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1500 questions
157
votes
31 answers
Must read game development books
Let's make a list of the best books that every game developer should read. Each answer should have a single book (by title and optionally author), a link to buy the book, and a short synopsis of what the book is about.
DFectuoso
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155
votes
3 answers
What is the point of a borderless fullscreen window?
Quite a lot of game allow user to play in a "borderless fullscreen window" instead of a "fullscreen mode". I've been wondering. Why would one prefer a fullscreen window over the "built-in" fullscreen mode? Simple test of my own showed me, that using…
LaVolpe
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154
votes
18 answers
What things should an indie game developer never do?
What are some of the biggest - and better yet: insidious and unexpected - mistakes that indie game developers make? Especially when making the transition from hobbyist to full-time indie?
Andrew Russell
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150
votes
10 answers
How do you generate tileable Perlin noise?
Related: Simple noise generation Understanding Perlin Noise I'd like to generate tileable Perlin noise. I'm working from Paul Bourke's PerlinNoise*() functions, which are like this: // alpha is the "division factor" (how much to damp subsequent…
bobobobo
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149
votes
22 answers
STL for games, yea or nay?
Every programming language has its standard library of containers, algorithms, and other helpful stuff. With languages like C#, Java, and Python, it's practically inconceivable to use the language without its standard lib. Yet, on many C++ games…
munificent
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139
votes
9 answers
What are some programming design patterns that are useful in game development?
I have a few books on Design Patterns, and have read some articles, but cannot intuitively figure out which programming design patterns would be useful in game development. For example, I have a book called ActionScript 3 with Design Patterns that…
jcurrie33
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137
votes
1 answer
What should a main game loop do?
Generally , what are the core things that one should do in the game loop, and what are some things that one shouldn't do in the game loop?
hokiecsgrad
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137
votes
16 answers
How to avoid players getting lost in and/or bored by the meta game?
Yesterday, I noticed something that I had never noticed consciously before, but which had "ruined" more or less all games that I have ever played: The longer you play a game, the more you get lost in and bored by the meta game. What I mean is that…
gexicide
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136
votes
11 answers
How can I create borders in an open-world game that don't feel artificial?
When creating open-world maps, a big issue to take into consideration is how "borders" of sorts are implemented. Obviously, in an open-world game, there shouldn't be invisible-wall borders, as it ruins immersion, and makes the game feel more…
Ethan Bierlein
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135
votes
4 answers
What are "affordances" in game design?
I keep hearing the word "affordance" in terms of game design, most recently in the movie Indie Game: Life After . I also vaguely remember it from a UX class in undergrad. But I have no idea what it means. What is an affordance in the context of game…
Evorlor
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126
votes
13 answers
How to develop RPG Damage Formulas?
I'm developing a classical 2d RPG (in a similar vein to final fantasy) and I was wondering if anyone had some advice on how to do damage formulas/links to resources/examples? I'll explain my current setup. Hopefully I'm not overdoing it with this…
user127817
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124
votes
20 answers
Is it unethical to make a game AI that is secretly non-competitive?
In several games the AI is designed to give the player an easy time without their knowledge. This can be having a 0% chance to hit the first time you appear, enemy letting you sneak up on them by not turning around, or the lowering of difficulty…
PStag
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123
votes
12 answers
Has piracy ever resulted in a developer getting shut down?
Has piracy EVER resulted in a developer getting shut down? That is, has piracy ever been so detrimental that it brought about the downfall of a game studio? If I were to release a game, should I be extremely wary of pirates and plan accordingly, or…
yuritsuki
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120
votes
10 answers
How does entity communication work?
I have two user cases: How would entity_A send a take-damage message to entity_B ? How would entity_A query entity_B 's HP? Here's what I've encountered so far: Message queue entity_A creates a take-damage message and posts it to entity_B 's message…
deft_code
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117
votes
28 answers
How to deal with "Scrooge McDucks" in my fixed-currency-amount game?
I'm currently working on a very small scale MMO game planned to support approximately hundred players per server, but we're having trouble with our economical model. For various reasons we have decided to go with a fixed-currency-amount system;…
Applekini
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