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  • How to balance a non-symmetric "extension" based game?

    - by Klaim
    Most strategy games have fixed units and possible behaviours. However, think of a game like Magic The Gathering : each card is a set of rules. Regularly, new sets of card types are created. I remember that the firsts editions of the game have been said to be prohibited in official tournaments because the cards were often too powerful. Later extensions of the game provided more subtle effects/rules in cards and they managed to balance the game apparently effectively, even if there is thousands of different cards possible. I'm working on a strategy game that is a bit in the same position : every units are provided by extensions and the game is thought to be extended for some years, at least. The effects variety of the units are very large even with some basic design limitations set to be sure it's manageable. Each player choose a set of units to play with (defining their global strategy) before playing (like chooseing a themed deck of Magic cards). As it's a strategy game (you can think of Magic as a strategy game too in some POV), it's essentially skirmish based so the game have to be fair, even if the players don't choose the same units before starting to play. So, how do you proceed to balance this type of non-symmetric (strategy) game when you know it will always be extended? For the moment, I'm trying to apply those rules but I'm not sure it's right because I don't have enough design experience to know : each unit would provide one unique effect; each unit should have an opposite unit that have an opposite effect that would cancel each others; some limitations based on the gameplay; try to get a lot of beta tests before each extension release? Looks like I'm in the most complex case?

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  • Dynamic character animation - Using the physics engine or not

    - by Lex Webb
    I'm planning on building a dynamic reactant animation engine for the characters in my 2D Game. I have already built templates for a skeleton based animation system using key frames and interpolation to specify a limbs position at any given moment in time. I am using Farseer physics (an extension of Box2D) in Monogame/XNA in C# My real question lies in how i go about tying this character animation into the physics engine. I have two options: Moving limbs using physics engine - applying a interpolated force to each limb (dynamic body) in order to attempt to get it to its position as donated by the skeleton animation. Moving limbs by simply changing the position of a fixed body - Updating the new position of each limb manually, attempting to take into account physics collisions. Then stepping the physics after the animation to allow for environment interaction. Each of these methods have their distinct advantages and disadvantages. Physics based movement Advantages: Possibly more natural/realistic movement Better interaction with game objects as force applying to objects colliding with characters would be calculated for me. No need to convert to dynamic bodies when reacting to projectiles/death/fighting. Disadvantages: Possible difficulty in calculating correct amount of force to move a limb a certain distance at a constant rate. Underlying character balance system would need to be created that would need to be robust enough to prevent characters falling over at the touch of a feather. Added code complexity and processing time for the above. Static Object movement Advantages: Easy to interpolate movement of limbs between game steps Moving limbs is as simple as applying a rotation to the skeleton bone. Greater control over limbs, wont need to worry about characters falling over as all animation would be pre-defined. Disadvantages: Possible unnatural movement (Depends entirely on my animation skills!) Bad physics collision reactions with physics engine (Dynamic bodies simply slide out of the way of static objects) Need to calculate collisions with physics objects and my limbs myself and apply directional forces to them. Hard to account for slopes/stairs/non standard planes when animating walking/running animations. Need to convert objects to dynamic when reacting to projectile/fighting/death physics objects. The Question! As you can see, i have thought about this extensively, i have also had Google into physics based animation and have found mostly dissertation papers! Which is filling me with sense that it may a lot more advanced than my mathematics skills. My question is mostly subjective based on my findings above/any experience you may have: Which of the above methods should i use when creating my game? I am willing to spend the time to get a physics solution working if you think it would be possible. In the end i want to provide the most satisfying experience for the gamer, as well as a robust and dynamic system i can use to animate pretty much anything i need.

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  • Can't click on a button with startDrag() active on stage

    - by Pedro
    I need to know how can I enable mouse click on a button when I have a MouseEvent listener for the stage. I have a MClip associated with the mouse cursor: Mouse.hide(); scope.startDrag(true); And an MouseEnvet on the stage: stage.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, FunctionXYZ); When I try to click on any button they don't assume the function that I create for those buttons... for example, button for fullscreen, exit, help, etc... Thank you very much. BR, Pedro

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  • What is a legal way to use music from registered authors in a game?

    - by mm24
    I have recently asked a question about music in games like Guitar Hero. I have found that that in Europe (at least) if I do want to use a track composed by a musician member of a royalty collecting society I need to pay a flat fee to the society and not only to the member. So a "one-to-one" agreement is not valid and the society can come up to me and ask me for money for each download. Even if for FREE! This is a fee sheet list of the UK agency: for fee, see "Permanent download services" It is about 1,200 GBP for less than 22,000 copies and they DON'T specify anything more and they said me on the phone that I need to wait and see how many downloads I get before knowing the price. This is kind of crazy as If I give away the App for free I will have to PAY 1,200 GBP!! I am shocked and I feel very bad. One agency suggested me to use a fake name of the artist, but in this way is not fair to my collaborators as what they hope is that the App gets lots of downloads and in this way that other people will get to know about them and hopefully commission them more work. The other solution is to work only with non registered musicians. The question here to you is: Has anyone found a legal way to use music from registered authors in a game?

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  • Only draw visible objects to the camera in 2D

    - by Deukalion
    I have Map, each map has an array of Ground, each Ground consists of an array of VertexPositionTexture and a texture name reference so it renders a texture at these points (as a shape through triangulation). Now when I render my map I only want to get a list of all objects that are visible in the camera. (So I won't loop through more than I have to) Structs: public struct Map { public Ground[] Ground { get; set; } } public struct Ground { public int[] Indexes { get; set; } public VertexPositionNormalTexture[] Points { get; set; } public Vector3 TopLeft { get; set; } public Vector3 TopRight { get; set; } public Vector3 BottomLeft { get; set; } public Vector3 BottomRight { get; set; } } public struct RenderBoundaries<T> { public BoundingBox Box; public T Items; } when I load a map: foreach (Ground ground in CurrentMap.Ground) { Boundaries.Add(new RenderBoundaries<Ground>() { Box = BoundingBox.CreateFromPoints(new Vector3[] { ground.TopLeft, ground.TopRight, ground.BottomLeft, ground.BottomRight }), Items = ground }); } TopLeft, TopRight, BottomLeft, BottomRight are simply the locations of each corner that the shape make. A rectangle. When I try to loop through only the objects that are visible I do this in my Draw method: public int Draw(GraphicsDevice device, ICamera camera) { BoundingFrustum frustum = new BoundingFrustum(camera.View * camera.Projection); // Visible count int count = 0; EffectTexture.World = camera.World; EffectTexture.View = camera.View; EffectTexture.Projection = camera.Projection; foreach (EffectPass pass in EffectTexture.CurrentTechnique.Passes) { pass.Apply(); foreach (RenderBoundaries<Ground> render in Boundaries.Where(m => frustum.Contains(m.Box) != ContainmentType.Disjoint)) { // Draw ground count++; } } return count; } When I try adding just one ground, then moving the camera so the ground is out of frame it still returns 1 which means it still gets draw even though it's not within the camera's view. Am I doing something or wrong or can it be because of my Camera? Any ideas why it doesn't work?

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  • What version of Java should I target for applets?

    - by Christopher Horenstein
    I recently deployed an applet that seems to require Java 6 Update 24. I assume the reason for this requirement is the matching JDK version I used to create the applet (I am new to Java). The fact that my applet requires a Java download/update for users who already have some version of Java installed is a big concern for me; the applets I'm creating slip into a web comic, so it's very disruptive. Having used the most recent version of Java, it seems as though I am able to assume that most of the readers I get will have to update Java to continue reading/playing. Is there a best practice concerning which version of Java to use to make the process of using an applet easy for end-users? Any reading material on this would be very helpful. Should I be using an older version of Java if I don't require new features? I am using Slick for 2D games.

