Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
What Do You Want To See???
We are making a strategy game similar to warcraft 2 by Blizzard Entertainment. Here is an example of the gameplay:
This will be a game from scratch. You have a chance to effect what it will look like. Use this post to send your ideas. What would you like to see in a game like this? What should the setting be, what about the time period? Alternate universe? alien world? Humans against Orcs? Humans against Aliens? Aliens against Orcs...? You can submit your ideas, a plot, graphics... whatever you think might make for a good game. This game will be open source so make sure that whatever you post here can be used in the game.
Questions? Email me at pansa99@gmail.com.
Cheers
This will be a game from scratch. You have a chance to effect what it will look like. Use this post to send your ideas. What would you like to see in a game like this? What should the setting be, what about the time period? Alternate universe? alien world? Humans against Orcs? Humans against Aliens? Aliens against Orcs...? You can submit your ideas, a plot, graphics... whatever you think might make for a good game. This game will be open source so make sure that whatever you post here can be used in the game.
Questions? Email me at pansa99@gmail.com.
Cheers
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Fifteen Puzzle Not So Simple For Computers
Trying to auto-solve the fifteen problem (even not by an optimal amount of moves) can be hard for the computer. Here is an article that describes the magnitude of the problem, and other AI approaches to puzzle problems like the Rubik's cube.
Link To Article
Have fun reading it!
Link To Article
Have fun reading it!
Collision Detection
Here is a nice article on simple collision detection:
Collision Article
It explores some of the ways we can perform collision detection without slowing down our game.
Collision Article
It explores some of the ways we can perform collision detection without slowing down our game.
Critical Mass
Hello everyone,
It is Tuesday again, time for our club meeting. For this week, since we did not enjoy the company of many of you the last couple of meetings, we will just talk about the program we looked over last week. We are still looking for that "critical mass" which will make these meetings fun and possible. So if you are interested in game programming, and you would like to have a place to talk and learn about it make sure you visit with us. The game programming club can only be a club if you are part of it.
Regards
~ Panos
It is Tuesday again, time for our club meeting. For this week, since we did not enjoy the company of many of you the last couple of meetings, we will just talk about the program we looked over last week. We are still looking for that "critical mass" which will make these meetings fun and possible. So if you are interested in game programming, and you would like to have a place to talk and learn about it make sure you visit with us. The game programming club can only be a club if you are part of it.
Regards
~ Panos
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Sliding Puzzle Code
Here is a link to the Sliding Puzzle code:
Sliding Puzzle Project
You can open the project by double clicking on the SlidingPuzzle.dev file. An executable is also included so you can try the game on your computer without having to compile an executable. I hope I see you all tonight.
Sliding Puzzle Project
You can open the project by double clicking on the SlidingPuzzle.dev file. An executable is also included so you can try the game on your computer without having to compile an executable. I hope I see you all tonight.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Meeting Number Three Coming Up
Hello Everyone,
As I get ready for tomorrow's meeting I wanted to give you an idea of what we will be learning how to make. I asked for ideas, but since no one responded I decided to show you how to make a puzzle game that I enjoyed playing when I was younger. The game is mostly known with the name "the fifteen puzzle" and it is the oldest type of sliding block puzzle. Here is the description from Wikipedia:
"A sliding block puzzle prohibits lifting any piece off the board. This property separates sliding puzzles from rearrangement puzzles. Hence finding moves, and the paths opened up by each move, within the two-dimensional confines of the board, are important parts of solving sliding block puzzles."
Here is a video of the one I will show you how to make:
This version of the puzzle will allow you to insert any image you want to play the puzzle with. It also has two extra challenging levels. besides the standard 4x4 board it features a 6x6 and an 8x8 board. I hope I see all of you at our meeting tomorrow.
As I get ready for tomorrow's meeting I wanted to give you an idea of what we will be learning how to make. I asked for ideas, but since no one responded I decided to show you how to make a puzzle game that I enjoyed playing when I was younger. The game is mostly known with the name "the fifteen puzzle" and it is the oldest type of sliding block puzzle. Here is the description from Wikipedia:
"A sliding block puzzle prohibits lifting any piece off the board. This property separates sliding puzzles from rearrangement puzzles. Hence finding moves, and the paths opened up by each move, within the two-dimensional confines of the board, are important parts of solving sliding block puzzles."
Here is a video of the one I will show you how to make:
This version of the puzzle will allow you to insert any image you want to play the puzzle with. It also has two extra challenging levels. besides the standard 4x4 board it features a 6x6 and an 8x8 board. I hope I see all of you at our meeting tomorrow.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Our Second Meeting
Last night was the second meeting of the USF game programming club. Although we did not get a big crowd, we had fun looking at code and eating cookies. Several things were introduced yesterday. Here they are:
1. A set of helper classes was created to help with easier and faster development. My job this week will be to document these classes so anyone can import them to his or her project and understand how to start a simple game. The documentation should be available by our next meeting.
