All Questions
55,138
questions
58
votes
2
answers
14k
views
Can a developer change their product name on Steamworks?
I recently got access to Steamworks and paid the product submission fee. Now I am able to create an app on Steam.
The app I'm working on is still untitled, but I want to start playing around with the ...
- 1,527
58
votes
5
answers
9k
views
What exactly is a physics engine?
A program should take input, process it and give output. So what exactly does a physics engine take as input and provide as output?
- 619
58
votes
4
answers
31k
views
How is 2D lighting implemented?
I am wondering what the best way to approach a "lighting" effect in 2D games is. For instance, if my main character is glowing, what techniques can I use to complete the visual effect of the character ...
- 1,769
57
votes
7
answers
27k
views
Why do game studios need graphics programmers if they're using game engines?
In the credits section of the games I play, there are names of graphics programmers. If they used a game engine, why do they need a graphics programmer? Isn't the game engine doing their job?
- 739
57
votes
9
answers
50k
views
Texture packing algorithm
What is a good texture packing algorithm? Technically, bin packing is NP-hard, so a heuristic is what I'm really after.
- 7,522
57
votes
15
answers
35k
views
Cross Platform 2D Graphics Engines [closed]
I'm looking for a 2D graphics engine that would allow me to release to Windows, Mac and the iPhone, much the way Unity does for 3D.
Is there a good engine that does this and is specific to 2D?
57
votes
3
answers
16k
views
Optimizing an XNA 2D game
Does it make sense to implement the logic to skip rendering objects outside the viewport or should I not care about it and let the Framework do it?
- 691
57
votes
9
answers
36k
views
Is the TCP protocol good enough for real-time multiplayer games?
Back in the day, TCP connections over dialup/ISDN/slow broadband resulted in choppy, laggy games because a single dropped packet resulted in a resync. That meant a lot of game developers had to ...
- 4,486
57
votes
8
answers
18k
views
How can I avoid having many singletons in my game architecture?
I use cocos2d-x game engine for creating games. The engine already uses many singletons. If someone used it, then they should be familiar with some of them:
...
- 1,327
57
votes
18
answers
34k
views
What are good JS libraries for game dev? [closed]
If I decide to write a simple game both text and graphical (2d) what libraries would I use? (Assume we are using a HTML5 compatible browser)
The main things I can think of
Rendering text on screen
...
57
votes
9
answers
70k
views
Where to promote your indie game? [closed]
Possible Duplicate:
Where to advertise my game?
Let's say I have developed a game and I want to "get it out there". What I have in mind is open-source, non-commercial games.
What websites do ...
57
votes
9
answers
19k
views
How are deterministic games possible in the face of floating-point non-determinism?
To make a game like an RTS networked, I've seen a number of answers here suggest to make the game completely deterministic; then you only have to transfer the users' actions to each other, and lag ...
56
votes
14
answers
9k
views
1% idea, 99% execution? [closed]
I keep reading in the game development community that the idea of a game is 1% and the execution of the game is 99%.
Do you believe that to be true? Not necessary in those percentages..
I always ...
- 824
56
votes
4
answers
81k
views
Using multiple shaders
I'm currently studying opengl shaders but I can't figure out something: how to apply different shaders to the objects, for example, a teapot rendered using toon shader and another one in the same ...
- 2,921
56
votes
7
answers
77k
views
How can I draw outlines around 3D models?
How can I draw outlines around 3D models? I'm referring to something like the effects in a recent Pokemon game, which appear to have a single-pixel outline around them:
- 661
56
votes
5
answers
7k
views
How could I implement something like Minecraft's crafting grid?
The crafting system in Minecraft uses a 2x2 or 3x3 grid. You place ingredients on the grid, and if you put the right ingredients in the right pattern, it will activate the recipe.
Some interesting ...
- 713
55
votes
12
answers
58k
views
Is it reasonable to write a game engine in C? [closed]
Even though C++ appears to be king, from what I've been told C is still widely used in games, especially on the consoles. However, would writing an entire game engine in C be unreasonable today? What ...