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  • draw fog of war using shaders

    - by lezebulon
    I am making a RTS game, and I'd like some advice on how to best render fog of wars, given what I'm already doing. You can imagine this game as being a classic RTS like Age of Empires 2, where the fog of war will basically be handled by a 2D array telling if a given "tile" is explored or not. The specific things to consider here are : 1) I'm only doing a few draw calls to draw the whole screen, using shaders, and I'm not drawing "tile by tile" in a 2D loop 2) The whole map is much bigger than the screen, and the screen can move every frame or so In that case, how could I draw the fog of war ? I have no issue maintaining on the CPU-side a 2D array giving the fog of war for each tile, but what would be the best way to actually display it dynamically ? thanks!

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  • What method replaces GL_SELECT for box selection?

    - by Jake
    Last 2 weeks I started working on a box selection that selects shapes using GL_SELECT and I just got it working finally. When looking up resources online, there is a significant number of posts that say GL_SELECT is deprecated in OpenGL 3.0, but there is no mention of what had replace that function. I learnt OpenGL 1.2 in back in college 2 years back but checking wikipedia now, I realise we already have OpenGL 4.0 but I am unaware of what I need to do to keep myself up to date. So, in the meantime, what would be the latest preferred method for box selection? EDIT: I found http://www.khronos.org/files/opengl-quick-reference-card.pdf on page 5 this card still lists glRenderMode(GL_SELECT) as part of the OpenGL 3.2 reference.

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  • Problem with drawing textures in OpenGL ES

    - by droidmachine
    I'm developing a 2D game for Android and i'm using the framework which has been told in the book which named Beginning Android Games by Mario Zechner.So my framework is well designed and using OpenGL 1.1.It's similar to libgdx. When i put my textures adjacent each other in my 2d surface,there are some spaces size as 1 px.But this problem only occur on my tablet.There aren't a problem like this on my phone.It's like in this picture: What can be the problem?I can't fix it from one week.

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  • Mobile 3D engine renders alpha as full-object transparency

    - by Nils Munch
    I am running a iOS project using the isgl3d framework for showing pod files. I have a stylish car with 0.5 alpha windows, that I wish to render on a camera background, seeking some augmented reality goodness. The alpha on the windows looks okay, but when I add the object, I notice that it renders the entire object transparently, where the windows are. Including interior of the car. Like so (in example, keyboard can be seen through the dashboard, seats and so on. should be solid) The car interior is a seperate object with alpha 1.0. I would rather not show a "ghost car" in my project, but I haven't found a way around this. Have anyone encountered the same issue, and eventually reached a solution ?

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  • Networking Client Server Packet logic (How they communicate)

    - by Trixmix
    I want to know what is the logic behind server client communication through packets for a real time game. for example the server sends x packets then the client receives x packets and processes them.. Basically what is the process to keep the client and server in sync and able to receive and send packets. more in depth example of what I want to know: client step 1 wait for a packet step 2 read x packets step 3 process x packets step 4 send x packets and so on... I need to know the very basic outline of the communication. Big questions are: 1) do I send and read packets all at one time? i.e for loop though the incoming packets array list and read them all or one every server loop or what... 2) what order should I do things i.e first receive then read then process then send etc.. 3) what I asked above a step by step of what the server / client should do.. Thanks!

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  • Octree implementation for fustrum culling

    - by Manvis
    I'm learning modern (=3.1) OpenGL by coding a 3D turn based strategy game, using C++. The maps are composed of 100x90 3D hexagon tiles that range from 50 to 600 tris (20 different types) + any player units on those tiles. My current rendering technique involves sorting meshes by shaders they use (minimizing state changes) and then calling glDrawElementsInstanced() for drawing. Still get solid 16.6 ms/frame on my GTX 560Ti machine but the game struggles (45.45 ms/frame) on an old 8600GT card. I'm certain that using an octree and fustrum culling will help me here, but I have a few questions before I start implementing it: Is it OK for an octree node to have multiple meshes in it (e.g. can a soldier and the hex tile he's standing on end up in the same octree node)? How is one supposed to treat changes in object postion (e.g. several units are moving 3 hexes down)? I can't seem to find good a explanation on how to do it. As I've noticed, soting meshes by shaders is a really good way to save GPU. If I put node contents into, let's say, std::list and sort it before rendering, do you think I would gain any performance, or would it just create overhead on CPU's end? I know that this sounds like early optimization and implementing + testing would be the best way to find out, but perhaps someone knows from experience?

