(Link to AcmlmWiki) Offline: thank ||bass
Register | Login
Views: 13,040,846
 Main | Memberlist | Active users | Calendar | Chat | Online users
Ranks | FAQ | ACS | Stats | Color Chart | Search | Photo album 		04-24-23 07:52 AM
Acmlm's Board - I3 Archive - - Posts by Squash Monster
Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
User Post
Squash Monster

Bouncy


 





Since: 11-18-05
From: Right next to myself.

Last post: 5916 days
Last view: 5909 days
Posted on 04-07-06 12:29 AM, in I'm starting a protest group against people using "data" as a singular. Link
Who on earth uses the word "data" in any context that'd make it singular? I mean, properly with the "datum" or wrong or whatever. I never see anyone do it.

But sure, I'll join.

*pulls out his dreaded pitchtorch*
Squash Monster

Bouncy


 





Since: 11-18-05
From: Right next to myself.

Last post: 5916 days
Last view: 5909 days
Posted on 04-07-06 12:45 AM, in Game Maker anyone? Link
Originally posted by Littlink
Well, it all depends on what you think is a "proper function". Game Maker has its own functions made just for game design. It's just a matter of opinion really.
The function thing is not a matter of opinion. It's a matter of whether you can, with some syntax or another, do this:

int someFunction(int arg2, int arg2)
{
return arg1 + arg2 * arg1;
}

And then do int someNumber = someFunction(someOtherNumber, yetAnotherNumber);

Originally posted by Littlink
I have to agree, Game Maker is fun to explore, but is good for making decent games. Not all of the games made with GM are 2-D platformers, or cheap RPGs. Once registered, you can use 3D functions and that's when it gets complex. VEEERY complex... Java? Heard of it but never really thought of it. Maybe I should.
Yes. Yes you should. And I'll teach you all the non-obvious stuff (how to pop up a window with a timer event, load some sprites from some files and draw them, whatever else you need) if you can pull off something that shows you've learned what's in the chapter I just linked.

And if you need 3D stuff, you can import some stuff to let you get at some 3D library or another, I think it's OpenGL. And a real 3D library will rock any built-in one's socks.

Originally posted by Littlink
Yes, yes. Quite correct, though one would want to use real sprites though. Using draw_rectangle(x-16,y-16,x+16,y+16,true) makes the game look a bit sloppy.

Thanks for your thoughts! Quite interesting.
Java's supply of methods like draw_rectangle() is quite apt. But you can do far more with some images and AffineTransform than you'd probably believe.

(edited by Squash Monster on 04-06-06 11:47 PM)
Squash Monster

Bouncy


 





Since: 11-18-05
From: Right next to myself.

Last post: 5916 days
Last view: 5909 days
Posted on 04-07-06 12:53 AM, in I'm starting a protest group against people using "data" as a singular. Link


Originally posted by asdf
THE DATUM ITS S DFSDFSDFSD THE DATUM IT*gets cancelled*

But this is one of those situations where people accept [Data as singular] just because of the obscurity of the proper form. Now, what we REALLY need to rally against is "I before E except after C...sounding like a like in neighing and weight." That rule is just too fucking weird. I bet a bunch of foreign people who were being idiots made it up. It's unscientific, as well, as there are so many common exceptions that it makes me want to perform a heist where I seize decaffeinated coffee from deities. So, protein shakes, anyone?

(P.S.: neither seismic leisure nor counterfeit species)
Agreed. We should all switch to back to Latin spelling and pronunceation. I hope your keyboard has vowels with macrons.
Squash Monster

Bouncy


 





Since: 11-18-05
From: Right next to myself.

Last post: 5916 days
Last view: 5909 days
Posted on 04-07-06 12:55 AM, in Remember the supposed Y2K Bug? Link
My grandpa turned off the power in the house just as the ball dropped on New Years Eve that year. He had almost the entire clan fooled. I heart my grandpa.
Squash Monster

Bouncy


 





Since: 11-18-05
From: Right next to myself.

Last post: 5916 days
Last view: 5909 days
Posted on 04-07-06 01:19 AM, in The perfect government? Link
Enlightened Anarchy

Everybody is trained perfectly in emergent behavior, city planning, logistics, construction, architecture, and everything else that we need experts for in order to make a large civilization work. Everyone has the same crazy notion that doing what is best for the people at large is good, because they raise their own quality of life on a statistical level and have no way to know if performing any given selfish act would do more for them than doing what is best for society. All citizens are connected to the internet and submit regular updates about their surounding area to an online database. All citizens have access to this database.

