Game Makers Group Journal

MMO, Android and Web Dev

2013-05-27T19:45:00.000-07:00

Android

OK, so I started getting interested in developing for android for the past few months but never had the guts to actually start doing anything.

Well for the past few weeks I put my head down and actually started learning quiet a lot. Even thought I am still working on starting the MMO project and I have a few exams coming up, I found time to fit it in.

I am planning on creating a game this summer for the android market. I have a few idea's lined up but if they can't fit into the schedule, I would just have to recreate CowFall f Android. Sounds cool huh?..

MMO

Anyway, developing the MMO is still on going. If you remember a few months ago or shall I say last summer, I started this project for an RPG that I was going to for the Blender Game Engine Summer Competition but came to a halt. Well I was thinking maybe just caring that on maybe since I found a book where I had most of the ideas for that game already.

Web

I have also been doing some web design and development. How do I have to time to do all this, I don't know, but I do. I have a lot of idea's lately but I am not going to get carried away and reveal them just yet as I might end up not doing them.

About a week ago I did a weekend project where I created the site Funniest Meme. The site was just for fun and also just to test my ability to create a functional website. Bare in mind I did create this in just one weekend, it is still a good job.

I am planning on creating another blog soon, maybe using WordPress that would revolve on more than just game making but I will let you know what is happening with that.

Create your own MMORPG

2013-05-15T15:40:00.000-07:00

I know I've been saying this for a while now but I haven't got around to actually making a game yet.

I am going to start planning on making an MMORPG from scratch and I'm hoping to get an alpha version up by the end of this year. I have some basic Idea's of what the MMORPG is going to be like but for now I am planning the technical side of it.

Technical Side

Programming Languages

C++ - for programming the whole engine
Lua or Python for scripting

Graphics Library

SDL - for all the windows handling and importing images/textures
OpenGL - The game will be in 3D so everything will be rendered using OpenGL
Blender - This will be used for modelling the 3D models and also creating animations
GIMP+Inkscape - these will be used to create the Textures and UI

Networking Library

SDL_net - This will be used for all the networking

Developing Environment

Linux - I will be developing it on linux but will use a virtual machine running windows XP and 7 to make sure it works.
Geany/vim - I will be writing my files either using Geany or vim.
g++ - I will be using the GNU G++ compiler to compile the game
make - I will use a make file to compile and link all the files

Help

Gamedev - To post on anything game programming related. networking, graphics or game logic
Blender - To post about anything graphics related. Modelling, animation, texturing
I will also look for forums on story telling, level making, colour schemes etc

I will be going over everything I do and will document my progress.

Asteroid Miner Pygame

2013-03-10T17:33:00.002-07:00

Okay so today I was working on a prototype for an upcoming game that I am working on. This game is called Asteroid Miner. Basically it's like that gold miner game but you're mining asteroids.
At the moment I am using place holders and not actual imagery and I haven't actually finished the game.

In the finished game you will be able to get better grabbers and also the game speed will increase and you will be able to store high scores.

pygame map scrolling for RPG games

2013-03-06T10:33:00.003-08:00

Okay so I am still messing around in pygame hoping to one day do a project which will be an RPG video game.

I am now doing some tech demo's and today I thought about doing a simple scrolling map. this means that you can have a bigger map than your viewport and you can scroll to it when the player enters new places.

This is a simple one and the next I will do will be a tilled based one with collision detection.

Okay if you would like to follow the tutorial, you'd need to create a big map, bigger than 640x480 pixels and save it next to your python file as bigmap.png

(don't forget that statements starting with # are comments)
[THE CODE]

import pygame, sys

pygame.init()

#make out screen 640X480
screen = pygame.display.set_mode((640,480))

#this will be our map
bigmap = pygame.image.load("bigmap.png")

#caption of the game
pygame.display.set_caption("scrolling map testing")

#position of the player
x,y= 500,500

#these value will be used as the start coordinates of the cam
camx,camy = 0,0

def set_cam():
global camx
global camy

#this will allow the player to be in the center of the view
camx = x - 640/2
camy = y - 480/2

#make sure the map is still in view
#and make sure we're not out of bound
if camx < 0:
camx = 0
if camy < 0:
camy = 0
if camx > bigmap.get_width() - 640:
camx = bigmap.get_width() - 640
if camy > bigmap.get_height() - 480:
camy = bigmap.get_height() - 480

while 1:
#fill the screen in black
screen.fill(pygame.Color(0,0,0))

#position the play so it can be in camera view
player = pygame.Rect(x-camx,y-camy,16,16)

#position the camera
set_cam()

#show only a small area of the whole map
screen.blit(bigmap,(0,0),(camx,camy,640,480))

#draw the yello player
pygame.draw.rect(screen,pygame.Color(255,255,0),player)


for event in pygame.event.get():
#check if the user wants to exit
if event.type == pygame.QUIT:
pygame.quit() #quit pygame
sys.exit() #exit the game

key = pygame.key.get_pressed() #get every key pressed

#move our player
if key[pygame.K_UP]:
y = y -4
if key[pygame.K_DOWN]:
y = y +4
if key[pygame.K_LEFT]:
x = x -4
if key[pygame.K_RIGHT]:
x = x +4

#update the display
pygame.display.update()

pygame simple game

2013-03-05T11:43:00.002-08:00

Okay yesterday I was watching a show and programming at the same time. I was messing around in python and pygame and I actually created something worth while. I will upload a screen shot.