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  • Using DLLEXPORT to export DLL function With Class to C#

    - by SICGames2013
    In my previous revision game engine I deported major functions for the game editor for C#. Now, I'm beginning to revise the game engine with a static library. There's a already dynamic library created in C++ to use DLLEXPORT for C#. Just now I want to test out the newer functions and created a DLL file from C++. Because the DLL contains classes I was wondering how would I be able to use DLL Export. Would I do this: [DLLEXPORT("GameEngine.dll", EntryPoint="SomeClass", Conventional=_stdcall)] static extern void functionFromClass(); I have a feeling it's probably DLLImport and not DLLExport. I was wondering how would I go about this? Another way I was thinking was because I already have the DLL in C++ prepared already to go the C# Class Library. I could just keep the new engine as a lib, and link the lib with the old DLL C++ file. Wouldn't the EntryPoint be able to point to the class the function is in?

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  • Finite state machine in C++

    - by Electro
    So, I've read a lot about using FSMs to do game state management, things like what and FSM is, and using a stack or set of states for building one. I've gone through all that. But I'm stuck at writing an actual, well-designed implementation of an FSM for that purpose. Specifically, how does one cleanly resolve the problem of transitioning between states, (how) should a state be able to use data from other states, and so on. Does anyone have any tips on designing and writing a implementation in C++, or better yet, code examples?

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  • which platform to choose for designing a game

    - by Pramod
    I am new to gaming platform and don't have any experience in gaming as well. I want to develop a small shooting game and don't have any idea from where to start and which platform to use like things. I have some experience in java and .net. Can anyone help me in giving me a start? I don't mind even if this question is voted down or closed. But please do help me. I've tried searching other similar questions but everyone is already into gaming and i can't get any of the words. Please refer me to some books or tutorials

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  • How to move the object around the screen

    - by Abhishek
    I am trying to move the object around the screen I try this code -(void) move { CGFloat upperLimit = mWinSize.height - (mGunda.contentSize.height / 2.0); CGFloat upperLimit1 = mWinSize.height; CGFloat lowerLimit = (mGunda.contentSize.height / 2.0); CGFloat RightLimit = mWinSize.width - (mGunda.contentSize.width/2.0); CGFloat Right = (mGunda.contentSize.width/2.0); if ( mImageGoingUpward ) { mGunda.position = ccp( mGunda.position.x, mGunda.position.y + 5); if ( mGunda.position.y >= upperLimit ) { mImageGoingUpward = NO; mHori = NO; } } else { mGunda.position = ccp( mGunda.position.x, mGunda.position.y - 5); if ( mGunda.position.y <= lowerLimit ) { mGunda.position = ccp(mGunda.position.x +5, lowerLimit); } if(mGunda.position.x >= RightLimit) { mGunda.position = ccp(mGunda.position.x, mGunda.position.y+10); mHori = YES; } if(mHori) { if(mGunda.position.y >= upperLimit) { mGunda.position = ccp(mGunda.position.x - 5,mGunda.position.y); } } } } } It move the object from bottom to top & top to bottom & bottom to right & right to right top of the screen here is problem I have got It not move to the right top to left side of screen this rotationis not happen. How can I do this

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  • Typical Applications of Linear System Solver in Game Developemnt

    - by craftsman.don
    I am going to write a custom solver for linear system. I would like to survey the typical problems involved the linear system solving in games. So that I can custom optimization on these problems based on the shape of the matrix. currently I am focus on these problems: B-Spline editing (I use a linear solve to resolve the C0, C1, C2 continuity) Constraint in Simulation (especially Position-Constraint, cloth) Both of them are Banded Matrix. I want to hear about some other applications of a linear system in games. Thank you.