Because every person is perfectly trained, perfectly informed, and wants what is best for the people at large, every person will want to do the same thing. Everybody assumes that whoever is in the best position to do whatever is best for society will do it. Whoever is in the best position to do whatever that is does it.

When a road is needed, everyone who lives along the length of the road walks out to the portion of the road nearest where they live and starts working. Whoever lives nearest the power plants makes sure they run. When another power plant is needed, everyone near the optimal spot for the new power plant builds it. When a power plant is no longer in an optimal spot, people build a new one then dissassemble the old one.

Whoever disagrees with this will disagree based on it going against human nature. Human nature is horribly easy to fiddle with. The real problem is getting everyone perfectly trained. For starters, it'd help if someone, anyone at all, would actually understand some of those things that I mentioned everyone needing to know.
Squash Monster

Bouncy


 





Since: 11-18-05
From: Right next to myself.

Last post: 5916 days
Last view: 5909 days
Posted on 04-07-06 06:33 PM, in Chuck Norris needs to be the next captain on Star Trek Link
*slams his glass of Chuck Norris onto the bar*

Damnit Danie-- *hic* -- Dani -- *hic* -- Danielle! I'll *hic* tell you when I've had enough!
Squash Monster

Bouncy


 





Since: 11-18-05
From: Right next to myself.

Last post: 5916 days
Last view: 5909 days
Posted on 04-08-06 10:59 AM, in Game Maker anyone? Link
As Jagori said, you're going to need the JDK.

You're also probably going to want an IDE, because syntax highlighting is nice, and going into DOS to compile isn't. Any old IDE should work. Netbeans is one, and supposed to be good, though I never really liked it. The people at my office use JBuilder, which has some very awesome tools and some overly complicated configuration stuff needed for every project. I use JCreator LE, which isn't all that great, but works very well and simply for the majority of the things you'll want to do.

(edited by Squash Monster on 04-08-06 10:01 AM)
Squash Monster

Bouncy


 





Since: 11-18-05
From: Right next to myself.

Last post: 5916 days
Last view: 5909 days
Posted on 04-08-06 11:08 AM, in Sex IQ Link
Haha. Very funny.

Good luck picking out who's telling the truth and who's just messing with you, though.
Squash Monster

Bouncy


 





Since: 11-18-05
From: Right next to myself.

Last post: 5916 days
Last view: 5909 days
Posted on 04-09-06 12:14 AM, in Judas Link
I always assumed that Jesus could have saved everyone without having to die, and the way things worked out was just one possibility out of many. It fits with how I reconcile God's omniscience with our free-will -- true omniscience entails knowing what will happen no matter what each individual person does, so each individual person can have free will because they have no effect on an overall plan conceived by an omniscient being. Even though God knows exactly what you will do, it does not matter because everything would work just the same if God did not. In the case of Jesus, if we viewed everything from the prespective of an observer who did not know how those events would unfold, it would make more sense for Jesus to not be betrayed, so he could spread the message -- it seems that whole rebirth miracle is more proof that God's plan will work no matter the actions of individuals.
Squash Monster

Bouncy


 





Since: 11-18-05
From: Right next to myself.

Last post: 5916 days
Last view: 5909 days
Posted on 04-09-06 07:04 PM, in Bizarre technicolor sludge - a trip to the Panther Valley strip mine Link
Wow... that whole place is just so alien looking. It's actually kinda cool, but at the same time, it's really sad. I wish there were places that looked like that without everything dieing.

And Ailure -- algea, not Algiers. One is a tiny green planty thing. The other is the capital of Algeria.
Squash Monster

Bouncy


 





Since: 11-18-05
From: Right next to myself.

Last post: 5916 days
Last view: 5909 days
Posted on 04-09-06 11:19 PM, in AcmlmLottery Link
I can get numbers from random.org in a way that makes it so you cannot ever lose.

Speculate!
Squash Monster

Bouncy


 





Since: 11-18-05
From: Right next to myself.

Last post: 5916 days
Last view: 5909 days
Posted on 04-10-06 08:36 PM, in A Furrtastical Philosophical Discussion Link
My gut reaction is, like everyone, "Because it's gross!" But, well, no, that's not actually a very good answer, since the things we consider gross are just the things we don't have exposure to. And we don't have exposure to beastiality because it's wrong in the first place. So, looking for reasonable answers:

I always assumed it is wrong because it is rape. I mean, how're you supposed to tell if an animal wants to have sex with you? They're not going to bring you flowers and take you out on an expensive date, you know.

