• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 15:32
CEST 21:32
KST 04:32
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
BGE Stara Zagora 2025: Info & Preview27Code S RO12 Preview: GuMiho, Bunny, SHIN, ByuN3The Memories We Share - Facing the Final(?) GSL47Code S RO12 Preview: Cure, Zoun, Solar, Creator4[ASL19] Finals Preview: Daunting Task30
Community News
Weekly Cups (June 2-8): herO doubles down1[BSL20] ProLeague: Bracket Stage & Dates9GSL Ro4 and Finals moved to Sunday June 15th13Weekly Cups (May 27-June 1): ByuN goes back-to-back0EWC 2025 Regional Qualifier Results26
StarCraft 2
General
CN community: Firefly accused of suspicious activities Firefly do had match fixing The SCII GOAT: A statistical Evaluation How does the number of casters affect your enjoyment of esports? Serious Question: Mech
Tourneys
$3,500 WardiTV European League 2025 Bellum Gens Elite: Stara Zagora 2025 Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament SOOPer7s Showmatches 2025 Master Swan Open (Global Bronze-Master 2)
Strategy
[G] Darkgrid Layout Simple Questions Simple Answers [G] PvT Cheese: 13 Gate Proxy Robo
Custom Maps
[UMS] Zillion Zerglings
External Content
Mutation # 477 Slow and Steady Mutation # 476 Charnel House Mutation # 475 Hard Target Mutation # 474 Futile Resistance
Brood War
General
Will foreigners ever be able to challenge Koreans? BGH auto balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ Mihu vs Korea Players Statistics BW General Discussion [BSL20] ProLeague: Bracket Stage & Dates
Tourneys
[ASL19] Grand Finals NA Team League 6/8/2025 [Megathread] Daily Proleagues [BSL20] ProLeague Bracket Stage - Day 2
Strategy
I am doing this better than progamers do. [G] How to get started on ladder as a new Z player
Other Games
General Games
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread What do you want from future RTS games? Armies of Exigo - YesYes? Nintendo Switch Thread Path of Exile
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
LiquidLegends to reintegrate into TL.net
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Community Thread Vanilla Mini Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Vape Nation Thread European Politico-economics QA Mega-thread
Fan Clubs
Maru Fan Club Serral Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
Korean Music Discussion [Manga] One Piece
Sports
2024 - 2025 Football Thread Formula 1 Discussion NHL Playoffs 2024
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Cognitive styles x game perf…
TrAiDoS
StarCraft improvement
iopq
Heero Yuy & the Tax…
KrillinFromwales
I was completely wrong ab…
jameswatts
Need Your Help/Advice
Glider
Trip to the Zoo
micronesia
Poker
Nebuchad
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 22423 users

Student Game Dev Part Nine - Editor progress.

Blogs > Soan
Post a Reply
Soan
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
New Zealand194 Posts
January 24 2014 01:55 GMT
#1
+ Show Spoiler [Previous parts] +
Part One - It begins
Part Two - Technical Foundation
Part Three - Game Design
Part Four - Input and Physics
Part Five - More Physics Things
Part Six - Even More Physics
Part Seven - User Interface
Part Eight - UI and the Editor


This Week
Hello again TeamLiquid! Welcome back to my blog about the development of The Adventures of Sam the Pirate, the 2D platformer I'm creating as the final game project for my Bachelor of Software Engineering degree. Last week I covered the work I'd done on the UI system, and the start of the editor. This week I'll be talking about the success with the editor so far, the performance problems I've run into and mostly fixed, some concerns I have for the future, and where I'm headed next.

Editor
The editor is in a position now where I can create and save levels that are filled with fixed platforms. Pretty pleased with how it works, I can hold down the left mouse button and essentially paint out some platforms, then release the mouse button to stop, and start painting somewhere else. I also have an algorithm in place that updates the art for each tile based on the tiles around it in real time. For this to work, each tile knows about all the tiles around it. Whenever a new tile is placed, each of the grid squares around that tile are checked for existing tiles. If an existing tile is placed, it is linked to the new tile, and the new tile updates what art it should be using. The new tile is then linked to that existing one, and the existing one updates its art.

So for example, I place Tile A, by itself, so it uses a piece of art with an edge on all sides. I then place Tile B to the left of it. Tile B discovers that Tile A is to the right, and so updates its art to use a piece with an edge on the top, bottom, and the left side, leaving the right side open. Tile A is informed about Tile B, and updates its art to a piece with an edge on the top, bottom, and right side, leaving the left side open. The two pieces are now connected, and display as a single piece. A video showing this off should be coming some time in the near future, as showing is probably easier than explaining!

