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  • How can I improve my isometric tile-picking algorithm?

    - by Cypher
    I've spent the last few days researching isometric tile-picking algorithms (converting screen-coordinates to tile-coordinates), and have obviously found a lot of the math beyond my grasp. I have come fairly close and what I have is workable, but I would like to improve on this algorithm as it's a little off and seems to pick down and to the right of the mouse pointer. I've uploaded a video to help visualize the current implementation: http://youtu.be/EqwWcq1zuaM My isometric rendering algorithm is based on what is found at this stackoverflow question's answer, with the exception that my x and y axis' are inverted (x increased down-right, while y increased up-right). Here is where I am converting from screen to tiles: // these next few lines convert the mouse pointer position from screen // coordinates to tile-grid coordinates. cameraOffset captures the current // mouse location and takes into consideration the camera's position on screen. System.Drawing.Point cameraOffset = new System.Drawing.Point( 0, 0 ); cameraOffset.X = mouseLocation.X + (int)camera.Left; cameraOffset.Y = ( mouseLocation.Y + (int)camera.Top ); // the camera-aware mouse coordinates are then further converted in an attempt // to select only the "tile" portion of the grid tiles, instead of the entire // rectangle. this algorithm gets close, but could use improvement. mouseTileLocation.X = ( cameraOffset.X + 2 * cameraOffset.Y ) / Global.TileWidth; mouseTileLocation.Y = -( ( 2 * cameraOffset.Y - cameraOffset.X ) / Global.TileWidth ); Things to make note of: mouseLocation is a System.Drawing.Point that represents the screen coordinates of the mouse pointer. cameraOffset is the screen position of the mouse pointer that includes the position of the game camera. mouseTileLocation is a System.Drawing.Point that is supposed to represent the tile coordinates of the mouse pointer. If you check out the above link to youtube, you'll notice that the picking algorithm is off a bit. How can I improve on this?

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  • Remove enemy when bullet hits enemy

    - by jordi12100
    For my education I have to make a basic game in HTML5 canvas. The game is a shooter game. When you can move left - right and space is shoot. When I shoot the bullets will move up. The enemy moves down. When the bullet hits the enemy the enemy has to dissapear and it will gain +1 score. But the enemy will dissapear after it comes up the screen. Demo: http://jordikroon.nl/test.html space = shoot + enemy shows up This is my code: for (i=0;i<enemyX.length;i++) { if(enemyX[i] > canvas.height) { enemyY.splice(i,1); enemyX.splice(i,1); } else { enemyY[i] += 5; moveEnemy(enemyX[i],enemyY[i]); } } for (i=0;i<bulletX.length;i++) { if(bulletY[i] < 0) { bulletY.splice(i,1); bulletX.splice(i,1); } else { bulletY[i] -= 5; moveBullet(bulletX[i],bulletY[i]); for (ib=0;ib<enemyX.length;ib++) { if(bulletX[i] + 50 < enemyX[ib] || enemyX[ib] + 50 < bulletX[i] || bulletY[i] + 50 < enemyY[ib] || enemyY[ib] + 50 < bulletY[i]) { ++score; enemyY.splice(i,1); enemyX.splice(i,1); } } } } Objects: function moveBullet(posX,posY) { //console.log(posY); ctx.arc(posX, (posY-150), 10, 0 , 2 * Math.PI, false); } function moveEnemy(posX,posY) { ctx.rect(posX, posY, 50, 50); ctx.fillStyle = '#ffffff'; ctx.fill(); }

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  • When mapping the surface of a sphere with tiles, how might you deal with polar distortion?

    - by clweeks
    It's easy to deal with the way locations interact on a clean Cartesian grid. It's just vanilla math. And you can kind of ignore the geometry of the sphere's surface for a bunch of it if you want to just truncate the poles or something. But I keep coming up with ideas for games where the polar space matters. Geo-coded ARGs and global roguelikes and stuff. I want square(ish?) locations -- reasonably representable by square tiles of the same size across the globe, anyway. This has to be a solved problem, right? What are the solutions? ETA: At the equator -- and assuming that your square locations are reasonably small, it's close enough to true that you can get away with having one square in the rows north and south of the most equatorial row. And you could probably get away with that by just hand-waving the difference up to like 45-degrees or so. But eventually, you need to have fewer squares in a pole-ward circumferential row. If I reduce the length of the row by one and offset the squares by 1/2 then they're just like hexes and it's relatively easy to do the coding to keep track of the connections. But as you get pole-ward, it gets more and more extreme. Projecting the surface of the world onto the surface of a cube is tempting. But I figured there must be more elegant solutions already in use. If I did the cube thing (not dissecting it further through geodesy) Are there any pros and cons related to placing the pole at the center of a face or at the vertex of three sides?