Also, from a purely practical standpoint, having sex with animals increases the likelyhood of letting all sorts of diseases jump the species gap. Humans get plenty of STDs as it is, do we really want to add equine herpes to the list?
Squash Monster

Bouncy


 





Since: 11-18-05
From: Right next to myself.

Last post: 5916 days
Last view: 5909 days
Posted on 04-10-06 10:07 PM, in AcmlmLottery Link
Oh. You have to use the place a certain way. I mean, completely random numbers still are going to make you lose sometimes. That's just common sense.
Squash Monster

Bouncy


 





Since: 11-18-05
From: Right next to myself.

Last post: 5916 days
Last view: 5909 days
Posted on 04-11-06 10:38 PM, in Game Maker anyone? Link
And why isn't game dev one of them?

Java and C run at about the same speed*. Java has a very good graphics framework in java.awt that will be more than enough for most 2D games. If that's not enough, both have access to solid graphics libraries in the form of SDL and OpenGL.

The major tradeoff in using Java is that it eats memory. But then, you get java.awt, javax.swing, and a free garbage collector in return. Yes, if you're doing something very heavy-duty, you'll want the extra memory and the speed**. However, I doubt these are the concerns of somebody making their transition out of Game Maker.

*Given you run the JVM with the -s argument, which nobody does but everybody should, and that you use gcc to compile your C, which isn't the best for game development but most people do it anyway.
**If your game uses the garbage collector a lot, doing it by hand is going to help a lot. And my previous comment about speed is mostly void if you use a more appropriate compiler.
Squash Monster

Bouncy


 





Since: 11-18-05
From: Right next to myself.

Last post: 5916 days
Last view: 5909 days
Posted on 04-12-06 08:16 PM, in Game Maker anyone? Link
Originally posted by Disch
I'm not saying you CAN'T make a fully functional, high quality game in Java. I'm saying that's not Java's strong point. For someone interested in game developemtn, Java is not the right path to be looking at.
You make it sound as if choice of language is a horribly binding decision. Switching from Java to C consists of learning how to allocate memory and moving the square brackets when you declare an array. The reason for suggesting Java in the first place is that it's fully capable for what's expected, and much easier of a transition.

Originally posted by Disch
While I don't have enough experience with Java to really attack this. I don't believe it for a second (even with your footnote). Going through any kind of VM (even a fast one) is going to do nothing but eat unnecessary CPU time and memory.

(....snip...)

But aside the point. Performance-wise... there is no freaking way in hell any Java program will be faster, smaller, or less demanding than the same C program (when equal effort is put into optimizing them). I'd bet my life on it.
The -s argument in Java enables heavier use of dynamic recompilation. In exchange for a bit longer of a load time, the JVM will start to compile whatever code is taking the most processor time and replace the stuff it has been interpreting on the fly with it when it's done. It works better than a lot of real compilers in a large number of situations, primarilly because it knows exactly when to unroll loops.

I'm not going to attempt to argue that a Java program will be smaller in hardrive or memory footprint than the equivalent C program. That'd be crazy talk. I'm also not really going to recomend it for 3D work -- though yes, you have access to the 3D libraries, Java's floating point system is incompatable with everything and you lose hardware acceleration.

Originally posted by Disch
That's just the thing. It doesn't get any more heavy-duty than game dev. Games are the most demanding kind of program on every aspect of your computer. Memory consumption, video and audio processing, and general CPU power. All has to be done in real time, with little or no latency. As the game gets larger, the shortcomings of a slower language compound. Going for that little bit of extra speed can (and most likely will) make the difference for people with low or mid-range computers.
The last Java game I wrote that was tested on a lot of computers was a technical demo for explaining random terain generation. At worst, it lagged for the first 6 or so seconds at startup, then proceeded to run at 60 frames per second without any difficulties. How complex was it? Well, it was a simple platformer, but when making the game, I made the mistake of redrawing every onscreen tile every frame. Figure that as about 200 more things happening at once than strictly needed to be. You generally don't need more than 200 things happening at once in the first place, so I think Java's a safe bet for 2D games in general.
Squash Monster

Bouncy


 





Since: 11-18-05
From: Right next to myself.

Last post: 5916 days
Last view: 5909 days
Posted on 04-13-06 12:26 AM, in Game Maker anyone? Link
You can pull up some interesting data on the speed debate with a little googling. This one is particularilly surprising (data is hidden behind the link in that image in the upper right), though I doubt that Java actually has an edge like it suggests.

