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  • Issue with "Games Folder" having stuck icons

    - by Leafy
    I have a Win7-64 with Home Premium. Recently I installed Torchlight via Steam on my PC and tried to keep the shortcut in my Games Folder. Instead, it make a blank icon (as in, default application icon) which doesn't launch the game and un-removable. Can anyone tell me how to get rid of the icon?

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  • How can I get the best performance for playing games?

    - by Oli
    I've been playing a couple of Wine-games today and decided to switch to metacity to see what the performance difference was like. If you've never done it before, you just run metacity --replace but don't do that if you use Unity! Anyway, surprise surprise it was like playing on a dedicated Windows gaming machine. Playing under metacity today was bliss. Much higher framerates and just a fluidity that you'd expect from a native game. I'm not sure I can go back. Switching to metacity is no hardship but I wonder if there's anything else in the WM landscape that I should try out. I'm essentially looking for suggestions for the best way to play games. Mix up WMs, dedicated X sessions, whatever... As long as it makes Wine games run faster. Small print One process per answer (eg: New X session + OpenBox) We should probably land on a benchmark so we can show percentage improvement over a stock Compiz desktop. I'm open to suggestions in the comments. If people could test it and submit their how much it improves things for them in the comments, that would give others a good idea of if it's worth the pain.

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  • Java Graphics on java, 2d array board game.

    - by FILIaS
    I wanna fix a 2D board for a game. I've already fixed other panels for the gui and everything goes well. But the panel for the board cant be printed on the window. I'm a bit confused about it as i think i've followed the same ideas as for the others panels i need. Here's what i've done: /** *Method used to construct the square in the area of the *gui's grid. In this stage a GUISquare array is being constructed, * used in the whole game as *a mean of changing a square graphical state. *@param squares is the squares array from whom the gui grid will be *constructed. *@see getSquare about the correspondance beetween a squareModel and * a GUISquare. */ private void initBoardPanel(SquareModel[][] squares){ BoardPanel.setLayout(new GridLayout(myGame.getHeight(),myGame.getWidth())); //set layout Squares=new GUISquare[myGame.getHeight()][myGame.getWidth()]; grid=new JPanel[myGame.getHeight()][myGame.getWidth()]; for (int i=0; i< myGame.getHeight(); i++){ for (int j=0; j<myGame.getWidth() ; j++){ grid[i][j] = new JPanel( ); GUISquare kout=new GUISquare(i,j); kout.setSquare(myGame.getSquares()[i][j]); kout.draw(myGame.getSquares()[i][j].getGoTo(),myGame.getSquares()[i][j].getNumber()); /*draw method is been called. the first parameter is the number of the square that the player will be moved to if lands in this one square,the second parameter is just the number of the square */ kout.setVisible(true); grid[i][j].add(kout); grid[i][j].setVisible(true); BoardPanel.add(grid[i][j]); BoardPanel.setVisible(true); BoardPanel.setBackground(Color.WHITE); GUISquare temp=this.getSquare(squares[i][i]); Squares[i][j]= temp; } } this.add(BoardPanel,BorderLayout.WEST); // this.pack(); //sets appropriate size for frame this.setVisible(true); //makes frame visible } /** * Transformer for Rand/Move * <br>This method is used to display a square on the screen. */ public void draw(int goTo ,int number) { JPanel panel = new JPanel(); JLabel label1 = new JLabel(""+"Move To"+goTo); JLabel label2 = new JLabel(""+number); JSeparator CellSeparator = new JSeparator(orientation); panel.add(CellSeparator); panel.setLayout(new BorderLayout()); panel.add(label1, BorderLayout.CENTER); panel.add(label2, BorderLayout.LINE_START); } I've posted only one draw method...but all versions are alike.

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  • Leveraging Code in Ever Bigger Games

    - by ashes999
    Summary: The same way that I continually build complex engines and libraries within a single platform and technology to allow me to build increasingly bigger and better games, how to continue this when development crosses into different platforms? If I switch platforms, how do I leverage past code and experiences? Games are hard to build. Big games are even harder to build. I've decided that to be able to make big games, I need to start building smaller games, and building up an asset base of code, assets (graphics, sounds), tools, and most importantly, game engines, so that I can eventually get there. One game at a time. Let me give an analogy. To build an MMO 3D RPG, I would approach this by building and releasing small games with increasingly more features. This could entail, for example: A simple 2D game A tile-based game A game with RPG elements (items, equipment, monsters, battle) A full-fledged RPG A 3D RPG The problem now is if I have to change platforms or tools, I don't know how to leverage past code-bases (and experience) to start with a mature product. Right now, I'm writing Silverlight (FlatRedBall) games. Let's say I stick with this for ten years, and then suddenly decide to write a PS6 game, which is in a different programming language entirely. Granted, I have ten years of game-development experience (and correspondingly ten years of professional software development experience from my day job) to back me up. But I would still like some way to transplant that 2D RPG engine into the new programming language, or else leverage it somehow. Is this even possible? What are my options?

