View source for Apex Page

 '''GAM531 Engine Assignment'''

= Game Engine Apex =

== Repository ==

https://bitbucket.org/Apex_Page/

== Team Members == 
# [mailto:ebi@myseneca.ca?subject=GAM531 Erquan Bi]
# [mailto:ejhan4@myseneca.ca?subject=GAM531 Eunju Han]
# [mailto:flbotos4@myseneca.ca?subject=GAM531 <s>Ferenc Botos</s>]
# [mailto:ebi@myseneca.ca;ejhan4@myseneca.ca;flbotos4@myseneca.ca?subject=GAM531 eMail All]

== Enhancement == 
<br/>
'''Title: Multi-threaded Node Absolute Calculator'''


'''Enhancement Result'''

* The frame flow is very smooth due to the transformation of the node chains which are updated concurrently and efficiently during rendering instead of being done sequentially.

* The program runs significantly faster. To show improved performance of the Emperor Engine, we used Performance and Diagnostic tool in Visual Studio on a lab computer. It shows that by using multiple threads, performance has improved 10 times.

[[File:Node Absolute Calculator Result.jpg]]

<br/>
'''Enhancement Process'''

* Class ThreadPool
** An object of ''ThreadPool'' class is created at its initialization to accept threads in a vector called ''threads''.
** The number of threads depends on the number of the computer core systems, it can be obtained at the run time through std::thread::hardware_concurrency() in ''ThreadPool'' constructor.
** The ''threadPool'' is a queue holding jobs which are defined as std::function, and a job is added into ''threadPool ''in ''AddJob'' function.
** std::mutex and std::condition_variable is used to lock and unlock threads status and to wake threads respectively. In addition to, two bool type variables (quit and stopped) are flags to decline a new job while the thread pool is shutting down.
** In ''Run'' function, the ''threadPool'' dispatches a job to each thread to be finished one by one until all jobs are done or the program is terminated.
** The ''ShutDown'' function wakes all threads up and makes them join to be terminated.

* To Use the Threads
** When the NodeManager performs the function updateValues for each active object from the vector activeObjects, jobs(active objects(Node)’ _updateAbs function) are added to the queue threadPool waiting to calculate node’s absolute transformation.
** While adding jobs, one slept thread from the thread pool wakes up, and performs the ''Run'' function subsequently.
** Before the function ''updateValues'' ends, threads are terminated through the ShutDown function of ''ThreadPool''.


'''Enhancement Description'''
<br/>
Multi-threading technology is used for calculating node absolute transformation in Emperor Engine which gives a performance enhancement. Every time the engine renders a scene with the nodes (which happens in NodeManager) it works through an iteration using a loop to update the absolute matrix sequentially. By using multiple threads, it works much faster and makes engine work in a more efficient way.
<br/>
<br/>

'''Work Load Division'''

* Member 1(Erquan (Ashley) Bi)
** Worked on how many threads are needed and how they are being divided and dispatched form the thread pool to a vector of threads for each core to calculate node absolute transformation.

* Member 2 (Eunju Han)
** Managed threads’ running and termination with determined threads and Merged code with Ashley’s work and tested with the client program (Lab8).


'''Source Code Repository'''
<br/>
[https://bitbucket.org/Apex_Page/scs_emperor https://bitbucket.org/Apex_Page/scs_emperor]

<br/>


'''References'''
* Multi-Thread Resources

[https://scs.senecac.on.ca/~oop345/pages/content/multi.html Multi-Threading of OOP345]

[https://solarianprogrammer.com/2011/12/16/cpp-11-thread-tutorial/ C++ Multithreading Tutorial]

[http://www.cplusplus.com/reference/thread/thread/ std::thread]

<br/>
* BitBucket Fetching a remote reference<br/>
https://help.github.com/articles/fetching-a-remote/<br/>
<br/><br/>
<s>Sphere Collision or View Frustum Culling</s><br/>
<s><Sphere Collision Resources> <br/>
[https://studiofreya.com/3d-math-and-physics/simple-sphere-sphere-collision-detection-and-collision-response/ SIMPLE SPHERE-SPHERE COLLISION DETECTION AND COLLISION RESPONSE]

[http://www.miguelcasillas.com/?mcportfolio=collision-detection-c 3D Collision detection (C++) - Miguel Casillas]

[http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/131424/pool_hall_lessons_fast_accurate_.php Pool Hall Lessons: Fast, Accurate Collision Detection Between Circles or Spheres]

[http://gamedev.stackexchange.com/questions/313/what-is-a-good-algorithm-to-detect-collision-between-moving-spheres What is a good algorithm to detect collision between moving spheres?]</s>

== Work Breakdown and Progress ==
<br/>
'''Project completed'''<br/>
Our team Apex, has finished Emperor_Engine Version 1.0. We completed testing it with Directx11 in release mode. There are also all four OpenGL lab codes filled in, and we have tried to re-implement all part OpenGL we need. However, due to the lack of time and some reasons related to materials and textures, this game engine with OpenGL does not work properly.

[[File:apex_version1.png]]

<br/>
'''Engine enhancement completed'''<br/>
Our team Apex has submit Engine Enhancement assignment with the tag "EngineEnhancement" on the group repository on Nov 27th, 2015.<br/>
Please look at the section above in details.


'''Lab completed'''
*Ashley: Lab2, 4, 5, 7, 10, OpenGL lab8 and 9<br/>
*Eunju:  Lab1, 3, 6, 8, 9, OpenGL lab7 and 10<br/>
<br/>
'''Lab Workload Plan'''
*Anybody: lab1(Eunju)<br/>
*Ashley: lab2,5,8<br/>
*Eunju: lab3,6,9<br/>
*<s>Frank: lab4,7,10</s><br/>
<br/>

{| class="wikitable sortable" border="1" cellpadding="5"
|+ 
! Tasks !! Assigned !! Completed Status !! Due date
|-
| Lab 1 || Eunju ||  Yes 2015-09-25 || 2015-09-25
|-
| Lab 2 || Ashley ||  Yes 2015-10-02 || 2015-10-02
|-
| Lab 3 || Eunju || Yes 2015-10-17 || 2015-10-09
|-
| Submit Proposal / Research Document || Group||  YES ||Friday October 16th, 2015
|-
| Lab 4 || Ashley ||  Yes 2015-11-03(late because of team member set back) || 2015-10-16
|-
| Lab 5 || Ashley ||  Yes 2015-11-03 || 2015-11-03
|-
| Lab 6 || Eunju ||  Yes 2015-11-07(1 min late because of merging issue) || 2015-11-06
|-
| Lab 7 || Ashley||  Yes 2015-11-13 || 2015-11-13
|-
| Lab 8 || Eunju ||  Yes 2015-11-20 || 2015-11-20
|-
| Lab 9 || Eunju ||  Yes 2015-11-26 || 2015-11-27
|-
| Lab 10 || Ashley || Yes 2015-12-04 ||2015-12-04
|-
| OpenGL Lab7 || Eunju || Yes Code 2015-12-13 ||2015-11-13
|-
| OpenGL Lab8 || Ashley || Yes Code 2015-12-13 ||2015-11-20
|-
| OpenGL Lab9 || Ashley || Yes Code 2015-12-13 ||2015-11-27
|-
| OpenGL Lab10 || Eunju|| Yes Code 2015-12-13 ||2015-12-04
|-
| Submit Engine Enhancement|| Group||  YES ||Friday December 4th, 2015
|-
| Submit Project (completed engine) || Group ||  YES ||Sunday December 13th, 2015
|-