Time for another update...

I finished reading Splunky by Derek Wu. Oddly I have never played Splunky the game but the book was recommended on gamedev.net.

I tend to now only finish books if they are well written and I also won't blog about them unless I think they are good. This sort of applies to games a well although the finish requirement is not there for games. It does make for predictable posts about media I have consumed. Perhaps I should include the ones that get a skip recommendation.

So, err, Splunky (the book) is well written. It charts the story of the development of the game which in its self is a fascinating read. Sprinkled into this are discussion about some of the algorithms used, the inspirations for the game and what he was trying to achieve. All this combined with the authors clear love of games and creation make it a great read.

It is also short in a it feels complete without any padding. I certainly recommend it way.

I mean I would not have taken the time to write about it if I didn't recommend it, but it is good to be explicit.

I have also played a fair bit of Knights and Bikes, it is on the XBox game pass subscription service. I don't like the idea of the subscription service but it certainly compelling for a Friday night browse in the same way Netflix is. We usually subscribe for a month or two and then cancel it for a few months.

Knights and Bikes is enjoyable. Sort of a combination of Peppa Pig and the Goonies. I guess google those references as I am not sure how well those reference are know across generations/planet.

It is an enjoyable game that we haven't quite finished. It features co-operative play on the same screen. This is actually what appealed more than anything.

Rather than describe the game, I guess watch a YouTube video or if you have Game pass it is "Free" to try it out. We enjoyed a couple of evenings with it.

And finally on to tech stuff. I mean, I could talk about the fun of finding competent trades people in the UK but, I suspect, you really don't have time to read that rant.

The past month was a period of reduction.

• I finished reading the Crafting Interpreters book. Another good book.
• I stopped working on the AI course I was doing. It just was not enjoyable and I didn't feel like I was learning the interesting bits. I am still looking for a way into Machine Learning, just not today.
• Learning Blender has also slowed. I am perhaps putting in one or two hours a week at the moment. This is a long term project so I am OK with this. Although I am being careful to make it doesn't grind to a halt.

I am actually enjoying the Udemy course on Blender. At about only about a fifth of the way through so there is still lots to learn. It maybe I end up increasing the hours spent here if I decide I want to make models for any small game I decide to make. Picking up the course in one of their constant sales means I am certainly getting my moneys worth here.

Moving to the learn OpenGL/Gamedev(then maybe move to vulkan) project. I reached the point where I felt like it was more productive to actually try to create something. So I am starting to attempt to write a small 3D endless runner. Basically you run through a woodland if first person perspective avoid trees.

Well that is the plan, I am still writing the a model loader to load a tree.

I have slightly shifted from C to C++. The shift is slight as I am sticking to keep objects as dumb items so I don't get to use a lot of C++ features. I am also avoiding the Standard library. If I start to use the std library I will start to imbue my object with intelligence or get distracted with the details of C++. I am making use of language features up to and including C++20. Don't think of this as a I am only using c++98. There have been many nice additions to the C++ language since then.

Until next time.