Proof of concept demonstration on how to implement a blockchain to track game currency and purchase of game items. In this demonstration, the blockchain is created in PHP on a Fedora Linux virtual machine running in Virtual Box. The block chain is pulled into Unity through C# networking code. Regular expressions are used to parse … Continue reading Blockchain for Game Development – Knox Game Design, August 2024 →

Demonstration of how to use the FECUX emulator memory tools to determine the memory location of in-game variables, such as number of coins. How to set a breakpoint with the Hex Editor to find the 6502 assembly code that is executed when a memory location is changed. Analysis of assembly code for awarding an extra … Continue reading Exploring NES Memory – Knox Game Design, July 2024 →

Comparison of jumping statistics from various characters in classic platformer games. Analysis of states in jump cycles. Demo of implementation of jump for a 2D platformer game. Links and Notes Demo Code – https://github.com/levidsmith/KnoxGameDesign/tree/master/jumping FCEUX – https://fceux.com/web/home.html Podcast theme music – Ride by Pocketmaster

Overview of recursion and an explanation of a simple flood fill algorithm. Example demo in MonoGame with C# code. Links and Notes Demo Code – https://github.com/levidsmith/KnoxGameDesign/tree/master/floodfill MonoGame – https://monogame.net/ Podcast theme music – Ride by Pocketmaster

Thanks to everyone who came out to the Knox Game Jam 2024 kickoff! Seven great games were created by the group for the game jam. Great job everyone! Minu by Dustin Claws and Conundrums by James and PandaPuffsForBreakfast You are somewhat of a know-it-all. Your good friend has reached out for help in a murder … Continue reading Knox Game Jam 2024 Recap – Knox Game Design, April 2024 →

Overview of using the Dia tool for creating UML diagrams. UML is a standard for creating various types of diagrams, such as class diagrams, state diagrams, and use case diagrams. Links and Notes UML – https://www.uml.org/ UML examples – https://www.uml-diagrams.org/ Dia at Gnome – https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Dia Dia installer – http://dia-installer.de/ Podcast theme music – Ride by … Continue reading UML with Dia – Knox Game Design, March 2024 →

Explanation of how to create a texture mapped box by reading a BMP image file and displaying with OpenGL. Then how to create that same texture mapped the box in Blender to export into FBX format. The model is then imported and displayed multiple different game development environments, such as Unity, MonoGame, Godot, and Unreal … Continue reading Texture Mapping – Knox Game Design, February 2024 →

Introduction to OpenGL and how to setup development environment using MSYS2. Code examples in C for displaying polygons, keyboard input with GLUT, and a simple game demo. OpenGL code examples in C – https://github.com/levidsmith/KnoxGameDesign/tree/master/opengl Links and Notes OpenGL – https://www.opengl.org/ MSYS2 – https://www.msys2.org/ Setting up OpenGL development Environment on Windows with MSYS2 – https://www.jamiebayne.co.uk/blog/opengl-windows Lazy … Continue reading OpenGL – Knox Game Design, January 2024 →

Overview of modding Doom with customized levels and graphics. Links and Notes GZDoom download – https://zdoom.org/downloads Doom World mods – https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/ ModDB mods – https://www.moddb.com/games/doom-ii/mods Ultimate Doom Builder download – https://devbuilds.drdteam.org/ultimatedoombuilder/ Ultimate Doom Builder instructions – https://forum.zdoom.org/viewtopic.php?t=66745 MSYS2 (7zip decompression) – https://www.msys2.org/ Doom World Doom editors – https://www.doomworld.com/classicdoom/utils/editors.php Doom World beginner tutorial – https://www.doomworld.com/forum/topic/140740-doom-mapping-crash-course-absolute-beginner-mapping-workshop/ Slade3 … Continue reading Doom Modding – Knox Game Design, December 2023 →

Explanation of design and implementation of card memory matching game in MonoGame. Demo code – https://github.com/levidsmith/KnoxGameDesign/tree/master/memory_game Links and Notes Podcast theme music – Ride by Pocketmaster

Presentation on how to apply object oriented principles to GameMaker to expand the variety of enemies and items in games.  Includes discussion of parenting of objects in GameMaker and how to inherit attributes and functions in children objects. Links and Notes GameMaker – https://gamemaker.io/en Podcast theme music – Ride by Pocketmaster

Overview of OpCodes and how those relate to video game consoles. Links and Notes 6502 OpCodes at Ultimate Commodore 64 Reference – https://www.pagetable.com/c64ref/6502/ GameBoy OpCodes – https://www.pastraiser.com/cpu/gameboy/gameboy_opcodes.html x86 OpCodes – https://net.cs.uni-bonn.de/fileadmin/user_upload/plohmann/x86_opcode_structure_and_instruction_overview.pdf 6502 and other retro console processors – https://www.arcadecomponents.com/cpusupport.html Podcast theme music – Ride by Pocketmaster

Overview of encoding characters and letters into their numerical and binary values. Explanation of how to use bitwise operators to change case of characters. Links and Notes Podcast theme music – Ride by Pocketmaster

Overview of how parallax is used and implemented in 2D video games. Links and Notes Demo code – https://github.com/levidsmith/KnoxGameDesign/tree/master/parallax Podcast theme music – Ride by Pocketmaster

Overview of grid based games and implementation of checkers in MonoGame/C#. Links and Notes Checkers demo code – https://github.com/levidsmith/KnoxGameDesign/tree/master/gridbased Podcast theme music – Ride by Pocketmaster

Knox Game Design Spring ’23 game jam entries Links and Notes Podcast theme music – Ride by Pocketmaster

Walkthrough on how to create a basic falling block line clearing game using MonoGame. Project code – https://github.com/levidsmith/KnoxGameDesign/tree/master/falling_blocks Links and Notes Visual Studio Community – visualstudio.microsoft.com/vs/community MonoGame – www.monogame.net Podcast theme music – Ride by Pocketmaster

Overview of game engines and development libraries. Links and Notes Godot Engine – godotengine.org Unity – unity.com Unreal Engine – www.unrealengine.com GameMaker – gamemaker.io Stencyl – stencyl.com Scratch – scratch.mit.edu SDL – www.libsdl.org Allegro – liballeg.org MonoGame – www.monogame.net Pygame – pygame.org Pico-8 – www.lexaloffle.com/pico-8.php OpenGL – www.opengl.org Podcast theme music – Ride by Pocketmaster

How to create vector graphics in the SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) format by text editor or Inkscape. Demo code – https://github.com/levidsmith/KnoxGameDesign/tree/master/svg Links and Notes Podcast theme music – Ride by Pocketmaster

How to create a simple space shooter web game using Javascript and HTML Canvas, as well as drawing the Tennessee state flag. Demo code – https://github.com/levidsmith/KnoxGameDesign/tree/master/javascript Links and Notes Javascript reference at Mozilla – https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference Canvas API at Mozilla – https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Canvas_API HTML Canvas reference at W3Schools –  https://www.w3schools.com/tags/ref_canvas.asp Podcast theme music – Ride by Pocketmaster