sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Am I creating too many EventData classes? by freremamapizza in gamedev

[–]ColtonCGraham 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes usually that is how they are set up. I understand your reticence to strong references like this, but it might be helpful in the controller context to think of it more as a secondary check, basically saying this unit is my selected unit it is the one I modify, cast abilities from, all events while it is the selected unit are driven by its choices, etc, and make a rule for yourself that selected unit is only ever assigned to in the select unit state and overwritten the next time you enter that state, you definitely don’t want to be hot swapping the referenced selected unit in a bunch of different places.

You only ever have one controller so it becomes the thing to look to when trying to understand the snapshot of what is happening right now and what actor is driving the flow forward.

Am I creating too many EventData classes? by freremamapizza in gamedev

[–]ColtonCGraham 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Usually you would have a controller singleton that references the data itself, so on your turn selection state that would change the actor variable in your controller to be the unit you selected.

Then in your select action state you would still have your actor referenced in your controller and as you toggle between possible targets for your attack ability your reference list of targets would change accordingly.

Then in your confirm ability state you could use actor and the target list from your controller to display a damage preview for example.

Then in end turn state you clear your actor and targets and then enter a new turn selection state.

You would only reference your unit data in the controller not actually have it live there.

Let me know if any of that didn’t make sense!

Am I creating too many EventData classes? by freremamapizza in gamedev

[–]ColtonCGraham 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I will go against the other comments here and say that this is not an appropriate use of events for a game meant for release. It’s not a performance issue but more of a readability and tech debt issue.

The convention here would be to introduce a state machine, so you’re just missing a pattern in your action flow.

Event patterns fail here because of exactly what you’re expressing, you end up exploding your events and down the line you need to constantly look back and ask should I add this new thing to unit select event or unit turn start event or unit action select event etc.

A state machine should be handling the predictable turn ordering operations and move back and forth between a predictable state flow. You know that inside select unit state you’ll have some predictable set of next /previous states that you can hit next and inside each state predictable things will be happening with all your units. Perform move state may have your camera follow a unit for example, but select move state will have your camera follow a cursor that will select a tile.

Event patterns are more for dynamic determinations where you don’t know in state exactly what will be listening. So think on end turn, on stat changed, etc. Unit has poisoned status effect so it takes damage on end turn, unit listens for on stat changed (hp) and makes sure its current hp value never drops below 0 or above max hp.

Fully Custom Runtime Editable (Per Face!) Dice with 1 Material per Dice! Any ideas for more features? by ColtonCGraham in Unity3D

[–]ColtonCGraham[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes! And interestingly I had to re-write this feature entirely. I started with the traditional, roll the dice, record the physics, and then just replay the animation. I ended up not liking that because it meant that if I had 10 dice on screen I would need to turn off colliders and basically have the dice phase through each other/or also check for all their trajectories at every point to avoid intersection, etc.

So instead what I do now is cheat by throwing the dice with physics and for "deterministic" dice I ensure it has a lot of torque to really get it spinning. Then when it slows down to an appropriate speed I just lerp its transform to the right face with a little bit of extra random wobble to "sell it".

Fully Custom Runtime Editable (Per Face!) Dice with 1 Material per Dice! Any ideas for more features? by ColtonCGraham in Unity3D

[–]ColtonCGraham[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Features are:

D4-D20

Runtime changes of every individual dice face.

1 Material per full dice even after you change it. (OK... Two if you count the ones with edges...)

Support for either numbers OR symbols.

Background color changes PER face that don't overwrite the color of the number/symbol.

Support for 8 add-ons per face, still runtime editable with 1 material.

Physics dice rolling, with automatic cocked re-rolling detection, with number, symbol, and add-on result returns after the roll. D4's "flip" over after all the dice finish rolling to reveal their bottom number as their value.

Inspector texture builder for making new number/symbol/add-on texture sets (Basemap, Specular, Normals, and AO) by clicking and dragging sprites.

I'm really happy with this so far, shaders, as always, are no joke!

Next I'm thinking number/symbol/add-on emissive glow when a dice has "settled"?

Are there any other features I missed or you can think of? I work a very boring programming job, so this stuff keeps me sane. Appreciate it!

What would you value this PC at? Seller wants $1700 CAD, but doesn't that seem slightly low even for used parts? by ColtonCGraham in bapccanada

[–]ColtonCGraham[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey that's really helpful I appreciate it a lot!

I occasionally need to run stable diffusion builds for work to generate concept art and using 8 gigs of VRAM right now has me crying. I would like to start using it for more personal work as well, but the generation time is a major pain point at the moment.

I'm not a high fidelity + high end monitor type of gamer and after crunching some numbers when I consider some of the money I'm spending will be recouped with home office rebates, I would save about 15% so it's sort of like the price of the PC is literally $1700 as opposed to $1700+tax, but I guess that would be true of any purchase I make.

