** general description – the project will be in the form of an interactive marble course building game where users choose the specific piece they want, position it, "snap" it onto existing structure, and run a marble through it when completed.

** reference material – photos included below.

** goals – the project will be successful if it is fully interactive and controllable by the user, and behaves physically like the real world equivalent of the game. this will involve some sort of pseudo-physics engine, a drag and drop interface, parts "snapping" together at specific joints, and a marble that rolls realistically and produces appropriate sound. in addition, the interface must be able to cope with scale increase, viewpoint repositioning, and dynamic marble-pov camera tracking.

** tasks – geometry for components must be modeled, heavy use of PROTO expected. drag and drop gui must be developed, most likely using the available maya-like translation handles. in addition, a "storage bin" for spare components must be conceptually worked out. accurate magnetic snapping behavior must be implemented to ease the player's task of positioning parts precisely. physics engine has to be developed, dealing mainly with gravity, rolling friction, angular momentum. sound synchronization and camera tracking must be worked out. an interesting problem with the dynamic marble-pov camera would be how to get it to change orientation when marble changes direction.

** calendar – geometry by 3/13, physics engine by end of next weekend, snapping interface by following tuesday, and finishing touches by due date.