First, I’ve abandoned the blog for a while and I shall apologize for anyone who actually reads my entries, perhaps only to my future self. An avid reader would know I did #Artember but I don’t think I ever mentioned taking part in Read the rest of this entry »
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Game Development, LudumDare, Racing Simulator, TurtleBrains, Zoom Car World 3 | 
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Posted by timbeaudet
After a random discussion on in the #LudumDare irc channel about directory watching and the desire to get a normal mapping shader implemented one Saturday morning I decided to develop and integrate “hot loading” shaders scripts. Never heard of hot-loading assets, well the best description I can give is: Flipping Magical. No really, I can open Game Project and change an asset file, like the script, hit save, and watch the effects be applied immediately. It is not that difficult to setup. Read the rest of this entry »
Comments Off on Hot Loading Assets | Game Development, Programming, Tools/Editors | Permalink
Posted by timbeaudet
class InputAction
{
public:
bool IsDown(void) const;
bool IsPressed(void) const;
bool IsReleased(void) const;
void ClearBindings(void);
void AddBinding(const tbApplication::Key& keyBinding);
void RemoveBinding(const tbApplication::Key& keyBinding);
private:
KeyContainer mKeyBindings;
};
Just before LudumDare 36 I added a new way to handle input to TurtleBrains framework, it is quite simple but so far I really enjoy the way it is used. It is just a powerful little object that can Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by timbeaudet
Earlier this year, way back in early June, I took my dad on canoe trip through the Allagash Wilderness Waterway. This is a 92 mile waterway stretching over several large lakes and going down the Allagash river until you reach a little town near the top of Maine. After traveling by road for hours, including hours on some well used dirt logging roads we unloaded the truck, loaded the canoe and set off on the water. This was my Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by timbeaudet
Racetracks have a lot of fencing, and placing each section of fencing section by section would be a daunting task, so I spent the last few hobby development sessions creating a way to edit a spline that could be attached to an object to place the fence. Last year I had my first experience with bezier curves when I Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by timbeaudet
It was decided, at the end of August, that I would be attempting to make or practice a bit of art each day during September. Hopefully I can make it last a bit longer, but if I can complete some art each day I will have achieved my goal for the year. Art is hard. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by timbeaudet
What a weekend project this one proved to be, I spent most of my Friday looking through the themes to get basic ideas, something I usually avoid. Prior to theme announcement I was assuming the theme would be unfavorable, since I had great ideas for others and so-so ideas for the rest. Ancient Technology was a so-so idea that Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by timbeaudet
June is wrapping up, meaning that the year is almost half over, or half the year is yet to come. Looking back at my goals for this year I’m on target for some, haven’t started others and in danger of completely failing some. As written at the start of the year my goals for the year were:
Being halfway through the year, a few of these are complete wipes. I haven’t had nearly as much time for hobby/personal development as I had last year. So TurtleBrains has suffered as have the 1GAM projects. I would like to get at least a single developer to try the framework but it really does need high level documentation first. It looks like this won’t be the year I make money from my personal development efforts either, although I won’t give up just yet. I nearly finished a second season in iRacing but life got busy and took time away for several weeks, I may just let that one lay where it is, or I may race in season 2016S4.
I haven’t done much art at all, and honestly I really should give that a solid attempt. I may change it a little bit though, to include graphics programming. This could be shaders, animation, shadows or other engine technologies that could help ZoomCarWorld3 come to life. This might be stretching the definition of “art” a little, but I think it works to my larger goal of creating a racing simulator. As such I am also modifying the 1GAM projects to be either a smaller sized game project (24 hours or so in size/scope), or a technical demo/simulation much like my Double-Wishbone Suspension Simulation that I am still working on simulating.
The  TurtleBrains goals may be a wash for the year as my primary focus is moving forward on my racing simulator with the first basic playable of ZoomCarWorld3 hopefully being semi-playable this year.
Comments Off on Midway Point of 2016 | Game Development, Outdoors/Hiking, Programming, Sim Racing | Permalink
Posted by timbeaudet
Making a game in 48-hours is a great way to spend a weekend, it is a short window of time but generally enough get something small created and, sometimes, polished. For the past few Ludum Dare events I have been participating with a team, usually a musician and an artist, but for LD34 the team was of 5 people, 2 artists, a musician and a designer, with of course myself being Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by timbeaudet
Taking a short breaks from game development and programming is quite important, and I find nature to be the best place for a bit of reflection. Recently I took two outdoor newbies into the wild for a bit of an adventure. It was a trip that had been planned for months, and during planning one of these guys was dead set on taking a weapon, like a mace or bat or sword. It was a bit funny at first until I came to believe he legitimately took the adventure like one you would play in a table top role-playing game, like Pathfinder. It took a lot of coaxing and convincing, but no weapons were brought, instead we had Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by timbeaudet