All of this meant I was able to lay out what I currently have planned for the first level, and successfully loaded it into the game! I felt really good once I had this, as it felt like a really big step for the game. I still feel pretty good about it, and where I am with the game overall.

Scrolling
Once I had a full level loaded into the game, I had to get the side scrolling working, as up until this point it wasn't needed, and you could simply move off the edge of the screen and disappear. It was relatively easy to do and didn't pose any problems, which was nice. There is a camera that's based on the player position, and just follows you around. When you hit the edge of a level, it stops. The player is also prevented from moving past this point. The player is also blocked from moving past the height of the level, although I did think about allowing this, to potentially allow players to just go over the top of everything and get through the level faster. I'm going to think about this some more and see how other levels play out, although I think I might end up changing my mind and allowing it.

I have noticed some vertical jittering once the camera starts to move up the screen, the player doesn't appear to move, but everything else appears to very quickly move up and down in small increments. Given that the camera is based on the players position, I'm assuming that it's the player actually doing the jittering. It also doesn't appear to happen while the player is in the air, so I'm think it's probably got to do with the collision detection and reaction to the player standing on a platform. Gravity is still being applied, so the player is probably being pushed down into the platform, and then back up in the collision reaction. I'll be investigating and confirming whether or not this is it next week, and then fixing it.

Problems, and the Future
I ran into a performance issue with rendering and processing so many tiles this week. I did kind of expect it occur though, as I was lazy and wasn't checking whether an object was actually visible on the screen before it was processed or rendered. Once I actually started doing this performance was much better. The number of physics actors I have, that are all being processed when they're visible on the screen, will also be giving me a performance hit, as each tile is its own physics actor. Ideally, rather than having every individual tile be its own rectangular physics actor, I'd be linking tiles that are next to each other to create a single polygon. Individual rectangles is certainly easier, as it allows me to take advantage of SDLs built in rectangle functions, but is giving me an obvious performance hit. Changing it would require a rewrite of the collision detection, as that is based around rectangles, but I'm not sure I'll have time.

Performance of the release build, and the debug build with no debug text is still perfectly fine, but the hit that I've taken since adding so many more tiles has me slightly concerned for the future. The release build used to run at over 4000 FPS, now it runs at around 1000 or less. In debug, without debug text it's sitting around 200-300, with debug text we're around 50. What will happen when I add enemies, coins, background art, get parallax working, etc. Will it still be fine? The machine I'm working on is fairly high end, how will it run on lesser machines? Is it going to get rather difficult to play with debug text on once everything else is added? These are the kinds of questions I'm wondering about for the future, that I won't really know the answer to until I get there.

This problem isn't entirely unexpected, as I did wonder if I would run into it down the line, given that I'm using SDLs built in 2D renderer, rather than OpenGL or DirectX. The code is set up in such a way that I should be able to swap out the rendering code for something using OpenGL and have everything still work as expected. I'm going to continue with what I have at the moment, and see how things go once the game is closer to being finished.

Because of this, I don't think it'll be ready for a commercial release when I finish. Depending on where it's at, I think I will need to change the rendering in order to accomplish a product that can smoothly run on as many machines as possible. This isn't really that disappointing, as I know that having a commercially ready product is a pretty ambitious goal for one programmer. Maybe I'll look at doing a small Kickstarter campaign, or be lucky enough to find a publisher willing to fund me for the rest. Who knows!? I'll see where things stand in a few months.

Regardless of these problems, I still feel like I’ve made pretty good progress this week.

What's next?
The last alpha milestone is due in a couple of weeks, so in that time I'll be working on perfecting/fixing the physics and movement, trying to remove things like the aforementioned jittering and making sure the player character moves around appropriately. I still need to add more debug console commands and document them as well, I've been a bit slack on that and still haven't done it. Having those extra debug commands will be useful, and it will give the tutors something extra to play around with I hand in the milestone.

I also want to look at doing a couple videos showing off what I have so far, both in the editor and the game. I have Fraps, but I don't know what good and free video editing software exists, so if you know what's good and free to use, let me know if any of you guys know one please.

Keep up to date!
Be sure to follow me on Twitter, and like the Facebook page to stay up to date on future content and blog posts when they happen. If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask, either through Twitter or Facebook!

*
CecilSunkure
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
United States2829 Posts
January 24 2014 02:08 GMT
#2
Editor blog and no screenshot!?
BisuDagger
Profile Blog Joined October 2009
Bisutopia19223 Posts
January 24 2014 16:29 GMT
#3
I think you'll enjoy this. It's my blogs about making my first video game. Keep up the hard work.