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  • Problem inserting pre-ordered values to quadtree

    - by Lucas Corrêa Feijó
    There's this string containing B, W and G (standing for black, white and gray). It defines the pre-ordered path of the quadtree I want to build. I wrote this method for filling the QuadTree class I also wrote but it doesn't work, it inserts correctly until it reaches a point in the algorithm it needs to "return". I use math quadrants convention order for insertion, such as northeast, northwest, southwest and southeast. A quadtree has all it's leafs black or white and all the other nodes gray The node used in the tree is called Node4T and has a char as data and 4 references to other nodes like itself, called, respectively NE, NW, SW, SE. public void insert(char val) { if(root==null) { root = new Node4T(val); } else { insert(root, val); } } public void insert(Node4T n, char c) { if(n.data=='G') // possible to insert { if(n.NE==null) { n.NE = new Node4T(c); return; } else { insert(n.NE,c); } if(n.NW==null) { n.NW = new Node4T(c); return; } else { insert(n.NW,c); } if(n.SW==null) { n.SW = new Node4T(c); return; } else { insert(n.SW,c); } if(n.SE==null) { n.SE = new Node4T(c); return; } else { insert(n.SE,c); } } else // impossible to insert { } } The input "GWGGWBWBGBWBWGWBWBWGGWBWBWGWBWBGBWBWGWWWB" is given a char at a time to the insert method and then the print method is called, pre-ordered, and the result is "GWGGWBWBWBWGWBWBW". How do I make it import the string correctly? Ignore the string reading process, suppose the method is called and it has to do it's job.

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  • Parsing mathematical experssions with two values that have parenthesis and minus signs

    - by user45921
    I'm trying to parse equations like these which only has two values or the square root of a certain value from a text file: 100+100 -100-100 -(100)+(-100) sqrt(100) by the minues signs, parenthesis and the operator symbol in the middle and the square root, and I have no idea how to start off... I've got the file part done and the simple calculation parts except that I couldnt get my program to solve the equations in the above. #include <stdio.h> #include <string.h> #include <stdlib.h> #include <math.h> main(){ FILE *fp; char buff[255], sym,sym2,del1,del2,del3,del4; double num1, num2; int ret; fp = fopen("input.txt","r"); while(fgets(buff,sizeof(buff),fp)!=NULL){ char *tok = buff; sscanf(tok,"%lf%c%lf",&num1,&sym,&num2); switch(sym){ case '+': printf("%lf\n", num1+num2); break; case '-': printf("%lf\n", num1-num2); break; case '*': printf("%lf\n", num1*num2); break; case '/': printf("%lf\n", num1/num2); break; default: printf("The input value is not correct\n"); break; } } fclose(fp); } that is what have I written for the other basic operations without parenthesis and the minus sign for the second value and it works great for the simple ones. I'm using a switch method to calculate the add, sub, mul and divide but I'm not sure how to properly use the sscanf function (if I am not using it properly) or if there is another way using a function like strtok to properly parse the parenthesis and the minus signs. Any kind help?

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  • Live Updates in PrimeFaces Line Chart

    - by Geertjan
    In the Facelets file: <p:layoutUnit position="center"> <h:form> <p:poll interval="3" update=":chartPanel" autoStart="true" /> </h:form> <p:panelGrid columns="1" id="chartPanel"> <p:lineChart xaxisLabel="Time" yaxisLabel="Position" value="#{chartController.linearModel}" legendPosition="nw" animate="true" style="height:400px;width: 1000px;"/> </p:panelGrid> </p:layoutUnit> The controler: import java.io.Serializable; import javax.inject.Named; import org.primefaces.model.chart.CartesianChartModel; import org.primefaces.model.chart.ChartSeries; @Named public class ChartController implements Serializable { private CartesianChartModel model; private ChartSeries data; public ChartController() { createLinearModel(); } private void createLinearModel() { model = new CartesianChartModel(); model.addSeries(getStockChartData("Stock Chart")); } private ChartSeries getStockChartData(String label) { data = new ChartSeries(); data.setLabel(label); for (int i = 1; i <= 20; i++) { data.getData().put(i, (int) (Math.random() * 1000)); } return data; } public CartesianChartModel getLinearModel() { return model; } } Based on this sample.

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  • Interesting 3d zooming technique

    - by stark
    Is it possible to zoom to a certain point on screen by modifying the field of view and rotating the camera as to keep that point/object in the same place on screen while zooming ? Changing the camera position is not allowed.. I projected the 3d pos of the object on screen and remembered it. Then on each frame I calculate the direction to it in camera space and then I construct a rotation matrix to align this direction to Z axis (in cam space). After this, I calculate the direction from the camera to the object in world space and transform this vector with the matrix I obtained earlier and then use this final vector as the camera's new direction. And it's actually "kinda working", the problem is that it is more/less off than the camera's rotation before starting to zoom depending on the area you are trying to zoom in (larger error on edges/corners). It looks acceptable, but I'm not settling for only this. Any suggestions/resources for doing this technique perfectly ? If some of you want to explain the math in detail, be my guests, I can understand these things well. Thanks. Edit: I'll check often for responses, I'm really curious about this :D

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  • How to Deal with an out of touch "Project manager"