The red box is the player which has a label on its head so you can identify who it is and you can move the player using the arrow keys. the black rectangles and box are obstacles, they are solid so they will stop the player. The yellow boxes are coins which you have to collect.

Python tutorial [part 1]

2013-03-02T09:25:00.002-08:00

Getting started with Python

1. Installation

Go to the Python website and grab Python version 3.2 http://www.python.org/getit/

We will be working with version 3.2 since we will need for pygame later on and at this point, pygame doesn’t work aswell on 3.3+

After you installed it we can now start creating python programs.

2. “Hello Game Makers Group”

We can now start to do some programming in python. Our first program will be a “hello world” type of program were it will print “Hello Game Makers Group” to the console.

Open up the IDLE which you can find in your programs menu under python3.2. This will be our development environment.

Click on File then New Window and Save it as hello.py

Now in the new document you have just created, write:

print(“Hello Game Makers Group”)

Now hit F5 or go to Run and then Run Module. There you have it. You’re first program written in python.

3. Variables

Now I am going to show you how you can use variables in python.

When you create a variable in python, you don’t have to tell it what the variable type is going to be and you can change it later on.

N = 2

C = ‘c’

S = “Hello”

Let’s start off with strings. Strings are sequences of characters.

string1 = “This is a string”

print(string1)

To print out the length of the string, you can do this:

string1 = “This is a string”

print(len(string1))

you can print out parts of the string by using the square bracket.

string1 = “This is a string”

print(string[10:])

This will print everything after the tenth character which just the word “string” if you put the colon before the 10, it will print out everything up to the tenth character.

4. Comments

Comments in python are very easy. You start a comment by using the # symbol and then write whatever. The comment ends at the end of the line.

String2 = “hello” # This variable holds a string

5. Lists

One of the most useful things in python is lists.

You can declare a list by writing its name and using square brackets to indicate it is a list. This is an empty list

List1 = []

To declare a list with elements in it, you do the same thing but with the elements in between the brackets.

List1 = [12, 4, 32, 1, 2]

To print out the size of the list, you do the same thing you did with the string variable and use the len function

List1 = [12, 4, 32, 1, 2]

Print(len(List1))

To access one of the elements in the list, you can use the square bracket with the index value in it. The way the list is indexed is that it starts with 0 for the first elements. So for a list with N elements, you can access them using 0 to N-1.

List1 = [12, 4, 32, 1, 2]

Print(List1[0])

To add an item to a list, you can use the function append. And the remove an item you use del.

List1 = [12, 4, 32, 1, 2]

Print(List1)

List1.append(5) #add the number 5 to the end of the list

print(List1)

del List1[2] # delete the 3^rd element

print(List1)

[End of part one of the python tutorial. In the next tutorial, I will go on a bit more on lists and I will go through the if and whiles loops and other control flow tools.]

Pygame Tic Tac Toe simple game

2013-02-27T08:06:00.000-08:00

This is a second time I have created a tic tac toe game in python (third time if you include blender). This time I have used pygames and included graphical elements to it to make it more interesting.

The code is not documented so for someone who is a beginner in programming, pygame or python, you might get confused. This is not the finalized version so next time I will add comments to it but if you want to play around with it or change some stuff then feel free.

I hope someone could add a bit of AI to the computer because right now it is really dumb!

Have fun !

--Edit--
Actually I think the aim of the game should be getting a tie with the computer LOL it is that stupid you can't even tie!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The Code ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

import pygame, sys, random

pygame.init()
fpsClock = pygame.time.Clock()

screen = pygame.display.set_mode((640,480))
pygame.display.set_caption("Tic Tac Toe")

black = pygame.Color(0,0,0)
white = pygame.Color(255,255,255)
red = pygame.Color(255,0,0)
blue = pygame.Color(0,0,255)

font = pygame.font.Font("freesansbold.ttf",32)
smallfont = pygame.font.Font("freesansbold.ttf",16)
move = 0

thegrid = [0,0,0, 0,0,0, 0,0,0]

def grid():
pygame.draw.line(screen,black, (220,0),(220,480),4)
pygame.draw.line(screen,black, (420,0),(420,480),4)
pygame.draw.line(screen,black, (0,160),(640,160),4)
pygame.draw.line(screen,black, (0,320),(640,320),4)

def cross(x,y, color):
pygame.draw.line(screen,color,(x+40,y+20),(x+160,y+140),2)
pygame.draw.line(screen, color,(x+40,y+140),(x+160,y+20),2)

def circle(x,y,color):
pygame.draw.circle(screen,color,(x+100,y+80),60,2)

def drawXO():
x = 0
y = 0
if(thegrid[0] == 1):
circle(0,0,red)
elif(thegrid[0] == 2):
cross(0,0,blue)

if(thegrid[1] == 1):
circle(220,0,red)
elif(thegrid[1] == 2):
cross(220,0,blue)

if(thegrid[2] == 1):
circle(420,0,red)
elif(thegrid[2] == 2):
cross(420,0,blue)

