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Outside Projects SDLTutorials.com
News:
7/5/10
SDL 1.3:
Hey, I'm setting up a page to make it easier to check out SDL 1.3 and contribute your own build. Come on in!
4/17/10
Physics:
I just think this is cool. This is an image of a Meissner Effect demonstration for a lab that I did recently. The effect lets you easily levitate a magnet above a superconductor. That is, if you call attaining temperatures of 80 Kelvin easy (which technically it is - liquid nitrogen boils at 77 K - you just don't see it every day).
4/11/10
Linux:
A new section is open. It's all about Linux: What it is, why you'd want it, how to get started, and more!
2/8/10
NFont: v2.0.0
NFont has been upgraded! Check out the NFont page for details.
1/14/10
Blue Dino Code + SDLTutorials.com = Awesome!:
Blue Dino Code and SDLTutorials.com are teaming up! You can now find a forum to discuss the games, libraries, and tutorials on this site. There's also a forum link on the left panel. I might not update all of the pages until the Blue Dino Code site itself moves to the new format I have planned (more dynamic, for sure). Be sure to take a tour of SDLTutorials.com if you haven't been there before! There's a lot of good stuff for beginners to either C++ or SDL.
1/18/10
Getting Over the Hump:
Here's an article about what to try when you're just plain stuck on a problem or you've run out of motivation.
1/14/10
Blue Dino Code + SDLTutorials.com = Awesome!:
Blue Dino Code and SDLTutorials.com are teaming up! You can now find a forum to discuss the games, libraries, and tutorials on this site. There's also a forum link on the left panel. I might not update all of the pages until the Blue Dino Code site itself moves to the new format I have planned (more dynamic, for sure). Be sure to take a tour of SDLTutorials.com if you haven't been there before! There's a lot of good stuff for beginners to either C++ or SDL.
12/7/09
Pile:
Pile needs you! Are you tired of the mess of Makefile syntax, portability issues, Make in general or have no clue what I'm talking about? Then check out Pile, a cross-platform, intuitive build system currently in development.
11/4/09
Ludum Dare and a secret project:
MiniLD 14 is just around the corner (Nov. 13-15), and it has been announced that it'll be all about teamwork! If you're ready to push creative limits and get something awesome accomplished, send me an email to join my team! As should be obvious from this site, my thing is C++ and SDL. I have been working on a secret side project lately to brush up on OpenGL a bit (see screenshot), so that's an option too. It has also been good teamwork practice, since I have very little to do with the game design. See you there!
10/4/09
C++: goodio
goodio has been updated to v1.1! I added a FileReader class that makes all your problems with ifstream go away (output will come eventually), as well as ioExplode() for help with parsing certain things, and little improvements like changing things such as ioStripDir to ioStripToDir (to make what it does clearer). I also found a way to get the program's executable path in Linux, so I've replaced the ugly argv stuff with that and the equivalent code for Windows. So now you can use ioGetProgramPath() with ioSetCWD() to make sure that your relative file names work even if your program is called from a weird place (like /usr/bin). Comments? Suggestions? Let me know!
9/27/09
MixBox:
With Knight of the Cave Dragon, I finally added sound to a Ludum Dare game. I was really surprised by how easy it was, so I've polished the library that I used. Here's the first official release of MixBox, a C++ library that wraps and extends SDL_mixer. You can download it from the SDL page and read the quick usage guide to get more details and to get started.
8/31/09
Knight of the Cave Dragon:
Ludum Dare 15 is over! That makes another game on this site. In "Knight of the Cave Dragon", you play Sir Camus, a knight on a quest to slay a dragon. If that's not original enough, then consider this: The dragon lives in a cave! Anyhow, it has some fun elements having to do with light and darkness. No full page yet, so you can grab the LD version as linked from the LD page, or get the latest version here.
8/24/09
JEL-events:
When I was writing Frank the Dinosaur, I ran into a question: How should I handle game events? Of course, since I was on a bit of a time crunch, I just did it the naive way. I checked each condition once every frame. I knew this was a bad way, since some events were time-based and hence would not be triggered out of order. Yesterday, I wrote up the first bit of a library that will deal with this problem. JEL Event Library holds both time-based and action-based events. The action events are stored for quick access in a vector. The time events are stored in a sorted tree. In this way, many time conditions can be skipped altogether, meaning fewer checks and a more efficient system. Borrowing from the GRO_gui codebase, JEL events trigger Signals, which are typesafe wrappers for function pointers (i.e. events call the functions you give them). With Ludum Dare 15 starting this coming weekend, I've uploaded the initial implementation here. There are pieces missing, but the basic functionality is there. Future plans include a conditional system that automatically checks variables that you provide and triggers events as their conditions are met.