    - by Joe
    This "manager" is 70+ yrs old and a math genius. We were tasked with creating a web application. He loves SQL and stored procedures. He first created this in MS access. For the web app I had to take his DB migrate to SQL server. His first thought was to have a master stored procedure with a WAITFOR Handling requests from users. I eventually talked him out of that and use asp.net mvc. Then eventually use the asp.net membership. Now the web app is a mostly handles requests from the pages that is passed to stored procedures. It is all stored procedure driven. The business logic as well. Now we are having an one open DB connection per user logged in plus 1. I use linq to sql to check 2 tables and return the values thats it period. So 25 users is a load. He complains why my code is bad cause his test driver stored procedure simulates over 100 users with no issue. What are the best arguments for not having the business logic not all in stored procedures?? How should I deal with this?? I am giving an abbreviated story of course. He is a genius part owner of the company all the other owners trust him because he is a genius. and quoting -"He gets things done. old school".

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  • Extracting Frustum Planes (Hartmann & Gribbs method)

    - by DAVco
    I have been grappling with the Hartmann/Gribbs method of extracting the Frustum planes for some time now, with little success. There doesn't appear to be a "definitive" topic or tutorial which combines all the necessary information, so perhaps this can be it First of all, I am attempting to do this in C# (For Playstation Mobile), using OpenGL style Column-Major matrices in a Right-Handed coordinate system but obviously the math will work in any language. My projection matrix has a Near plane at 1.0, Far plane at 1000, FOV of 45.0 and Aspect of 1.7647. I want to get my planes in World-Space, so I build my frustum from the View-Projection Matrix (that's projectionMatrix * viewMatrix). The view Matrix is the inverse of the camera's World-Transform. The problem is; regardless of what I tweak, I can't seem to get a correct frustum. I think that I may be missing something obvious. Focusing on the Near and Far planes for the moment (since they have the most obvious normals when correct), when my camera is positioned looking down the negative z-axis, I get two planes facing in the same direction, rather than opposite directions. If i strafe my camera left and right (while still looking along the z axis) the x value of the normal vector changes. Obviously, something is fundamentally wrong here; I just can't figure out what - maybe someone here can?

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  • questions on a particular algorithm

    - by paul smith
    Upon searching for a fast primr algorithm, I stumbled upon this: public static boolean isP(long n) { if (n==2 || n==3) return true; if ((n&0x1)==0 || n%3==0 || n<2) return false; long root=(long)Math.sqrt(n)+1L; // we check just numbers of the form 6*k+1 and 6*k-1 for (long k=6;k<=root;k+=6) { if (n%(k-1)==0) return false; if (n%(k+1)==0) return false; } return true; } My questions are: Why is long being used everywhere instead of int? Because with a long type the argument could be much larger than Integer.MAX thus making the method more flexible? In the second 'if', is n&0x1 the same as n%2? If so why didn't the author just use n%2? To me it's more readable. The line that sets the 'root' variable, why add the 1L? What is the run-time complexity? Is it O(sqrt(n/6)) or O(sqrt(n)/6)? Or would we just say O(n)?

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  • How to make a player stay within bounds of world with 2D Camera