if(thegrid[3] == 1):
circle(0,160,red)
elif(thegrid[3] == 2):
cross(0,160,blue)

if(thegrid[4] == 1):
circle(220,160,red)
elif(thegrid[4] == 2):
cross(220,160,blue)

if(thegrid[5] == 1):
circle(420,160,red)
elif(thegrid[5] == 2):
cross(420,160,blue)

if(thegrid[6] == 1):
circle(0,320,red)
elif(thegrid[6] == 2):
cross(0,320,blue)

if(thegrid[7] == 1):
circle(220,320,red)
elif(thegrid[7] == 2):
cross(220,320,blue)

if(thegrid[8] == 1):
circle(420,320,red)
elif(thegrid[8] == 2):
cross(420,320,blue)

def usermove(mx,my):
global move
pos = 1
valid = False

if(mx <= 220 and my <= 160):
pos = 1
elif(mx >=220 and mx <= 420 and my <= 160):
pos = 2
elif(mx >= 420 and my <= 160):
pos = 3
elif(mx <=220 and my >= 160 and my <= 320):
pos = 4
elif(mx >= 220 and mx <= 420 and my >= 160 and my <= 320):
pos = 5
elif(mx >= 420 and my >= 160 and my <= 320):
pos = 6
elif(mx <= 220 and my >= 320):
pos = 7
elif(mx >= 220 and mx <= 420 and my >= 320):
pos = 8
elif(mx >= 420 and my >= 320):
pos = 9
else:
sys.exit()
if(thegrid[pos-1] == 0):
thegrid[pos-1] = 2
move =1
else:
pass
def commove():
global move
while(True):
ran = random.random() * 100 %9
ran = int(ran)
if(thegrid[ran] == 0):
thegrid[ran] = 1
move = 0
break
def winner():
global win
win = -1
mes = ""
color = red

if(thegrid[0] == thegrid[1] == thegrid[2] and thegrid[0] > 0):
win = thegrid[0]
elif(thegrid[0] == thegrid[4] == thegrid[8] and thegrid[0] > 0):
win = thegrid[0]
elif(thegrid[0] == thegrid[3] == thegrid[6] and thegrid[0] > 0):
win = thegrid[0]
elif(thegrid[3] == thegrid[4] == thegrid[5] and thegrid[3] > 0):
win = thegrid[3]
elif(thegrid[6] == thegrid[7] == thegrid[8] and thegrid[6] > 0):
win = thegrid[6]
elif(thegrid[6] == thegrid[4] == thegrid[2] and thegrid[6] > 0):
win = thegrid[6]
elif(thegrid[1] == thegrid[4] == thegrid[7] and thegrid[1] > 0):
win = thegrid[1]
elif(thegrid[2] == thegrid[5] == thegrid[8] and thegrid[2] > 0):
win = thegrid[2]
else:
if(not 0 in thegrid):
mes = "It's a tie!"
color = black
move = 3
else:
return
move = 3
screen.fill(white)
if(win == 1):
mes = "Computer has won"
color = red
elif(win == 2):
mes = "Player has won"
color = blue
else:
pass
message = font.render(mes,0,color)
messagerect = message.get_rect()
messagerect.topleft = (40,240)
screen.blit(message,messagerect)
mes2 = "Press 'r' to play again"
message = smallfont.render(mes2,0,black)
messagerect = message.get_rect()
messagerect.topleft = (40,140)
screen.blit(message,messagerect)
while(1):
screen.fill(white)
grid()
drawXO()
mx = 0
my = 0

if(move == 1):
commove()

for event in pygame.event.get():
if event.type == pygame.QUIT:
pygame.quit()
elif event.type == pygame.MOUSEBUTTONUP:
mx, my = event.pos
if(move == 0):
usermove(mx, my)
elif event.type == pygame.KEYDOWN:
if event.key == pygame.K_r:
for x in range(0,9):
thegrid[x] = 0
move = 0
if(not 0 in thegrid):
move = 3
winner()

#pygame.display.update()
pygame.display.flip()

Java Cheatsheet !!

2013-01-22T14:40:00.000-08:00

Okay I know on these blogs I talk about a lot of different programming languages, well some may not think it's a lot but it's a fair few.

Well I've been using java for a few months now and sometimes changing between the languages can be exhausting and sometimes you forget the syntax or forget some keywords or structure so I made a java cheatsheet if you like.

This cheatsheet or a mini cheat book has quiet a lot of info in it and I think it will be useful and easy to read through than going to the documentation and looking all over the place to find what you're looking for.

Anyway this is a first draft and I will make sure I will update it soon to java cheatsheet 2 or something and add more to it and clear some stuff from it also.

Hope someone finds it helpful, especially if you're new to java

Java Cheatsheet

Project Project

2013-01-17T14:51:00.001-08:00

I really want to work on a project, any project I guess.

I can't keep myself motivated to finish anything so I was looking around on source forge and thought maybe I could work on on some project in there. It will be good learning curve for me and also I could be part of a project that wouldn't actually stop.

First I looked at some modelling and 3D animation software like K3D and wing but I'm not sure about their development. I could create some scripts or something but I'm still thinking about it.

I thought about going back to blender and maybe creating templates and script add-on or learn the architecture and start developing for them.