But regarding your last question, which bears answering:

First, I'd like to stress that I am not suggesting Java as the be-all end-all game development platform. The ideal professional game development language is always going to be C/C++, unless you are trying to have your game played in a browser, in which case it is Flash for light work and Java for heavy work. However, the ideal casual game development language is whatever you can get your hands on at any given moment -- I, for example, am programming a platformer in TI-92 BASIC during Calculus, and a clone of Joust in javascript during lulls at work, the best game ever in iC when I run out of useful stuff to program in a club I attend.

Now, I think you'll understand that I'm not making suggestions under the assumptions of professional development here. Jumping from what is possible in Game Maker to professional level development is a bad idea.

What comes as a question, then, is what you do when "whatever you can get your hands on" is "everything". Personally, I think Java is the best language you're going to find for casual game development, as built-in libraries for nigh everything and a free garbage collector are godsends. There is a certain complexity of project where you're going to want to find more niche versions of all of these, and at that point, feel free to start using a C.


Anyway, my original suggestion was not because I suggest Java in general (which I do), it just worked out that way. I considered all the languages I know and thought about how much farther they'll get you from Game Maker as a starting point.

TI BASIC -- Somewhat less useful than Game Maker, hardly a step forward, not universally available.
javascript -- Great if you know functional programming, HTML, and CSS like the back of your hand. A bit like trying to learn anatomy by disecting yourself otherwise.
VB6 -- Almost exactly like Game Maker, but it has functions. (I've mentioned that Game Maker does not do the whole function thing, right?)
C -- From GML, adds functions, pointers, memory management. From GameMaker in general, adds having to deal with loading and drawing images and open windows, which, even at minimum effort, means getting a library set up, which Game Maker gives you no experience with.
C++ -- All the extra stuff of C, plus objects.
Java -- From GML/GameMaker, adds functions, objects, and loading your own images.

So, to recap the good choices:
VB6 adds functions.
C adds functions, pointers, memory management, library setup, and image loading.
Java adds functions, objects, and image loading.

So, VB6 is the ideal if you want incremental progression from GML. But VB6 is not freely available, is no longer supported, and is VB6.

Then Java and C both have the pain of having to load your images in by hand, so that's moot. Both have functions, thank God, so that's moot. It's just a matter of what is worse to subject someone who is just learning functions to -- objects, or pointers, memory management, and library setup.

Objects can be mostly avoided if you really want, so Java is the suggestion I give to the GML guy.
Squash Monster

Bouncy


 





Since: 11-18-05
From: Right next to myself.

Last post: 5916 days
Last view: 5909 days
Posted on 04-13-06 12:32 AM, in Odd Moments with Visual BASIC 6 Link
My teacher and book both said that the Dim statement worked one way with multiple arguments, when it turned out to work a different way. It ended up in a bunch of variables I thought were integers actually being variants, and one of my programs broke in really crazy ways that I can't properly describe.
Squash Monster

Bouncy


 





Since: 11-18-05
From: Right next to myself.

Last post: 5916 days
Last view: 5909 days
Posted on 04-13-06 12:45 AM, in Earthbound Link
Grey is being understated.

When, some day in the future, games are recognized as an artistic medium, Earthbound will be the one cited by all the game-buffs as the first game to be truly worthy of being called a work of art.

Boing!
Squash Monster

Bouncy


 





Since: 11-18-05
From: Right next to myself.

Last post: 5916 days
Last view: 5909 days
Posted on 04-13-06 10:35 PM, in String Cheese Link
Originally posted by HyperMackerel
What brand is it? A lot of brands of it don't actually string very well for me. Halfway down it just breaks off. Though they're good even as one big block, and it doesn't matter if they sit in a backpack for a few days.
Pull off a little bit, then fold it down against the side of the main log of cheese, then pull that direction (antiparallel!). Even the worst string cheese will string decently that way.

And string cheese is great. Second only to celery. But I'm weird.
Squash Monster

Bouncy


 





Since: 11-18-05
From: Right next to myself.

Last post: 5916 days
Last view: 5909 days
Posted on 04-13-06 11:38 PM, in String Cheese Link
*high fives Alastor*
Celery eaters for the win!

Ever get it super-duper fresh so you could even eat the leaves? That's good stuff.
Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Acmlm's Board - I3 Archive - - Posts by Squash Monster


ABII

Acmlmboard 1.92.999, 9/17/2006
©2000-2006 Acmlm, Emuz, Blades, Xkeeper

Page rendered in 0.993 seconds; used 452.37 kB (max 578.92 kB)