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Handmade Hero – A complete game live-coded from scratch

handmadehero.org

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Re: Handmade Hero – A complete game live-coded from scratch

#51
post #44

To each their own, but for me the series were just too slow. As in, it felt like half the streams were just going over the basics and explaining every little detail. Which I'm sure some enjoy, but if you're like me, I'd recommend Jonathan Blows streams (naysayer88 on Twitch) for a little faster development.

as i understand it, the format of handmade hero is intended to allow for a code-along, from zero to complete game.

Re: Handmade Hero – A complete game live-coded from scratch

#52
post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's the exact point of HM. Abstractions come from the knowledge gained after wrestling with problems, not as a form of premature optimization. And this is especially true in games because you need to get all abstractions right otherwise the game will be limited and/or not performant enough. In many other programming fields you don't get punished for adding a few abstractions that are not strictly necessary, so usu…

I'd say you're right if we'd talk about a junior dev, but not when talking about a seasoned senior.

this isn't really an issue of "junior" or "senior".

Re: Handmade Hero – A complete game live-coded from scratch

#53
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Notch's (the creator of Minecraft) entries into Ludum Dare, a 48-hour video game development competition [1]. I only looked briefly on Twitch and his entry for #22 [2] was the only one I could find--nonetheless, it's really insightful seeing him work.

[1] http://ludumdare.com/compo/author/notch/

[2] https://www.twitch.tv/videos/38122415

Re: Handmade Hero – A complete game live-coded from scratch

#54
I really feel like I should start live streaming some of my coding sessions; taking a clear task from my issue tracker and working on it until completion. When I work on stuff on my own, I get distracted by things like ... well .. typing this comment on hackernews.

Streaming a coding session over a well defined feature seems like a really good idea to stay focused .. like XP except not terrible and make you want to stab your partner in the face.

Re: Handmade Hero – A complete game live-coded from scratch

#55
post #43
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is he using now?

He's using 4coder - https://4coder.handmade.network/ He likes that its configuration language is C, so he doesn't have to learn a configuration language to get things done.

But if you are already using emacs, you already have learnt the configuration language. What's the benefit?

Re: Handmade Hero – A complete game live-coded from scratch

#56
post #47

I've followed the first ~50 or so videos mainly because I'm interested in 2D game design and game physics at the basic levels (writing engines and physics). Commenting to ask if anyone has additional resources / streams / guides on those topics they can recommend.

I'd recommend making at least three games and shipping them on existing engines before trying to write your own. That's the best way to figure out what is and isn't a must-have feature.

Beyond that, if you're interested in physics look up everything Erin Catto has written about the design and implementation of Box2d.

Re: Handmade Hero – A complete game live-coded from scratch

#57

A comment thread from a couple years ago that resonated with me: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11087399 I watched about a dozen Handmade Hero episodes, and I was a bit annoyed that every session resulted in a random hunt to fix a bunch of bugs because there was not sufficient abstraction. It wouldn't be so bad if the abstractions were upcoming, but Casey seems to have an aversion to abstraction and I stopped w…

C certainly isn't the language where one expects to encounter deep abstractions, is it?

Re: Handmade Hero – A complete game live-coded from scratch

#58
post #55
post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He's using 4coder - https://4coder.handmade.network/ He likes that its configuration language is C, so he doesn't have to learn a configuration language to get things done.

But if you are already using emacs, you already have learnt the configuration language. What's the benefit?

From what I remember, he switched to 4coder because it supports modal editing that's better for his rsi problems. I guess he didn't care for vim or emacs with vi emulation. Casey also likes to support his "Handmade" network promoting simple C/C++ applications.

Re: Handmade Hero – A complete game live-coded from scratch

#59

Casey is really well known in the gaming community - https://mollyrocket.com/casey/about.html Through Handmade Con, he's also interviewed many other creators like Jonathan Blow and Edmund Mcmillen. He also contributed to Blow's recent game, The Witness (specifically the movement system and the world editor). This is a really good series by an experienced game developer that's basically free (or at least the Zed Shaw…

And here is Jonathan Blow and Casey chatting on Handmade Con two years ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jpkrx1osuLc
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