    - by Craig
    Im creating a simple top down survival game. At the moment, i have the sprite which is a ship and moves by rotating left or right then going forward in that direction. I have implemented a 2D camera, its always centered on the player. However, when i move towards the bounds of the world that the sprite is in it just keeps on going :( How to i sort it that it stops at the edge of the world and cant go beyond it? Cheers :) Below is the main game class using System; using System.Collections.Generic; using System.Linq; using Microsoft.Xna.Framework; using Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Audio; using Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Content; using Microsoft.Xna.Framework.GamerServices; using Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Graphics; using Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Input; using Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Media; namespace GamesCoursework_1 { /// <summary> /// This is the main type for your game /// </summary> public class Game1 : Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Game { GraphicsDeviceManager graphics; SpriteBatch spriteBatch; // player variables Texture2D Ship; Vector2 Ship_Position; float Ship_Rotation = 0.0f; Vector2 Ship_Origin; Vector2 Ship_Velocity; const float tangentialVelocity = 4f; float friction = 0.05f; static Point CameraViewport = new Point(800, 800); Camera2d cam = new Camera2d((int)CameraViewport.X, (int)CameraViewport.Y); //Size of world static Point worldSize = new Point(1600, 1600); // Screen variables static Point worldCenter = new Point(worldSize.X / 2, worldSize.Y / 2); Rectangle playerBounds = new Rectangle(CameraViewport.X / 2, CameraViewport.Y / 2, worldSize.X - CameraViewport.X, worldSize.Y - CameraViewport.Y); Rectangle worldBounds = new Rectangle(0, 0, worldSize.X, worldSize.Y); Texture2D background; public Game1() { graphics = new GraphicsDeviceManager(this); graphics.PreferredBackBufferWidth = CameraViewport.X; graphics.PreferredBackBufferHeight = CameraViewport.Y; Content.RootDirectory = "Content"; } /// <summary> /// Allows the game to perform any initialization it needs to before starting to run. /// This is where it can query for any required services and load any non-graphic /// related content. Calling base.Initialize will enumerate through any components /// and initialize them as well. /// </summary> protected override void Initialize() { // TODO: Add your initialization logic here base.Initialize(); } /// <summary> /// LoadContent will be called once per game and is the place to load /// all of your content. /// </summary> protected override void LoadContent() { // Create a new SpriteBatch, which can be used to draw textures. spriteBatch = new SpriteBatch(GraphicsDevice); // TODO: use this.Content to load your game content here Ship = Content.Load<Texture2D>("Ship"); Ship_Origin.X = Ship.Width / 2; Ship_Origin.Y = Ship.Height / 2; background = Content.Load<Texture2D>("aus"); Ship_Position = new Vector2(worldCenter.X, worldCenter.Y); cam.Pos = Ship_Position; cam.Zoom = 1f; } /// <summary> /// UnloadContent will be called once per game and is the place to unload /// all content. /// </summary> protected override void UnloadContent() { // TODO: Unload any non ContentManager content here } /// <summary> /// Allows the game to run logic such as updating the world, /// checking for collisions, gathering input, and playing audio. /// </summary> /// <param name="gameTime">Provides a snapshot of timing values.</param> protected override void Update(GameTime gameTime) { // Allows the game to exit if (GamePad.GetState(PlayerIndex.One).Buttons.Back == ButtonState.Pressed) this.Exit(); // TODO: Add your update logic here Ship_Position = Ship_Velocity + Ship_Position; keyPressed(); base.Update(gameTime); } /// <summary> /// This is called when the game should draw itself. /// </summary> /// <param name="gameTime">Provides a snapshot of timing values.</param> protected override void Draw(GameTime gameTime) { GraphicsDevice.Clear(Color.CornflowerBlue); // TODO: Add your drawing code here spriteBatch.Begin(SpriteSortMode.Deferred, BlendState.AlphaBlend, null, null, null,null, cam.get_transformation(GraphicsDevice)); spriteBatch.Draw(background, Vector2.Zero, Color.White); spriteBatch.Draw(Ship, Ship_Position, Ship.Bounds, Color.White, Ship_Rotation, Ship_Origin, 1.0f, SpriteEffects.None, 0f); spriteBatch.End(); base.Draw(gameTime); } private void Ship_Move(Vector2 move) { Ship_Position += move; } private void keyPressed() { KeyboardState keyState; // Move right keyState = Keyboard.GetState(); if (keyState.IsKeyDown(Keys.Right)) { Ship_Rotation = Ship_Rotation + 0.1f; } if (keyState.IsKeyDown(Keys.Left)) { Ship_Rotation = Ship_Rotation - 0.1f; } if (keyState.IsKeyDown(Keys.Up)) { Ship_Velocity.X = (float)Math.Cos(Ship_Rotation) * tangentialVelocity; Ship_Velocity.Y = (float)Math.Sin(Ship_Rotation) * tangentialVelocity; if ((int)Ship_Position.Y < playerBounds.Bottom && (int)Ship_Position.Y > playerBounds.Top) cam._pos.Y = Ship_Position.Y; if ((int)Ship_Position.X > playerBounds.Left && (int)Ship_Position.X < playerBounds.Right) cam._pos.X = Ship_Position.X; //tried world bounds here if (!worldBounds.Contains(new Point((int)Ship_Position.X, (int)Ship_Position.Y))) Ship_Position -= new Vector2(0.0f, -tangentialVelocity * 2); if (!worldBounds.Contains(new Point((int)Ship_Position.X, (int)Ship_Position.Y))) Ship_Position -= new Vector2(0.0f, 2 * tangentialVelocity); } else if(Ship_Velocity != Vector2.Zero) { float i = Ship_Velocity.X; float j = Ship_Velocity.Y; Ship_Velocity.X = i -= friction * i; Ship_Velocity.Y = j -= friction * j; if ((int)Ship_Position.Y < playerBounds.Bottom && (int)Ship_Position.Y > playerBounds.Top) cam._pos.Y = Ship_Position.Y; if ((int)Ship_Position.X > playerBounds.Left && (int)Ship_Position.X < playerBounds.Right) cam._pos.X = Ship_Position.X; } if (keyState.IsKeyDown(Keys.Q)) { if (cam.Zoom < 2f) cam.Zoom += 0.05f; } if (keyState.IsKeyDown(Keys.A)) { if (cam.Zoom > 0.3f) cam.Zoom -= 0.05f; } } } } my 2d camera class using System; using System.Collections.Generic; using System.Linq; using System.Text; using Microsoft.Xna.Framework; using Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Graphics; namespace GamesCoursework_1 { public class Camera2d { protected float _zoom; // Camera Zoom public Matrix _transform; // Matrix Transform public Vector2 _pos; // Camera Position protected float _rotation; // Camera Rotation public int _viewportWidth, _viewportHeight; // viewport size public Camera2d(int ViewportWidth, int ViewportHeight) { _zoom = 1.0f; _rotation = 0.0f; _pos = Vector2.Zero; _viewportWidth = ViewportWidth; _viewportHeight = ViewportHeight; } // Sets and gets zoom public float Zoom { get { return _zoom; } set { _zoom = value; if (_zoom < 0.1f) _zoom = 0.1f; } // Negative zoom will flip image } public float Rotation { get { return _rotation; } set { _rotation = value; } } // Auxiliary function to move the camera public void Move(Vector2 amount) { _pos += amount; } // Get set position public Vector2 Pos { get { return _pos; } set { _pos = value; } } public Matrix get_transformation(GraphicsDevice graphicsDevice) { _transform = // Thanks to o KB o for this solution Matrix.CreateTranslation(new Vector3(-_pos.X, -_pos.Y, 0)) * Matrix.CreateRotationZ(Rotation) * Matrix.CreateScale(new Vector3(Zoom, Zoom, 1)) * Matrix.CreateTranslation(new Vector3(_viewportWidth * 0.5f, _viewportHeight * 0.5f, 0)); return _transform; } } }