Parts 1-3:
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=189098
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=204134
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=214369
ModeratorFormer Afreeca Starleague Caster: http://afreeca.tv/ASL2ENG2
FFGenerations
Profile Blog Joined April 2011
7088 Posts
January 24 2014 17:24 GMT
#4
cool , i missed this, i'll be starting my project soon aswell!
Cool BW Music Vid - youtube.com/watch?v=W54nlqJ-Nx8 ~~~~~ ᕤ OYSTERS ᕤ CLAMS ᕤ AND ᕤ CUCKOLDS ᕤ ~~~~~~ ༼ ᕤ◕◡◕ ༽ᕤ PUNCH HIM ༼ ᕤ◕◡◕ ༽ᕤ
Soan
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
New Zealand194 Posts
January 27 2014 02:11 GMT
#5
On January 24 2014 11:08 CecilSunkure wrote:
Editor blog and no screenshot!?


I'm going to do a couple of videos! Still running on temporary art that I did, so videos will show it better than taking a couple screenshots.

On January 25 2014 01:29 BisuDagger wrote:
I think you'll enjoy this. It's my blogs about making my first video game. Keep up the hard work.

Parts 1-3:
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=189098
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=204134
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=214369


Cool. I've heard of Full Sail before, how was studying there?

Tried running game on my laptop today, 0 FPS in debug mode, hooray! Guess I don't have any choice but to switch to opengl asap if I want to do any work at home.
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 4h 28m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
UpATreeSC 80
EnDerr 47
MindelVK 47
StarCraft: Brood War
Horang2 619
firebathero 157
Dewaltoss 90
yabsab 12
Movie 12
Counter-Strike
fl0m5996
olofmeister2208
rGuardiaN126
Super Smash Bros
Mew2King67
Heroes of the Storm
Liquid`Hasu674
Other Games
tarik_tv47454
gofns19164
summit1g9105
Beastyqt709
ceh9548
mouzStarbuck404
B2W.Neo380
ArmadaUGS145
Pyrionflax105
ZombieGrub104
Trikslyr60
QueenE55
BRAT_OK 39
Organizations
Dota 2
PGL Dota 2 - Main Stream3349
Other Games
BasetradeTV101
StarCraft 2
angryscii 55
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 21 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• kabyraGe 263
• Adnapsc2 36
• Reevou 2
• Dystopia_ 1
• sooper7s
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• Migwel
• intothetv
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
StarCraft: Brood War
• Azhi_Dahaki19
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
• BSLYoutube
Dota 2
• masondota21412
• Ler155
League of Legends
• TFBlade1290
Other Games
• imaqtpie1343
• Scarra585
• Shiphtur326
Upcoming Events
Replay Cast
4h 28m
Replay Cast
14h 28m
WardiTV Invitational
15h 28m
WardiTV Invitational
15h 28m
PiGosaur Monday
1d 4h
GSL Code S
1d 13h
Rogue vs GuMiho
Maru vs Solar
Online Event
2 days
Replay Cast
2 days
GSL Code S
2 days
herO vs Zoun
Classic vs Bunny
The PondCast
2 days
[ Show More ]
Replay Cast
3 days
WardiTV Invitational
3 days
OSC
3 days
Korean StarCraft League
4 days
CranKy Ducklings
4 days
WardiTV Invitational
4 days
Cheesadelphia
4 days
GSL Code S
5 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
5 days
Replay Cast
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

CSL Season 17: Qualifier 2
BGE Stara Zagora 2025
Heroes 10 EU

Ongoing

JPL Season 2
BSL 2v2 Season 3
BSL Season 20
KCM Race Survival 2025 Season 2
NPSL S3
Rose Open S1
CSL 17: 2025 SUMMER
2025 GSL S2
BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025
ESL Impact League Season 7
IEM Dallas 2025
PGL Astana 2025
Asian Champions League '25
ECL Season 49: Europe
BLAST Rivals Spring 2025
MESA Nomadic Masters
CCT Season 2 Global Finals
IEM Melbourne 2025
YaLLa Compass Qatar 2025
PGL Bucharest 2025
BLAST Open Spring 2025

Upcoming

Copa Latinoamericana 4
CSLPRO Last Chance 2025
CSLPRO Chat StarLAN 3
K-Championship
SEL Season 2 Championship
Esports World Cup 2025
HSC XXVII
Championship of Russia 2025
Murky Cup #2
Esports World Cup 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall Qual
IEM Cologne 2025
FISSURE Playground #1
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2025 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.