Who know.. I will update if anything comes up.

fresh start sigh

2013-01-09T12:38:00.001-08:00

I hate having to re-install all the software and libraries and everything else I need every time I install a fresh OS.

Recently I wiped my hard drive so I can make new partitions for linux also which meant I have to re-install windows too. Now I have to install and configure everything to how it was before. I know I wouldn't be able to do all this at once. I probably will miss stuff out and only realize that when I'm about to use it.

Well anyway now I have a fresh Windows 7 installed and linux mint 14.

Compact Packets. [Networking]

2012-11-22T17:48:00.000-08:00

I've always wanted to make an online game. I was just thinking about ways of sending data to the client and I started thinking about sending the user data about the current game such as if it is day or night and if it is sunny or if it is rainy. you can also have sunny and rainy and stuff like that.

So lets say we have 8 things we want to represent and send to the user in a typical ORPG: light, rain, fog, wind, sun, day, ice and tide. So any of these can either be true or false. so representing them in C++ program will be using Boolean which will 1 byte or 8 bits each. but we're only using a bit to represent if it is either true or false and the rest of the 7 bits are going to waste.

I make a small program in C++ to show you how to store all these 8 items in just one byte of data.

#include <iostream>
#include <string>

using namespace std;

// light rain fog wind sun day ice tide - 8 options
// x x x x x x x x - 8 bits/1 byte

#define LIGHT 128 //10000000
#define RAIN 64 //01000000
#define FOG 32 //00100000
#define WIND 16 //00010000
#define SUN 8 //00001000
#define DAY 4 //00000100
#define ICE 2 //00000010
#define TIDE 1 //00000001

class Packet
{
private:
__int8 packet;
public:
Packet(__int8 state)
{
packet = state;
};
string isSet(__int8 state)
{
return (packet & state)?"True":"False";
}
void printStatus()
{
cout << "\nLIGHT: " << isSet(LIGHT);
cout << "\nRAIN: " << isSet(RAIN);
cout << "\nFOG: " << isSet(FOG);
cout << "\nWIND: " << isSet(WIND);
cout << "\nSUN: " << isSet(SUN);
cout << "\nDAY: " << isSet(DAY);
cout << "\nICE: " << isSet(ICE);
cout << "\nTIDE: " << isSet(TIDE);
}
};

int main()
{
Packet myPacket(RAIN|TIDE); // you can have as many in here such as LIGHT | FOG | WIND etc. you have to separate them using the | symbol.
myPacket.printStatus();
return 0;
}

In a typical program, this may not seem as useful since we're doing more work for saving a few bytes, but for example in an online game where bandwidth is important, kind of, we can save and maybe the server response time will be faster.

(Of course if we was implementing it in a real life game, we probably not have these variables as we still need space for the header but it does explain what I am trying to say)

C++ Decimal to Binary Converter with sample code

2012-11-22T15:54:00.000-08:00

A Quick C++ Console program I create that asks the user to enter a number between 0 and 65,535 and it outputs it in binary.

The approach that I tuck was completely original. I don't know if anyone has tried it before but I just thought it was cool and thought it was the right way to do it. it may not be the quickest way but it sure worked.

The code is bellow. As you can see, it is not commented and no documentation as I didn't spend much time on it, but if people want to know what's happening then please email me or comment and I will get back to you or comment it for all.

#include <iostream>
#include <string>
#include <cassert>
#include <sstream>
#include <stdlib.h>

using namespace std;

string toBin(unsigned short int number)
{
stringstream out;
cout << "sizeof number " << sizeof(number) << endl;
for(int x = sizeof(number)*8; x > 0; x--)
{
int n = (number >> (x-1));
out << n;
number -= (n<< (x-1));

}
return out.str();
}

int main(int argc, char* argv[])
{
assert(argc > 0);

cout << "\t*Welcome to the Decimal to Binary Calculator!*\n\n";

bool quit = false;

while(!quit)
{
cout << "Enter a value to convert (most be between 0 and a 65,535. press q to quiet)\n";
cout << "Entery: \t";
string input;
cin >> input;
if(input == "q") return 0;

assert((atoi(input.c_str()) >= 0) && (atoi(input.c_str()) <= 65535));
cout << "converting to binary...\t" << toBin(atoi(input.c_str())) << "\n\n";
}
}

One of my articles in a magazine

2012-10-21T16:56:00.003-07:00

I don't know if many of you remember a post I did a while ago about "How to Create your own video game", well I submitted it to a magazine called BlenderArt. And it is inside there issue 38: Power of Compositing.

If anyone want to go ahead and read you can download it from this link:
http://blendertestbuilds.de/download.php?file=blenderart_mag/blenderart_mag-38_eng.zip

or you can go to the blender art magazine website and see other issues also.
http://blenderart.org/issues/

New Set of Tutorials

2012-09-30T15:55:00.001-07:00

I haven't updated this blog in a while but I am planning on making and releasing a set of tutorials dealing with SDL_net and C++ and also python. These tutorials will mostly cover networking and security but they will be useful for anyone learning online gaming, networking and security also.

So keep tuned in and I will update soon!

Still Dreaming..

