Posted on January 26, 2007 by Doolwind

Are Game Programmers Good Enough?

Computer Gaming Weekly released their first 100 magazines for free download on the net a while back.  I was reading through the first issue (November 1981) and I stumbled across an article containing a section entitled “Programmers: Are They Good Enough”.  While this is a nostalgic and interesting read, it begs the question: 25 years later, are programmers good enough?

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Posted on January 11, 2007 by Doolwind

Orbital Mechanics

Just a quick update to let you know that things are coming along nicely in CIC at the moment. I’ve decided to put together my second tech demo (alpha 2) which wills how off movement and may have orbital mechanics involved. I’ve always been interested in orbits, both how they work, and the math that goes into entering and exiting them. I haven’t played a game to date that includes them so it seemed like a good mechanic for a tech demo. My hope is that I can hide all of the boring and complex 3D math from the player and let them concentrate on having fun sling shotting of planets, entering/exiting and changing orbits and other fun things.

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  • Category: CIC
Posted on December 5, 2006 by Doolwind

CIC 3D

It’s been quite a while since I posted specifically about CIC so I thought I’d give a quick update. Last night I made my first check-in since September (before the wedding). I’m beginning work on the ‘3D movement’ part of the game which I’m hoping will be one of it’s main features. Homeworld 1 & 2 have been the best games to use 3D that I’ve played so far, however I still didn’t like their interface. It was predominately 2D with the 3rd dimension being an added extra. CIC is going to be fully 3D and there are no major and minor axis (z/up being minor in Homeworld). This has two advantages, firstly, you have all dimensions to use in your strategy and you’re not disadvantaged by attacking along a minor axis. Secondly, it’s far easier for the player to comprehend what’s going on in true 3D as they only need think about where enemies are relative to themselves, not relative to a given coordinate system. Will this work? Time will tell. I’ve already rewritten the tried and true chess rules for my mini-game, I may as well try rewriting the way games handle 3D while I’m at it.

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  • Category: CIC
Posted on December 3, 2006 by Doolwind

Game Connect Asia Pacific Audio Recordings

Over the past two days the first Game Connect Asia Pacific Conference has been held in Brisbane, Australia. It replaced Australian Game Developers Conference (AGDC) which was closed down earlier this year. I went along to the conference and found it quite informative. I took my iRiver with me and recorded the speeches I went to. I have uploaded them so anyone that didn’t make it to the conference can also learn from what the speakers had to say. The quality isn’t the greatest however I’ve used my decidedly lacking audio skills to touch them up as best I can. Do please be careful if listening to them on earphones as even though I’ve taken out all the clapping there may be a few points where it’s a little loud. If anyone is able to touch them up a little better please let me know and I’d be happy to upload them again.

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Posted on November 2, 2006 by Doolwind

How To Get In The Zone, And Stay There

Being in the ‘zone’ or ‘flow’ is a state of working where time seems to disappear and your productivity is many times greater than regular work. One minute you’ve finished lunch and start work on a new path finding algorithm, the next minute its 7pm and everyone else in the office has gone home for the night. From what I’ve seen at different companies, unfortunately, most people aren’t in the zone while at work. I’d like to recommend some ways you can get in the zone, and stay there for as long as possible.

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