also accept telephone calls however this would probably be on a pre-determined schedule, such as a weekly meeting or summary. In the event of me not being on IRC, I have an IRC bouncer that will take private messages on my behalf (identified by [a] postfix on my nickname).

===Gaming Experience===

I am a huge fan of gaming and games technology and play many games when time permits. I enjoy a diverse range of games on many platforms as I feel it is important to have a wider understanding, rather than just limiting yourself to the games you like. I have played Battle for Wesnoth and enjoyed working through the single-player campaigns. I do not partake in multiplayer matches as I feel that I would lose frequently!

===Example Work===

I am making my best efforts to complete one of the EasyCoding tasks listed on the main GSoC page. Unfortunately I am extremely busy with university work as I am now in my final month before graduation, I'm sure you can appreciate that I'm wrapped up with completion on my dissertation and also exam revision.

- I understand that failure to complete one of these tasks could mean losing the opportunity to be the chosen student. In this event I would like to say that I'm still very interested in contributing to Battle for Wesnoth (see http://james.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/2009/02/10/contributing-to-open-source-games/ ) and will stick around regardless of the success of my application.

==Project Details==

I would like to implement improvements to the WML system to help decrease overall memory usage by Battle for Wesnoth.

===First Steps===

My first steps would be to identify and understand the process that was used to profile memory usage as identified in this post: http://dave.wesnoth.org/?p=9 in order to replicate the results.

From this starting point I will attempt to identify various areas for optimisation. In addition to WML I will keep my eye out for other potential performance problems (whilst avoiding over-optimisation!) that may have been overlooked.

I may need to spend some time developing my understanding of certain things. In particular I will need to gain better knowledge of the WML component, but also techniques for reducing memory consumption. These are technical areas that I thoroughly enjoy studying, hence the focus on my dissertation.

===Objectives===

The objectives of the implementation are summarised below:

* Identify and understand profiling technique/process.
* Identify and assess any other bottlenecks found in addition to WML.
* Study and understand relevant optimisation/memory reduction techniques.
* Implement optimisation changes into the codebase.
* Assess the impact of the changes (hopefully an improvement).

===Proposed Timeline===

The timeline below is fairly abstract. In the event of my selection I would produce a more detailed timeline with my mentor with regularly scheduled progress meetings (I have found this process to work particularly well in the past)

* Now - Preliminary research.
* April 20th to May 23rd - Community bonding (getting to know the players and developers!).
* May 23rd - Initial development begins - continued research.
* July 6th - Basic work completed for mid-term evaluation.
* August 10th - Aim to finish implementation, begin wrapping up.

During the bonding period I feel that it is really important to get to know the players and developers well, particularly my mentor. Having a good working relationship with a mentor is important to any type of project and can really help give the resultant work the 'x' factor.

===Blog===

During the project I would like to maintain a development log for personal reflection and also feedback purposes. I currently maintain a general student/games development blog (http://james.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk) and would dedicate a section to Wesnoth development. I discovered that blogging was an extremely valuable tool during my work on the CODEX project, particularly for open-source projects.

===Holiday Absence===

Unfortunately I will be unavailable for 2 weeks (13th-27th June) due to a pre-booked family holiday. However, during this time I will have access to both a laptop and internet access and so development work can still continue at a reduced pace.


[[Category:Summer of Code]]