Time to get to work.

So, for the last month or so, all I'm doing is reading. A LOT. I'm reading blogs, books, forums, posts and what not. You name it - I'm reading it.

And it's nice. It's good. It's easy.

And that's the problem.

Reading is easy. Too easy. When you read you don't have to think. You don't have to invest. You don't have to do anything, actually. Just... read.

And that's not good enough. Reading won't get your project off the ground. Reading won't write your code for you. Reading will get you nowhere.

Of course, I'm exaggerating. Reading is good. It puts some knowledge in your noggin'. But reading is not enough. At some point - you have to stop reading, and start doing.

I've reached that point.

I have all the knowledge and know-how I need. I don't need to see more code examples. Don't need to read more documentation. Don't need to read another blog-post. I don't need.

It's action time.

So, reaching that conclusion, I've put my reading glasses down (metaphorically speaking, I had laser surgery years ago), and started coding. Started creating.

The results are coming up soon, I promise.

 

Have a great day

-Shay

Book review: WPF 4 Unleashed.

 

So, it seems I needed to learn some WPF.

It wasn't my favorite choice, but once I decided that WPF is the way to go - I had to learn it as fast as possible.

This part - the learning part - is the hardest part. You sit around, reading a book on your kindle, PC, or actually holding one in your hand. And it may be interesting (not all technincal books are interesting) - but you still have this nagging feeling that you're not actually doing anything. You're not working.

Well - that may be how you feel, but it's not true. In order to create any piece of software you have to work in steps, and if step 1 is: "learn WPF" - than sitting at home reading a book is the first step - and it is, indeed - a step. It gets you closer to your goal, and it's not any different from (for example) - step 2: "Design the menus".

So, I've decided to put all of my energy to learning WPF as quick as possible. Made some inquiries, and finally decided on WPF 4 Unleashed .

So, how was it? Good and bad.

The good:

It covers a LOT of basic WPF stuff, starting from xaml reading and writing, layout options and all the way to advanced controls and graphics. The book covers every subject to in length, and provides tips, warnings, and example code.

The bad:

It's too boring and not well written. It is obvious the writer, Adam Nathan, knows a lot about WPF and its internal working mechanisms. Too bad he uses that knowledge to make things more complicated then simple. Some of the chapters were too complex and puzzling, leaving you confused instead of enlightened.

The conclusion:

It's not a bad book. I wouldn't recommend it as a must-read, and definitly not for those starting out with WPF, but it's a good book to keep around as reference, since its code examples may be copy-pasted directly into your own projects.

3/5.

-Shay

 

My big idea

It's about time to talk about my game.

A while ago, I've been talking to a good friend of mine about video games. Specifically, we were talking about games we liked as teen-agers. Gamers that are no longer available. And we found out we're always coming back to the same type of games, a type that's gone from this world. No-one seems to be creating those types of games anymore. I'm talking about space-combat-sim.

In case you have no idea what I'm talking about, I'll give a few examples: Star Wars: X-Wing, Star Wars: Tie Fighter, Star Wars: X-wing Alliance, Freespace 2 and so on.

In those games you usually play a pilot, flying some kind of space-craft into battle. You have various missions and goals, and you fight other crafts - big and small - to meet them.

But that's not all.

I'm not planning on making another TIE Fighter clone. I'm planning on making a level-engine for this type of game.

What does it mean?

It means that ANYONE around the world, by editing a simple XML file, will be able to create missions, briefings, and even whole campaigns!

The idea is very simple: all of the assets and game-logic (including AI) will aready be in the game. All the mission editor will have to do is simply define who and what happens on the mission. For example, a player may want to define the following simple rules:

• A shuttle (called "Victory") moves from point A to point B.
• 3 fighters (named Red1 to Red3) are escorting it.
• The player, flying another fighter (Blue1) and his wingman (a bomber named Blue2) need to destroy the shuttle before it reaches point B.
• If player dies - the level ends in failure.
• If the shuttle reaches point B - the level end in failure.
• If the shuttle is destroyed before reaching point B - the level ends in victory.

Simple enough, right?

Well, that's basically all the player will have to define. The fighters escorting the shuttle will know what their job is: they will automatically fly around the shuttle, and once an enemy gets close - will break off to attack them. They will fight to the death. Once the opposition gives up or is destroyed - they will move to escort the shuttle once more. Blue2 will know his job and follow orders given to him by the player. He'll also protect the player if necessary. The shuttle will make its way as fast as possible to point B, moving through the shortest route possible.

This example show how a very simple mission could go. The player making the mission (we'll call him designer) will only need to define some very simple stuff - and the engine will do the rest.

But that's not all!

Using the game engine and XML, the designer will be able to create in-game cutscenes, pre (and post) mission briefings, campaigns trees (since they're won't be linear) and in-game dilemmas that occur while playing.

I'm also planning on integrating an achievement and challanges system, as well as a personnal tracking system, and a global one.

But that's not all!

I'm also planning on sharing the glory!

If you're a level-designer, and you've created a good level (mission), or campaign - you'll be able to upload it to our servers, and once it gets approved - sell it through our in-game system.

This means players will have as many levels and campaigns as they want - some for free - and they'll be able to create new ones, and make money off of it. Probably not a LOT of money - but still - money is money.

So, that's it. There's actually a lot more to it - but that's the basic concept. What do you think? Will it make me rich?

Let's hope so

-Shay