What are some books you would recommend for newcomers?

As I am working my way through jotting down some game idea's* i have come to the thought process of "How to make Terrain" and im not meaning in the programming sense, im more so meaning in the walkability of the terrain.

When you do make a mountain steep that the players can not drive or walk up down and along it? When do you make it mellow enough for walkability but not drivability? and when to make it for both modes of transport?

I can't really think of a game that I have enjoyed that has a good mix of this. It feels like most games just shove it to the "its steep" side where you get a few steps up the side and then slide down (either taking fall damage and dying or just sliding down) so I am wanting to find a good mix.

And I'm not just also not just talking about a positive vertical sense, I am also talking about going into the depths of the ocean, from beach down

submitted by /u/Birphon
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Non-Programmer Approach to building & Managing a Gamedev team?

Posted: 21 Feb 2022 07:43 PM PST

I have always want to know how game designers like Hideo Kojima work with programmers and Artist to create a game, When he doesnt know programing. My question is how would one who doesnt know how to program ( More of a game designer ) put together and manage a team to succesfully create a finish game? Assuming I have the nescecary funds . Is there a Pipeline software that automate artist model with programmers and ETC?

submitted by /u/yowassup132132
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Any good libraries or softwares to help with networking? C++

Posted: 21 Feb 2022 09:11 PM PST

Hi, I have been wanting to start an multiple game project for a while now. I know I don't want to use a game engine (because of limitations) so I decided I would make it using C++ and something like Raylib or OpenGL. I want the server to do pretty much everything (store player data, textures, and other data) and I really just want the client to handle rendering and sending inputs to the server. Thinking about how I want my game to work I think TCP would be a better protocol than UDP. So, are there any networking libraries that could handle what I talked about above (I also plan on scaling the server to handle more "worlds" or sub servers for people to go onto) sorry if I didn't explain the question to well. Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks.

submitted by /u/ThisMayBeMyName_
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How to make a scratch card effect with line renderer in unity

Posted: 22 Feb 2022 02:21 AM PST

submitted by /u/ZeroKelvinTutorials
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How to prevent peer-to-peer host from unlocking everything?

Posted: 21 Feb 2022 06:49 PM PST

In a P2P multiplayer game, how is the host prevented from (for example) unlocking all unlockables instantly?

In other words, when the player is the server, how are their commands verified before the command is accepted?

submitted by /u/ImpressiveTea8177
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Request for opinions on Godot 4.0 and Unreal 5 engine performance for mid-end 3D requirements

Posted: 21 Feb 2022 05:15 PM PST

Hi, I'm pretty much a newbie to game development, but I've been interested in diving into a new game engine and trying to make a prototype with a particular goal in mind.

Now that Godot 4 alpha has been out for a few days, I'm curious in the the 3D performance between Godot 4.0 and Unreal Engine 5 and scaling down to a less ambitious project than Unreal Engine is usually known for. Unreal Engine will obviously have better performance when there is a high graphics fidelity and performance requirement, but I'm not exactly making that type of game.

I want to make a multiplayer 3D objective shooter, with between 10 to 20 players in a game. The map size will be comparable to TF2 (both 2007 and 2016) or Overwatch. I really want the game to run well on mid to low end PCs, and I'm planning on making my game's art rather stylized and less demanding. An unrealistic example of what I want: 300+ fps on a 1050 Ti at 1080p.

I'm also interested in having the game be available on Linux. It seems Unreal in general isn't very Linux friendly, but I'm also interested in performance before making the decision on whether it's worth dealing with the issues for UE on Linux.

For anyone who's used both, which engine will has the better capability or tools to make running such as game run as well as possible?

I'm not interested in Unity at the moment because of it's licensing and lack of moddability if I decide to release the game files, but feel free to discuss it or other alternatives.

submitted by /u/Eat8all
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ASMR Game Programming - Unity Character Movement - No Talking

Posted: 22 Feb 2022 01:25 AM PST

submitted by /u/ManInTech
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Steamworks : ICO & TGA icons appears black ?

Posted: 21 Feb 2022 04:53 PM PST

Hi everyone,

I am a noob with Steamworks, currently in the process of releasing my first commercial game. Steamworks is a beast, with all its tabs and sub tabs. I manage to learn some part of it, but there is still one thing that I have no idea how to do :

How to have your client icons appears properly?