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  • What is a "Technical Programmer"? [closed]

    - by Mike E
    I've noticed in job posting boards a few postings, all from European companies in the games industry, for a "Technical Programmer". The job description in both was similar, having to do with tools development, 3d graphics programming, etc. It seems to be somewhere between a Technical Artist who's more technical than artist or who can code, and a Technical Director but perhaps without the seniority/experience. Information elsewhere on the position is sparse. The title seems redundant and I haven't seen any American companies post jobs by that name exactly. One example is this job posting on gamedev.net which isn't exactly thorough. In case the link dies: Subject: Technical Programmer Frictional Games, the creators of Amnesia: The Dark Descent and the Penumbra series, are looking for a talented programmer to join the company! You will be working for a small team with a big focus on finding new and innovating solutions. We want you who are not afraid to explore uncharted territory and constantly learn new things. Self-discipline and independence are also important traits as all work will be done from home. Some the things you will work with include: 3D math, rendering, shaders and everything else related. Console development (most likely Xbox 360). Hardware implementations (support for motion controls, etc). All coding is in C++, so great skills in that is imperative. As I mentioned, the job title has appeared from European companies so maybe it goes by another title in America. What other titles might this specialization of programmer go by?

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  • HTML5 Canvas Converting between cartesian and isometric coordinates

    - by Amir
    I'm having issues wrapping my head around the Cartesian to Isometric coordinate conversion in HTML5 canvas. As I understand it, the process is two fold: (1) Scale down the y-axis by 0.5, i.e. ctx.scale(1,0.5); or ctx.setTransform(1,0,0,0.5,0,0); This supposedly produces the following matrix: [x; y] x [1, 0; 0, 0.5] (2) Rotate the context by 45 degrees, i.e. ctx.rotate(Math.PI/4); This should produce the following matrix: [x; y] x [cos(45), -sin(45); sin(45), cos(45)] This (somehow) results in the final matrix of ctx.setTransform(2,-1,1,0.5,0,0); which I cannot seem to understand... How is this matrix derived? I cannot seem to produce this matrix by multiplying the scaling and rotation matrices produced earlier... Also, if I write out the equation for the final transformation matrix, I get: newX = 2x + y newY = -x + y/2 But this doesn't seem to be correct. For example, the following code draws an isometric tile at cartesian coordinates (500, 100). ctx.setTransform(2,-1,1,0.5,0,0); ctx.fillRect(500, 100, width*2, height); When I check the result on the screen, the actual coordinates are (285, 215) which do not satisfy the equations I produced earlier... So what is going on here? I would be very grateful if you could: (1) Help me understand how the final isometric transformation matrix is derived; (2) Help me produce the correct equation for finding the on-screen coordinates of an isometric projection. Many thanks and kind regards

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  • Generic rule parser for RPG board game rules - how to do it?

    - by burzum
    I want to build a generic rule parser for pen and paper style RPG systems. A rule can involve usually 1 to N entities 1 to N roles of a dice and calculating values based on multiple attributes of an entity. For example: Player has STR 18, his currently equipped weapon gives him a bonus of +1 STR but a malus of DEX -1. He attacks a monster entity and the game logic now is required to run a set of rules or actions: Player rolls the dice, if he gets for example 8 or more (base attack value he needs to pass is one of his base attributes!) his attack is successfully. The monster then rolls the dice to calculate if the attack goes through it's armor. If yes the damage is taken if not the attack was blocked. Besides simple math rules can also have constraints like applying only to a certain class of user (warrior vs wizzard for example) or any other attribute. So this is not just limited to mathematical operations. If you're familiar with RPG systems like Dungeon and Dragons you'll know what I'm up to. My issue is now that I have no clue how to exactly build this the best possible way. I want people to be able to set up any kind of rule and later simply do an action like selecting a player and a monster and run an action (set of rules like an attack). I'm asking less for help with the database side of things but more about how to come up with a structure and a parser for it to keep my rules flexible. The language of choice for this is php by the way.

