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Developer Blogs
May 15, 1999
A couple of quick observations. First off, I am once again underwhelmed by Apple's decision to release OpenPlay (formerly Uber) to developers. This was a tool that was announced over a year ago at CGDA 1998. The authors, a couple of guys at Bungie and Apple, started a mailing list about it. I hooke…
May 13, 1999
I finally got around to installing Windows NT on the main development box. I'd always wanted to install it, but it was a headache and Visual Studio was running just fine under Win 98. Since the CE development tools strongly favor Windows NT, I took the plunge. So far, it's working just fine. I'll k…
May 10, 1999
Thanks to Geoff Howland for plugging my games in his developer diary. I must admit, however, that I goaded him into doing it. Lemme explain. . .
A few weeks ago, he emailed me to boast of his fine scores in Shi Sen and Poker Patience. As a challenge, I gave him my personal Shi Sen high score (3:50) …
A few weeks ago, he emailed me to boast of his fine scores in Shi Sen and Poker Patience. As a challenge, I gave him my personal Shi Sen high score (3:50) …
April 29, 1999
Sorry to be a couple of days in writing a new diary entry. Frankly, there's not a whole lot new that's happened lately. I'd been doing so much on other projects that the games had taken a back seat. I'll get back in the saddle again.
I'm currently working on a 2D sprite rasterizer for wxWindows. The…
I'm currently working on a 2D sprite rasterizer for wxWindows. The…
April 16, 1999
I'm on the shelves!
That's right folks, a scant four days after getting the retail boxes in the mail, I spied my products on the shelf! I was in Target, buying a couple of new lampshades for the bedroom. I knew that Target was one of the retailers that was going to stock my stuff, so I decided to st…
That's right folks, a scant four days after getting the retail boxes in the mail, I spied my products on the shelf! I was in Target, buying a couple of new lampshades for the bedroom. I knew that Target was one of the retailers that was going to stock my stuff, so I decided to st…
April 12, 1999
The new phone books are here! The new phone books are here!
OK, it's not as exciting as the phone books, but a bigass box-o-my game pack just arrived on my doorstep. My publisher, Swift/Cosmi, just sent me my complimentary games. Here are some box-shots.
Boxed version front
Here's the front of the box…
OK, it's not as exciting as the phone books, but a bigass box-o-my game pack just arrived on my doorstep. My publisher, Swift/Cosmi, just sent me my complimentary games. Here are some box-shots.
Boxed version front
Here's the front of the box…
April 08, 1999
OK, it's nothing new, but the client-server version of CVS is very cool. I'd seen some public CVS projects out on the web, but I'd never really had the chance to work with one up close. After looking at the wxWindows mailing list, it was apparent that there were some interesting bug-fixes and enhan…
April 06, 1999
First off, let me dispense with my obligatory review of The Matrix. I guess good sci fi movies are a rarity, because this one seems to have appeared on every programmer's diary and finger-file.
All in all, I liked it. If you're an anime fan, see it. It's basically an anime movie shot live-action, an…
All in all, I liked it. If you're an anime fan, see it. It's basically an anime movie shot live-action, an…
March 31, 1999
Back to the old grind. I've got a really good idea what my next project is, and I'm currently working on a really simple level-builder and test environment for it. Things are looking pretty good.
So far, I'm pretty happy with wxWindows. I figured it was time to move on, given that my old German clas…
So far, I'm pretty happy with wxWindows. I figured it was time to move on, given that my old German clas…
March 26, 1999
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JOHN'S DEVELOPER DIARY!
Yep, that's right. I've been keeping up this quixotic crusade to document my development doings and to put up arrays of asinine alliterations for a year now. It's been a fun year. Hopefully there'll be more to come. Be sure to gimme some feedback if you are …
Yep, that's right. I've been keeping up this quixotic crusade to document my development doings and to put up arrays of asinine alliterations for a year now. It's been a fun year. Hopefully there'll be more to come. Be sure to gimme some feedback if you are …
March 21, 1999
The wife was griping that I didn't talk about the seminars. I eased her fears by telling her that I was indeed going to talk about the seminars. So, without further ado. . .
