The GameDev Lounge 00000011

[iyenal]

My main skill with coding is not writing my own code, but reading, adapting, and manipulating the code I encounter....or finding the ways by which to do this.

Me also.

[DarkGrievous7145]

i'm trying to improve, though.

i do finally have some completed or at least functional programs and games, now. the bulk of my previous programming projects have failed, many not getting anywhere at all. i hope to be able to maintain this, and improve it.

i'd say more, but i'm unusually tired for this time of night.
and just 30 minutes till Toonami starts...

[iyenal]

I do also CGI : this is my title preview created with Blender Cycles of my game (Android) :

Beautiful, no?

[DarkGrievous7145]

that's pretty neat.

i'm more of a 2d person.
However, i do want to get into pre-rendering models to use as sprites and stuff.

[-Ash-]

Working on a simple twinstick space shooter to get a handle on coding.

2x view with Cursor

ship was fun to make

[iyenal]

Good...

[Xander]

Yeah, that seems to be the case.

I actually am still more of a hacker.

My main skill with coding is not writing my own code, but reading, adapting, and manipulating the code I encounter....or finding the ways by which to do this.

That's basically all coding. lol

[-Ash-]

Working on a simple twinstick space shooter to get a handle on coding.

2x view with Cursor

ship was fun to make

Got a demo up and running
You can test it here: Download
Pretty simple, comes with a Read-me that tells you all you need to know about what exists and such.

[DarkGrievous7145]

Yeah, that seems to be the case.

I actually am still more of a hacker.

My main skill with coding is not writing my own code, but reading, adapting, and manipulating the code I encounter....or finding the ways by which to do this.

That's basically all coding. lol

kinda...

More advanced coders tend to rely more on their own code or by trying it out on their own, sometimes with little to no reference materials. They can function almost independently. Not saying experts don't consult from some form of guidance, but they don't basically have to cling to it.


I'm actually still heavily dependent on having tutorials and code examples to look at or refer to, sometimes even in having someone to write the code for me. more characteristic of a simple hacker than a skilled programmer.

//cut short...gtg

[puggsoy]

More advanced coders tend to rely more on their own code or by trying it out on their own, sometimes with little to no reference materials. They can function almost independently. Not saying experts don't consult from some form of guidance, but they don't basically have to cling to it.

As someone who has been programming for more than 5 years (idr exactly when I started) and is now in their second year of studying Software Engineering, I can say that this really isn't true. Sure, experienced programmers can write their own code quicker and easier than others, and they do this a lot, but a VERY large portion of coding is looking up references, using existing libraries, copying others' code, and so on. So many programs do this, I guarantee that pretty much every indie game uses a third-party engine and didn't code up the rendering method itself. And not even all AAA games do it. To be honest, just using any higher level language than C is already relying on existing code that others have made (virtual machines, garbage collection, event listening, even memory management). This obviously depends on what they're developing, if you're making your own 3D graphics engine for a really unique MMO then yeah most of it might be brand new code, but even then you will almost constantly be consulting various sources for information, or at the very least the language reference. Nobody keeps 100% of a language in their head. Even the creators and most experienced Java users get confused by it because you can't just remember how every single thing works (also it's a bit of a weirdo language but that's a different issue).

The only kind of coding I can think of which is done in the way you described is like, small single file programs that automate some simple task, most likely written in Python or a QuickBMS script. Which is technically scripting, not programming

[DarkGrievous7145]

True, or they write libraries based on what they've seen. indeed using high level languages is re-using other's code. Back when Machine Code/Assembly, and C were the norm, even the most basic of functions like printing lines technically didn't exist, only the capacity to implement them. I wouldn't strictly consider the use of high level languages depending on anther's code, though. Using someone else's sprite library, or game engine, or multiplayer API, though.... And again, I never said experts do not ever refer to some source of help, but they shouldn't have to do that constantly, unlike a novice or a hacker would. A novice programmer is still learning stuff, and a hacker specializes in finding exploitable sections of code. Let's take the example of a spritesheet parser. An expert programmer, or at least one that fully understands the concept and how to implement it could theoretically write this class/function from scratch, maybe referring to the language or API specs of the language and/or libraries they're using. A beginner programmer, or one who doesn't yet understand the implementation of sprite sheets, is probably going to follow a tutorial on how to make one, or grab a library or engine that comes with that feature. A hacker may or may not understand how to implement a sprite sheet parser, but their end goal is to take the one that some one else wrote, and find a place and a method of adding their own code to it, or extracting data from it. I'm not saying they don't, but expert programmers, or at least once they've fully understood a concept, should be able to implement that almost entirely by referring to their own memory. I'm not saying any way is better, but I do, personally, feel quite inferior with how little I can do independently of another person or their code.

Scripting is only scripting when it's 'small' and 'simple', depending on your scripting language and/or its interpreter, you can write things that constitute an actual program. There's a few .bat files (or collections, even) out there that cross the line between simply 'scripting', and actually programming. JavaScriot, by definition, is a scripting language. Most of the JavaScript code you'll encounter on websites is more like programs than scripts or macros, however.

[Zero Kirby]

Game Dev Lounge means we can post our works-in-progress, yes? That's what I've gathered from a cursory glance.

So here's this thing from eons ago:

Spoiler

[puggsoy]

I remember that!!! Glad to see it's still underway

(Also now I finally understand your avatar)

[Zero Kirby]

I remember that!!! Glad to see it's still underway

(Also now I finally understand your avatar)

Haha, yup.

Granted all of what I've gotten done recently has been menu stuff. But I think it's fairly impressive menu stuff - I mean, I have a fully working My Music system like the recent Smash games do. I was honestly doubting I'd be able to pull it off, but I have.

I still don't have Mario actually being able to do anything quite yet, but it's getting there, slowly yet surely.

As for the avatar, well, the Main Menu is all OG Game Boy style, with a GBA frame. I went with this since it fits with the Battle Spinner (which also has a GB-style to it) and keeps things a bit more compact, which I just find easier to work with when designing menus. And with only four colours to work with it's even easier for terrible-at-spriting me. Abject laziness? Sure. But it still looks nice and works well.

[Silversea]

Oh hey this thread. I'll post screenshots later I guess although not much going on. I spent most of the recent months coding a wildlife guide (yes in Game Maker call me crazy but I know the software so well, why not).

I'm drafting iOS apps at present. The current goal is working with a little Animal Crossing themed project.