GameDev Resources
Date:
[]
Categories:
[Tech]
Tags:
[Programming],
[GameDev]
I’ve been learning Pico-8, the retro game creation environment, and trying to write a few games. I’ve found some good online resources, both on general game programming topics and specific to Pico-8.
The Nature of Code (NOC), from Daniel Shiffman, is a textbook of foundational principles for creative coding and generative art. The current version of NOC uses p5js, the Javascript version of Processing.
Red Blob Games, from Amit Patel, has a great collection of articles on topics like grids and pathfinding. He also has a curated selection of articles by other authors.
Collision Detection, from Jeff Thompson, is a detailed web textbook on collision detection. The code examples are in Processing.
Game Programming Patterns, by Robert Nystrom, is a textbook of patterns. There are printed and eBook versions available to purchase, and a web version that can be read for free.
Tom Rijnbeek’s blog has a series of five articles on calculating orbits for games. The material is quite technical, but the Java code examples help in understanding how to implement the math.
- Errors in your game physics math
- Implementing circular orbits analytically
- The math behind elliptical orbits
- Solving Kepler’s equations for elliptical orbits in games
- Stable Solutions for General Orbits in Games
RogueBasin is a site devoted to roguelike games. The Developing category on the site has many links to articles and tutorials on developing roguelikes.
The Buckblog, from Jamis Buck, has not had any updates since 2016, but there is an excellent series of posts from 2010-2011 on maze generation. This recap has links to the other articles in the series. He has collected this material and more in a book, Mazes for Programmers. One issue for me is that all the sample code in the book and on the site is in Ruby. I think I can figure out how to implement the algorithms in p5js or Lua, but I’m not that familiar with Ruby.
Think Labyrinth, from Walter Pullen, has extensive information on mazes, hand drawn and computer generated.
The Cyber Vanguard has a comprehensive collection of GameDev resources.
Links Specific to Pico-8
Nerdy Teachers is a fantastic site with comprehensive written guides and well-produced video tutorials on developing games with Pico-8.
Fuzzy Notepad is a website and blog from Eevee. She started a series called Gamedev from scratch, about developing her Pico-8 game Star Anise Chronicles. Sadly, the series doesn’t continue past the first two articles as far as I know, but both articles are detailed and provide good insight into programming a game with Lua and Pico-8.
Vlek’s Personal Blog has several articles about creating a clone of Asteroids in Pico-8: