I don’t have a general topic to discuss this week; working on the debug environment has been productive, but somewhat boring. I’ll just spend more time discussing what I’ve done last week, and return to a livelier topic next Monday. One interesting note: I’ve had the most productive week so far, and I’m especially happy with my progress. I’ve also been adapting to this new lifestyle a lot more and the stress levels have been dropping back to a more manageable level.
Work Done Last Week
I implemented a solid debugging environment as I had planned, which was satisfying. This includes switching between different simulation methods, ease setups of different tests, and real-time parameter editing. Nothing glitzy, but it works smoothly.
The real-time param editing was possible because I also finished integrating the GUI system. I’m currently using CEGUI, an GUI layered on top of OpenGL with a nice liberal license. After a lot of evaluation I picked CEGUI thanks to its (relative) maturity, flexible license, and most importantly, its platform agnosticness. That means that if I port the game to another platform, I won’t be forced to ditch the GUI system. And that fits in with my focus on rapid prototyping and not wasting time re-implementing new feature. Any work I do on the GUI now will not go wasted. As a person living on his savings with no immediate avenues for income, I can’t afford to waste any time.
I also implemented a proper Camera system this week. Again, a minor feature, but it’s been sorely lacking. I tied the whole thing to the input system, so I can easily control panning around and zooming in and out of a scene. Oh and multiple cameras too. I’ve foregone implementing camera rotation, as I don’t currently need it.
Work Planned This Week
One thing that I didn’t get to again last week is resolving the issues that have cropped up in my important (currently non-disclosable) feature. I am spending as much of the week as I need to fixing these issues. This will include adding a few more visual debugging tools, but all the ground work has been laid, so the process should be straightforward.
Time permitting this week, I will explore integration of Erin Catto’s excellent Box2D physics engine. In spite of my work on physics related featured, I have zero interest in re-implementing the wheel. Box2D already does 2D physics simulation very, very well, is free and well supported. I’d be stupid not to use it.
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