Online Sports Game

Virtual Sportfield - - - - - The purpose of this project is to create a solution that will allow a number of ‘remote sites’ to join into a ‘Sporting Event’. This will allow them to write to and read from an SQL web server which holds a common data set related to the ‘Sport Event’ so that each of the ‘remote sites’ can display the data locally in a visually exciting manner that resembles a group of people competing in a series of sporting activities like running, rowing, jumping, walking, etc.. Participants located in the ‘remote sites’ will be using proprietary physical apparatus designed and built by our company that will update a local SQL database connected to our equipment within the ‘remote site’s’ computer. The ‘remote site’ will every second read and write updated data to the SQL based web server so that the other sites connected to this event can also have the latest data set. We are looking for you to do the following: 1. Create the ‘remote sites’ client software that will run on a Windows XP/Vista platform (at celeron/pentium level) that will: - launch a game that is activated by remotely by way of SQL data arriving on the Web Server - countdown the game launch locally and ‘On your Marks, Get Set, Go’ - display simultaneously a quantity of player's avatars on the screen - animate the avatars so that they respond to what is happening (e.g. taking marks, etc.) - manage their movement through a background or scene - read data from an local SQL database that controls their x-y-z co-ordinates - create the initial basic avatar set, scene and objects that will be used - create a simulation by generating data into the SQL database by some electronic means to prove it works - ensure that the avatars, background and objects are visually exciting - as a guide the standard should be like PS1 level of quality (refer to web viewer below) - data related to Avatars in addition to x-y-z will also be displayed (i.e. Name, Score, Effort, Rate) - from time to time the programme will celebrate who is winning by playing sounds and other media - at game end IMPORTANT NOTE: The speed and performance of this local machine must be good, therefore Flash may not be quick enough to handle the processing - but are willing to be corrected. 2. Create the web server: - SQL Tables (we will agree table/field definitions at start of project) - Basic PHP routines to administer and control remote site login to server 3. Create a web viewer: - the graphic quality and ability does not have to be to the level of the local remote site client - this will be a simple flash based interface that allows anyone to ‘watch’ the proceedings of an ‘event’ taking place by monitoring what is happening within the Web based ‘common’ database server. WHAT SKILLS DO WE HAVE and WHAT ELSE WILL WE EXPECT: - We are a software and hardware developer, with SQL, PHP, Visual Basic, VBNET and Direct X skills. - We will expect that you are willing to continue working with us to grow and maintain the system as required. - Some of our staff will taken on future development of the core products - A basic/reasonable level of in line documentation will be required so we can follow the programme logic - All text, variable, definitions etc. and documentation must be in English. TIME SCALE: We need the first simple demonstrable version by first week of May and production release at end of May. RISKS / ISSUES: - The ‘Local Data’ table (the one resident in the ‘remote sites’ computer) will be written to by our software which will be running in memory concurrently with your application - Your software will gather remote data from the Web Server and write it to a local table called ‘Remote data’ - Your software will be reading both the ‘Local Data’ and ‘Remote Data’ tables to display Avatar results. - We are not worried about data latency as we know from time to time network delays will occur and data feed could be intermittent - We are not worried that the feed is NOT ‘real time’, only that it is reasonably close. Therefore to mask this situation we would expect your software monitor data feed and speed up or slow down its polling through the Avatars results so that players won’t see small blockage in data feed from the Remote Server. Starting and Ending will be managed simply as part of the starting packets will be race duration. This will allow the ‘remote sites’ to effectively manage when the race stops - (even if communications with the server is temporarily broken). It may be that a race ends and all the participants have to wait say 20 seconds before the communications is re-established. During this period of time we would expect a fund visual routine saying that “the Referees are confirming and all the data is coming in”.