The Inner Level-Up

I haven't disappeared!

2008-12-07T23:52:00.000-08:00

First year exams are finally done, the results are in and I'm very happy with them! Of course with studies and work I haven't had anywhere near as much time as I'd like to pursue game development, but that's all set to change next year (currently only working IT 3 days a week and from Feb onwards, 40 hours a month from home). I have though been reading lots of technical articles on the matter thanks to the blogs of Noel Llopis and Kyle Wilson, and the fantastic Game Developer Magazine. As well as picking up the language of game programmers, C++! Ok, well, C++ has been part of my course but first years only do kids' stuff!

I've also got a great new Core2Quad to work on and I picked up loads of new books shortly before the South African Rand plummeted (thanks global economic crisis, Eskom and Jacob Zuma! :x), many of which are from Noel's list of recommended reading. These include titles on C++, game development in general and even software engineering in general:

C++ for Game Programmers - Llopis, Dickheiser (Charles River Media)
Design Patterns - Gamma, Helm, Johnson, Vlissides (Addison Wesley)
Mathematics for 3D Game Programming & Computer Graphics - Lengyel (Charles River Media)
3D Game Engine Design and Architecture - Sherrod (Charles River Media)
Data Structures and Algorithms for Game Developers - Sherrod (Charles River Media)
Best of Game Programming Gems - DeLoura (Charles River Media)
Test-Driven Development - Beck (Addison Wesley)
Effective C++ - Meyers (Addison Wesley)
Effective STL - Meyers (Addison Wesley)
Pro OGRE 3D Programming - Junker (Apress)

Needless to say I haven't opened all of them yet :P. Currently Game Engine D&A, Design Patterns, C++ for Game Programmers and Pro OGRE are keeping me busy.

As for projects, got one or two things in the pipeline, as well as something that a friend of mine and I are cooking up together! More on that some other time but it's a great opportunity to introduce OGRE 3D, an open-source graphics engine for Windows, Linux and Mac that we're using for the project. While I'd like to get my feet wet in as many different areas of game programming as I can, graphics programming is not one of my bigger interests. So no Direct3D or OpenGL for me just yet, but OGRE is helping us to get up and running with 3D graphics quickly and easily while also introducing me to the general theory applicable to all avenues of real-time 3D graphics.

Adios for now.

UT3 mutator - Alternating Weapon Spawn

2008-03-12T02:50:00.000-07:00

Learning UnrealScript has proven to be quite challenging but I've successfully managed to create a mutator. "Alternating Weapon Spawn" causes the weapon spawn points to periodically change the weapon which they supply. More info on the mutator, how to configure it, and a download link are all available here.

I'm also officially studying again. I've registered with UNISA to study the first year of a Computer Science Degree part-time, then next year it's off to UCT for my second and third years if all goes to plan. Unfortunately this does mean game dev is going to have to take a back seat until mid-November, so blog updates will probably be rather rare for the next several months.

Cheers

Quick update

2008-02-23T09:40:00.000-08:00

Just a brief update on what I'm up to. I picked up some C++ and maths books geared towards game dev recently (courtesy of Take 2's fantastic import service) so got plenty of reading to do there. I'm currently poking around with Unreal Tournament 3 mods, starting with a mutator and possibly working my way up to a total conversion mod and am planning to start a C++ project creating a simple 2D game from scratch in the near future.

I'm also contemplating resigning from my IT job in the latter half of this year to pursue game dev studies full-time and going to UCT next year to start on a 3 year Computer Science Degree (with a specialization in their new Computer Games Design department). Though I'm confident I can pick up the trade on my own it looks like a degree might go a long way in job hunting abroad.

Shin00beh lives!

2008-02-14T09:30:00.000-08:00

And he's off! My GM7 project and first game has been completed. Well, not a game of my own design, but something I put together myself that wasn't the result of a tutorial.

It's only about a minute long and there's no sound, but I completed everything that I set out to do when I started. It's a clone of SEGA's Shinobi III: Return of The Ninja Master, released on SEGA Megadrive/Genesis in 1993. Most of Shinobi's moves are there: shuriken, sword, running slash, flykick, double-jump etc. The level is a little forest stage with a multilayered background, falling leaves and ninjas in trees. I've uploaded it to YoYoGames's website here so if you like, check it out and let me know what you think. After the game loads and starts, press F1 to see the the controls and all the moves.

Special thanks to my brother, Clive, who did all the sprites and backdrops. My original design was a stick figure, who looked bad even by stick figure standards. If it weren't for him, things probably would've been pretty lifeless.

Next up... something 3D.

Welcome

2008-02-09T00:02:00.000-08:00

Greetings and welcome to my blog.

My name is Christopher Myburgh and I am a South African citizen living in Cape Town. I have been working as a software developer in the IT industry for over 3 years now after acquiring a Computer Science Diploma in programming languages at CTI.

I work mostly on web and mobile applications and have become bored out of my frikkin' skull! Because of this and as an avid gamer, I have recently developed a strong interest in videogame development and have made up my mind to jump into this amazing industry, no matter what it takes. My long-term goal is to pick up all the skills required to work as a game programmer and from there, work my way up to a game designer where I can begin bringing to life my own ideas that have begun streaming out of my head. One of which in particular was first seeded in my head well over 5 years ago and I am currently writing a high-level design doc for.

Which brings me to this blog. I have decided to create it to detail my ventures into the industry and post my personal creations. From time to time, I will also post my thoughts on the industry and on videogames in general.

While on the topic of blogs, I would like to just jump in here and say that I used think they were stupid. Occasional on message boards someone might post something along the lines of "I spoke about this in my blog. Did you see it? See my thoughts here yada yada..." and I would think: "Who the fuck are you and why would I give a shit about your blog?" I believed if you weren't a vet in the industry, then why would anyone give a stuff about your blog? Well having created one myself now, I also see the appeal in just organizing one's thoughts, even if no-one else reads it. So for now I'll hopefully continue to drop by and post a new entry once in a while, assuming that pretty much no-one will read this for a long time to come. Or to be exact, until such time that I become a famed game programmer/designer (crossing fingers!) and someone might actually give a shit about what I have to say. Until then I'll just continue to be a nobody who talks to himself ;)

Ok back on topic, my first efforts to learn the trade of creating videogames has been to familiarize myself with C++ (I have a heavy Java background) and with the help of YoYoGames Game Maker 7, cover the underlying concepts of developing a game and test that understand with a small GM7 project. That project has been going very well so far and I hope to complete it and post it up here within the next few weeks, depending on how much time I can get to dedicate to it (I still have to make a living in IT you know). Until then, thanks for reading (cue crickets) and hopefully there'll be lots more to come.