- 768
55
votes
2
answers
6k
views
How can I get textures on edge of walls like in Super Metroid and Aquaria?
Games like Super Metroid and Aquaria present the terrain with the other facing parts having rocks and stuff while deeper behind them (i.e. underground) there's different detail or just black.
I would ...
- 1,480
55
votes
8
answers
8k
views
What is the design rationale behind melee retaliations in turn-based games?
I've seen quite a lot of turn-based games in which melee attacks on another unit cause the attacked units to also damage the attacking unit, while ranged attacks do not suffer from this "retaliation" ...
- 1,242
55
votes
3
answers
54k
views
How are voxel terrain engines made?
A few days ago I found something called voxel terrains and I think that they're pretty cool. But I don't know anything generating them. Do you model it in your modeling software or use something like ...
- 3,411
55
votes
3
answers
28k
views
Algorithms for rainfall + river creation in procedurally generated terrain
I've recently become fascinated by the things that can be done with procedurally terrain and have started experimenting with world building a bit. I'd like to be able to make worlds something like ...
- 653
55
votes
7
answers
8k
views
How can I set up a flexible framework for handling achievements?
Specifically, what is the best way to implement an achievement system flexible enough to handle going beyond simple statistics-driven achievements such as "kill x enemies."
I'm looking for something ...
- 763
55
votes
3
answers
17k
views
In an Entity-Component-System Engine, How do I deal with groups of dependent entities?
After going over a few game design patterns, I have settle with Entity-Component-System (ES System) for my game engine. I've reading articles (mainly T=Machine) and review some source code and I ...
- 653
54
votes
7
answers
11k
views
Automated testing of games [closed]
Are there methods of automated testing of games?
Specific experiences are appreciated, with relevant information about the project such as platform and type of game if that helps with clarification....
- 868
54
votes
1
answer
39k
views
How do Raymarch shaders work?
I have been looking at shaders found here shadertoy.com and most of the cool ones have noise and raymarch in common. I do not understand the source code at all but I really want to. How do these ...
- 2,069
54
votes
11
answers
24k
views
How can I implement dialog trees into my game?
What is the best way to implement a dialog tree system in my game? I want an NPC to give the player different sets of responses, some which may only appear when the Player has an item or a previous ...
- 5,103
54
votes
2
answers
12k
views
What is a quaternion?
What is a quaternion, and do how they work? Also, what advantages do you gain using three points on a 2D plane? Finally, when is it considered good practice to use quaternions?
- 817
54
votes
6
answers
7k
views
How to maintain artistic consistency when working with multiple artists?
I'm making a game that requires a volume of artistic content which is not practical to be created by a single person, so I've enlisted the help of additional artists.
The problem is, each artist has ...
- 13.3k
54
votes
5
answers
13k
views
How to avoid the GameManager god object?
I just read an answer to a question about structuring game code. It made me wonder about the ubiquitous GameManager class, and how it often becomes an issue in a ...
- 9,151
53
votes
4
answers
12k
views
How are imaginary numbers useful in video game creation?
I learned about imaginary numbers in school and they seemed so impractical, so I asked my teacher what they were used for and he said "video game creation".
I just want to know if this is true and ...
- 641
53
votes
6
answers
79k
views
How can I implement gravity?
How can I implement gravity? Not for a particular language, just pseudocode...
- 721
53
votes
1
answer
52k
views
in/out keywords in GLSL
I don't really understand how to use the in / out keywords in GLSL, and google is being uncharacteristically unhelpful.
What ...
- 1,483
53
votes
4
answers
24k
views
How do I find artists to work on my game? [closed]
I ask "how" rather than "where" because there are undoubtedly lots of artists that are just plain lousy or unreliable.
Let's assume both paying and non-paying (mods, free games/open-source) positions....
- 1,645
52
votes
5
answers
24k
views
How do game bots perceive the game world & other entities?
This question has been on my mind for a while...mainly because I see bots for all sorts of games like WoW and others. My question is; how do the bots know what is appearing on the screen? I don't play ...
