This article looks at common errors that can be made when implementing Perlin noise, and give systematic tests to verify for the various steps in the algorithm.
Jun 252011
Jun 232011
This tutorial provides some algorithms useful for working with Bézier curves: determining the length of a piece of curve; interpolating a set of points with a Bézier path; and reducing a large point set to a smooth Bézier curve.
May 272011
Hello Physics World! This is a Box2DFlash tutorial, showing the basics of using the popular Box2D port in Flash.
Apr 052011
A Bézier curve is a type of curve that is easy to use, and can describe many shapes. This guide gives instructions for implementing algorithms for using Bézier curves in your games.
Mar 082011
This article gives a brief tutorial to XNA, a set of game development tools from Microsoft. The tutorial covers the basics of drawing a sprite, playing sound, and handling input.
Feb 232011
Quadtrees are 2D data structures, useful for efficient representation of 2D data (such as images), and lookup in a 2D space. This is a simple implementation tutorial.
Feb 092011
This article shows how to implement a simple graphical logging system to find errors in physics, AI and animation faster.
Jan 252011
Text files can be messy when logging events from games. In this article, Herman Tulleken shows you how to use HTML, CSS and JavaScript to build visually informative logs that make debugging easier.
Oct 232009
I have a weak spot for cool game development tools. Not the IDE, or art or sound tools – I mean the level editors, AI construction tools – those that developers develop specifically for their games. Those that you know could help you multiply your content, and craft your game just a little bit better.
Aug 152009
Welcome to the Starting Small series. The aim of this series is to take a programming language that you hopefully know a bit about (enough to feel comfortable using) or that you want to try out and show you how to use it to make games. The language that this tutorial focuses on is Python [...]
Aug 052009
This article originally appeared on NAG Online. Code in Python, go to outer space. A simple process, really. Do you really, really want to become a game programmer? Do you really, really have no idea how to start? Try some Python! This easy and simple programming language is not just a great springboard for people [...]
May 282009
We have used tiles to decorate our living spaces for more than 4000 years. Tiles have several properties that make them attractive for use: they can be mass-produced; they are easy to build with (because of their geometric properties); and combinations of tiles lead to a huge number of decorative options. Early game makers recognised [...]
May 032009
This article originally appeared in Dev.Mag Issue 21, released in March 2008. One way to populate large worlds with objects is to simply place objects on a grid, or randomly. While fast and easy to implement, both these methods result in unsatisfying worlds: either too regular or too messy. In this article we look at [...]
Apr 252009
(Originally appeared in Dev.Mag Issue 20, released in February 2008.) Perlin noise is the foundation of many procedural texture and modelling algorithms. It can be used to create marble, wood, clouds, fire, and height maps for terrain. It is also very useful for tiling grids to simulate organic regions, and blending textures for interesting transitions. [...]
Apr 172009
This article originally appeared in Dev.Mag Issue 29, released in February 2009. Last month we covered some of the very basic ways of testing whether object A hits object B. But, while the techniques we covered could quite likely take you very far, you’ll inevitably encounter a time when they simply aren’t enough. So this [...]
Apr 132009
This article originally appeared in Dev.Mag Issue 28, released in January 2009. Almost every video game needs to respond to objects touching each other in some sense, a practice commonly known as collision detection. Whether it’s simply to prevent the player character from walking through the walls of your maze with a simple collision grid [...]