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  • Leveraging Code Across Platforms in Ever Bigger Games

    - by ashes999
    Summary: The same way that I continually build complex engines and libraries within a single platform and technology to allow me to build increasingly bigger and better games, how to continue this when development crosses into different platforms? If I switch platforms, how do I leverage past code and experiences? Games are hard to build. Big games are even harder to build. I've decided that to be able to make big games, I need to start building smaller games, and building up an asset base of code, assets (graphics, sounds), tools, and most importantly, game engines, so that I can eventually get there. One game at a time. Let me give an analogy. To build an MMO 3D RPG, I would approach this by building and releasing small games with increasingly more features. This could entail, for example: A simple 2D game A tile-based game A game with RPG elements (items, equipment, monsters, battle) A full-fledged RPG A 3D RPG The problem now is if I have to change platforms or tools, I don't know how to leverage past code-bases (and experience) to start with a mature product. Right now, I'm writing Silverlight (FlatRedBall) games. Let's say I stick with this for ten years, and then suddenly decide to write a PS6 game, which is in a different programming language entirely. Granted, I have ten years of game-development experience (and correspondingly ten years of professional software development experience from my day job) to back me up. But I would still like some way to transplant that 2D RPG engine into the new programming language, or else leverage it somehow. Is this even possible? What are my options?

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  • It&rsquo;s A Team Sport: PASS Board Year 2, Q3

    - by Denise McInerney
    As I type this I’m on an airplane en route to my 12th PASS Summit. It’s been a very busy 3.5 months since my last post on my work as a Board member. Nearing the end of my 2-year term I am struck by how much has happened, and yet how fast the time has gone. But I’ll save the retrospective post for next time and today focus on what happened in Q3. In the last three months we made progress on several fronts, thanks to the contributions of many volunteers and HQ staff members. They deserve our appreciation for their dedication to delivering for the membership week after week. Virtual Chapters The Virtual Chapters continue to provide many PASS members with valuable free training. Between July and September of 2013 VCs hosted over 50 webinars with a total of 4300 attendees. This quarter also saw the launch of the Security & Global Russian VCs. Both are off to a strong start and I welcome these additions to the Virtual Chapter portfolio. At the beginning of 2012 we had 14 Virtual Chapters. Today we have 22. This growth has been exciting to see. It has also created a need to have more volunteers help manage the work of the VCs year-round. We have renewed focus on having Virtual Chapter Mentors work with the VC Leaders and other volunteers. I am grateful to volunteers Julie Koesmarno, Thomas LeBlanc and Marcus Bittencourt who join original VC Mentor Steve Simon on this team. Thank you for stepping up to help. Many improvements to the VC web sites have been rolling out over the past few weeks. Our marketing and IT teams have been busy working a new look-and-feel, features and a logo for each VC. They have given the VCs a fresh, professional look consistent with the rest of the PASS branding, and all VCs now have a logo that connects to PASS and the particular focus of the chapter. 24 Hours of PASS The Summit Preview edition  of 24HOP was held on July 31 and by all accounts was a success. Our first use of the GoToWebinar platform for this event went extremely well. Thanks to our speakers, moderators and sponsors for making this event possible. Special thanks to HQ staffers Vicki Van Damme and Jane Duffy for a smoothly run event. Coming up: the 24HOP Portuguese Edition will be held November 13-14, followed December 12-13 by the Spanish Edition. Thanks to the Portuguese- and Spanish-speaking community volunteers who are organizing these events. July Board Meeting The Board met July 18-19 in Kansas City. The first order of business was the election of the Executive Committee who will take office January 1. I was elected Vice President of Marketing and will join incoming President Thomas LaRock, incoming Executive Vice President of Finance Adam Jorgensen and Immediate Past President Bill Graziano on the Exec Co. I am honored that my fellow Board members elected me to this position and look forward to serving the organization in this role. Visit to PASS HQ In late September I traveled to Vancouver for my first visit to PASS HQ, where I joined Tom LaRock and Adam Jorgensen to make plans for 2014.  Our visit was just a few weeks before PASS Summit and coincided with the Board election, and the office was humming with activity. I saw first-hand the enthusiasm and dedication of everyone there. In each interaction I observed a focus on what is best for PASS and our members. Our partners at HQ are key to the organization’s success. This week at PASS Summit is a great opportunity for all of us to remember that, and say “thanks.” Next Up PASS Summit—of course! I’ll be around all week and look forward to connecting with many of our member over meals, at the Community Zone and between sessions. In the evenings you can find me at the Welcome Reception, Exhibitor’s Reception and Community Appreciation Party. And I will be at the Board Q&A session  Friday at 12:45 p.m. Transitions The newly elected Exec Co and Board members take office January 1, and the Virtual Chapter portfolio is transitioning to a new director. I’m thrilled that Jen Stirrup will be taking over. Jen has experience as a volunteer and co-leader of the Business Intelligence Virtual Chapter and was a key contributor to the BI VCs expansion to serving our members in the EMEA region. I’ll be working closely with Jen over the next couple of months to ensure a smooth transition.