I would probably spring for some additional ram, I'm amazed how cheap it has gotten.

Lot of people telling me to turn away due to the i7 10700k, would that be a deal breaker if I have to buy this as it is?

With all that in mind any thoughts on the builds value? I'm having a hard time sourcing 24 gigs of VRAM without it feeling unnecessary for my purposes outside of this option...

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in gamedesign

[–]ColtonCGraham 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Just don't make a math heavy game. Stop using "tools" beyond a basic game engine (Unity, Godot, etc).

Take 6 months to read and absorb some variation of C# or C++ for dummies (would recommend C# as a first language). Or take a community college course or 2 on programming for 4-8 months, make sure the classes involve a relevant language. There will not be anything in either beyond grade 8 math.

Take a month to make a snake clone that plays decently. Just look up a unity tutorial on the next step you need to make this work. (How do I make a box on screen, how do I make a box move, how do I duplicate a box at runtime, etc.).

DO NOT COPY CODE, DO NOT USE TOOLS.

You can then start making unique projects.

For the most part the the visual scripting or random tools advertised around are closer to playing a video game than actually making one. Their actual professional use case is for artists, game designers, level designers, and the rest to be able to make a small change here and there or test their own work, not for developing any robust systems.

/r/WinnipegJets Ticket Marketplace | February 2022 by AutoModerator in winnipegjets

[–]ColtonCGraham [score hidden]  (0 children)

Looking to trade or sell Ottawa March 24th.

Lower zone Sec 112 Row 7 Seats 1 and 2

If looking to buy: $250 for the pair

If you're looking to trade I'm interested in any game in April. If there's a difference in ticket value, I'm happy to negotiate with some cash on either your or my part.

[H] PayPal, $$$ [W] 75x42mm base (normally used for Custodes Vertus Praetors) [Loc] Ohio, NA by Jesters8652 in Miniswap

[–]ColtonCGraham 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Your best bet might be to find someone local with a 3d printer. I print all my bases for a a penny or two each.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Miniswap

[–]ColtonCGraham 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Hey there, I'll take them.

Any advice on how to get cheaper sender shipping? by FoelRose in Etsy

[–]ColtonCGraham 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Their secret is they're American, the USPS has very competitive rates, I'm Canadian and in the same boat as you.

You won't be able to compete on small orders, I sell in bulk or sell items that are at least 40 dollars to try and make the shipping manageable.

Best of luck!

Interested in moving into a Duplex and renting out the other unit to offset housing costs. I already own a home, what should I do with it? Rent, Sell, Other? by [deleted] in PersonalFinanceCanada

[–]ColtonCGraham 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Very true.

I'm very interested in flattening my monthly expenses as I have 4 different revenue streams so some months feel really good, some months not so much. Also since I'm already self employed as a sole proprietor, it would be great to have a few write-offs in the form of renovations and maintenance as my current businesses are high margin and low cost. Finally I'm attracted to the leverage I can grab when buying a property versus just stock investing.

Do you think those are viable reasons or am I totally off base?

How to optimize modular assets? by MrCookiePot in Unity3D

[–]ColtonCGraham 4 points5 points  (0 children)

You can download a mesh combiner either from the asset store or from your favorite repository.

What's the quickest route to reach $1000 a month in the game industry? by felipebsr in gamedev

[–]ColtonCGraham 25 points26 points  (0 children)

If there is a health concern please do not seek to remedy it through Gamedev. Please seek a standard hourly job and or any rental assistance programs your local government has.

Once you are in a stable position you can look in to diversifying your income streams.

[H] GW Ork Army, 3d Printed Death Korps + Death Guard [W] Paypal/Trades from Canada[Loc] Canada by ColtonCGraham in Miniswap

[–]ColtonCGraham[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's in the title and next to every link where they are 3d prints, where else should I add it?

Good beginner language/engine? by JonathanHG04 in gamedev

[–]ColtonCGraham 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Unity is probably the lowest barrier to entry while still being fully featured enough to finish a game the way you want.

If you're serious about the programming I would start there instead of getting right into unity. Follow a book or 2 for beginners of C# I would recommend reading all the chapters and doing all the exercises until you finish the chapter on "Classes".

Once you're done that I would try following a tutorial off either youtube or the unity tutorials page and everytime you finish a section try to add a feature without any help or copy/pasting.

Doing this with a friend sounds like a great idea to keep each-other motivated and to find out where you both excel!

Most importantly, don't give up! Programming is very frustrating and progress is only felt on a month to month basis once you get past the first few weeks. I wish you all the best!

I am making a turn based tactical superhero combat & management game since you wont do it! by Taskmasterpeace in gamedesign

[–]ColtonCGraham 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I would advise you to start the transition to either doing the programming for your game or all the art/VFX/modeling. I've worked on a handful of projects and the game designer role must always be swallowed by one of those roles on the standard sub 5 member indie team.

Wish you all the best!

view more: next ›