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  • Self-imposed lockout from program

    - by Alex
    I'm plagued with a lack of willpower. I recently started looking for solutions, and came across a program for macs called SelfControl which completely blocks one's access to a given set of websites for a given period of time (you can delete the program/restart your computer/do almost anything and it will still block those sites for the specified time period, and doesn't require a password to do it.) Unfortunately, there are no windows analogues. The one that comes the closest is Cold Turkey. It has the functionality whereby you set a time in the future, specify a list of websites (or programs - eg explorer, firefox, chrome) and you are blocked from accessing them for the whole duration. No password can undo it, no system reboot, etc. The problem is that the program is a buggy piece of garbage, and in order to ensure that you're not locked out from websites forever, you have to run an uninstaller which is just an exe file accessible at any time which completely defeats the purpose of a self-imposed program lockout. I want to make a better version of that program, or find a simple way to prevent access to a given set of programs over a given period of time with no way around it. I've only taken a few introductory courses in java (math major), but the internet is really having a negative effect on my studies, and the only way I can do work is to eliminate all distractions. What do I need to learn in order to make a program with the following properties: Given a set of .exe files, and a time in the future , this program will prevent access to the given .exe files until current time = given time restarting the computer doesn't interfere with the program, one can't uninstall the program until current time = given time, one can't create another instance of the program to block itself I don't care how much programming knowledge i need to acquire in order to make this program, so please give me a specific list of things that I need to study in order to make this happen, or if something like this exists, then please let me know.

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  • If your algorithm is correct, does it matter how long it took you to write it?

    - by John Isaacks
    I recently found out that Facebook had a programming challenge that if completed correctly you automatically get a phone interview. There is a sample challenge that asks you to write an algorithm that can solve a Tower of Hanoi type problem. Given a number of pegs and discs, an initial and final configuration; Your algorithm must determine the fewest steps possible to get to the final configuration and output the steps. This sample challenge gives you a 45 minute time limit but allows you to still test your code to see if it passes once your time limit expires. I did not know of any cute math solution that could solve it, and I didn't want to look for one since I think that would be cheating. So I tried to solve the challenge the best I could on my own. I was able to make an algorithm that worked and passed. However, it took me over 4 hours to make, much longer than the 45 minute requirement. Since it took me so much longer than the allotted time, I have not attempted the actual challenge. This got me wondering though, in reality does it really matter that it took me that long? I mean is this a sign that I will not be able to get a job at a place like this (not just Facebook, but Google, Fog Creek, etc.) and need to lower my aspirations, or does the fact that I actually passed on my first attempt even though it took too long be taken as good?

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  • Can't find new.h - getting gcc-4.2 on Quantal?

    - by Suyo
    I've been trying to compile the Valve Source SDK (2007) on my machine, but I keep running into the same error: In file included from ../public/tier1/interface.h:50:0, from ../utils/serverplugin_sample/serverplugin_empty.cpp:13: ../public/tier0/platform.h:46:17: new.h: No such file or directory I'm pretty new to C++ coding and compiling, but using apt-file search I tried to use every single suggestion for the required files in the Makefile (libstdc++.a and libgcc_eh.a), and none worked. I then found a note in the Makefile saying gcc 4.2.2 is recommended - I assume the older code won't work with the newer version, but gcc-4.2 is unavailable in 12.10. So my question/s is/are: If my assumption is right - how do I get gcc 4.2.2 on Quantal? If my assumption is wrong - what else could be the problem here? Relevant portion of the Makefile: # compiler options (gcc 3.4.1 will work - 4.2.2 recommended) CC=/usr/bin/gcc CPLUS=/usr/bin/g++ CLINK=/usr/bin/gcc CPP_LIB="/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-w64-mingw32/4.6/libstdc++.a /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-w64-mingw32/4.6/libgcc_eh.a" # GCC 4.2.2 optimization flags, if you're using anything below, don't use these! OPTFLAGS=-O1 -fomit-frame-pointer -ffast-math -fforce-addr -funroll-loops -fthread-jumps -fcrossjumping -foptimize-sibling-calls -fcse-follow-jumps -fcse-skip-blocks -fgcse -fgcse-lm -fexpensive-optimizations -frerun-cse-after-loop -fcaller-saves -fpeephole2 -fschedule-insns2 -fsched-interblock -fsched-spec -fregmove -fstrict-overflow -fdelete-null-pointer-checks -freorder-blocks -freorder-functions -falign-functions -falign-jumps -falign-loops -falign-labels -ftree-vrp -ftree-pre -finline-functions -funswitch-loops -fgcse-after-reload #OPTFLAGS= # put any compiler flags you want passed here USER_CFLAGS=-m32

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  • How to avoid jumping to a solution when under pressure? [closed]

