PROJECT PREVIEW: THE SPEED TYPING GAME

The game project that you learn how to develop for this chapter is the Speed Typing game. The Speed Typing game challenges the player to type as quickly and accurately as possible. The game begins by displaying a sentence. The player must reproduce the sentence without errors. The Speed Typing game only gives the player 15 seconds to type the complete string. If the player is successful, he advances to the next level, which contains another sentence to type. If the player makes a typo or runs out of time before typing the complete sentence, the game registers a strike against him.

At each successive level, the sentences become more and more challenging to type. The game ends when the player either manages to complete five levels or accumulates three strikes. At game's end, the player is ranked as having the skill level of beginner, intermediate, advanced, or expert. Figures 3.1 through 3.5 demonstrate the overall flow of the Speed Typing game.

Figure 3.1: The Speed Typing game begins when the player clicks on the Go button.

Figure 3.2: Players advance by typing the required text string within the allotted amount of time.

Figure 3.3: Players who fail to type the required text in time receive a strike.

Figure 3.4: Players who make a typo when keying in the required text string receive a strike.

Figure 3.5: The player's typing skill level is analyzed and displayed at the end of gameplay.

As a result of designing the user interface and programming the code for this game, you will have a much better understanding of how Windows GUIs work. This includes the opportunity to gain experience implementing several techniques that enhance user interfaces and make applications simpler to use.