The seminars were, on the whole, about what I expected. No real standouts. I didn't attend the much-hyped keynote by Uber-desi…
The seminars were, on the whole, about what I expected. No real standouts. I didn't attend the much-hyped keynote by Uber-desi…
March 20, 1999
First off, thanks to Shelly for covering for me during show-week. I was hoping I'd get a chance to email updates to her via the GDC Internet-lounge, but the lounge was a disappointment (15 iMacs for > 4,500 attendees). But I'm getting ahead of myself here.
Anyone else wanna see more diary entries…
Anyone else wanna see more diary entries…
March 16, 1999
Well, John is in San Jose right now and has dared me to post to his developer diary.
He left here late Saturday night and worked all day Sunday at the CGDC. He said that he has to work only another 3 hours to fulfill his requirements. FWIW, if you work at the convention, you can get in to see and do…
He left here late Saturday night and worked all day Sunday at the CGDC. He said that he has to work only another 3 hours to fulfill his requirements. FWIW, if you work at the convention, you can get in to see and do…
March 09, 1999
Just got word that the games should be on the shelves in April. I'll keep you posted. I haven't even seen the package yet, so I can't much comment.
You think your compiles take a long time? Looks like I'll be doing international versions of my games again. Building the English version has 54 build …
You think your compiles take a long time? Looks like I'll be doing international versions of my games again. Building the English version has 54 build …
March 08, 1999
Well, I just got the news that my old publisher has been bought up by Activision. Not surprisingly, I found out almost a week after the fact from a news site. Apart from quarterly checks, I haven't had any contact with them in over a year.
Now it's just a waiting-game to see what happens to my games…
Now it's just a waiting-game to see what happens to my games…
March 01, 1999
Nothing much new on the GDC or publisher fronts. Suffice it to say that I'm hoping that the games will be on the shelves before long. Life in the discount-rack is a bit different than top-shelf titles. Since individual products rarely have promotion budgets, it's usually the case that games don't a…
February 24, 1999
Since playing with the STL, I've discovered a fun new game called "fun with C++ name-mangling".
I embedded an STL component within an STL component today, using the standard allocators. It was a simple array of strings. . .
vector Args;
By the time Visual C++ was done with it, Args was of the type. . …
I embedded an STL component within an STL component today, using the standard allocators. It was a simple array of strings. . .
vector Args;
By the time Visual C++ was done with it, Args was of the type. . …
February 23, 1999
Finally writing a bit of code, but just the underpinnings of a game engine. Not much to show off yet.
Got most of the data structures done. One thing I really liked about my old class library was that it came with some very well thought-out base classes for common simple data structures, like Point,…
Got most of the data structures done. One thing I really liked about my old class library was that it came with some very well thought-out base classes for common simple data structures, like Point,…
February 19, 1999
Just got myself a fat pipe installed to my internet machine, specifically, a cable modem. From now on, email me at john@thecodezone.com. Things are a bit of pain right now, as I've got file sharing shut off to my internet machine. As soon as I figure out how to set up some security for my little pe…
February 11, 1999
Release Candidate 3 is burned on a CD and ready to send out. In the past week, I've fixed a total of three obnoxious machine-crashing planet-destroying bugs.
OK, actually the bugs were pretty durned minor, but a bug is a bug. . .
OK, actually the bugs were pretty durned minor, but a bug is a bug. . .
- In Poker Machine, the Quick Help box didn't pop up until after the gam…
February 04, 1999
Just a quick note today. One of my all-time favorite freebie utilities, PFE, has just released a new version. Yes, it's a notepad replacement, but it's an good one. It'll edit files of unlimited size, it's got excellent search-n-replace, it's easy to map the keys, it can record and play keyboard ma…
February 03, 1999
Well, my wife is encouraging me to go to the GDC anyway. It would be nice, especially if I'm gonna get into 3D stuff. We'll see.