2012-08-12T14:18:00.001-07:00

Sometimes I sit down and I think about what I could do if I had so much free time, maybe a couple of months (2 or 3 maybe), I would like to create a game with out stopping on it.

It has been too many times that I have given up on a project when I leave it for a while. I don't think I will be free for a while which means I need to make sometime to create the games I wish to create.

Lately I have been dreaming about the old'en days retro games. The pixel art was perfect and they just stayed with you through out your childhood. I just wish to create a game like that, rich in story line and maybe has a good fan base that will be very supportive.

When I do get myself to make sometime for the next projects, I will also have to look at some console publishing!..

Tonight Mars Rover Curiosity landing [GMT]

2012-08-05T17:20:00.000-07:00

I have been waiting for this for so long!

Tonight, the mars rover curiosity is landing and I think this is very exciting. Every time there is something happening in space, it is good since we are exploring the outer world. But when it is to do with our next door planet Mars, I really have to follow.

Mars is kind of the next step to the human kind and I think we should at least visit it and if we could, colonize it. As you may of heard over and over that mars is very much like earth. It has seasons and a day period which is close to earth etc...

But I am really interested in mars and if I could, I would go and live there.

Anyway, the mars rover is landing tonight and I am staying away to watch it. There is a lot of places you can watch it online. I am sticking to the official NASA website http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html

I tried looking at the websites for what time the landing is going to be and all I could find is time in EST and PDT or PST but I wanted it in GMT since I live in the UK. Well the rover is meant to be landing at 10:17 p.m. PDT which is around 5:17 a.m. GMT give or take a few minutes.

So if you would like to have some sleep and set your alarms for 5ish to watch it, that would be cool.

5:17 a.m. GMT

Python game programming with PyGame!

2012-08-04T03:47:00.002-07:00

I think python is a great programming/scripting language and I enjoy using it.

Usually I use python only with blender or to make console applications such as servers or chat systems. I have heard of the software pygame a while ago but only got around to use it recently. Since I have already used SDL before, I knew exactly what was going on since it is made using SDL.

It is much easier to use than SDL and it is good for those who want to implement the game right away instead of having to program a lot. This could be good for prototyping or for artists who do not know much coding and want to test out there art in the game.

import pygame, sys
pygame.init()

size = width, height = 640, 480
speed = [0,0]
black = 0,0,0

screen = pygame.display.set_mode(size)

player = pygame.image.load("player.bmp")
player_rect = player.get_rect()

while 1:
 speed = [0,0]
 for event in pygame.event.get():
  if event.type == pygame.QUIT:
   sys.exit()
  if event.type == pygame.KEYDOWN:
   if event.key == pygame.K_UP:
    speed = [0,-5]
   if event.key == pygame.K_DOWN:
    speed = [0,5]
   if event.key == pygame.K_LEFT:
    speed = [-5,0]
   if event.key == pygame.K_RIGHT:
    speed = [5,0]
    
 if player_rect.top < 0:
  speed = [0,5]
 if player_rect.bottom > height:
  speed = [0,-5]
 if player_rect.left < 0:
  speed = [5,0]
 if player_rect.right > width:
  speed = [-5,0]
 player_rect = player_rect.move(speed)
 screen.fill(black)
 screen.blit(player,player_rect)
 pygame.display.flip()

The above code is an example of a simple program made in python using pygame. To run this code you will need python 3.2 installed and pygame for python 3.2. You also need the picture bellow in the same folder as the saved .py file with the code. save the image as player.bmp

I will try and use it a little bit as you can use it to test out ideas and you do not have to code much.

Access The Pirate Bay [Unblock]

2012-08-02T16:02:00.002-07:00

I know this isn't part of game development or as such in anyway related but I think the problem with people having access to pirate bay is a big one.

I enjoy using pirate bay for personal use and I think it is a shame that some network providers have blocked it and my network provider is one of them. I have found some proxy websites which I thing are very useful and this is the way I have been accessing the pirate bay.

http://tpb.pirateparty.org.uk

http://www.pirateproxy.net/

http://all4xs.net/repress/thepiratebay.se

http://labaia.ws/

http://lanunbay.org/

http://malaysiabay.org/

http://alt.ragerik.info/

http://tpb.europeancensorship.eu/nph-tpb.cgi/http/thepiratebay.se/

My personal favorite is the first one.

Simple Tic Tac Toe Game in python

2012-07-31T06:13:00.001-07:00

I made a simple game in python which just shows how you can use python. I haven't used classes but I did use functions. This is a basic game and someone with some experience with python will be able to follow this.

