djentleman - Developer IT

Turn-based Strategy Loop

- by Djentleman

I'm working on a strategy game. It's turn-based and card-based (think Dominion-style), done in a client, with eventual AI in the works. I've already implemented almost all of the game logic (methods for calculations and suchlike) and I'm starting to work on the actual game loop. What is the "best" way to implement a game loop in such a game? Should I use a simple "while gameActive" loop that keeps running until gameActive is False, with sections that wait for player input? Or should it be managed through the UI with player actions determining what happens and when? Any help is appreciated. I'm doing it in Python (for now at least) to get my Python skills up a bit, although the language shouldn't matter for this question.

Read the article

Which techniques to study?

- by Djentleman

Just to give you some background info, I'm studying a programming major at a tertiary level and am in my third year, so I'm not a newbie off the street. However, I am still quite new to game programming as a subset of programming. One of my personal projects for next semester is to design and create a 2D platformer game with emphasis on procedural generation and "neato" effects (think metroidvania). I've written up a list of some techniques to help me improve my personal skills (using XNA for the time being). The list is as follows: QuadTrees: Build a basic program in XNA that moves basic 2D sprites (circles and squares) around a set path and speed and changes their colour when they collide. Add functionality to add and delete objects of different sizes (select a direction and speed when adding and just drag and drop them in). Particles: Build a basic program in XNA in which you can select different colours and create particle effects of those colours on screen by clicking and dragging the mouse around (simple particles emerging from where the mouse is clicked). Add functionality where you can change the amount of particles to be drawn and the speed at which they travel and when they expire. Possibly implement gravity and wind after part 3 is complete. Physics: Build a basic program in XNA where you have a ball in a set 2D environment, a wind slider, and a gravity slider (can go to negative for reverse gravity). You can click to drag the ball around and release to throw it and, depending on what you do, the ball interacts with the environment. Implement other shapes afterwards. Random 2D terrain generation: Build a basic program in XNA that randomly generates terrain (including hills, caves, etc) created from 2D tiles. Add functionality that draws the tiles from a tileset and places different tiles depending on where they lie on the y-axis (dirt on top, then rock, then lava, etc). Randomised objects: Build a basic program in XNA that, when a button is clicked, displays a randomised item sprite based on parameters (type, colour, etc) with the images pulled from tilesets. Add the ability to save the item as an object, which stores it in a side-pane where it can be selected for viewing. Movement: Build a basic program in XNA where you can move an object around in an environment (tile-based) with a camera that pans with it. No gravity. Implement gravity and wind, allow the character to jump and fall with some basic platforms. So my question is this: Are there any other commonly used techniques that I should research, and can I get some suggestions as to the effectiveness of the techniques I've chosen to work on (e.g., don't do QuadTree stuff because [insert reason here], or, do [insert technique here] before you start working on particles because [insert reason here])? I hope this is clear enough and please let me know if I can further clarify anything!

Read the article

Transforming a primitive tetrahedron into a primitive icosahedron?

- by Djentleman

I've created a tetrahedron by creating a BoundingBox and building the faces of the tetrahedron within the bounding box as follows (see image as well): VertexPositionNormalTexture[] vertices = new VertexPositionNormalTexture[12]; BoundingBox box = new BoundingBox(new Vector3(-1f, 1f, 1f), new Vector3(1f, -1f, -1f)); vertices[0].Position = box.GetCorners()[0]; vertices[1].Position = box.GetCorners()[2]; vertices[2].Position = box.GetCorners()[7]; vertices[3].Position = box.GetCorners()[0]; vertices[4].Position = box.GetCorners()[5]; vertices[5].Position = box.GetCorners()[2]; vertices[6].Position = box.GetCorners()[5]; vertices[7].Position = box.GetCorners()[7]; vertices[8].Position = box.GetCorners()[2]; vertices[9].Position = box.GetCorners()[5]; vertices[10].Position = box.GetCorners()[0]; vertices[11].Position = box.GetCorners()[7]; What would I then have to do to transform this tetrahedron into an icosahedron? Similar to this image: I understand the concept but applying it is another thing entirely for me.

Read the article

Boolean checks with a single quadtree, or multiple quadtrees?

- by Djentleman

I'm currently developing a 2D sidescrolling shooter game for PC (think metroidvania but with a lot more happening at once). Using XNA. I'm utilising quadtrees for my spatial partitioning system. All objects will be encompassed by standard bounding geometry (box or sphere) with possible pixel-perfect collision detection implemented after geometry collision (depends on how optimised I can get it). These are my collision scenarios, with < representing object overlap (multiplayer co-op is the reason for the player<player scenario): Collision scenarios (true = collision occurs): Player <> Player = false Enemy <> Enemy = false Player <> Enemy = true PlayerBullet <> Enemy = true PlayerBullet <> Player = false PlayerBullet <> EnemyBullet = true PlayerBullet <> PlayerBullet = false EnemyBullet <> Player = true EnemyBullet <> Enemy = false EnemyBullet <> EnemyBullet = false Player <> Environment = true Enemy <> Environment = true PlayerBullet <> Environment = true EnemyBullet <> Environment = true Going off this information and the fact that were will likely be several hundred objects rendering on-screen at any given time, my question is as follows: Which method is likely to be the most efficient/optimised and why: Using a single quadtree with boolean checks for collision between the different types of objects. Using three quadtrees at once (player, enemy, environment), only testing the player and enemy trees against each other while testing both the player and enemy trees against the environment tree.

Read the article

Creating Rectangle-based buttons with OnClick events

- by Djentleman

As the title implies, I want a Button class with an OnClick event handler. It should fire off connected events when it is clicked. This is as far as I've made it: public class Button { public event EventHandler OnClick; public Rectangle Rec { get; set; } public string Text { get; set; } public Button(Rectangle rec, string text) { this.Rec = rec; this.Text = text; } } I have no clue what I'm doing with regards to events. I know how to use them but creating them myself is another matter entirely. I've also made buttons without using events that work on a case-by-case basis. So basically, I want to be able to attach methods to the OnClick EventHandler that will fire when the Button is clicked (i.e., the mouse intersects Rec and the left mouse button is clicked).

Developer IT