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  • How to attach turrets to tiles in a tile based game

    - by Joseph St. Pierre
    I am a flash developer, and I am building a Tower Defense game. The world is being built through tiles, and I have gotten that accomplished easily. I have also gotten level changes and enemy spawning down as well. However, I wish the player to be able to spawn turrets, and have those turrets be on specific tiles, based upon where the player placed it. Here is my code: stop(); colOffset = 50; rowOffset = 50; guns = []; placed = true; dead = 0; spawned = 0; level = 1; interval = 350 / level; amount = level * 20; counter = 0; numCol = 14; numRow = 10; tiles = []; k = 0; create = false; tileName = new Array("road","grass","end", "start"); board = new Array( new Array(1,1,1,1,3,1,1,1,1,1,2,1,1,1), new Array(1,1,1,0,0,1,1,1,1,1,0,1,1,1), new Array(1,1,1,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,1,1), new Array(1,1,1,0,0,0,1,1,1,1,1,0,1,1), new Array(1,1,1,0,1,0,0,0,1,1,1,0,0,1), new Array(1,1,1,0,1,1,1,0,0,1,1,1,0,1), new Array(1,1,0,0,1,1,1,1,0,1,1,0,0,1), new Array(1,1,0,1,1,1,1,1,0,1,0,0,1,1), new Array(1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,1,1,1), new Array(1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,1,1,1) ); buildBoard(); function buildBoard(){ for ( col = 0; col < numCol; col++){ for ( row = 0; row < numRow; row++){ _root.attachMovie("tile", "tile_" + col + "_" + row, _root.getNextHighestDepth()); theTile = eval("tile_" + col + "_" + row); theTile._x = (col * 50); theTile._y = (row * 50); theTile.row = row; theTile.col = col; tileType = board[row][col]; theTile.gotoAndStop(tileName[tileType]); tiles.push(theTile); } } } init(); function init(){ onEnterFrame = function(){ counter += 1; if ( spawned < amount && counter > 50){ min= _root.attachMovie("minion","minion",_root.getNextHighestDepth()); min._x = tile_4_0._x + 25; min._y = tile_4_0._y + 25; min.health = 100; choose = Math.round(Math.random()); if ( choose == 0 ){ min.waypointX = [ tile_4_1._x +25, tile_3_1._x + 25, tile_3_2._x + 25, tile_3_6._x + 25, tile_2_6._x + 25, tile_2_8._x + 25, tile_8_8._x + 25, tile_8_9._x + 25, tile_10_9._x + 25, tile_10_7._x + 25, tile_11_7._x + 25, tile_11_6._x + 25, tile_12_6._x + 25, tile_12_4._x + 25, tile_11_4._x + 25, tile_11_2._x + 25, tile_10_2._x + 25, tile_10_0._x + 25]; min.waypointY = [ tile_4_1._y +25, tile_3_1._y + 25, tile_3_2._y + 25, tile_3_6._y + 25, tile_2_6._y + 25, tile_2_8._y + 25, tile_8_8._y + 25, tile_8_9._y + 25, tile_10_9._y + 25, tile_10_7._y + 25, tile_11_7._y + 25, tile_11_6._y + 25, tile_12_6._y + 25, tile_12_4._y + 25, tile_11_4._y + 25, tile_11_2._y + 25, tile_10_2._y + 25, tile_10_0._y + 25]; } else if ( choose == 1 ){ min.waypointX = [ tile_4_1._x +25, tile_3_1._x + 25, tile_3_2._x + 25, tile_3_3._x + 25, tile_5_3._x + 25, tile_5_4._x + 25, tile_7_4._x + 25, tile_7_5._x + 25, tile_8_5._x + 25, tile_8_8._x + 25, tile_8_9._x + 25, tile_10_9._x + 25, tile_10_7._x + 25, tile_11_7._x + 25, tile_11_6._x + 25, tile_12_6._x + 25, tile_12_4._x + 25, tile_11_4._x + 25, tile_11_2._x + 25, tile_10_2._x + 25, tile_10_0._x + 25 ]; min.waypointY = [ tile_4_1._y +25, tile_3_1._y + 25, tile_3_2._y + 25, tile_3_3._y + 25, tile_5_3._y + 25, tile_5_4._y + 25, tile_7_4._y + 25, tile_7_5._y + 25, tile_8_5._y + 25, tile_8_8._y + 25, tile_8_9._y + 25, tile_10_9._y + 25, tile_10_7._y + 25, tile_11_7._y + 25, tile_11_6._y + 25, tile_12_6._y + 25, tile_12_4._y + 25, tile_11_4._y + 25, tile_11_2._y + 25, tile_10_2._y + 25, tile_10_0._y + 25 ]; } min.i = 0; counter = 0; spawned += 1; min.onEnterFrame = function(){ dx = this.waypointX[this.i] - this._x; dy = this.waypointY[this.i] - this._y; radians = Math.atan2(dy,dx); degrees = radians * 180 / Math.PI; xspeed = Math.cos(radians); yspeed = Math.sin(radians); this._x += xspeed; this._y += yspeed; if( this._x == this.waypointX[this.i] && this._y == this.waypointY[this.i]){ this.i++; } if ( this._x == tile_10_0._x + 25 && this._y == tile_10_0._y + 25){ this.removeMovieClip(); dead += 1; } } } if ( dead >= amount ){ dead = 0; level += 1; amount = level * 20; spawned = 0; } } btnM.onRelease = function(){ create = true; } } game.onEnterFrame = function(){ } It is possible for me however to complete this task, but only once. I am able to make the turret, drag it over to a tile, and have it attach itself to the tile. No problem. The issue is, I cannot do these multiple times. Please Help.

