Swapping in a better background
Nothing much to provide in this update other than a progress report on my terrible artistry. So no code today, just a screen cap of a new background I’ve been at work on that will act as the game’s...
View ArticleThe foundations of a game
Writing this particular post is a brainstorming exercise. I don’t know what’s going to come from this article or what conclusions it might reach, but I need to think about where I go next. Just to...
View ArticleA main menu and more refactoring
I spent this last session creating a main menu for the game, with the requisite New, Load, Settings, and Quit menu items. I created it as a new Android activity, but some reading since has convinced me...
View ArticleTurning an Activity into a Scene
Last time, I created a new Android Activity for my main menu, only to later decide that this wasn’t the right thing to do, and to avoid having multiple instances of AndEngine starting up (one for each...
View ArticleQuitting and starting a new game
Just a micro-update to document the code behind the functionality of the main menu’s New and Quit buttons. New calls the SceneLoader for the tutorial level: Quit simply calls finish() on the current...
View ArticleCreating and loading a HUD
In AndEngine, a Scene can be navigated around, scrolled zoomed, all that stuff. So when I want a heads-up display, there’s no point attaching the elements to the Scene. When the Scene moves, so will...
View ArticleReinventing the wheel
People say don’t re-invent the wheel. But the problem is, everyone else’s wheel is shit. This struck me as particularly poignant. Unfortunately I don’t have a credit for it.
View ArticleThe Law of Demeter
Today I’ve been wrestling with the Law of Demeter, and when it is and isn’t appropriate. When it comes to design patterns and best practices, I find it prudent to lean toward following them, unless I...
View ArticleHandling method signatures with too many parameters
In certain situations, I find myself putting together a method signature that may look something like this. A contrived, completely meaningless snippet, but what can be done when a method signature...
View ArticleBuilding an entity component system suitable for game development
Entity component system? Given the length of time that has passed since my last post, it’d be reasonable to think that I’d given up on this place entirely. However, this isn’t the case and I’ve simply...
View ArticleImmutable types in C#
I can’t be the only one who’s dying for built-in immutable type support in C#. I seem to spend my entire life writing this over and over.
View ArticleGood programming
I’ve had a feeling creeping up on me for a while now. It’s a discontentment, a niggling resentment of the code-bases I work in. It’s my fault, and it’s other people’s fault as well. And the problem?...
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