Spiral Knights - Reveal yourselves, software and game developers!

Reveal yourselves, software and game developers!

34 replies [Last post]

Mon, 04/06/2015 - 12:03

Krakob

I know there are quite a few in this community but obviously it's impossible to know even close to all of them so why don't we all share our projects and stoofs?

I'd call myself primarily a python developer. I've mostly worked on small scale programs for automation of some tasks for my own convenience. Right now I'm aiming to educate myself in computer science or something and become a professional. Currently I'm studying game development among other things at school and I'm learning Unreal Engine. Perhaps I'll be able to share something here at the end of the semester. As it looks now it's gonna be an SK/Zelda inspired game.

Some of my interesting projects:

Spiral Knights guild log manager - a work in "progress" module for handling guild logs exported from SK. I don't think I'll finish it but it's almost done so anyone interested could probably pick it up and make good use of it.
Steam achievement lister - turns Steam achievement progress into Google tasks lists
Knight popularity calculator - check how much people hand around the Spiral Knights forums using Google search

Mon, 04/06/2015 - 19:58

Deleted-Knight

I'm not a game developer* but

I'm not a game developer* but I'm looking forward to your works!

*I have tried, but I'm extremely lazy and unmotivated when it comes to coding. I like designing games rather than coding them.

Mon, 04/06/2015 - 20:58

Sir-Pandabear

I'm a lead developer for a web development company, mostly been working on a fantasy football game for the past year or so.

I have some hobby games which can be mostly found here.

I enjoy Python, Ruby and Coffeescript, am well-versed in Java, C#, C++, GML, OpenGL and HTML5, and pick up new language quick enough. Currently I'm exploring Haskell.

But you already knew all that.

Mon, 04/06/2015 - 22:04

Skepticraven

↓

Real Programmers.

IGP - Irregular Grid Painter. Think mspaint where the pixels are tessellations.

Most comfortable in C++, but have poked around enough in a bunch of other languages [what programmer hasn't?]. One of my favorites is Wolfram [wolframalpha's core language]. Too bad you need to purchase a license to use it. Aditionally, at some point I'll have to down-regulate my 5V arduino down to 3.3V to build up a custom time-lapse camera [the CMoS sensor I pulled out of a dying camera is 3.3V].

Tue, 04/07/2015 - 03:40

Krakob

@Deleted Knight

I would certainly recommend trying out Unreal Engine, then. It has a visual coding system called Blueprints, which is very easy to pick up and get working with. The engine overall has a ton of useful built in features so there isn't a lot of need to do technical stuff.For example, suppose you want your character to jump.

In something like Game Maker, this would be a bit simpler than in some engines since it has a built in gravity system, collision checking, et cetera. You would still have to implement this all and unless you have a very good understanding of what you're doing, it's easy to mess things up.

In Unreal, all you have to do is put out an event node for when a jump key is pressed and bind it to a node that says "Jump".

Tue, 04/07/2015 - 04:21

Thunder-The-Bright

algorithms are the solutions to any problem.

I'm studying computer science, does that count?
right now I've only done C++ and the most hated language by all my professors, java.

Tue, 04/07/2015 - 11:10

Sir-Pandabear

I already like your professors.

Tue, 04/07/2015 - 12:25

Deleted-Knight

I've heard of Unreal but didn't know about the blueprints thing. I might try it out. Thanks for the info, Krakob.

Tue, 04/07/2015 - 12:38

Krakob

Clearly, these professors haven't heard of PHP.

No probs, DK!

Tue, 04/07/2015 - 15:13

Skepticraven

↓

And thus begins the programming language flame-war.

Visual languages should be burned. Writing programs in those languages is similar to attempting to run a marathon in a space suit. *Continues ranting about LabVIEW being popular for scientists.*

Frankly, I also dislike all interpreted languages. They require a ton of overhead and are much slower than compiled languages. They have their place for short scripts, but should not be used for anything complex. *Glares at the liking and use of Python and Ruby above.*

@Krakob

I don't understand your hatred towards PHP. It has its place... for scripting generation of HTML. If you're using it for something other than that, you picked the wrong language.