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  • multipass shadow mapping renderer in XNA

    - by Nick
    I am wanting to implement a multipass renderer in XNA (additive blending combines the contributions from each light). I have the renderer working without any shadows, but when I try to add shadow mapping support I run into an issue with switching render targets to draw the shadow maps. When I switch render targets, I lose the contents of the backbuffer which ruins the whole additive blending idea. For example: Draw() { DrawAmbientLighting() foreach (DirectionalLight) { DrawDirectionalShadowMap() // <-- I lose all previous lighting contributions when I switch to the shadow map render target here DrawDirectionalLighting() } } Is there any way around my issue? (I could render all the shadow maps first, but then I have to make and hold onto a render target for each light that casts a shadow--is this the only way?)

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  • OpenGL ES Basic Fragment Shader help with transparency

    - by Chris
    I have just spent my first half hour playing with the shader language. I have modified the basic program I have which renders the texture, to allow me to colour the texture. varying vec2 texCoord; uniform sampler2D texSampler; /* Given the texture coordinates, our pixel shader grabs the corresponding * color from the texture. */ void main() { //gl_FragColor = texture2D(texSampler, texCoord); gl_FragColor = vec4(0,1,0,1)*vec4(texture2D(texSampler,texCoord).xyz,1); } I have noticed how this affects my transparent textures, and I believe I am loosing the alpha channel which would explain why previously transparent area's appear totally black. If I use the following line instead, I am shown the transparent area's gl_FragColor = vec4(0,1,0,1)*vec4(texture2D(texSampler,texCoord).aaa,1); How can I retain the transparency after this modification to the colour? I have seen various things about a .w property, and also luminous, but my tweaks with those and the .aaa property are not working XD

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  • Velocity control of the player, why doesn't this work?

    - by Dominic Grenier
    I have the following code inside a while True loop: if abs(playerx) < MAXSPEED: if moveLeft: playerx -= 1 if moveRight: playerx += 1 if abs(playery) < MAXSPEED: if moveDown: playery += 1 if moveUp: playery -= 1 if moveLeft == False and abs(playerx) > 0: playerx += 1 if moveRight == False and abs(playerx) > 0: playerx -= 1 if moveUp == False and abs(playery) > 0: playery += 1 if moveDown == False and abs(playery) > 0: playery -= 1 player.x += playerx player.y += playery if player.left < 0 or player.right > 1000: player.x -= playerx if player.top < 0 or player.bottom > 600: player.y -= playery The intended result is that while an arrow key is pressed, playerx or playery increments by one at every iteration until it reaches MAXSPEED and stays at MAXSPEED. And that when the player stops pressing that arrow key, his speed decreases until it reaches 0. To me, this code explicitly says that... But what actually happens is that playerx or playery keeps incrementing regardless of MAXSPEED and continues moving even after the player stops pressing the arrow key. I keep rereading but I'm completely baffled by this weird behavior. Any insights? Thanks.

