If you are a computer programmer, this is a perfect day to spend with your computer. Specifically, if you have Linux (Ubuntu 10.10) as your operating system, then you can find outstanding video games to download AND you get access to the Open Source computer code to learn from.
What does that Open Source thing mean? That means, the creators of the game provide for free the computer programs that it took to write and install the game. Thus, I download the code and try to compile it and then install it. "Compile" is when you type a command (or click a button) that performs the task of changing the code from something meant for humans to read ... to something that computer processor chips are meant to read. Computers like to read 0's and 1's. How the 0's and 1's are arranged is what tells the processor what to do.
In this post, I am including photos and a bit of code to show just a tiny part of what goes into these things. Computer programs are NEVER easy to write. They take a lot of planning and hours toiling at the keyboard. First you have to come up with the game ideas (what it supposed to do) and then you have to code it up (how it is going to do it.) Then there are the bugs that you have to find and correct. Hopefully, if a programmer is smart as a whip with the planning and coding, then the bugs are few in number.
As for me, I don't have TONS of free time as ... well a person needs to LIVE. And living should be more than just computer programming.
So, whatever I learn or create can't be too insanely complex and time consuming. So, with the code for these games, I am just reading them enough to know how to get started on my own game. When I create my own game, it also will not be able to be insanely complex or time consuming. However, the side effects of this learning are that I learn more about planning and programming ... which makes me more knowledgeable in my career. And it is fun.
This first bit of computer graphics is not really a game. It is a demo of the capabilities of the Java programming language. The entire demo is something that one person could code up in a couple of months. However, the demo has little sub-demos that could be coded up and run in one day. I am only showing the graphics and not the code.
This second one ... GlTron. This game is a drug. A big team of programmers, artists, sound effects persons and musicians created this one for what looks like a period of 2 years. It is gorgeous to play and the music is amazing. It has this capability where any person can insert their own video game music into the game. This game makes the heart beat faster. I am including screenshots and just a bit of the code.
This third one ... Neverball. I was so happy to find this one because it is a clone of my favorite video game ... the original Super Monkey Ball. It is visually stunning and the music is gorgeously rich. And I have the code for it now. Mwahahaha!!! This one also took 1 year or 2 to make. And ... when you compile it, it SAYS that you can include the option of Bluetooth so that a Wii controller can be used for your laptop. How crazy is that?? I am just including the graphics.
No comments:
Post a Comment