2. Tim Archer was able to compile and run the sample applications using "Eclipse", a free IDE with more features than "Dev C++". For those of you that would like to use Eclipse we can help you set it up and use it as your default project environment.
3. Next week we are going to start work on a real game. We are still debating what that will be so, if you want, please comment on this post and let us know what type of game you would like to try to make... go ahead comment. We could create a card game, an action game or even a board game. Your input will be very helpful since we want this to be a fun experience for all.
Next meeting is next Tuesday, the 16th, and I am looking forward to see most of you, if not all of you, there. Till then, check the blog for other news during the week.
1. A set of helper classes was created to help with easier and faster development. My job this week will be to document these classes so anyone can import them to his or her project and understand how to start a simple game. The documentation should be available by our next meeting.
2. Tim Archer was able to compile and run the sample applications using "Eclipse", a free IDE with more features than "Dev C++". For those of you that would like to use Eclipse we can help you set it up and use it as your default project environment.
3. Next week we are going to start work on a real game. We are still debating what that will be so, if you want, please comment on this post and let us know what type of game you would like to try to make... go ahead comment. We could create a card game, an action game or even a board game. Your input will be very helpful since we want this to be a fun experience for all.
Next meeting is next Tuesday, the 16th, and I am looking forward to see most of you, if not all of you, there. Till then, check the blog for other news during the week.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Friday, June 5, 2009
Next Week's Meeting
Hello everybody!
This is a demo of what we will be making on Tuesday. A pong-like game where your only opponent is the wall.
In addition I have been working on creating what I call a starter project. The starter project is a "shell" project from which all other projects of the club will be started. More on that on the upcoming meeting.
I hope I see you all on Tuesday. Have a nice weekend!
This is a demo of what we will be making on Tuesday. A pong-like game where your only opponent is the wall.
In addition I have been working on creating what I call a starter project. The starter project is a "shell" project from which all other projects of the club will be started. More on that on the upcoming meeting.
I hope I see you all on Tuesday. Have a nice weekend!
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Our First Meeting
Let me first thank all of you that were able to attend our first club meeting. I hope you all had a good time and I hope to see all of you next week, same day, same time.
Here are some useful links:
Sample Project
This is a zipped folder which contains the example project we created at our meeting. If you were able to install the IDE, just double clicking on the .dev file will start the project interface and you should be able to compile and run the program. If you have not installed the IDE and/or the SDL libraries, click here to download all the required files and follow the video tutorial in the previous post.
PDF Handout Plus Project
This link provides a zipped file that contains the code handout that everyone who attended the first meeting received. In addition it contains an SDL project of that code so you can compile and test it. Besides the SDL and SDL_image libraries that we saw at the example during the meeting, this project also includes a library called SDL_ttf that allows a program to display messages when we provide it with a True Type Font. Do not worry if something is not clear in the code. We will talk about this project in our next meeting.
Simple DirectMedia Layer Documentation
The above link will take you to the Documentation of all the methods the SDL library provides. For those of you that really want to know what each call in the sample programs does all you need to do is follow the above link and locate the method in question.
Conclusion
At the end of the meeting we decided that the first game we will try to create is a Pong game. I think it is a great game to start with.
Another thing that came up was the selection/creation of a club logo. We will need a logo so we can create a splash screen that will appear before each one of our games starts.
This, I think, sums it up when it comes to our first meeting. Feel free to comment under this post if there is something you want to share with everyone. If you are having problems with the IDE and compiling/running the sample programs, email me at pansa99@gmail.com and I will do my best to help you out. See you all next week.
Here are some useful links:
Sample Project
This is a zipped folder which contains the example project we created at our meeting. If you were able to install the IDE, just double clicking on the .dev file will start the project interface and you should be able to compile and run the program. If you have not installed the IDE and/or the SDL libraries, click here to download all the required files and follow the video tutorial in the previous post.
PDF Handout Plus Project
This link provides a zipped file that contains the code handout that everyone who attended the first meeting received. In addition it contains an SDL project of that code so you can compile and test it. Besides the SDL and SDL_image libraries that we saw at the example during the meeting, this project also includes a library called SDL_ttf that allows a program to display messages when we provide it with a True Type Font. Do not worry if something is not clear in the code. We will talk about this project in our next meeting.
Simple DirectMedia Layer Documentation
The above link will take you to the Documentation of all the methods the SDL library provides. For those of you that really want to know what each call in the sample programs does all you need to do is follow the above link and locate the method in question.
Conclusion
At the end of the meeting we decided that the first game we will try to create is a Pong game. I think it is a great game to start with.
Another thing that came up was the selection/creation of a club logo. We will need a logo so we can create a splash screen that will appear before each one of our games starts.
This, I think, sums it up when it comes to our first meeting. Feel free to comment under this post if there is something you want to share with everyone. If you are having problems with the IDE and compiling/running the sample programs, email me at pansa99@gmail.com and I will do my best to help you out. See you all next week.
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