In Steamworks, you are asked to upload clients icons : a .ICO file (32*32) and a .TGA file (16*16). I use photopea to export the files, the .ICO is accepted by Steamworks, the TGA isn't (but there is an option to convert the .ICO to .TGA) and then ... when I publish they appears completely black in the interface.

I've tried to use other softwares than photopea but I always have the same result : OK when on drive, black squares when uploaded to Steamworks.

My game demo is now released (for Steam Next Fest) but people downloading it have a black square as an icon in their steam client :/

If you have any suggestions or clues about what I'm not doing right, I would be interested to read about it.

Thank you for your time gamedevs!

submitted by /u/JonathLorenzGameDev
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Are there any games that actively encourage cheating?

Posted: 21 Feb 2022 08:33 PM PST

I wonder if there are bunch of script kiddies and budding hackers who would love to compete against each other over small stakes like FPS or similar. I think it would be interesting to see what they could do, and what tactics would be needed to out-shoot your cheating enemies. I bet there is a way to change the game such that it becomes fun to cheat. You could have a deliberate rolodex of bugs that they need to find to take advantage of. Then "patch them" and replace them with new ones.

submitted by /u/Eulau
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Programming or Modelling I’m so confused..

Posted: 22 Feb 2022 12:14 AM PST

Hello everyone , sorry if my questions are dumb or something I'm so confused.. i'll explain abit about myself , I'm 22 and I' currently learning art while working on a hard ass job to get money and do what ever I like, I started with 3D sculpting since I really liked it and was impressed from people doing it , lately I started to like drawing ALOT and I tried to model as well a shoes and stuff like that I don't really know if I like the model part since I don't have alot of experience on it .. I was more on the sculpting side I start to make my research about programming and the salaries are alot higher , I'm not coming from a rich family and I work hard , should I go and learn programming and do art the way I like and enjoy? Since I don't know if I would like to work on a company and model for them since I didn't experienced it and I really like to sketch on paper and create my own stuff Question 1: should I learn programming and do art as a hobby? Question 2: or should I go and learn 3D animation in college even tho it has less demand and I didn't experienced on its like to work on a company

submitted by /u/Ok-Procedure4885
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Defensive Programming - Please add to the discussion

Posted: 21 Feb 2022 03:56 PM PST

Hello, I've been working on a city builder game for the last 2.5 months, and want to discuss defensive programming techniques. I've been spending relatively little time on debugging which has been great. However, there is always room for improvement.

For reference, I am using C++, but the general principles should be familiar across most languages.

/----------------------------

Working with maps (aka hash tables)

I've learned the hard way to never use [] with maps.

struct Tile_DS { ... }; unordered_map<int, Tile_DS> gameMap {}; Tile_DS tile = unordered_map[0];

For C++, the problem with the above code is that if the key '0' does not exist, then it will be created and added to the map. This means an uninitialized Tile_DS will be added to the gameMap. What's particularly hard to debug is when your Tile_DS struct contains a pointer and you attempt to access it later with the same key. This will create a memory access violation exception (or worse). When you enforce map access, it will instead look like this:

// Adding a new key, use emplace(). If key exists, nothing will happen. // Existing key does not change (prevents bugs!) gameMap.emplace( $key, tile ); // Accessing the map. In most cases it makes sense to check the key exists. // Prevents complicated bugs down the road! if( gameMap.find( $key ) != gameMap.end() ) { $tile = gameMap.at( $key ); } else // throw some error/message

Enhanced Typing: Additionally, when I began working with many maps in my game, it could become bug prone from using the wrong variable (as your key) to access a map element. This could easily happen by copy and pasting code and swapping out the map variable names. One way around this I've been thinking about is to use 'enum class' as the map's keys' (when they are iterative or incremental). e.g.:

enum class TileID { ZERO }; unordered_map<TileID, Tile_DS> gameMap {}; TileID tile_id = static_cast<TileID>( $some_int_key ); gameMap.emplace( tile_id, $tile ); // or at(), etc

C++ allows you store a value not defined in the enum class in the enum's type. e.g.

TileID tile_id = static_cast<TileID>( 100 ); // Valid, will not crash

You would need a couple helper functions to convert from TileID to int (or reverse). A small price to pay to enforce strong typing and map access.