8/18/09
Site:
As you can see, I've added a little board so that my current focus is clearer. Here you can see what I'm up to... It'll change again when the new site is ready. Well, it looks like two new (to you ;p ) projects are up there, too. NFont is getting a makeover and finally receiving texture fonts in OpenGL through FreeType. GRO_gui is a GUI (graphical user interface) library with a lot of neat ideas packed in. It has replaceable backends for graphics (SDL or OpenGL so far) and fonts (NFont). It's not quite ready for primetime, but here it is. gfxr is a project that will replace 'programmer art'. You can keep up with it on its Google Code project page.
7/4/09
Site:
Some updates are in order, but they're not here yet. Besides work, I've been slowly working on a new project, Pile. It will get a real page link when the website design is updated.
5/1/09
SDL: StickyInput
StickyInput is a C++ library that makes it very easy to put joystick support into your games.
4/21/09
SDL:
Hey, another Ludum Dare over the weekend. The theme was Advancing Wall of Doom... 48 hours and here's my game (Slugs v Salt). I'm happy with what I accomplished. It is a fine start to what could be a very good game in the future.
3/31/09
C++: goodio
I just wrote a little C++ wrapper for some standard (and some pseudo-standard) C IO libraries. goodio lets you do simple things without having to touch those ugly C functions like stat() and his friends. You can check if a file exists, check if something is a file or a directory, easily append/prepend text to files, change/check file permissions, create and delete files and directories, copy and rename files, and even get a list of all the files in a directory. Let me know if you like it!
3/9/09
code.BlueDinosaurs.com:
Welcome to the new domain for this site! The name suggests a new theme, so you can expect that and some new content in the next couple of weeks!
2/9/09
SDL:
I participated in the Mini Ludum Dare competition over the weekend. The theme was Cryptozoology. Check out my game (Frank the Dinosaur)! It's a great demonstration of both Sprig and NFont hard at work!
2/6/09
SPriG on Google Code:
I've started a project for Sprig to make it easier for anyone to contribute.
2/5/09
NFont:
Yay! An update to NFont! This one fixes a bug in getWidth() and adds TrueType support by using SDL_ttf (optionally, of course).
2/4/09
Outside Projects:
Here's where I'll highlight games and apps done by others. Check out the first two entries! One is a game, and the other is a sound effect generator (woo!).
11/8/08
SPriG: v1.0.0
The full release of v1.0.0 is now up. There are a few name changes and a bunch of new functionality. To go along with it, there's a tutorial/guide up as well! With that and the updated documentation, it's easier than ever to get your graphics on.
10/8/08
SDL:
Here's a complete example of how to write a platformer video game like Super Mario Bros. It covers the basics: A character under the influence of gravity and flat platforms to jump on. If you've always wanted to make a game like this but you don't know where to start, then this is your chance!
10/3/08
Tutorials:
Want to use SDL? Never had the motivation? Here's an easy article on installation, going from having nothing to having graphics.
9/29/08
SPriG: Prerelease v1.0.0
A prerelease copy of the new version of Sprig is out! New features include a built-in dirty rect system, line thickness controls, and polygon transformations. Check it out and don't forget to grab the updated documentation! After some more testing, the official v1.0.0 release will be posted.
9/15/08
SPriG:
Hey, I've added some more nice functionality to Sprig, but it won't be online until I have a chance to rebuild the library. Some changes include a makefile (gasp!) and very useful polygon transforms (rotate, translate). These polygon functions are simple, so you can grab them here if you want them now.
8/17/08
SDL: SDL_ColorDef
New version of SDL_ColorDef. This time it has the W3C web colors. That makes over 200! Now there is a great range of choices.
8/8/08
NFont: NFontC
Here's a port of NFont to the C language. It takes a different approach to the library to make it feel good under C without C++'s classes.
8/2/08
SDL: SDL_ColorDef
New version of SDL_ColorDef with a convention change and the addition of RGBA controls.
8/1/08
GigaSun Jet: Level Editor
I'm releasing the Level Editor as open source... It's really useful if you have access to GigaSun Jet, but the source code might be of interest if you'd like to see how I handle certain things. Be warned, however, that I only just ran through the code and cleaned it up after about a year of not touching it. There's a lot of dumb stuff in there.
7/28/08
Tutorials:
A new article... On alpha-blending with SDL.
7/12/08
SDL:
Added ImageHandler, a C++ class that loads, converts, and stores images so that you can load your pictures on demand when you need to or preload them if you want to, while never worrying about duplicates.
7/11/08
Other:
Added MulpyPong, a simple multiplayer Pong clone written in Python.
7/7/08
SPriG: v0.941
Sprig has been updated with some fixes to the arc drawing routines (arcs, filled arcs, and rounded rectangles work now) and several small things.
7/2/08
Tutorials:
Another new section (that was quick) that holds tutorials and articles is up. A few items are there already and I have a couple of examples on their way.
6/27/08
Other:
A new section has been added to hold projects for platforms that I don't work with commonly.