@Thunder-The-Bright

Most people hate Java once they learn a C language. From that point on, it just screams inefficiency and lacks powerful [but also dangerous] things like pointers.

Wed, 04/08/2015 - 00:42

#10

Sir-Pandabear

@Skeptic

http://eev.ee/blog/2012/04/09/php-a-fractal-of-bad-design/

As for scripted vs compiled languages, you aren't wrong. But there are many resources to be considered when choosing a language to program something in. For instance, programmer time, readability, maintenance, joy, quality of life. The performance cost for interpreted languages may also not be significant even in complex applications, as long as you use compiled code in just the few critical spots that do heavy operations often.

Plus the fact that the only way to run code on web client is by interpreted means. Not much of a choice there. But hey, Unreal engine got implemented in Javascript just fine!

That being said, have you heard of the language Jonathan Blow is designing? It's looking pretty sexy!

Wed, 04/08/2015 - 01:52

#11

Krakob

Rest assured 100% of my hatred towards PHP stems from funny and/or informative blog posts about bs in PHP which were linked to me by Zeddy.

Now I like my Python, but I can definitely see the good parts of learning something low level like C. I haven't had any project where I've felt the need for it yet though, so I don't think I will for some while. As I said in the OP, most of my programs are just used to make tasks more convenient.

Wed, 04/08/2015 - 06:37

#12

Skepticraven

↓

@Zeddy

"But there are many resources to be considered when choosing a language to program something in. For instance, programmer time, readability, maintenance, joy, quality of life."

Readability coming from someone who likes ruby? I still cant understand why they thought it was a good idea to support implicit parenthesis. With enough practice, all languages become easy. For short scripts I really enjoy using the Wolfram Language. If you remember, I redid your ruby damage minimization code [~60 lines if you ignore input/file reader/output] in mathematica [~7 lines] with insanely increased precision [you had ~32bits, I had 1000digits].

The only issue is that you need to purchase a license to program in Wolfram.

"Plus the fact that the only way to run code on web client is by interpreted means."

Factually wrong. Counterexample: Java. In fact, this is the full purpose of java's architecture. It's in-between interpreted and compiled, and its speeds compare accordingly. It isn't as efficient as compiled languages, but it does get the browser/multiplatform support.

On the PHP stuff... it appears to nitpick things that exist in most languages. All languages have their faults. PHP has a purpose, of which isn't very broad or even really for people that are familiar with programming. It also has a bad track record for predictability... but theyve been working to fix that since 2014. Calling out one language because it doesn't do what its supposed to is disingenuous. PHP was clearly designed to push through erroneous code without crashing to still provide output on the users end. It does a lot of crazy things because of it.

Jonathan Blow? Never heard of him. Sounds like theyre going to toss another language in the bucket to select from.

Wed, 04/08/2015 - 08:40

#13

Krakob

Blow is the gent who made Braid. You can find his YT channel and information on his language here.

Wed, 04/08/2015 - 10:57

#14

Sir-Pandabear

That's a low blow, I was just learning Ruby at the time. :<
I've learnt a lot since then and would never have written the same application like that these days.

Counter-counter-example: Almost none of the devices in this house are capable of running Java web apps (without jailbreaking, linux shenanigans, or other third-party apps not made by the developers of Java). These include:

Chromebook
Android
Iphone
PS Vita

Java as a web platform is dying. Banks are getting rid of them. Banks! Banks still use COBOL, that's how much they hate getting rid of old technology, but they're getting rid of Java.

And how is having Java Virtual Machine installed and running in the background even when you're not using it not a lot of overhead?

Jonathan Blow's language is not a game engine. Rather, it's a low-level language being designed for making game engines, with both performance and development time bettering those of C++. I think it's looking pretty cool. His goal is to replace C++ as an industry standard, and while I don't know if that's feasible any time soon, I think it'd be cool.

Wed, 04/08/2015 - 17:33

#15

Riftlocker

<-- Skepticraven

C++ is used as a glue for quite a few game engines...
It really doesnt make sense to rewrite c++ since all the optimizations are pretty well-tuned to c++. That type of goal appears to be a failure before it starts... since c++ is no where near a "finished" language.

Banks function on security. Java is too popular to be secure. Isn't COBOL too old to even have web-based security flaws? Maybe thats why they use it.

Just because java isnt shipped to those devices by default doesnt mean theyre not compatible. A better question is...
What interpreted languages do those devices support with a vanilla install? Heck, python and ruby werent installed on my linux mint by default.

Wed, 04/08/2015 - 22:14

#16

Addy

I'm going to lurk here for

I'm going to lurk here for inspiration and advice, perhaps. owo I have a ton of game ideas but I haven't really started coding yet. Got a few things downloaded though, like Unity, TWINE, Ren'py and GameMaker Studio Standard, but ... still a bit too scared to dive in. ;w;

Thu, 04/09/2015 - 01:53

#17

Krakob

No reason to be scared, Addy. Just pop up one of those engines and try to follow a tutorial and see how it goes.

Thu, 04/09/2015 - 14:57

#18

Dahall

I am going to jump on this thread as well as I have some experience with 3D design and Unity GameEngine. Got nothing else to add :\

Thu, 04/09/2015 - 15:34

#19

Addy

I'm mostly scared of failure

I'm mostly scared of failure ahaha...

Well, I have a lot of time off this season so I should be able to fiddle around with some ideas and get started soon anyway.

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 02:13

#20

Krakob

It's hard to "fail" at game development. Sure, you may not be able to do everything you want to if your knowledge is limited but downright failing doesn't exist in my experience. I guess some might disagree but I don't feel like I've ever downright failed. Even if something doesn't go as planned there's something to be learned and if things just don't work out you can always rework and/or simplify the design.

Fri, 04/10/2015 - 07:07

#21

Dahall

I got this one amazing tutorial to throw on the 3D modellers here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2s0mANzeuUk

Sat, 04/11/2015 - 04:11

#22

Sir-Pandabear

@Riftlocker

"What interpreted languages do those devices support with a vanilla install?"

Javascript.

Sat, 04/11/2015 - 06:10

#23

Skepticraven

↓

@Zeddy

I would argue that the web browsers support js by default, not the operating systems themselves. And the web browser support for js is more out of a need from so many web pages using it. Additionally, it isn't bad at what it does from an efficiency standpoint. The interesting thing about javascript nowadays is that browsers are compiling it at runtime for better performance instead of being a true interpreted language.

Also keep in mind that even though javascript is well used, a lot of the web-based developers that depend upon javascript have been working on transcompiled languages that have better optimization techniques. Google has been playing around with Dart and Microsoft has been playing around with TypeScript. The major issues with these new languages are javascript is too extensively used and the optimizations arent quite enough to cause a large migration to the newer language native.

Sat, 04/11/2015 - 18:12

#24

Addy

Krakob - that's honestly one

Krakob - that's honestly one of the most freeing things somebody has told me creatively and ughhh I really needed that

thank u ;w;

My goal will be to have SOMETHING started by the end of the month. Just gotta settle on which.

Sat, 04/11/2015 - 19:38

#25

Saucce

Hmm...

I know a little (And when I say a little, it means 20 minutes worth) of Python. If you want a good developer, get in touch with Autofire.

Fri, 05/01/2015 - 16:43

#26

Tdog-Turbo-Dog

MAJIKZ!

I happen to be a C (not C++, nor C#, someone please stab those) programmer (I also write assembly :D(yes, I am crazy. yes, I know multiple assembly languages. yes, I preform madness on a daily basis. yes, I use assembly in my day to day life(didn't I say I was crazy?). yes, my desktop is covered in code. no, I do not use a IDE. no, I do not use windows. and last but not least. NO! I REFUSE TO TOUCH JAVA! IT IS EVIL!))

currently I am enjoying derping around with low level real mode OS stuffs, writing assembly for microcontrollers, writing a game engine using freeGLUT, developing AI (no, they arn't GLaDOS level of AI. Not yet anyways), writing a VM, writing a inverse kinematics engine, writing a robotics OS for ARM devices, preforming madness with a old but still functional C=64, writing my own interpreted language, etc

oh, also
mov EAX, [extra note]
jmp .APPEND

Next year I'll actually be taking some programming classes (I am fully self taught) in which I will have to touch java. D:
and no, I am not taking aforementioned classes to learn. I am taking them to work my way towards a computer science degree

so, anyone have any other questions?

(yet again, more extra notes)
and no, compilers are NOT better at writing assembly than me, I shall explain why if someone asks

Fri, 05/01/2015 - 17:10

#27

Dahall

You'd expect a more sophisticated name from a guy who has been coding all his life.

Fri, 05/01/2015 - 19:32

#28

Tdog-Turbo-Dog

nope!

maybe, but I have seen some other, much more meh names
besides, I said I programmed, not that I sat around and pondered all the names in the universe

also, I'm known for stupid names on the internet.
I SAID I PROGRAMMED! WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!

also, is that your ONLY question?

Sat, 05/02/2015 - 19:52

#29

Dahall

Yep

I can't get any use from asking questions out of curiosity.

Also, for those making test games, pls post pics(regardless of their appeal) as I am very bored and need motivation(even though I once said something regarding using motivation to achieve goals an unhealthy practice). Pls :3

Sun, 05/03/2015 - 13:21

#30

Skepticraven

↓

"and no, compilers are NOT better at writing readable assembly than me"

There, fixed it for you. That being said, high level languages are definitely a convenience for complex code. I've written a couple inverse kinematic engines in c++, and they were simple enough (complex math, but pretty simple code-wise) where someone that knows assembly would easily do better.

Lowest levels I've done is G-Code for some CNCing. That being said, I'm moving into higher and higher level stuff by getting into implementing systems that use learning algorithms for computer vision. Processing in real-time on a bare minimum machine isn't particularly the objective - getting the right answer is.

I'm glad no one in this thread is defending scratch or labview. Can I take this as a unanimous decision that visual languages are horrible?

Mon, 05/04/2015 - 08:41

#31

Krakob

I think Blueprints in Unreal Engine are pretty nice to w- shot by Skepticraven

Mon, 05/04/2015 - 14:58

#32

Tdog-Turbo-Dog

well, maybe?

"'and no, compilers are NOT better at writing readable assembly than me'
There, fixed it for you."

both yes, and no. compilers do generate horrible blobs of code that no one dares to mess with. but those blobs aren’t the most efficient they can be. Thus is where fine tuning by hand comes in. If you write your code fully optimized (using sneaky sneaky tricks) then it can run as fast as what a compiler outputs. The major thing compilers save on is development time. What would take me a month would take someone with a compiler a month - 3 to 4 days.

Thus, it's about a tie.

But yes, I do write much more readable assembly than a compiler
:D

also, I agree on the idea that all graphical programming languages should burn! ALL OF THEM!

*shoots Krakob to make sure he's dead*

Wed, 05/06/2015 - 19:32

#33

Deleted-Knight

Tdog, I can one-up you. I

Tdog, I can one-up you.
I used transistors, push buttons, and LCD displays to build a working 4-digit calculator. I can construct everything you can code with hardware, it just takes a long time. Plus, with hardware, I can minimize power consumption and boost performance by choosing parts that specifically meet my needs.

All software needs to burn!

Fri, 05/08/2015 - 06:59

#34

Ill-Sick

Triple Threat Artist

I can make games, graphics, music, animations, codes.
I used to make it a major part of my day but now I take it easy.

Search

Reveal yourselves, software and game developers!