    - by GlenPeterson
    When under a particularly strict programming deadline (like an hour), if I panic at all, my tendency is to jump into coding without a real plan and hope I figure it out as I go along. Given enough time, this can work, but in an interview it's been pretty unsuccessful, if not downright counter-productive. I'm not always comfortable sitting there thinking while the clock ticks away. Is there a checklist or are there techniques to recognize when you understand the problem well enough to start coding? Maybe don't touch the keyboard for the first 5-10 minutes of the problem? At what point do you give up and code a brute-force solution with the hope of reasoning out a better solution later? When is it most productive to think and design more vs. code some experiments to and figure out the design later? Here is a list of techniques for taking a math test and another for taking an oral exam. Is there is a similar list of techniques for handling a programming problem under pressure? ANSWERS: I think this is a valid answer: How To Solve It. I found the link as an answer to Steps to solve or approach towards a solution. There were also some really good tips at Is thinking out loud during an interview really the best strategy?. A great and concise argument for TDD is the first answer to TDD Writing code vs Figuring out the answer to a problem?. My question may be a near-duplicate of that one.

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  • Drawing a texture line between two vectors in XNA WP7

    - by Krav
    I want to create a simple graph maker in WP7. The goal is to draw a texture line between two vectors what the user defines with touch. I already made the rotation, and it is working, but not correctly, because it doesn't calculate the line's texture height, and because of that, there are too many overlapping textures. So it does draw the line, but too many of them. How could I calculate it correctly? Here is the code: public void DrawLine(Vector2 st,Vector2 dest,NodeUnit EdgeParent,NodeUnit EdgeChild) { float d = Vector2.Distance(st, dest); float rotate = (float)(Math.Atan2(st.Y - dest.Y, st.X - dest.X)); direction = new Vector2(((dest.X - st.X) / (float)d), (dest.Y - st.Y) / (float)d); Vector2 _pos = st; World.TheHive.Add(new LineHiveMind(linetexture, _pos, rotate, EdgeParent, EdgeChild,new List<LineUnit>())); for (int i = 0; i < d; i++) { World.TheHive.Last()._lines.Add(new LineUnit(linetexture, _pos, rotate, EdgeParent, EdgeChild)); _pos += direction; } } d is for the Distance of the st (Starting node) and dest (Destination node) rotate is for rotation direction calculates the direction between the starting and the destination node _pos is for starting position changing Thanks for any suggestions/help!

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  • I am not the most logically-organized person. Do I have any chance at being a good 'low-level' programmer?

    - by user217902
    Background: I am entering college next year. I really enjoy making stuff and solving logical problems, so I'm thinking of majoring in compsci and working in software development. I hope to have the kind of job where I can work with implementing / improving algorithms and data structures on a regular basis.. as opposed to, say, a job that's purely concerned with mashing different libraries together, or 'finding the right APIs for the job'. (Hence the word 'low-level' in the title. No, I don't wish to write assembly all day.) Thing is, I've never been the most logically-sharp person. Thus far I have only worked on hobby projects, but I find that I make the silliest of errors ever so often, and it can take me ages to find it. Like anywhere between three hours to a day to locate a simple segfault, off-by-one error, or other logical mistake. (Of course, I do other things in the meantime, like browsing SO, reddit, and the like..) It's not like I'm 'new' to programming either; I first tried C++ maybe five years ago. My question is: is this normal? Should a programmer with any talent solve it in less time? Having read Spolsky's Smart and gets things done, where he talks about the large variance in programming speed, am I near the bottom of the curve, and therefore destined to work in companies that cannot afford to hire quality programmers? I'd like to think that conceptually I'm okay -- I can grasp algorithms and concepts pretty well, I do fine in math and science, although I probably drop signs in my equations more often than the next guy. Still, grokking concepts makes me happy, and is the reason why I want to work with algorithms. I'm hoping to hear from those of you with real-world programming experience. TL;DR: I make many careless mistakes, should I not consider programming as a career?

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  • One-way platform collision

    - by TheBroodian
    I hate asking questions that are specific to my own code like this, but I've run into a pesky roadblock and could use some help getting around it. I'm coding floating platforms into my game that will allow a player to jump onto them from underneath, but then will not allow players to fall through them once they are on top, which require some custom collision detection code. The code I have written so far isn't working, the character passes through it on the way up, and on the way down, stops for a moment on the platform, and then falls right through it. Here is the code to handle collisions with floating platforms: protected void HandleFloatingPlatforms(Vector2 moveAmount) { //if character is traveling downward. if (moveAmount.Y > 0) { Rectangle afterMoveRect = collisionRectangle; afterMoveRect.Offset((int)moveAmount.X, (int)moveAmount.Y); foreach (World_Objects.GameObject platform in gameplayScreen.Entities) { if (platform is World_Objects.Inanimate_Objects.FloatingPlatform) { //wideProximityArea is just a rectangle surrounding the collision //box of an entity to check for nearby entities. if (wideProximityArea.Intersects(platform.CollisionRectangle) || wideProximityArea.Contains(platform.CollisionRectangle)) { if (afterMoveRect.Intersects(platform.CollisionRectangle)) { //This, in my mind would denote that after the character is moved, its feet have fallen below the top of the platform, but before he had moved its feet were above it... if (collisionRectangle.Bottom <= platform.CollisionRectangle.Top) { if (afterMoveRect.Bottom > platform.CollisionRectangle.Top) { //And then after detecting that he has fallen through the platform, reposition him on top of it... worldLocation.Y = platform.CollisionRectangle.Y - frameHeight; hasCollidedVertically = true; } } } } } } } } In case you are curious, the parameter moveAmount is found through this code: elapsed = (float)gameTime.ElapsedGameTime.TotalSeconds; float totalX = 0; float totalY = 0; foreach (Vector2 vector in velocities) { totalX += vector.X; totalY += vector.Y; } velocities.Clear(); velocity.X = totalX; velocity.Y = totalY; velocity.Y = Math.Min(velocity.Y, 1000); Vector2 moveAmount = velocity * elapsed;

