Well first of all I have my university admission exams next week (wish me luck) so I was trying to study my ass off to get into Computer Science. They have VERY high demands , but I’ll hope I’ll make it.

Anyways, In my few down momments, I was making the time to start coding my first real game, and here is the first build of it, enjoy:

Any comments, suggestions, question, anything is highly welcome

So since the last post I have:

• Learned C#/XNA
• Ported the little code i had from Kpong (C++) to XKpong (XNA/C#)
• Fixed Collision Detection on XKpong (will port it back to Kpong later)
• Implemented an ugly ScreenManager (to switch between menu screen, the game screen, credit screen and so forth).

Now I’m working on implementing a nicer, OOP, ScreenManager on Kpong. As soon as i started I realized that I don’t understand polymorphism correctly, so i had to crack open the good old C++ books, and I think i understand it currently now, and if I do, I now know why OOP is so much better than functional programing!

Anyway, I started working on my ScreenManager in C++ and so far I have implemented in it a lot of stuff that I have never used in an active project before (as opposed to a study project or an exercise) , so this is gonna be today’s achievement

Today’s accomplishments so far:

• first use of new and delete in an active project
• first use of std::vector in an active project
• first use of iterator in an active project
• first use of a derived class and a virtual member in an active project
• correct use of pointers (those are nasty)

That’s it for today i guess, I hope by tomorrow I’ll finish the basic skeleton of this thing and start implementing it onto actual SDL code. Oh and my TV decoder broke today, so I’m having TV withdrawal right now.

kost.

    I mainly corrected my Collision Detection code a bit. After that I proceeded to testing my build on several machines, and tested different distribution and packaging techniques (creating installers and stuff like that).

    I have been invited to a very promising game project, to the XNA position. As a result I have spent the rest of the day learning about C# and XNA, and it goes surprisingly smooth so far. I have previous experience in C++ so the syntax is pretty familiar to me. I also had some Java courses, so I have some understanding of how a managed language works.

    Also C# gets you 2 features that makes it criminally easy to write correct code: There is a full code autocomplete, which holds all the methods, classes, variables and so on, including the ones you write. So for almost any code you write, once you put the  .  (which you do a lot in a managed language) it gives you a full list of all the things you can put there. 

    The second thing about C# that I liked a lot, is it has LIVE error detection – which basically means that you don’t have to compile the code every time you want to check it for errors, which rocks a lot in comparison to C++, where you need to compile a project, which takes quite a lot time in the bigger projects, just to see if your code has errors.

    So my Kpong (C++ version) is put on hold right now, and I’m learning C#/XNA right now, and I will post the project I will be working on with XNA once I’m fully accepted and start working on it.

Today’s accomplishments so far:

*Fixed some of Kpong’s collision detection code.

*Got a working C#/XNA setup working on my programming computer.

*Learned a bit of C#/XNA (up to drawing in a window).

good night folks,

kost.

First of all i did a lot of refactoring on the existing code, added and modified a lot of things, especially modified quite heavily my Sprite function. This time I have an actual working collision detection, not system yet, but it works. Also this time i got an old online buddy to put together some basic sprites for me so not to use the ones i put together in paint in 2 seconds.

This time I am also finally releasing my first public release ever: Kpong 0.1.0 – alpha version of a pong clone i have been working on for the past few weeks. Download links after the jump.

I am too tired to think right now, but i will probably be back in 2-3 hours and add to this post.

So have fun (click on the image to download):

Today’s accomplishments so far:

*Refactoring some of the code to make it a bit better

*Making a working Collision Detection

*Releasing Kpong0.1.0 – the alpha1 version

kost.

First of all this is the first post since i got back to programing (at last) and I’m having fun with it. Also since the last one I was very ill, visited the hospital like 20 times (was hospitalized 3-4 times) and got better and even got back to work.