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  • PASS: Board Q&amp;A at the Summit

    - by Bill Graziano
    The last two years we’ve put the Board in front of the members and taken questions.  We’re going to do that again this year.  It will be in Room 307/308 from 12:15 to 1:30 on Friday. Yes, this time overlaps with the Birds of a Feather Lunch and the start of afternoon sessions – but only partially.  You can attend the Q&A and still get to parts of both of those.  There just isn’t a great time to do this.  Every time overlaps with something. We can’t do it after the last session on Friday.  We can’t fit it between the last session and the evening events on Wednesday or Thursday.  We had some discussion around breakfast time but I didn’t think that was realistic.  This is the least bad time we could come up with. Last year we had 60-70 people attend.  These are the items that were specific things that I could work on: The first question was whether to increase transparency around individual votes of Board members.  We approved this at the Board meeting the following day.  The only caveat was that if the Board is given confidential information as a basis for their vote then we may not be able to disclose individual votes.  Putting a Director in a position where they can’t publicly defend the reason for their vote is a difficult situation.  Thanks Kendal! Can we have a Board member discretionary fund?  As background, I took a couple of people to lunch so we could have a quiet place to talk.  I bought lunch but wasn’t able to expense it back to PASS.  We just don’t have a budget item for things like this.  I think we should.  I would guess the entire Board would like it also.  It was in an earlier version of the budget but came out as part of a cost-cutting move to balance the budget.  I’d like to see it added back in but we’ll have to see. I know there were a comments about the elections.  At this point we had created the Election Review Committee.  I’ve already written at length about this process. Where does IT work go?  PASS started to publish our internal management reports starting in December 2010.  You can find them on our Governance page.  These aren’t filtered at all and include a variety of information about IT projects.  The most recent update had roughly a page of updates related to IT.  Lots of the work was related to Summit and the Orator tool that we use to manage speaker submissions. There were numerous requests that Tina Turner not be repeated.  Done.  I don’t think we’ll do anything quite like that again.  We had a request for a payment plan for Summit.  We looked into this briefly but didn’t take any action.  We didn’t think the effort was worth the small number of people that would use it.  If you disagree, submit this on our Summit Feedback site and get some votes. There were lots of suggestions around the first-timers events – especially from first timers.  You can find all our current activities related to first-timers at the First Timers page on the Summit web site.  Plus links to 34 (!) blog posts on suggestions for first-timers.  And a big THANK YOU to Confio and Red Gate for sponsoring this. I hope you get the chance to attend.  These events are very helpful to me as a Board member.  I like being able to look around the room as comments are being made and see the audience reaction.  It helps me gauge the interest in an idea. I’d also like to direct you to the Summit Feedback site.  You can submit and vote on ideas to make the Summit a better experience.  As of right now we have the suggestions from last year still up.  We may reset these prior to the Summit though.

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  • Museum of Modern Art Starts Video Game Collection; Acquires Myst, Pac-Man, and More

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    The Museum of Modern Art is weighing in on the video-games-as-art debate by starting a collection of iconic video games and putting them up for public display. Read on to see what games are included in the initial batch and the MoMA’s reasons behind starting a video game collection. Although the MoMA is slated to grow to over 40 titles, the seed batch is 14 titles including: Pac-Man, Tetris, Sim City 2000, Myst, Portal, and Dwarf Fortress. In the announcement they explain the motivation for building a video game collection: Are video games art? They sure are, but they are also design, and a design approach is what we chose for this new foray into this universe. The games are selected as outstanding examples of interaction design—a field that MoMA has already explored and collected extensively, and one of the most important and oft-discussed expressions of contemporary design creativity. Our criteria, therefore, emphasize not only the visual quality and aesthetic experience of each game, but also the many other aspects—from the elegance of the code to the design of the player’s behavior—that pertain to interaction design. In order to develop an even stronger curatorial stance, over the past year and a half we have sought the advice of scholars, digital conservation and legal experts, historians, and critics, all of whom helped us refine not only the criteria and the wish list, but also the issues of acquisition, display, and conservation of digital artifacts that are made even more complex by the games’ interactive nature. This acquisition allows the Museum to study, preserve, and exhibit video games as part of its Architecture and Design collection. The above quote is only a small snippet of a much lengthier look at the benefits of examining and preserving video games, hit up the link below to check out the full post including future titles the MoMA would like to include in their archive. Video Games: 14 in the Collection, for Starters [Inside/Out] How To Boot Your Android Phone or Tablet Into Safe Mode HTG Explains: Does Your Android Phone Need an Antivirus? How To Use USB Drives With the Nexus 7 and Other Android Devices

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  • rpm file conflict after alien conversion