Just something silly here today. As a service to the developer community, I am releasing the Official Code Zone Screen Backdrop! It's a picture of "Terry, the terry-fying…
Just something silly here today. As a service to the developer community, I am releasing the Official Code Zone Screen Backdrop! It's a picture of "Terry, the terry-fying…
February 01, 1999
Ahh, I'm in the horns of a dilemma here.
I want to go to the GDC in a big way, but I've got a few problems. First off, all the folks I hoped could come along (to help split hotel and shuttle costs) had to drop out. As it stands, it looks like I'm going alone, and that's gonna cost a small fortune. O…
I want to go to the GDC in a big way, but I've got a few problems. First off, all the folks I hoped could come along (to help split hotel and shuttle costs) had to drop out. As it stands, it looks like I'm going alone, and that's gonna cost a small fortune. O…
January 25, 1999
Hey, how about I actually talk about my project for a bit :)
I'm getting ready to send out Release Candidate 2 to the publisher. I've fixed a few bugs, mostly internal stuff that the user wouldn't notice. I also removed a couple more references to "Quintessential Games" that I missed. I'm gonna miss…
I'm getting ready to send out Release Candidate 2 to the publisher. I've fixed a few bugs, mostly internal stuff that the user wouldn't notice. I also removed a couple more references to "Quintessential Games" that I missed. I'm gonna miss…
January 22, 1999
Just two bullet points today, but they're important.
I was talking to a colleague yesterday. He was putting together a library of 3D sprite-type routines for games. He was at odds with another colleague about how to proceed once the library was complete. One wanted to take the Roger Corman approach …
I was talking to a colleague yesterday. He was putting together a library of 3D sprite-type routines for games. He was at odds with another colleague about how to proceed once the library was complete. One wanted to take the Roger Corman approach …
January 18, 1999
Zounds. Looks like my diary entry from 1/14 got some viewers. Looks like I've been added as a link to a couple of game-development sites. I also got some great positive email. Thanks for the kudos!
If you have some comments or other points to add to the ones I made, lemme know. DevGames is gonna add…
If you have some comments or other points to add to the ones I made, lemme know. DevGames is gonna add…
January 15, 1999
Well, I have a new winner for my official "couldn't find it with both hands and a flashlight" award. . .
This award goes to TLC/Softkey, the reigning kings of the discount rack. Almost three months to the day since I sent in their Product Submission Agreement and CD of my games, they wrote me back t…
This award goes to TLC/Softkey, the reigning kings of the discount rack. Almost three months to the day since I sent in their Product Submission Agreement and CD of my games, they wrote me back t…
January 14, 1999
First off, being a vile and envious person, I must know. . .WHERE DOES GEOFF HOWLAND GET SUCH COOL PRESS ?!
In my entire career as a developer, I have gotten exactly 1.5 really cool pieces of press. One was when a nice calendar VBX that I wrote got a terrific write-up in a Visual Basic magazine. The…
In my entire career as a developer, I have gotten exactly 1.5 really cool pieces of press. One was when a nice calendar VBX that I wrote got a terrific write-up in a Visual Basic magazine. The…
January 12, 1999
Things are pretty quiet on the publisher front. I'm waiting for some bug reports from 'em. Since they're changing the name of the product, I've got a little work to do there. Hopefully they'll send me some box-shot bitmaps soon so I can start making my product look the way they want.
Hint: Don't fal…
Hint: Don't fal…
January 03, 1999
Hope y'all had a happy new year. I did, but I'm also glad the holidays are over.
I just got hold of a new piece of project management software, Turbo Project Express by IMSI. I've worked for several companies on several projects, and the project management ranged from none at all to pointlessly ove…
I just got hold of a new piece of project management software, Turbo Project Express by IMSI. I've worked for several companies on several projects, and the project management ranged from none at all to pointlessly ove…
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