3D Asteroids
Screenshots
Date: Wed 23 November 2005
Time: 11:41 P.M. EST
I added a screenshot feature to the game (haven't posted it in a code snapshot yet because it sometimes crashes the game, and I may never get around to fixing it since I just wanted to get some shots up). Here are a few screenshots I took so the people who read this get an idea of what the game is like. You'll need red-cyan (or red-blue) 3D glasses to get the most out of them, though there are a couple near the end of the list that were taken in non-stereo mode. Click on an image to see a larger version.
Done(?)
Date: Wed 23 November 2005
Time: 9:50 P.M. EST
I think I'm going to put this project away, fow now at least. I haven't felt like working on it for the last week, which means I'll probably never touch it again.
Second Code Snapshot
Date: Wed 16 November 2005
Time: 7:23 P.M. EST
16 November 2005 (.tar.gz) (.zip)
Changes:
- Asteroids are faceted instead of smooth. This is what I wanted to do to begin with, but I didn't figure out how until today.
- Collision detection now works correctly when objects intersect the edges of the game box.
- Objects are now drawn correctly when they intersect the edges of the game box. They now show up in two (or more) places at once, rather than disappearing abruptly from one side and appearing at the other side.
- Fixed a bug that caused the game to crash when the ship or a bullet hit two asteroids at the same time.
Still to do:
- Explosion graphics. Right now, things just disappear when they are destroyed.
- Sound effect for the ship being destroyed.
- Client/server networking.
I've decided to just leave out the hyperspace feature, at least for now. I'm just not that interested in it.
First Code Snapshot
Date: Tue 15 November 2005
Time: 8:57 P.M. EST
Boom
Date: Tue 15 November 2005
Time: 7:39 P.M. EST
I added the sound effect for busting asteroids.
I'm going to start posting compilable snapshots of the code to this blog so the two people who read this and might be interested can try it out on their own machines. Oops...now I have to go through it and make sure it's portable. I think I'm making only one Linux-specific function call right now, and that's to get the system time. SDL provides a function for that, so it should be simple to fix.
Fixed That Bug
Date: Tue 15 November 2005
Time: 11:11 A.M. EST
I moved all the non-thread-safe SDL calls from the game thread into the main thread, and that got rid of the spontaneous lock-ups.
Still to do in the game:
- Add explosion graphics and sounds
- Separate the game code and the user interface code into two executables that communicate with UDP
- Post the source code to this Web site and beg my friends to download it and play it online with me :)
Yet More Asteroids
Date: Thu 10 November 2005
Time: 8:26 P.M. EST
It's pretty much a playable 3D Asteroids game now. It still needs some more sound effects and some graphical touch ups, and I still need to add the teleportation or hyperspace feature.
It also needs some internal code fixes, since I'm calling some SDL functions from a secondary thread, which as it turns out is a no-no (but not a very well documented no-no). I'm hoping that this is what causes the game to spontaneously lock up and that fixing the code will clear up the crashing.
It just so happens that the way I've structured the game engine should make it easy to turn it into a multiplayer network game. Internally, the game logic code and the user interface code already execute in two separate threads, so it should be pretty easy to extend that to having them running on separate computers communicating over the internet.
Many Asteroids!
Date: Thu 10 November 2005
Time: 11:25 A.M. EST
Added more code for creating asteroids in the game. Barney helped (see also here).
An Asteroid!
Date: Wed 9 November 2005
Time: 11:04 P.M. EST
I wrote some code in the asteroids game for some actual asteroids. Now I can fly my ship around a moving asteroid. Nothing happens yet if I run in to it or shoot it.
More Asteroids
Date: Wed 9 November 2005
Time: 3:19 P.M. EST
Firing and sound effects are working in my 3D Asteroids game. The sounds pan left and right with the source, and they get quieter when the source is deeper into the screen.
Like Old Times
Date: Thu 3 November 2005
Time: 11:24 P.M. EST
I stayed up way past my bedtime tonight programming. I haven't done that in years.
My 3D Asteroids game is coming along. I've got it so I can rotate the ship with the mouse and accelerate it around inside the game box. Still need to add firing, teleporting, asteroids, sound effects, and scoring. The stereoscope 3D really makes it fun. I'll edit the source code a little bit, compile it, and fire it up to see how it works...and then spend the next five minutes just moving the ship around and watching it in 3D, going, "Coooool."
I'm forcing myself to put it away for now since I have to go to work tomorrow.
3D Doodling
Date: Wed 2 November 2005
Time: 5:43 P.M. EST
Yesterday I read about a really easy way to generate red-blue 3D images with OpenGL. I've been playing around with it yesterday and today, but I eventually want to make a 3D Asteroids game.
It's nice to have found something that has me interested in programming again.