    - by Zitrax
    I have a program for which I generate a .deb file. The .deb file works fine on the systems I have tried it on (also tested with lintian). Previously it has worked to use alien to convert this to .rpm and install it on Suse. However it is now about a year since I tried it the last time and now I get an error when trying to install the alien made rpm on Fedora 11, I get this error: file /usr/share/icons/default.kde from install of testpkg-0.2-2.i386 conflicts with file from package kdelibs3-3.5.10-13.fc11.1.i586 Listing the content of the rpm file: $ rpm -qlp testpkg-0.2-2.i386.rpm / /usr /usr/games /usr/games/testpkg /usr/lib /usr/lib/libfmod-3.75.so /usr/share /usr/share/app-install /usr/share/app-install/icons /usr/share/app-install/icons/testpkg.png /usr/share/applications /usr/share/applications/testpkg.desktop /usr/share/doc /usr/share/doc/testpkg /usr/share/doc/testpkg/changelog.gz /usr/share/doc/testpkg/copyright /usr/share/games /usr/share/games/testpkg /usr/share/games/testpkg/images /usr/share/games/testpkg/images/bb.dat /usr/share/games/testpkg/images/bb_bg.dat /usr/share/games/testpkg/images/bubblemad_8x8.png /usr/share/games/testpkg/images/goldfont.png /usr/share/games/testpkg/lvl /usr/share/games/testpkg/lvl/lvl001.txt /usr/share/games/testpkg/lvl/lvl002.txt /usr/share/games/testpkg/lvl/lvl003.txt /usr/share/games/testpkg/lvl/lvl004.txt /usr/share/games/testpkg/lvl/lvl005.txt /usr/share/games/testpkg/lvl/lvl006.txt /usr/share/games/testpkg/lvl/lvl007.txt /usr/share/games/testpkg/music /usr/share/games/testpkg/music/alfa.it /usr/share/games/testpkg/music/beta.it /usr/share/games/testpkg/sounds /usr/share/games/testpkg/sounds/bounce.wav /usr/share/games/testpkg/sounds/click.wav /usr/share/games/testpkg/sounds/warning.wav /usr/share/icons /usr/share/icons/default.kde /usr/share/icons/default.kde/16x16 /usr/share/icons/default.kde/16x16/apps /usr/share/icons/default.kde/16x16/apps/testpkg.png /usr/share/man /usr/share/man/man6 /usr/share/man/man6/testpkg.6.gz Am I wrong in putting the kde icons in /usr/share/icons/default.kde which seem to be a symbolic link ? It's a symbolic link on both Kubuntu 9.10 and Fedora 11 though. Sounds like a common situation that the same directory is needed for different packages, so why is it a conflict ?

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  • Friday Fun: Favorite Games to Play in Chrome

    - by Asian Angel
    Online games can provide a perfect break while you are working and being able to choose from a multitude of games makes it even better. If you are a game addict then you will definitely want to have a look at the Game Button extension for Chrome. Game Button in Action Once the extension has finished installing you are ready to enjoy all that gaming goodness. To get started just click on the “Toolbar Button” and choose a game category. For our example we chose “Shooting Games”. Once you select a game category a new window will open. Towards the lower right corner you will be able to access a scrollable drop-down menu and choose the game that you would like to play. Note: Some of these games come with sounds that can not be turned off so you may want to have the volume lowered all the way or your speakers temporarily turned off if you are at work. For our first game we chose “Snowball Throw”. Notice that there is a nice variety such as “DinoKids – Archery” to games like “Secret Agent”. You can see that our game was nicely sized…not too small and not too large. Go go snowballs! This is definitely a fun one to try…the best approach for this one is to use one hand for clicking the mouse and the other hand for moving it at the same time. If desired you can post your score and see other high scores afterwards. For our second game we decided to try “Target Shooter Firing Range”. This one is definitely a little harder because you have to be extremely precise while moving as quickly as possible. Not too bad for the score but that is ok. You will certainly be able to have fun finding the games that will become your favorites while enjoying the nice variety. Conclusion If you love online games and want a good variety to choose from then the Game Button extension will make a nice addition to your browser. Links Download the Game Button extension (Google Chrome Extensions) Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Play a New Random Game Each Day in ChromeFriday Fun: Get Your Mario OnFriday Fun: Go Retro with PacmanFriday Fun: Play Air Hockey in Google ChromeFriday Fun: Five More Time Wasting Online Games TouchFreeze Alternative in AutoHotkey The Icy Undertow Desktop Windows Home Server – Backup to LAN The Clear & Clean Desktop Use This Bookmarklet to Easily Get Albums Use AutoHotkey to Assign a Hotkey to a Specific Window Latest Software Reviews Tinyhacker Random Tips DVDFab 6 Revo Uninstaller Pro Registry Mechanic 9 for Windows PC Tools Internet Security Suite 2010 Recycle ! Find That Elusive Icon with FindIcons Looking for Good Windows Media Player 12 Plug-ins? Find Out the Celebrity You Resemble With FaceDouble Whoa ! Use Printflush to Solve Printing Problems

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  • Simple 3D games to make for learning 3D game development (Unity)

    - by Vandell
    I have some experience doing 2D games. But I struggle so much doing anything in Unity, so I'´ve decided to make some simple 3D games as a way to learn this 'new dimension' in game development but I'm having a hard time choosing games to clone (a task that's relatively easy to do for 2D). What games should a 2D developer make to break in 3D and why? I'd like also note that I have no problem with the scripting languages.