I will eventually make a detailed tutorials on how to make it and what exactly I am doing but for now this is it.

from random import *

#the board table
board = ["-","-","-",\
"-","-","-",\
"-","-","-"]

#the numbers table
board_0 = ["1","2","3","4","5","6","7","8","9"]

#symbol for computer and user
computer_symbol = ""
user_symbol = ""

#how many boxes are filled
filled = 0

#check if player has won

def check_winner(l_board):
    if (l_board[0] == l_board[1] == l_board[2]) and l_board[0] != "-":
        print(l_board[0] , "wins!")
        return 0
    if (l_board[3] == l_board[4] == l_board[5]) and l_board[3] != "-":
        print(l_board[3] , "wins!")
        return 0
    if (l_board[6] == l_board[7] == l_board[8]) and l_board[6] != "-":
        print(l_board[6] , "wins!")
        return 0
    if (l_board[0] == l_board[3] == l_board[6]) and l_board[0] != "-":
        print(l_board[0] , "wins!")
        return 0
    if (l_board[1] == l_board[4] == l_board[7]) and l_board[1] != "-":
        print(l_board[1] , "wins!")
        return 0
    if (l_board[2] == l_board[5] == l_board[8]) and l_board[2] != "-":
        print(l_board[2] , "wins!")
        return 0
    if (l_board[0] == l_board[4] == l_board[8]) and l_board[0] != "-":
        print(l_board[0] , "wins!")
        return 0
    if (l_board[2] == l_board[4] == l_board[6]) and l_board[2] != "-":
        print(l_board[2] , "wins!")
        return 0
    return 1

#print out a board
def print_board(l_board,message):
    print("     "+message)
    hr = "\t_____________\n"
    table = hr
    table += "\t| "+l_board[0] + " | " + l_board[1] + " | " + l_board[2] + " | \n"
    table += hr + "\t| "+l_board[3] + " | " + l_board[4] + " | " + l_board[5] + " | \n"
    table += hr + "\t| "+l_board[6] + " | " + l_board[7] + " | " + l_board[8] + " | \n" + hr
    print(table)

#computer moves randomly. no AI
def computer_move(l_board):
    global filled
    while True:
        x = int(random() * 10)%9
        if(l_board[x] != "-"):
            continue
        else:
            l_board[x] = computer_symbol
            filled += 1
            return 0

#user makes a move and checks if the box is already filled
def user_move(l_board):
    global filled
    while True:
        x = input("(1-9)<<")
        if(l_board[int(x)-1] != "-"):
            continue
        else:
            l_board[int(x)-1] = user_symbol
            filled += 1
            return 0
    
#the main program
def main():
    global user_symbol
    global computer_symbol
    print("\tWelcome to Tic Tac Toe - The Game!")
    print("\n\nWhich symbol do you prefer? (X or O)? ")
    user_symbol = input("<<")
    if (user_symbol == "O") or (user_symbol == "o"):
        computer_symbol = "X"
        user_symbol = "O"
    else:
        computer_symbol = "O"
        user_symbol = "X"
    while filled < 9:
        print_board(board, "~The Tic Tac Toe Table~")
        print_board(board_0, "Where do you want to go?")
        user_move(board)
        if check_winner(board) == 0:
            break
        computer_move(board)
        if check_winner(board) == 0:
            break
    print_board(board, "~The Tic Tac Toe Table~")

#run the main program
main()

#wait until the user has exit
input()

For Tic Tac Toe 2, I will do some AI and make the computer a little more challenging.

Pointers on C++ Pointers

2012-07-10T06:59:00.003-07:00

These are just some note you may want to keep handy when working with C++, especially if you are using pointers.
Sometimes it gets confusing of which symbol to use for to get which value or what to assign to what so this just helps you out and gives you some clear notes of what you might be doing. I hope it does help.

Notes about pointers

Declaring

int *pnPtr;

double *pnPtr;

Pointing it to a variable

int nNumber = 5;

int *pnPtr = &nNumber;

Changing the value

*pnPtr = 7;

Changing the address

int nNumber2 = 9;

pnPtr = &nNumber2;

Outputs for:

int nInteger = 6;

int *pnPointer = nInteger;

value	output
nInteger	6
&nInteger	Address of the nInteger
pnPointer	Address of the nInteger
*pnPointer	6
&pnPointer	Address of the pnPointer

SDL SDL_Net C++ Code:Blocks Ubuntu all set up and ready!!

2012-06-18T11:18:00.000-07:00

So most of today I have been setting up my Ubuntu work station. Now I have codeblocks working to program in C++ and also got SDL and SDL_net linked up and ready to use.

I thought about creating a tutorial of how to do this but I'm not sure how useful it'd be if I did. If I do get any requests I will create it for sure.

So Now everything is set up I only have one problem which is my tablet will not work on Linux because it is quiet old and only works on windows. To be fair, it's kind of broken anyway, as in the wire is broken off it so I might just give it away and buy a brand new wireless one. I will have to get one that is pretty big because I like my space :D

I will review some tablets soon and see which one I should get. I also thought about buying another monitor since I am using a netbook and trust me, it is very small, especially for art work and 3D.

Installing Code:Blocks on Ubuntu

2012-06-18T09:29:00.000-07:00

Okay like I said on my previous post. I am no longer using Windows and am now using Ubuntu.

The thing is, I still want to use my software. I have been using Code:Blocks for a very long time and I wish to continue to use it. So I have decided to install it and show a quick tutorial on how to do so.

Open up the console/terminal from ubuntu and enter the code bellow:

sudo apt-get install build-essential

now follow the screen, enter your password, and yes to download the package.

sudo apt-get install gdb

now do the same for the debugger.

sudo apt-get install libwxgtk2.8-0

this is the wxWidgets for handling the applications.

sudo apt-get install libwxgtk2.8-dev

the wxWidgets for developing the applications.