Now that I’m programing, I’m using C++, with Visual Studio 2008 (ported from dev-cpp just today) and with SDL as a game library. Yes, I’m working on a game. Well not actually a game, just a pong clone for now to get my feet wet in the field at last. I think i have learned enough to have a working draft in 2 days.. but i want to optimize it a bit more before i release my first alpha version here on the site.

Right now I’m trying to figure out how a good Collision Detection system would work (I know i don’t need to complicate it for a Pong clone but I do it for the learning experience) and when I’m done with that I would either do a state manager or improve my sprite loader’s resource management.

Today’s accomplishments so far:

*Successfully porting from DevCpp to VS2008.

That’s it for today,

keep working kost.

Half Life 2: Episode 3
The 3rd and final Installment in VALVe’s episodic gaming content.This closing chapter is promising in both story, and the gameplay departments, and is going to be a hit in the already existing, pretty huge, fan base.

Left 4 Dead
Like all those zombie movies like “dawn of the dead” where a group of folks get trapped together in a zombie infested environment and need to work together to get to a better place with supplies or just get the fuck out. Well I know that at least I found that situation exiting, well minus the danger of actually dying – Left 4 Dead is exactly that. Think of it as a rollercoster – you get the cool adrenaline shot without the danger of been killed.

Fallout 3
Let me first state that I am a HUGE fan of the fallout series so far (even liked the tactics game). Now that e3 has come and gone and the first gameplay video has been released I have been more sceptical on this one. First of all there is no top-down-third-person mode for it to look like the originals, second of all, and a bit more disturbing is the fact that by the look of the video there doesn’t appear to be a consistent turn-based battle, but a “press button to use turn-based targeting system”. I don’t know how good this will work but as a fan I’m definitely getting the game and trying it for myself.

Grand Theft Auto 4 – PC
The tradition of releasing a GTA game to the consoles first is a long lasting one, but that tradition also includes releasing that game for the PC a few month later. Thus far there appears to be no announcement of such, but I keep hoping and waiting.

Spore
Spore, the little creature maturing in EA’s MAXIS. I have been following this one back from the beginning of it and it seems to promise a lot of new and innovation. I still do not know how I will feel about the game after I play it and it all depends on it’s playability and replayability – how interesting or boring will it be to play the “live your creature” game and how much will I want to go through it over and over again.

Starcraft 2
I am a big RTS fan since my first PC (Total Annihilation) and still am (replaying Warcraft 3 from time to time), so I will really want to check out the new release from Blizzard. I haven’t played the first installment so I am not as exited as everyone and their mother but I am still looking forward to playing it.

Subversion and The Crossing
Both I know very little about but both seem to promise some very new and innovative gaming.. so I am looking forward for some info on those two as well as trying them out myself.

If you have some games you are looking for or just want to discuss the ones I mention feel free to leave a comment.

As you can see I finally managed to get rid of the old, ugly, layout, and got a new, simpler one to freshen this blog a bit.

Also as you can see there is a little clock in the right corner. I wrote this clock from scratch (as you can see from the previous post.)

So will a new layout and a new gadget do what it takes to finally zap this old hag of a blog to life? All that remains on your side is to hope, on mine on the other hand is to think of some not-so-boring post ideas.

Oh.. and actually write those..
kost.

It may look lame, but considering the fact that the first time I wrote any javascript code was about 3-4 hours ago – this is quite an acomplishment.

Yes, It is a simple clock.
It takes your system time and then starts advencing it 1 second at a time.

Here are some of my results:

20

146,635 People

$6100.00The Cadaver Calculator – Find out how much your body is worth.

29%

53% Geek
To my defence, since when is Firefly and Star Trek knowladge NECESERY for beeing a geek?

And that’s without ANY coffee intake at all

230 WATTS Body Battery Calculator – Find Out How Much Electricity Your Body is Producing –
It even sais i can:
# You could light up 2 light bulbs
# You could power 58 iPods
# You could power 1 Xbox 360
So now I’m SURE I’m buying a 360 (and cuirceting it throw my body)