This year, the Technology Systems class at Indian Creek High School decided to attempt Battleship as the final programming project. They first wrote a proof-of-concept software in 2D using RealBasic's sprite surface features. Once they had a 3x3 grid in RealBasic, they then used Alice to develop a 3x3 version and a 5x5 version in 3D. The students modeled a battleship and a destroyer model in Pro/Desktop and laid out the grid in Adobe Photoshop. To bring the models into Alice, the students used AutoDesk 3DsMax to export the ships to the ASE format. For the 3x3 version, the students added a review game to the beginning to earn pegs before being allowed to fire on the ships. In all the versions, the students added music and sound effects using Apple SoundTrack. If you have any questions or comments, contact us.

Because Battleship is owned by Hasbro, we wrote to the company to ask for permission before we began development. Although the original game was distributed by Milton Bradley, it was acquired by Hasbro when the company was purchased in 1984. Although there are software versions of Battleship available, we felt that our product would be a unique way of using the game in the classroom. Hasbro agreed for us to write a version of the software in Alice as a tool for use by teachers in the classroom. By writing the project in Alice, it allows teachers to easily add a classroom review to the game for use by their students. To view a copy of the letter of permission we recieved from Hasbro, click here.