6/25/08
NFont:
A bugfix version, v1.61, has been posted. A portability bug (vsprintf) was in the drawPos and drawAll animation functions.
6/22/08
SPriG:
A draft version of the documentation is up. All of the functions are documented, but the project isn't finished. I still have to make lots of things link together. For now, though, the docs are still very helpful and nice-looking.
6/19/08
SPriG: v0.94
SPriG version 0.94 released! There are many changes since the last release, including some new functionality, compatibility with GNU C, and testing on Debian Linux! SPG_FilledArc and SPG_RectRoundFilled still need some work for the next release, but the other additions work great. Of note is that SPG_LineH changed semantics: The arguments changed from XXY to XYX.
5/23/08
Beginners:
Added a couple of example files: One for C++ and one for SDL (using C++).
5/15/08
NFont: NFont
The newest version of NFont is up: v1.6. This one adds a lot of stuff like extended ASCII support, font metrics, and better NFontAnim integration. It's so important that NFont just got its own full page. NFont is definitely looking like the premier bitmap font library for SDL!
4/19/08
SDL: Jnet
This is a library on top of SDL_net that makes networking pretty easy!
4/13/08
GigaSun Jet: GigaSun Jet!!
Here's what I've been working on for a very long time. An omni-scrolling, stat progressing, splitscreening and networking spaceship game! Well, it's still far from finished, but you can check here for info on it.
4/10/08
C++: SpreadSheet class
Updated: Added some useful functions (mostly to check if things are empty). Almost added partial file loading, but I haven't had the chance to fix the problems with it (so it's commented out).
3/22/08
C++: SpreadSheet class
Here's a simple spreadsheet class that you can use to manipulate data in all the wonderful ways that C++ lets you and Excel doesn't.
1/22/08
NFont: NFont
NFont and NFontAnim v1.5 are up. There are some slight changes to fix my own concerns. I changed the destination pointer back to a standard pointer and removed the second constructor in favor of a more 'global'-friendly resetFont function. Also, code was moved to a separate source file so the big functions are not inlined.
1/16/08
SPriG: v0.93
Sprig Version 0.93 is now available. Colorkeying was added to SPG_Transform and several buggy functions (LineFades and Polygons) were fixed.
1/8/08
SPriG:
Version 0.92 of Sprig is now up. Some changes include an anti-aliasing stack system instead of separate function calls and slightly faster rotation.
1/3/07
Beginner C++ Projects:
A new section! It's a discussion of beginner programming topics. Check it out!
12/10/07
SPriG:
The newest version of SPriG has now been posted. It's most notable features are anti-aliased and alpha-blended primitives, rotation and scaling, quick convenience functions (my favorite is SPG_MakeRect), and several different alpha-blending modes that can work through SPG_Blit to give you greater control over your blitting.
12/10/07
SDL:
Uploaded SDL_ColorDef. It's a bunch of color #defines for SDL. You can set your color variables like so: Uint32 color = SDL_PURPLE(mysurf). If you have any colors to add, email me.
11/27/07
SPriG:
The SDL Primitive Generator, SPriG, is the new name for the minSGE project. It has come a long way and is starting to come together now. I have some touches to add to certain functions, a couple more functions to implement, and a lot of convenience/speed inlined functions (macros for C) to write. The basic functionality is there already, including several different alpha-blending modes (see the new page for details!).
10/16/07
minSGE:
Plan update: I've been working on the full minSGE implementation lately, which will considerably change the API. It will also make it independent of SGE so you can have both installed for your compiler at once and you'll be able to differentiate the dlls. It's gonna be good!
9/30/07
Site:
New look, same groove.
9/25/07
minSGE:
minSGE is a big change of the SGE library that makes it much cleaner and smaller.
8/21/07
SDL: U32_SDL
U32 allows you to save typing and do some great things with SDL's 32-bit RGBA surfaces.
6/23/07
NFont: NFont
Version 1.41 of NFont and NFontAnim fixes a slight bug caused by SDL's destructive clipping with SDL_BlitSurface().
6/16/07
NFont: NFont
Here's the final (unless something big comes up) version of NFont and NFontAnim: v1.4. In this version, NFontAnim derives from NFont to make the use of both fonts in one project a little cleaner. So if you need just NFont, just use NFont. If you need NFontAnim, then you have to use both (auto-included from NFontAnim.h). Like I said last time, this version lets you spawn new fonts in different colors!
6/9/07
NFont: NFont
Posted v1.3 of NFont. This one changed the class a bit and removed the dependence on SDL_Image. The next release should be pretty soon. I'm looking into better support for fonts that use alpha instead of colorkeys and I'll be adding a new function, newColor() that returns a brand new font in a color specified by the arguments you pass in.
6/9/07
NFont: NFontAnim
Okay, this is pretty exciting. Here's a branch from NFont that allows you to control the positions and everything else about how the font is drawn. Check out the example! It has several cool animations that you can steal.
6/3/07
Site:
Site created.