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  • Ask How-To Geek: Fix Annoying Arrows, Play Old-School DOS games, and Schedule Smart Computer Shutdowns

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    You’ve got questions and we’ve got answers. Today we highlight how to fix the oversized shortcut arrows in Windows 7, play your favorite DOS games in emulation, and schedule intelligent shutdown routines for your PC. We get tons of emails with every kind of technology and computer question under the sun. Today we’re answering some reader emails and sharing the solutions with you. Latest Features How-To Geek ETC The Complete List of iPad Tips, Tricks, and Tutorials The 50 Best Registry Hacks that Make Windows Better The How-To Geek Holiday Gift Guide (Geeky Stuff We Like) LCD? LED? Plasma? The How-To Geek Guide to HDTV Technology The How-To Geek Guide to Learning Photoshop, Part 8: Filters Improve Digital Photography by Calibrating Your Monitor The Brothers Mario – Epic Gangland Style Mario Brothers Movie Trailer [Video] Score Awesome Games on the Cheap with the Humble Indie Bundle Add a Colorful Christmas Theme to Your Windows 7 Desktop This Windows Hack Changes the Blue Screen of Death to Red Edit Images Quickly in Firefox with Pixlr Grabber Zoho Writer, Sheet, and Show Now Available in Chrome Web Store

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  • Any open source editor to make video games online without programming knowledge?

    - by chelder
    With Scratch we can create video games online, from its web platform, and publish them on the same web. I could download its source code and use it, as many others already did (see Scratch modifications). Unfortunately, we need programming knowledge to use it. Actually, Scratch is mainly for teaching kids to code. I also found editors like Construct 2, GameSalad Creator and many others (just type on Google: create a video game without programming). With those editors we can create video games without coding. Unfortunately they are neither open source nor web platform. They need to be installed on Windows or Mac. Do you know some editor like Construct 2 or GameSalad Creator but open source and executable from a web server? Maybe some HTML5 game engine can do it?

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  • Notable programs/games made in C/C++/Java/Python? [closed]

    - by ThePlan
    What are some famous programs or video games that were written in the following languages? C C++ Java Python I'm asking this particularly so I know how powerful impact did those languages have on our lives. I believe Windows was also written in C/C++ but I'm not sure if fully. Also if you are kind enough you can mention some other language impacts besides programs/video games. These languages are by far the most common so that's why I've picked them. Besides the impact on our lives I'd also like to see the power these languages have. I'm studying programming and I've learned bits of all those languages and I think if I knew some famous examples of programs written in those languages I could understand the power of them, as well as inspire me further in my career.

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  • chess board in java

    - by ranzy
    This is my code below import javax.swing.*; import java.awt.*; public class board2 { JFrame frame; JPanel squares[][] = new JPanel[8][8]; public board2() { frame = new JFrame("Simplified Chess"); frame.setSize(500, 500); frame.setLayout(new GridLayout(8, 8)); for (int i = 0; i < 8; i++) { for (int j = 0; j < 8; j++) { squares[i][j] = new JPanel(); if ((i + j) % 2 == 0) { squares[i][j].setBackground(Color.black); } else { squares[i][j].setBackground(Color.white); } frame.add(squares[i][j]); } } squares[0][0].add(new JLabel(new ImageIcon("rookgreen.png"))); squares[0][2].add(new JLabel(new ImageIcon("bishopgreen.png"))); squares[0][4].add(new JLabel(new ImageIcon("kinggreen.png"))); squares[0][5].add(new JLabel(new ImageIcon("bishopgreen.png"))); squares[0][7].add(new JLabel(new ImageIcon("rookgreen.png"))); squares[7][0].add(new JLabel(new ImageIcon("rookred.png"))); squares[7][2].add(new JLabel(new ImageIcon("bishopred.png"))); squares[7][4].add(new JLabel(new ImageIcon("kingred.png"))); squares[7][5].add(new JLabel(new ImageIcon("bishopred.png"))); squares[7][7].add(new JLabel(new ImageIcon("rookred.png"))); for (int i = 0; i < 8; i++) { squares[1][i].add(new JLabel(new ImageIcon("pawngreen.png"))); squares[6][i].add(new JLabel(new ImageIcon("pawnred.png"))); } frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE); frame.setVisible(true); } public static void main(String[] args) { new board2(); } } I am trying to create a chess game sort of and I need help with putting labels on all sides of the board to label the rows and columns in either A-H or 1-8. I have no idea how to do it. Also later on I'll be adding a feature to drag and drop the pieces. Is it best to use JLabels? Anyways I would I go about putting the labels on the side? Thanks!

