August 20, 2012
I tried implementing the sound wave generation looping through hard-coded samples rather than algorithmically, but I have issues with the current implementation. The basic approach is straightforward but it took a couple of days to debug and the result still doesn't sound right. Apart from the outp…
August 09, 2012
While implementing the tone generators in software I figured there's little reason not to simulate the actual clock speed of the hardware, at least to begin with. It means doing about six times as many calculations, averaging out the half a dozen sound values to the single one at 44100Hz rate sent …
August 08, 2012
For my little retro-sounding software audio system, the sound chip I'm looking for inspiration is the Texas Instruments SN76489. It, its variants and various clones were used in a lot of hardware from the eighties, like the Sega Master System and the Game Gear, the ColecoVision, the BBC Micro and t…
August 07, 2012
I've been looking deeper into the audio system of Allegro 5, looking to see if I can do some tone generation for some retro-sounding bleeps. It turns out that Allegro 5's audio system isn't the best for this kind of thing.
Generating waveforms is simple enough. What I needed was a way to get my raw …
Generating waveforms is simple enough. What I needed was a way to get my raw …
August 04, 2012
I've got a simple "try all the basics" program running using Allegro 5 - bouncing bitmap with sound effects, playing music with an on-screen FPS counter using the font system and outputting keystrokes to the debug console. Nearly everything seems to be working fine. The only thing I haven't got wor…
July 30, 2012
Hey all. The GameDev journal is out of mothballs once again, rebadged and back in circulation. I'm hoping to post more often here in the immediate future, keeping things informal and the posts short so I don't get distracted by blogging instead of ending my game development hiatus. It will be good …
July 26, 2011
I've been struck with the dreaded lurgy, so I'm working somewhat sporadically. Still working through the basics.
Setup
I've got a new Windows 7 PC which hasn't had much set up on it, so the first thing to do is load up everything I need. Sounds straightforward, but it always turns out to be more hass…
Setup
I've got a new Windows 7 PC which hasn't had much set up on it, so the first thing to do is load up everything I need. Sounds straightforward, but it always turns out to be more hass…
July 22, 2011
Hey everyone, I'm back! Looks like things have changed dramatically over in Journal Land. It's going to take a while to figure out the kinks with the new system. After (too long) a hiatus, I'm back at game development, looking to shake off the rust.
My plan to reboot is to teach myself game developm…
My plan to reboot is to teach myself game developm…
December 16, 2009
This is the wrap up of my week long game dev experiment, cross-posted from my blog.
The week is over, and technically I failed. Bummer.
What I did get done was a tile-based prototype, shown above in the screen shot. It's an experiment for what a tile based puzzle game would be like if the tiles consi…
The week is over, and technically I failed. Bummer.
What I did get done was a tile-based prototype, shown above in the screen shot. It's an experiment for what a tile based puzzle game would be like if the tiles consi…
December 12, 2009
Brief update for the GDNet+ journal: I'm about three days into my week, which has mostly been spent familiarising myself with the tech. I've assembled a very basic functionality set from old projects of mine, built on top of SDL, OpenGL, PhysicsFS and probably several other libraries I've forgotten…
December 09, 2009
Yup, my GDNet journal still exists.
Mostly I blog over at my own site, but I'm posting this as I've been in a bit of a rut lately of which I need a good virtual kick to get out of. I'm setting myself a deadline of one week to make a game, no matter if it turns out very simple or crud, in order to gi…
Mostly I blog over at my own site, but I'm posting this as I've been in a bit of a rut lately of which I need a good virtual kick to get out of. I'm setting myself a deadline of one week to make a game, no matter if it turns out very simple or crud, in order to gi…
August 16, 2009
This is a cut-and-paste copy of my latest blog post over at my own website. It's a summary of the lessons I learned from Freeplay 2009, the indie game conference/festival/thing that was just held in Melbourne on Friday and Saturday. Hopefully videos of some of the panels and workshops at the event …
May 22, 2009
A quick summary of my first few blog posts over at my new website:
- Brand new site with a brand new blog: where I lay out what I plan to do with the site
- Self-interview: where I ask myself some hard hitting questions in an attempt to get to understand my motivations better (sometimes this is easier in…
May 08, 2009
New Blog Site!
It's run a bit late, and to top all the difficulties off I've contracted my third cold in two months, but my new site is ready to go.
Currently it is just a blog site, much like my old website. Unlike my old website, I'm planning on expanding on this one. If indie game development goes…
May 04, 2009
Things have got a bit delayed with the roll-out of the new site. This was partly due to unforeseen problems - somehow it took two full days to debug some of the glitches with the email system, simple though it is - but also because web server administration is a big and somewhat fascinating topic. …
April 25, 2009
Yesterday I plunked down the cash for a VPS over at Linode. I'm moving a step up from shared hosting. My service at Dreamhost for my current site isn't bad per se for what I am doing with it currently, but for a site that I want to grow into a small business I felt I needed to move away shared host…
April 20, 2009
This is a special, transitory journal post. My weblogs are currently in a state of limbo. I've been prepping the new site for a while now and with a new blog about to start at a different location it's felt too awkward to blog at the old sites.
