Abstract

Computer games have grown considerably in scale and complexity since their humble beginnings in the 1960s. Modern day computer games have reached incredible levels of realism, especially in areas like graphics, physical simulation, and artificial intelligence. However, despite significant advances in software engineering, the development of computer games generally does not employ state-of-the-art software engineering practices and tools.

This thesis describes an architecture for computer games as a System of Systems where the computer game itself is emergent. The proposed architecture follows a data centered framework where the independent components collaborate on a central data store. The architecture offers capabilities that are essential in overcoming challenges faced in building computer games that can enjoy modifiability, expandability, and maintainability traits. The architecture promotes component-based development (e.g., commercial off the shelf components) since the collaborating components have loose couplings, which in turn facilitates systematic design integration of System of Systems.

"A Flexible and Expandable Architecture for Computer Games" by Jeff Plummer, Master's Thesis, Arizona State University, 412 Pages, Acrobat PDF