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  • iOS Game Center - Quit turn-based games for previous version of app

    - by rasmus
    I have a game on the iOS App Store that uses Game Center for turn-based multiplayer (GKTurnBasedMatch). I recently updated the app with a new game mode and I had to change the network protocol for that to happen. As a result I marked my new version as incompatible with the old one. That is, you cannot see the old games within the new app and you cannot initiate a game with someone with the old version of the app. This works as expected. However: The old games remain active after updating. There seems to be no way to quit them. What is worse is that they still count to the maximum number of games you can start. I have been contacted by players that can only start 1-3 games without hitting the roof. Have anyone experienced this before? Is there any way to quit the games? Thanks in advance

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  • Few specific questions on how games are developed

    - by russ
    When it comes to programming games from the old school sega games like sonic to indie games or angry birds or even to more advance games like Diablo, how exactly is level design done? As in, are the levels sometimes designed straight out of code in an IDE? Or do they create a visual level design editor where things can be placed at the click of a mouse button? I'm imagining old school games or very simple ones like indies are done via code, where extremely complicated ones require a visual editor. Is this correct? Also, when it comes to libraries like SDL or XNA, how often are these used rather than just utilizing OpenGL or DirectX? What about creating your own game engine vs utilizing one already made? Do most use already built engines? This question is directed toward the whole gaming spectrum of indie/big game development. Thanks.

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  • Board Game Design in Cocos2d

    - by object2.0
    Hi folks i am going to start a chess like board game. and for that i have reviewed a number to things available. one is http://www.mapeditor.org/ , using which you can create a grid base games. another option is geekgameboard for iphone available at http://mooseyard.lighthouseapp.com/projects/23201-geekgameboard now i want your expert opinion that would it be better to make a game in cocos2d using the first option or the second option? both looks promising to me and give good control over board design. ps: sorry for duplicates, i found about the http://gamedev.stackexchange.com/ lately after posting it on stackexchange. so i am just posting it here again as i feel its more relevant board.

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  • Any good web frameworks for asynchronous multiplayer games?

    - by Steven Stadnicki
    I'm trying to craft a site for web-based (original) board games, and my client (currently written in Actionscript, but that's highly fungible) works fine - I can play solitaire games in the client - but it has nothing to connect to. What I'm looking for is a server framework for handling accounts/authentication and game tracking: something that would let players log in, show them a list of their current games, let them invite friends to new games, let them make moves in the games they have open, etc. I'm flexible on language; obviously I'm going to have to write a lot of server code to handle the actual game logic, but that should be straightforward enough. I'm more concerned with how to handle the user (and game) DBs, though suggestions for a good server framework for communicating with the DBs (and serving up, most likely, JSON for client communications) are also welcome. Right now my leaning is towards Ruby (probably with Rails) but as far as I can determine it would be a pretty good chunk of effort to set up the necessary databases, so having something even higher-level would be really useful to me.

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  • Looking for games in environments similar to a pinball table

    - by chaosTechnician
    I'm on a team of students working on a third-person adventure game that takes place inside a pinball machine (like, small scale, on the surface, avoiding pinballs, etc). One of my responsibilities on the project is to find games that are similar to this concept in appearance and/or gameplay for reference. So, does anyone know of games (other than pinball) that takes place in a pinball-like environment? Or, adventure games that take place in small, cramped environments with multiple paths around the world? Or games in which the player is often bombarded with balls (or other similar unintelligent obstacles)? Or games that take place on a small scale?

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  • Google I/O 2010 - Writing real-time games for Android redux

    Google I/O 2010 - Writing real-time games for Android redux Google I/O 2010 - Writing real-time games for Android redux Android 201 Chris Pruett This session is a crash course in Android game development: everything you need to know to get started writing 2D and 3D games, as well as tips, tricks, and benchmarks to help your code reach optimal performance. In addition, we'll discuss hot topics related to game development, including hardware differences across devices, using C++ to write Android games, and the traits of the most popular games on Market. For all I/O 2010 sessions, please go to code.google.com From: GoogleDevelopers Views: 10 0 ratings Time: 58:57 More in Science & Technology

