widget (t.a.g.)

"widget" is a category of coding-related posts that discuss programming the GUI components of libgeds used in the *EDS tools and runME. It's not quite 'user interface', which instead discusses what sort of widgets/activities/feedback are interesting for a desired user experience, nor 'user guide' which present how to use the *EDS tools themselves.No, it's really …

user interface (t.a.g.)

You're done reading posts of the "user interface" category.These described thoughts about human/software interaction for tools rather than the mechanics used in video games. Sometimes it introduces new widgets, sometimes I'm just taking a step back and revise the existing UI in terms of accessibility, ergonomy or ease-of-use.It's not to be swapped with user guides …

Unit-test [t.a.g.]

I\'m not a unit-testing guru, but at some point, I had to start running automated tests on my game engine because it became more complex and I had less and less time to spend pressing \'STEP\' buttons in emulators and debuggers.I still struggle a bit to decide whether what I\'m doing is unit testing or …

sketch (t.a.g.)

You have just reached the last post in the "sketches" category. This tag is assigned to all those posts which features an original doodle (usually from the Bilou's world characters) as an illustration. Quality may vary widely depending on the time I took to draw the illustration -- i.e. it hasn't an artwork quality level …

Tileset [t.a.g.]

Before I can show you how to load graphics with the GEDS engine, I must ensure you all know about how the NintendoDS builds the image we see on screen. I'm using the tiled mode here, where pictures are made of elementary 8x8 pixels elements called "tiles".You have likely seen level editors where people drop …

tiled [t.a.g.]

Great. You've read through all the posts related to the management of a tile-based level and how the game logic uses it. The basis is also covered in the tutorial branch through the 'cando()' function that filters contents of the map to say whether we're green to do some kind of move or not.

superpowers (t.a.g.)

You have made it to the last post about superpowers. These posts track my thoughts about temporary mechanics that could be used in my full-featured "Bilou's Adventure" game. Their fundamental difference against primary mechanics is that they must be acquired before you can use them, and could be lost while playing.

storyline (t.a.g.)

You've reached the oldest "storyline" post.These posts talk about the development of the background of "Bilou's Adventure" game, e.g. the addition/refinement of which zones the world will offer to explore, etc.It contained some historical elements, although there's more history than just presenting the storyline (the story was pretty much missing in the '94-'96 16-bit prototype.

sprtools (t.a.g.)

Wow. You've gone through all the posts about my own tools for my own SPR file format ! I'm impressed.It may sound an odd idea to run your own file format when doing a video game. This is mostly motivated by the odd memory structure of the DS video chip, tiled to the bones. '.spr' …

state machine (t.a.g.)

This is the category of technical posts that discuss the use of (finite) state machine as the primary abstraction to build sophisticated behaviours for characters in video games (and side-scrolling platformers in particular).This is to meet the observation that, in games I loved, one cannot really speak about "artificial intelligence" for ennemies. However, they have …