Now go to http://www.codeblocks.org/downloads/26#linux

and choose the debian file. (The first from the list. note if you are using a 64-bit, then download the 64-bit one)

Now extract it somewhere you can easily type in. mine was in codeblocks. so when I navigate inside the folder, codeblocks/i386 is where I find the .deb files.

now type this in

./codeblocks/i386

(note, type in the directory where you have the .deb files) then type in

sudo dpkg -i *.deb

So now you wait for it to install. There you have it, Code:Blocks installed on Ubuntu. (Note: We no longer are using MinGW so I am not sure if we will be making any changes)

Some more updates

2012-06-17T10:59:00.002-07:00

Yes it's been a while since I updated here and thought I should write something.
So what's new... well I am no longer using Microsoft Windows, I have changed to Linux due to a lot of breakdowns on the Microsoft platform.

The new environment was pretty easy to get used to and not too bad when you know what you are doing. ( I'm using Ubuntu)

So I can still use the program GIMP but I will have to see if my tablet is supported. Lately I haven't done much drawing at all actually so I will need to do that soon. I have been doing a little research on the Greek Mythology though.

I also have been doing some programming on PHP, very good language.

The next step as for programming, I will be doing a chat system using C++ SDL_Net and blender where you can chat and also move about.

SDL_Net and C++ server

2012-05-31T15:10:00.002-07:00

I have made a small tutorial which will give you an overview of how to use SDL_net. Through out the internet, SDL_net isn't documented very well and it is very hard to know where to get started.

In this example, I have made a server in SDL_net and C++ and a test client using python.

So before we start

If you already have SDL_net ready in your C++ environment then skip this section.

This example is made using Code::Blocks IDE, in C++ using mingw. If you haven't set up C++ I suggest you do what I did to get it to work.

The program

I will be using Code::Block IDE. I suggest you download it and installing it

http://sourceforge.net/projects/codeblocks/files/Binaries/10.05/Windows/codeblocks-10.05mingw-setup.exe

SDL and SDL_net

You will need both, the SDL and SDL_net files to get everything to work.

SDL - http://www.libsdl.org/release/SDL-devel-1.2.15-mingw32.tar.gz

SDL_net - http://www.libsdl.org/projects/SDL_net/release/SDL_net-devel-1.2.8-VC.zip

Now you will need to unzip them and put the folder in somewhere you will be able to find. I just put them in C:/

So I have a folder for C:\SDL-1.2.15 and C:\SDL_net-1.2.8. This will be easier when you set up your program

Setting up the SDL_net server

Now open up Code::Blocks and start a new project.

File->New->Project

From the list choose "Empty project" and hit go.

Next-> then choose a location and a title for your project.

after this is done. you would of created your first project.

Setting up compiler to use SDL_net

We will now set up the compiler to use the libraries and include folders.

Settings->Compiler and Debugger

go to the linkers settings and click Add.

now locate the directory where you installed SDL. open up the folder called lib and add the file libSDL.dll.a

C:\SDL-1.2.15\lib\libSDL.dll.a

Now do the same again but now locate the file libSDLmain.a

C:\SDL-1.2.15\lib\libSDLmain.a

Add again, and this time locate the directory where you installed SDL_net and open up the folder called lib then open up x86 and add SDL_net.lib

C:\SDL_net-1.2.8\lib\x86\SDL_net.lib

On your right hand side, there is a large box called other linkers options:
type this inside

-lmingw32

Go to the search directories and under compiler, click add. locate your SDL folder and add the include folder. Do this again and this time add the SDL folder inside the include folder.
Now go to the SDL_net folder and add the include folder from that.

C:\SDL-1.2.15\include
C:\SDL-1.2.15\include\SDL
C:\SDL_net-1.2.8\include

Click save to saves these settings. make sure to save them when exiting the program so you don't have to do this again.

The SDL_net and SDL .dll files

For your program to work you will need to put the dll files either in your program or in your windows system32 directory or if you are a x64 user C:\Windows\SysWOW64

These files are located in the bin folder for SDL and in the lib folder for SDL_net.

The SDL_net Server Tutorial

First of all we need a file so that we can start coding.

File->New->File->and choose C/C++ source

Now press Next, choose C++, and tick both Debug and Release. Now click the folder opener "..." and name your file main and click finish.

The Code

#include "SDL_net.h" // This is the SDL_net header file

#include <iostream> // This will be used for outputting to the console

using namespace std;

int main(int argc, char *argv[]) // The entry point for the program
{
freopen("CON","w",stdout); // This will enable us to write to the console

TCPsocket server, client; // TCP sockets. server for listening and client for each client

IPaddress ip, *remoteIP; // IPaddress. ip for the server. remoteIP for connected clients.