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  • PASS: Bylaw Changes

    - by Bill Graziano
    While you’re reading this, a post should be going up on the PASS blog on the plans to change our bylaws.  You should be able to find our old bylaws, our proposed bylaws and a red-lined version of the changes.  We plan to listen to feedback until March 31st.  At that point we’ll decide whether to vote on these changes or take other action. The executive summary is that we’re adding a restriction to prevent more than two people from the same company on the Board and eliminating the Board’s Officer Appointment Committee to have Officers directly elected by the Board.  This second change better matches how officer elections have been conducted in the past. The Gritty Details Our scope was to change bylaws to match how PASS actually works and tackle a limited set of issues.  Changing the bylaws is hard.  We’ve been working on these changes since the March board meeting last year.  At that meeting we met and talked through the issues we wanted to address.  In years past the Board has tried to come up with language and then we’ve discussed and negotiated to get to the result.  In March, we gave HQ guidance on what we wanted and asked them to come up with a starting point.  Hannes worked on building us an initial set of changes that we could work our way through.  Discussing changes like this over email is difficult wasn’t very productive.  We do a much better job on this at the in-person Board meetings.  Unfortunately there are only 2 or 3 of those a year. In August we met in Nashville and spent time discussing the changes.  That was also the day after we released the slate for the 2010 election. The discussion around that colored what we talked about in terms of these changes.  We talked very briefly at the Summit and again reviewed and revised the changes at the Board meeting in January.  This is the result of those changes and discussions. We made numerous small changes to clean up language and make wording more clear.  We also made two big changes. Director Employment Restrictions The first is that only two people from the same company can serve on the Board at the same time.  The actual language in section VI.3 reads: A maximum of two (2) Directors who are employed by, or who are joint owners or partners in, the same for-profit venture, company, organization, or other legal entity, may concurrently serve on the PASS Board of Directors at any time. The definition of “employed” is at the sole discretion of the Board. And what a mess this turns out to be in practice.  Our membership is a hodgepodge of interlocking relationships.  Let’s say three Board members get together and start a blog service for SQL Server bloggers.  It’s technically for-profit.  Let’s assume it makes $8 in the first year.  Does that trigger this clause?  (Technically yes.)  We had a horrible time trying to write language that covered everything.  All the sample bylaws that we found were just as vague as this. That led to the third clause in this section.  The first sentence reads: The Board of Directors reserves the right, strictly on a case-by-case basis, to overrule the requirements of Section VI.3 by majority decision for any single Director’s conflict of employment. We needed some way to handle the trivial issues and exercise some judgment.  It seems like a public vote is the best way.  This discloses the relationship and gets each Board member on record on the issue.   In practice I think this clause will rarely be used.  I think this entire section will only be invoked for actual employment issues and not for small side projects.  In either case we have the mechanisms in place to handle it in a public, transparent way. That’s the first and third clauses.  The second clause says that if your situation changes and you fall afoul of this restriction you need to notify the Board.  The clause further states that if this new job means a Board members violates the “two-per-company” rule the Board may request their resignation.  The Board can also  allow the person to continue serving with a majority vote.  I think this will also take some judgment.  Consider a person switching jobs that leads to three people from the same company.  I’m very likely to ask for someone to resign if all three are two weeks into a two year term.  I’m unlikely to ask anyone to resign if one is two weeks away from ending their term.  In either case, the decision will be a public vote that we can be held accountable for. One concern that was raised was whether this would affect someone choosing to accept a job.  I think that’s a choice for them to make.  PASS is clearly stating its intent that only two directors from any one organization should serve at any time.  Once these bylaws are approved, this policy should not come as a surprise to any potential or current Board members considering a job change.  This clause isn’t perfect.  The biggest hole is business relationships that aren’t defined above.  Let’s say that two employees from company “X” serve on the Board.  What happens if I accept a full-time consulting contract with that company?  Let’s assume I’m working directly for one of the two existing Board members.  That doesn’t violate section VI.3.  But I think it’s clearly the kind of relationship we’d like to prevent.  Unfortunately that was even harder to write than what we have now.  I fully expect that in the next revision of the bylaws we’ll address this.  It just didn’t make it into this one. Officer Elections The officer election process received a slightly different rewrite.  Our goal was to codify in the bylaws the actual process we used to elect the officers.  The officers are the President, Executive Vice-President (EVP) and Vice-President of Marketing.  The Immediate Past President (IPP) is also an officer but isn’t elected.  The IPP serves in that role for two years after completing their term as President.  We do that for continuity’s sake.  Some organizations have a President-elect that serves for one or two years.  The group that founded PASS chose to have an IPP. When I started on the Board, the Nominating Committee (NomCom) selected the slate for the at-large directors and the slate for the officers.  There was always one candidate for each officer position.  It wasn’t really an election so much as the NomCom decided who the next person would be for each officer position.  Behind the scenes the Board worked to select the best people for the role. In June 2009 that process was changed to bring it line with what actually happens.  An Officer Appointment Committee was created that was a subset of the Board.  That committee would take time to interview the candidates and present a slate to the Board for approval.  The majority vote of the Board would determine the officers for the next two years.  In practice the Board itself interviewed the candidates and conducted the elections.  That means it was time to change the bylaws again. Section VII.2 and VII.3 spell out the process used to select the officers.  We use the phrase “Officer Appointment” to separate it from the Director election but the end result is that the Board elects the officers.  