- 647
52
votes
7
answers
5k
views
Why no night sky with realistic star constellations?
As an amateur stargazer I noticed that many games which have night scenarios use textures for the night sky where the stars seem to be arranged entirely randomly. It seems like they were created by an ...
- 115k
52
votes
7
answers
14k
views
How do we convey scale in 2D games?
What methods can one use to let the player experience the size of a game world in a 2D game, be it Isometric or Orthogonal?
When playing an open-world game in 3D, the player often is able to rotate ...
- 623
52
votes
5
answers
52k
views
How to avoid texture bleeding in a texture atlas?
In my game there is a Minecraft-like terrain made out of cubes. I generate a vertex buffer from the voxel data and use a texture atlas for looks of different blocks:
The problem is that the texture ...
- 5,651
52
votes
10
answers
24k
views
Game State 'Stack'?
I was thinking about how to implement game states into my game. The main things I want for it are:
Semi-transparent top states-being able to see through a pause menu to the game behind
Something OO-I ...
- 10.3k
52
votes
1
answer
5k
views
Making a night scene without being dark on the monitor
What would be a good way to make a 3D scene look "like" a dark night, without being so dark on the monitor that it's hard to see stuff (especially when playing in a brightly lit room).
I've been ...
- 613
51
votes
3
answers
21k
views
What is the little dot/icon at the center of the screen in an FPS game called?
So I am developing a game and trying to find one of those to use, but I don't know what to search for. If you don't know what I am taking about, look at these examples:
What are these called?
user109416
51
votes
4
answers
16k
views
Why do games have hats?
I noticed that a lot of games tend to have hats. I was wondering why? Is it some sort of tradition to add hats to your games? What makes this trend so popular in game development?
- 8,284
51
votes
10
answers
17k
views
How to detect and prevent abuse (botting) of online game API?
I have been ocassionally working on a game idea in my free time. The gameplay and content renders it to be implemented as a online multiplayer game built with well established web technologies. You ...
- 613
51
votes
3
answers
12k
views
What is "game logic code?"
I'm using C#/XNA and have been told quite a few times not to mix update code with draw code -- and I'm certain I'm not! But could anyone please describe what exactly is 'logic code'?
As seen here: ...
- 589
51
votes
14
answers
10k
views
Creating meaningful and engaging quests
Kill X number of monsters.
Gather Y number of items (usually by killing X number of monsters).
Deliver this NPC's package to this other NPC who is far far away.
etc.
Yeah. These quests are ...
- 851
51
votes
10
answers
13k
views
How do Action RPGs make different weapon types feel unique?
I'm getting feedback on my game which has Action RPG elements (think Diablo, Torchlight, etc.) but you control a team of heroes. When you kill enemies sometimes new weapons will drop. In my game the ...
- 3,130
51
votes
9
answers
8k
views
What kind of project management should a solo developer project use?
I’m working by myself on a game project whose development could be separated into 3 independent parts (map generation, the “overworld” engine, and the battle engine), but as the development progresses,...
- 1,392
51
votes
1
answer
113k
views
GLSL: How do I cast a float to an int?
In a GLSL fragment shader I am trying to cast a float into an int. The compiler raises an error:
...
- 975
51
votes
7
answers
10k
views
2D Platformer AABB collision problems
I have a problem with AABB collision resolution.
I resolve AABB intersection by resolving the X axis first, then the Y axis.
This is done to prevent this bug: http://i.stack.imgur.com/NLg4j.png
The ...
- 1,160
50
votes
6
answers
15k
views
You've killed the enemy you needed to get across. Now you have to die and retry?
I am designing enemies for a platformer, and want to have enemies which the player utilises to get through levels.
I like the idea of jumping on enemies to platform across gaps, but it's problematic ...
- 1,819
50
votes
9
answers
42k
views
Why do game engines convert models to triangles instead of using quads?
I've worked using Maya for animation and more film orientated projects however I am also focusing on my studies on video game development. Anyways, I was talking with one of my professor and we couldn'...
- 611