SummerOfCodeProposal jdmunro

Introduction

Name: James Munro

Age: 21

Gender:Male

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.

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!

Project Details

W.I.P.!