Section VII.3 starts: Officers shall be appointed bi-annually by a majority of all the voting members of the Board of Directors. Everything else revolves around that sentence.  We use the word appoint but they truly are elected.  There are details in the bylaws for term limits, minimum requirements for President (1 prior term as an officer), tie breakers and filling vacancies. In practice we will have an election for President, then an election for EVP and then an election for VP Marketing.  That means that losing candidates will be able to fall down the ladder and run for the next open position.  Another point to note is that officers aren’t at-large directors.  That means if a current sitting officer loses all three elections they are off the Board.  Having Board member votes public will help with the transparency of this approach. This process has a number of positive and negatives.  The biggest concern I expect to hear is that our members don’t directly choose the officers.  I’m going to try and list all the positives and negatives of this approach. Many non-profits value continuity and are slower to change than a business.  On the plus side this promotes that.  On the negative side this promotes that.  If we change too slowly the members complain that we aren’t responsive.  If we change too quickly we make mistakes and fail at various things.  We’ve been criticized for both of those lately so I’m not entirely sure where to draw the line.  My rough assumption to this point is that we’re going too slow on governance and too quickly on becoming “more than a Summit.”  This approach creates competition in the officer elections.  If you are an at-large director there is no consequence to losing an election.  If you are an officer the only way to stay on the Board is to win an officer election or an at-large election.  If you are an officer and lose an election you can always run for the next office down.  This makes it very easy for multiple people to contest an election. There is value in a person moving through the officer positions up to the Presidency.  Having the Board select the officers promotes this.  The down side is that it takes a LOT of time to get to the Presidency.  We’ve had good people struggle with burnout.  We’ve had lots of discussion around this.  The process as we’ve described it here makes it possible for someone to move quickly through the ranks but doesn’t prevent people from working their way up through each role. We talked long and hard about having the officers elected by the members.  We had a self-imposed deadline to complete these changes prior to elections this summer. The other challenge was that our original goal was to make the bylaws reflect our actual process rather than create a new one.  I believe we accomplished this goal. We ran out of time to consider this option in the detail it needs.  Having member elections for officers needs a number of problems solved.  We would need a way for candidates to fall through the election.  This is what promotes competition.  Without this few people would risk an election and we’ll be back to one candidate per slot.  We need to do this without having multiple elections.  We may be able to copy what other organizations are doing but I was surprised at how little I could find on other organizations.  We also need a way for people that lose an officer election to win an at-large election.  Otherwise we’ll have very little competition for officers. This brings me to an area that I think we as a Board haven’t done a good job.  We haven’t built a strong process to tell you who is doing a good job and who isn’t.  This is a double-edged sword.  I don’t want to highlight Board members that are failing.  That’s not a good way to get people to volunteer and run for the Board.  But I also need a way let the members make an informed choice about who is doing a good job and would make a good officer.  Encouraging Board members to blog, publishing minutes and making votes public helps in that regard but isn’t the final answer.  I don’t know what the final answer is yet.  I do know that the Board members themselves are uniquely positioned to know which other Board members are doing good work.  They know who speaks up in meetings, who works to build consensus, who has good ideas and who works with the members.  What I Could Do Better I’ve learned a lot writing this about how we communicated with our members.  The next time we revise the bylaws I’d do a few things differently.  The biggest change would be to provide better documentation.  The March 2009 minutes provide a very detailed look into what changes we wanted to make to the bylaws.  Looking back, I’m a little surprised at how closely they matched our final changes and covered the various arguments.  If you just read those you’d get 90% of what we eventually changed.  Nearly everything else was just details around implementation.  I’d also consider publishing a scope document defining exactly what we were doing any why.  I think it really helped that we had a limited, defined goal in mind.  I don’t think we did a good job communicating that goal outside the meeting minutes though. That said, I wish I’d blogged more after the August and January meeting.  I think it would have helped more people to know that this change was coming and to be ready for it. Conclusion These changes address two big concerns that the Board had.  First, it prevents a single organization from dominating the Board.  Second, it codifies and clearly spells out how officers are elected.  This is the process that was previously followed but it was somewhat murky.  These changes bring clarity to this and clearly explain the process the Board will follow. We’re going to listen to feedback until March 31st.  At that time we’ll decide whether to approve these changes.  I’m also assuming that we’ll start another round of changes in the next year or two.  Are there other issues in the bylaws that we should tackle in the future?

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  • Smithsonian Showcases Video Game History with The Art of Video Games [Video]

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    The Art of Video Games is the Smithsonian’s look at the history of video games; check out this video trailer to see what the exhibition is all about and hear from some notable folks. From the Smithsonian listing for the exhibition: The Art of Video Games is one of the first exhibitions to explore the forty-year evolution of video games as an artistic medium, with a focus on striking visual effects and the creative use of new technologies. It features some of the most influential artists and designers during five eras of game technology, from early pioneers to contemporary designers. The exhibition focuses on the interplay of graphics, technology and storytelling through some of the best games for twenty gaming systems ranging from the Atari VCS to the PlayStation 3. The exhibit will be at the Smithsonian until the end of September and will then begin touring the country. Hit up the link below for more information. The Art of Video Games Tour [via Neatorama] How To Properly Scan a Photograph (And Get An Even Better Image) The HTG Guide to Hiding Your Data in a TrueCrypt Hidden Volume Make Your Own Windows 8 Start Button with Zero Memory Usage

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