Game Development Design articles

[eXpl0it3r]

Is there a noticeable overhead in using Property<int> instead of actual ints?

I guess it really depends on the use case and implementation. I guess it could be possible to write it in a way, so the compiler can optimize to an int directly.
Besides that a component system isn't about a certain type, but about any type, which are part of the whole system. But I guess if you only use/need ints, then you won't need such a generic way, as said in the article , it is only needed because we want one type that fits all types.

[SuperV1234]

Thanks for the reply. I'd like to see an implementation of this

[cire]

It's not exactly an implementation, but Game Programming Patterns does a pretty good job of illustrating the component pattern with a realistic example using C++ code.

[Tank]

Laurent: That is correct, thanks for the pointer.

SuperV1234: Yes, there is overhead. If it is noticeable depends on your implementation. It is possible to reduce the complexity to one single indirection operation when accessing properties. For example, you can fetch pointers to the property values when the controller is created and store them as members in the controller.

[FRex]

Are there going to be more? What will be in them? Will you write about Lua in general/Lua in FlexWorld?

[Tank]

Yes, I'm planning on writing more articles. Like always, that depends on time and mood.

I already have some topics in mind that are probably worth writing about. Mostly things that are discussed/explained again and again, especially on the IRC channel, like basic code dependency problems in games, separation of logic, data and rendering and much more.

Your idea of writing about embedding scripting languages for game development is also a nice topic. I think it might be useful for a lot of people, because it allows rapid prototyping and completely separating logic into an external language, which can be mostly reloaded during runtime.

However my main focus for the next articles is clearly code design. In my opinion game development is very often tried by newcomers not having a solid C++ background, so knowledge about designing the core structures is missing. When development in a project is progressing, people are not refactoring their stuff, and soon realize the mess they've produced, which results in losing overview, frustration and therefore cancellation of projects, unfortunately. I'd be happy if I could at least help some people to avoid making such "mistakes".

But still, I'm of course very open for ideas!

[Tank]

Game Development Design 2: Good Habits, Techniques and Workflows

Have fun, feedback appreciated.

[FRex]

like basic code dependency problems in games, separation of logic, data and rendering and much more.

Awesome!
I'm looking very forward to that (esp. that this last article was mostly correct when it said I'm probably sighing).
I'm also looking forward to scripting article because you probably have Lua bias(and so do I  ).

[downtimes]

If you keep the Quality of your work on the same level it doesn't really matter much about what you write. All the topics you stated have enough stuff you can write about.
Very interesting article. After reading it i was instantly temptet to try a little prototype of your described system (talking about the self-attaching Component System; not enough time currently though).

Looking forward to your next Article.

[Tank]

After reading it i was instantly temptet to try a little prototype of your described system

Using test-driven development, I hope!

I'm also looking forward to scripting article because you probably have Lua bias(and so do I   ).

I'm actually more biased to Python than Lua, but in my opinion Lua is much better embeddable, faster and more lightweight. Keep in mind an article about using scripting languages won't be a tutorial on how to do it in detail. What problems do you exactly have in that area?

Thanks for your feedback.

[FRex]

What problems do you exactly have in that area?

I'm just learning Lua 5.2, so far I know stack managment, in-Lua syntax, C function calling and creating (meta)tables for user data or functions. But as always : I have no

solid C++ background, so knowledge about designing the core structures is missing

and I don't know how to put that all to use together.

like basic code dependency problems in games, separation of logic, data and rendering and much more.

But that is really more interesting, I'd rather not double the amount of languages I have design problems in.

[Tank]

I see. I guess general design issues are most popular among developers.

[FRex]

Right , what is a good way to split rendering and logic? And how do entity components in entity system communicate?

[Tank]

what is a good way to split rendering and logic? And how do entity components in entity system communicate?

Those questions are very general. I'll probably talk about the first one in another article, because it can't be explained in two sentences (at least I can't). Regarding the second question: Do you have an example/use-case? I'm not quite sure what you're trying to do.

[FRex]

Scrap the second question, I'm probably too new to entity approach to understand it yet.. that's alright.

I'll probably talk about the first one in another article,

Is it going to be based on mvc? It apparently can be used in games: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/2280/the_guerrilla_guide_to_game_code.php