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  • Implementing a multilanguage AI contest platform

    - by Alejandro Piad
    This is a followup to this question. To sum: I'm implementing an AI contest site, where each user may submit several AI implementations for different games. Think about Google AI Challenge but instead of just having a big event once a year, I would like it more on a league fashion, with all virtual players playing with each other every some close period of time. I want to support as many programming languages as possible. I've seen that contest sites (like codeforces) ask you to submit a source code and interact through stdin and stdout. The first question is: what is the best way of supporting multiple languages? As I see it, I can either ask people to upload some binary/script, and interact either through stdin/*stdout*, or sockets, or the file system; or ask people to submit source code, and wrap it with whatever is necessary for the interaction. I would like to skip the need to compile the code by myself (in the server, I mean), but I am willing to do it if its the "best" choice. I need to comunicate virtual players with each other, or even better, with some intermediary arbiter. The second question is regarding security. If I'm going to be running user code in my server, I want to ensure strict security conditions, like no file system access, no networking, etc. Otherwise it would be a safe heaven for hackers. I will be implementing the engine/arbiter in .NET. I would like to support at least C#, C++, Java and Python for the user's implementations. I'm willing to write interfaces for each of these languages to simplify the user interaction with the system. Thanks in advance.

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  • How important is Programming for a Level Designer?

    - by WryGrin
    I'm currently attending school in a Level Design program, and I was wondering how important programming really is in being a Level Designer? I'm apparently incapable of learning programming (despite my best efforts), and tend to do very well in all other courses 3D modelling, story/character design, narrative and dialogue writing, environmental and conceptual design etc. I'm wondering if my strengths in the other areas are enough (with practice) to let me become a Level Designer, or I'm wasting my time if I can't program? I really want to be a Designer, but I just can't seem to wrap my head around the "language" of programming in general (Java kicks my teeth in even with tutoring and additional work on my own).

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  • How does a segment based rendering engine work?

    - by Calmarius
    As far as I know Descent was one of the first games that featured a fully 3D environment, and it used a segment based rendering engine. Its levels are built from cubic segments (these cubes may be deformed as long as it remains convex and sides remain roughly flat). These cubes are connected by their sides. The connected sides are traversable (maybe doors or grids can be placed on these sides), while the unconnected sides are not traversable walls. So the game is played inside of this complex. Descent was software rendered and it had to be very fast, to be playable on those 10-100MHz processors of that age. Some latter levels of the game are huge and contain thousands of segments, but these levels are still rendered reasonably fast. So I think they tried to minimize the amount of cubes rendered somehow. How to choose which cubes to render for a given location? As far as I know they used a kind of portal rendering, but I couldn't find what was the technique used in this particular kind of engine. I think the fact that the levels are built from convex quadrilateral hexahedrons can be exploited.

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  • Any good C++ Component/Entity frameworks?

    - by Pat
    (Skip to the bold if you want to get straight to my question :) ) I've been dabbling in the different technologies available out there to use. I tried Unity and component based design, managing to get a little guy up and running around a map with basic pathfinding. I really loved how easy it was to program using components, but I wanted a bit more control and something more 2D friendly, so I went with LibGDX. I looked around and found 2 good frameworks for Java, which are Artemis and Apollo. I didn't like Artemis much, so I went with Apollo, which I loved. I managed to integrate it with Box2D and get a little guy running around bouncing balls. Great! But since I want to try out most of the options, there is still C++/SFML that I haven't tried yet. Coming from a Java/C# background, I've always wanted to get my hands dirty with C++. But then, after some looking around, I noticed there aren't any Component-Based frameworks for me to use. There's a somewhat done porting of Artemis, but, aside from not being completely finished, I didn't quite like Artemis even in Java. I found Apollo's approach much more.. logical. So, my question is, are there any good Component/Entity frameworks for C++ that I can use that are similar to Artemis, or preferably, Apollo?

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