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  • Influence Maps for Pathfinding?

    - by james
    I'm taking the plunge and am getting into game dev, it's been going well but I've got stuck on a problem. I have a maze that is 100x100 with 0,1 to indicate if its a path or a wall. Within the maze I have 300 or so enemies and a player. The outcome I'm looking for is all the enemies work their way towards the player position. Originally I did this using an A* path finding algorithm but with 300 enemies it was taking forever to path find each one individually. After some research I found that an influence map / collaborative diffusion would be the best way to go. But I'm having a real hard time working out how this is actually done. Firstly.. How do you create a influence map? From what I understand each of my walls with have a scent of 0 so that makes them impassable.. then basically a radial effect from my player position to each other cell (So my player starts at 100 and then going outwards from that each other cell will be reduced value) Is that correct? If so,.. How would you do that (Math magic?) My next problem is if that is correct how would my "enemies" stop from getting stuck if they have gone down the wrong way? As say if my player was standing on the otherside of a wall if the enemy is just looking for larger numbers wont it keep getting stuck? I'm doing this in JavaScript so performance is key. Thanks for any help! EDIT: Or if anyones got a better solution? I've been reading about navmeshs, steering pathing, pre calculating all paths on load etc etc

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  • I've got my Master's in Software Engineering... Now what? [closed]

    - by Brian Driscoll
    Recently I completed a Master of Science in Software Engineering from Drexel University (Philadelphia, PA, US), because I wanted to have some formal education in software (my undergrad is in Math Ed) and also because I wanted to be able to advance my career beyond just programming. Don't get me wrong; I love to code. I spend a lot of my spare time coding. However, for me writing code is just a means to an end: what I REALLY love is designing software. Not visual design, mind you, but the architecture of the system. So, ideally I'd like to try to get a job doing software architecture. The problem is that I have no real experience in it besides my graduate course work. So, what should I do to make my "bones" in software architecture? UPDATE Just so it's clear, I have over 5 years of work experience in software development and an MCTS cert in addition to my education, so I'm not looking for the usual "I'm fresh out of school, what should I do?" advice.

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  • Looking for job advice [closed]

    - by EntryLevelJavaDeveloper
    I am a software developer for a government agency in DC, and I have recently completed one year of employment. I am generally dissatisfied with my experiences here. I do not want to gripe too much, but I do not spend a lot of time doing actual development on projects. I am asked to do everything under the sun: write requirements, review specs, test, attend random meetings, but actual coding makes up a small fraction of my time. The coding itself is fairly straightforward and simple so it feels like I am not growing from my experiences. I am not tasked with more challenging work, and I find the experiences are not rewarding. If I had a stronger resume/more work experience, I'd leave the position immediately but combined with the present economy, I am hesitant to leave. I have several questions: Does anybody have experiences like this? How did you make the most of it? I am currently doing some side projects, making simple webpages for people, but aside from that, and open source projects, what other things are out there? What are general benchmarks for a developer after one year of professional experience? What should I be expected to know/do? I am outsider (coming from a math/science background) so I do not know what exactly I should know/do. Is it possible to obtain a mentorship with a mid/senior developer to learn? If so, how can I go about making contacts in the DC area?

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  • What are some good ways for an intermediate programmer to build skills?

    - by Jordan
    Preface: I work mostly in Python, and Web Dev languages (HTML, CSS, Javascript and Jquery, PHP) I'm proficient at coding but I want to get better. In larger more advanced projects my programming skills break down. The more code there is the more trouble I have fitting all the pieces together. I understand syntax well, and I can catch and correct errors fairly easier. But the more advanced it gets the more I struggle. I believe I have a good understand of the basic and nuts and bolts of programming and I understand what's going on, but when it comes to larger projects, especially ones with heavy math involved my confidence flags and I start making mistakes. It's not that I can't do it, I'm just not used to doing it. Does anyone have any advice for someone who knows programming, but wants to get better? The only tutorials I can really find are beginner basic type stuff. Basically what I'm saying is I want to be confident when I'm tackling advanced projects, but I can't because I have little experience dealing with difficult situations.

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