You may also notice (if you've been here before) that t…
You may also notice (if you've been here before) that t…
April 05, 2009
For the last week I have either been sick, had no internet, or both. If I am able to post this, then I am currently in a "sick with internet" stage. Expect grammatical errors.
While the level of this cold or whatever I have fluctuates along with my on-line connection I have been working on my new we…
While the level of this cold or whatever I have fluctuates along with my on-line connection I have been working on my new we…
March 24, 2009
I've been putting off making this post, as it's a bit embarrassing. It's more than a week later, and still no game. I guess this counts as a failure! What happened?
After I made my post last Monday, I did some soul searching to figure out where I was going wrong. My conclusion was I made a mistake i…
After I made my post last Monday, I did some soul searching to figure out where I was going wrong. My conclusion was I made a mistake i…
March 16, 2009
I'm back on the project again today. Technically I was supposed to finish off by now, but I had some change of plan:
- I decided on Saturday I was too exhausted to burnt myself out, so I decided to take the weekend off.
- Hours after that decision, I was struck a series of headaches that forced that deci…
March 13, 2009
Next time I do one of these, I think I'll step down the daily updates to just key milestones. Sometimes, even if I get stuff done I don't have much to talk about.
The good so far: I've got the basic cannon working. The bad: still havent got anything resembling a game. Things are moving a bit too slo…
The good so far: I've got the basic cannon working. The bad: still havent got anything resembling a game. Things are moving a bit too slo…
March 12, 2009
Pew! Pew!
I haven't yet quite got the basics running yet. I've got a gun turret and a crosshair cursor working, but the bullets are still broken. I haven't yet figured out a good Flash way to implemenet them yet. It's the memory management aspect that's the issue. Flash's Arrays appear to be sparse,…
March 11, 2009
This week long game project is markedly different from the week I spent on Pierre and the Fish a couple of years back. Back then I felt like my mind was on fire, and threw everything I had at the project. This time, a bunch of minor ills have made me feel a bit more sedate. Nothing serious ( add in…
March 10, 2009
Day 1 was... uneventful. A complete lack of sleep doesn't do wonders on my concentration. I ended up spending the day working on my website revamp, shifting shapes and colours around my mock up. I've got a good idea what the website will look like in shape, but not so sure about the colour. All I k…
March 09, 2009
Ugh. Didn't get much sleep at all. It's a spate of insomnia this week. I probably need to cut back on the coffee. Well, can't do much about that now. Despite not being in a more suitably chipper mood to start a creative project, it's time to get cracking on my first game project of the year.
Lab Pro…
Lab Pro…
March 09, 2009
Short post for today. I should be posting about starting my first mini-game project, since technically I should be starting that today. Technically I have started that, in that I have written it down in my to do list and have decided some of the ground rules about what I am going to do. But I got s…
March 06, 2009
My PhD thesis is printed, collected, signed, collated with CD-ROMs and paperwork, packaged up and posted. So the thesis is now complete, at my end anyway. Hopefully. I'll be absolutely sure when I have word back from Canberra that they got it okay and I did all the admin correctly.
This means, PhD w…
This means, PhD w…
March 03, 2009
The vast wealth of knowledge on the Internet is both a blessing and a curse. When I was a boy first learning how to program I'd have given my milk teeth for something like the Internet today. All I had to work with was a couple of book on how to program in BASIC. These days, with the Internet, ther…
February 26, 2009
Quick update, in tandem at GameDev.net and trazoi.net journals.
Firstly, I'm making good time in my Internet challenge round-the-world balloon race. The winds across the Pacific were incredibly favourable, and I've now made it to the west coast of the U.S., as can be seen in the photo. The trickest …
Firstly, I'm making good time in my Internet challenge round-the-world balloon race. The winds across the Pacific were incredibly favourable, and I've now made it to the west coast of the U.S., as can be seen in the photo. The trickest …
February 23, 2009
Andrew Russell's "Sketchable"
I have been somewhat surprised by Andrew Russell's "Sketchable" Blog. It seems Andrew is aiming for a very similar goal to mine; a business making our own games, free from cubicle life. Not only that, but his plan is very similar to mine; starting with simple prototypes…
I have been somewhat surprised by Andrew Russell's "Sketchable" Blog. It seems Andrew is aiming for a very similar goal to mine; a business making our own games, free from cubicle life. Not only that, but his plan is very similar to mine; starting with simple prototypes…
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