/----------------------------

enum class

I am already using enum class's where ever possible (except for maps as explained above). This has helped IMMENSLY because Visual Studio auto fills and lists the available options. For example, I can can see and access all the GUI's I created because each one has an enum class associated with it. This makes accessing a non-existent GUI much harder. The only time this happens now is if I forget to initialize it, which is rare. This also means if the game crashes, there's only (so far) one reason why it did so. The GUI was not initialized!

/----------------------------

Pointers

One of the most challenging pieces of code I've needed to debug involved pointers. When using the Fly Weight, it can extremely tricky to debug a fly weight you thought you fully initialized but actually wasn't. Or you could accidentally change what the pointer is pointing to (whoops, should be using const pointers..). One thing I had to remind myself was to NOT delete the data the pointer is pointing to. Instead, just set pointer to nullptr before deleting the entry. (e.g. If you want to remove a tile from the gameMap, set the "static" data (the stuff the pointer is pointing to) to nullptr, then delete the entry from the gameMap). In general, where I can use a map/hash table, I will in place of a pointer. If I have to use a pointer, then I triple check I deallocate the memory correctly and safely.

/----------------------------

Style

One of the newer features of C++ is not needing braces for if statements and loops. Personally, I think this is bug prone method of coding. It is very helpful to visually see where a block of code ends. Especially when you need to use two or more lines for the same line of code (e.g. long if statements). [Edit] My bad, optional braces have been around forever.

/----------------------------

Commenting your code

I am a zealous code commenter. My mind is always blown when I poke through github repos and the code is lightly commented, or not commented at all. Even worse when the function and variable names are cryptically name (seriously, why the hell did you even bother posting that?). I also apply this to variable and function names. It has saved me a lot of time to instantly being able to know what a piece of code is doing. Visual Studio has autofill so longer names are not really an issue, and you can keyword search for what you need! In the same vein, don't use magic numbers. You'll forget why you're multiplying your variable by 4.

/----------------------------

Taking the time to refactor sooner. Then doing it again

This one is debatable, maybe. Personally I've found this helpful because I am able to cut the number of lines of code used up to 75%. If I can fit the entire function on my screen, and if all my function and variable names clearly communicate what they do, then I'm able to understand what the code is doing in a few seconds. Once your subroutine functions are a few lines of code, they are essentially bug free and you can lower their priority while debugging.

/----------------------------

goto

If your function code fits on one page and you're using nested for loops, or there's only one level of loop and there is some code you need to place before your goto line that you want to execute only if the loop finishes, then goto is for you. They remove so much clutter and flag checking. Just keep the goto within the function scope. It sounds like goto was abused in the past, but when used appropriately, they are immensely useful.

/----------------------------

Copying code

I already mentioned I am doing this, and the enum class ID's in maps will help, but I am beginning to lean towards not copy and pasting code. All it takes is to miss one variable swap to cause a problem.

/----------------------------

Templates and auto

Lastly, I refuse to use templates. I also do not use the auto keyword except in for each loops where its obvious what is being iterated. Going back to readability, I want to reiterate the importance (to me) of figuring out what my code does as quickly as possible. Templates and auto just muddy up the water. I personally have no problem manually implementing function overloading, or creating a function (with an appended use case to the function name) for each need.

Following these rules has flipped the ratio of debugging and code to 20/80. 80% of the time I'm coding, and 20% of the time I am debugging.

submitted by /u/Eulau
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What branch of mathematics nurtures procedural generation?

Posted: 21 Feb 2022 04:37 PM PST

Hello, I remember seeing articles a long time ago about the generation of minecraft maps, in which each layer determined what materials would compose it in a fairly graphic way, forming curves, which, when superimposing layers, formed bags of that material. Or in the generation of dungeon maps, in which walls are procedurally selected that make sense to join together.

Is that geometry? Discrete mathematics? Or, what is it?

Thanks.

submitted by /u/Quirky-Landscape-433
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Breaking News

Programming29

Tuesday, February 22, 2022

What are some books you would recommend for newcomers?

What are some books you would recommend for newcomers?

Working with maps (aka hash tables)

enum class

Pointers

Style

Commenting your code

Taking the time to refactor sooner. Then doing it again

goto

Copying code

Templates and auto

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