bool quit, quit1; // These boolean objects will be used for looping
char buffer[512]; // Holds the message

if(SDLNet_Init() < 0) // Initialize SDL_net
{
cout << "SDLNet_Init: " << SDLNet_GetError() << endl;
return 0;
}
cout << "Server Initialized....\n"; // Print out that the server initialized

if(SDLNet_ResolveHost(&ip,0,1993) < 0) // Resolve host to set up the server. The ip is so that it can use the local host, 0 meaning it is the server and 1993 is a port I chose.
{
cout << "SDLNet_ResolveHost: " << SDLNet_GetError() << endl;
return 0;
}

if(!(server=SDLNet_TCP_Open(&ip))) // We will set up a new TCP socket for listening.
{
cout << "SDLNet_TCP_Open: " << SDLNet_GetError() << endl;
return 0;
}
quit = false; // quit is set to false so we can loop

while(!quit) // Enter the loop
{
if((client = SDLNet_TCP_Accept(server))) // If there is a client, accept it and assign it to client
{
if((remoteIP = SDLNet_TCP_GetPeerAddress(client))) // if we are able to get the address of the client, put it in remoteIP
{
cout << "Host Connected: " <<
SDLNet_Read32(&remoteIP->host) << " " <<
SDLNet_Read16(&remoteIP->port) << endl; // output the information of the host.
}
else // if we cannot accept, then we output an error.
{
cout << "SDLNet_TCP_Accept: " << SDLNet_GetError() << endl;
}
quit1 = false; // set quit1 to false for second loop
while(!quit1) // second loop starts
{
memset(buffer, 0, sizeof(buffer)); // Empty out the buffer
if(SDLNet_TCP_Recv(client, buffer, 512)>0) // If we receive something from client and it isn't and error, put it in buffer.
{
cout << "client says: " << buffer << endl; // output the message
if(strcmp(buffer, "exit\0") == 0) // if the message says exit, we exit this loop
{
quit1 = true;
cout << "Terminating connection" << endl;
}
if(strcmp(buffer,"shutdown\0") == 0) // if the messages says shutdown, we exit both loops, meaning we end the program
{
quit1 = true;
quit = true;
cout << "quiting program" << endl;
}
}
else // if the message receive is 0 or less, meaning there is an error or the connection is lost, we end this loop.
{

quit1 = true;
cout << "Terminating connection" << endl;
}
}
SDLNet_TCP_Close(client); // close the client socket
}
}
SDLNet_TCP_Close(server); // close the server socket
SDLNet_Quit(); // quit SDL_net

return 0; // return 0 meaning everything worked just fine
}

you can copy and paste this code or you can write it out. the comments are just there to explain the program.

Python Socket client

I have decided to use python for creating the client because I wanted a client with easy input and minimum code.

If you would like to use python for your client too then follow these steps.

You will need to download python 3.2 or later. http://www.python.org/getit/

After you installed it, open up a notepad and save is as client.py
Make sure it isn't saved as .txt file

Now simply type in this code and save it:

#import the socket library
from socket import *

#set up a TCP socket named server
server = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM)

#connect to server using the ip "127.0.0.1" (or "localhost") and port 1993 like the server
server.connect(("127.0.0.1", 1993))

#start a loop
while True:
#input allow the user to input something to the variable data
data = input("-->")
#convert these strings to bytes with UTF-8 encoding
data = bytes(data,"UTF-8")
#send the data to the server
server.send(data)

Now to run this file, just double click it. Make sure the server is running already before running the client. This client is simple and when you want to exit, you just close it.

Conclusion

So this is a very basic server created using C++ and SDL_net library. In here, I introduced many simple and useful things that you will need such as using freopen to opening the console. This is useful to use with stuff you already know such as cout and cin. I also introduced memset which empties out the array which without this, we will constantly get garbage data and the program wouldn't run properly.

I will mostly likely do a client in C++ and SDL_net next time and also will carry on doing more tutorials like these for networking.

If you have and problems or any questions talk to me on the forum http://gamemakergroup.webs.com/

and just remember to run the server before you run the client ;)

C++ and SDL_Net Tutorial

2012-05-30T08:31:00.001-07:00

When I started dabbing in network programming for making online games. SDL_Net was a library that look neat for me to work with. Since I was also using SDL for graphics, I thought it would be easy to use that.

But like everyone knows, there are hardly any tutorials to use for using SDL_Net with C++. Well I had to learn the hard way and sometime next week, I am going to write a tutorial to get you started with SDL_Net and show you how everything works. Stay Tuned!

Game Makers Group Journal

MMO, Android and Web Dev

Android

MMO

Web

Create your own MMORPG

Technical Side

Programming Languages

Graphics Library

Networking Library

Developing Environment

Help

Asteroid Miner Pygame

pygame map scrolling for RPG games

pygame simple game

Python tutorial [part 1]

Pygame Tic Tac Toe simple game

Java Cheatsheet !!

Project Project

fresh start *sigh*

Compact Packets. [Networking]

C++ Decimal to Binary Converter with sample code

One of my articles in a magazine

New Set of Tutorials

Still Dreaming..

Tonight Mars Rover Curiosity landing [GMT]

5:17 a.m. GMT

Python game programming with PyGame!

Access The Pirate Bay [Unblock]

Simple Tic Tac Toe Game in python

Pointers on C++ Pointers

SDL SDL_Net C++ Code:Blocks Ubuntu all set up and ready!!

Installing Code:Blocks on Ubuntu

Some more updates

SDL_Net and C++ server

So before we start

The program

SDL and SDL_net

Setting up the SDL_net server

Setting up compiler to use SDL_net

The SDL_net and SDL .dll files

The SDL_net Server Tutorial

The Code

Python Socket client

Conclusion

C++ and SDL_Net Tutorial

fresh start sigh