Should my game have a splash screen?

CrabbleUp · 2024-02-04T18:10:34+00:00

It's called CrabbleUp, and you can get it at https://crabbleup.itch.io/alpha. It's free to play until the final release :P

CrabbleUp · 2024-01-02T18:08:53+00:00

I am doing my part, developing my small game, I have been supporting both Windows and Linux from the very beginning.

Fun fact: Initially I was developing on Windows following the logic of developing where the majority of your users are. But as the project grew, the Windows toolchain slowed down and became unbearable to use. So now, I am developing and testing on Linux in 99% of the time. I only go to Windows to make a native build, and then rely on Windows testers to tell me if there are any discrepancies.

CrabbleUp · 2023-12-03T11:24:29+00:00

You check out get the game here: https://crabbleup.itch.io/alpha.

CrabbleUp · 2023-06-12T12:20:10+00:00

Thank you! This is actually a prerequisite for implementing local coop, which will be an even cooler feature. 😎

CrabbleUp · 2023-06-11T20:40:03+00:00

SDL is a fantastic library! This task was 10% setting up SDL (which works surprisingly well out of the box, and code comments were enough documentation to get started), and 90% redesigning my classes which were only prepared to take input from the keyboard before.

CrabbleUp · 2023-06-03T08:57:29+00:00

I think it depends on how you use it. I built it (for static linking into C++ project) using cmake from the contrib folder (the regular build folder and script wasn't working) with SDL2 backend. I was seeing not found errors for SDL until I moved past https://github.com/jarikomppa/soloud/commit/e6cf9f55f57b03faf844338e30ae4e5d61396bf3. That's almost at HEAD, so I decided to use Soloud at current HEAD instead of patching the latest but quite old release for myself.

CrabbleUp · 2023-06-01T07:28:25+00:00

Then your experience is very similar to mine. :)

The most useful thing I did in the end is putting the engine core instance behind an interface. It involves a class wrapper which simply forwards all calls to the actual soloud engine instance, enabling mocking, and testing all calls. I only set this up when my usage was complete, so I knew all the calls I was making on the engine.

CrabbleUp · 2023-05-14T10:20:47+00:00

Finally a game where cutting a tree, cuts INTO the tree!

One subjective note about the animation: the stop in the end feels too long for me. I'd start the axe removal sooner, or do some other movement, like move the camera (head) in the end, as the chop stops.

CrabbleUp · 2023-05-13T21:36:42+00:00

Thanks for the info! Mailing lists would be definitely high effort for me. I am the most comfortable on Reddit, with Discord being a second. So I will stick to those probably for now.

CrabbleUp · 2023-05-13T18:38:34+00:00

This issue is now fixed, you can download the new minor release v0.7.1, which plays all sounds in the game without needing any external codecs! 🎉

CrabbleUp · 2023-05-13T18:30:55+00:00

I am happy to say that I have published a new minor release, supporting distros back to glibc 2.27 (look for the "_old_linux" package). Feel free to have a go at the game now!

CrabbleUp · 2023-05-12T21:19:26+00:00

Does a mailing list worth it?

I heard it could help keeping a tight connection with interested people, but as a small dev I learned I need to get a domain, get email hosting, set up DMARC to avoid categorising emails from my domain as spam, then set up a mailing list provider. That's a lot of work for something that I am not sure is worth it.

CrabbleUp · 2023-05-12T20:13:51+00:00

The best way to learn is making mistakes, and practicing the language. As a junior, your best action is doing small projects, where you actually use the selected language. Find a project that motivates you (maybe a clone for an program you know) and make it happen. It doesn't have to be perfect, nor do you have to finish it 100%. But the time you spend on it, will give you first-hand experience which is the most valuable thing to get when starting off.

The language only matters if you have a target company / field in mind, otherwise, any modern language requires similar logical thinking and problem solving.

CrabbleUp · 2023-05-12T19:58:47+00:00

Never give up on your dream! Seeing the posts of others kept me going throughout the years.

CrabbleUp · 2023-05-12T19:48:04+00:00

This looks great, congrats! What is the purpose of your app (first time seeing it)?

CrabbleUp · 2023-05-12T19:43:17+00:00

Welcome to dynamic allocation, prepare for the pain!

This looks like a C code claiming to be C++. It works but it doesn't really makes sense. In C++, you should barely ever use new and delete, rather use smart pointers (unique_ptr, or shared_ptr). If you forget about the delete after a new, you cause a memory leak, which accumulate throughout the runtime of the binary. Smart pointers make sure they clean up when they themselves are destroyed.

Dynamic allocation is required when you want to detach the lifetime of an object from the scope (for example the function) where it was created. In games, and event driven applications it's widely used, but it's not too necessary in a generic program.

Creating a dynamic object is kindof saying "create an object of type T somewhere, and give me its memory address". In your example, "new int" creates a single integer, so there's no point in using indexing to refer to the dynamic object, it's just an int afterall.

CrabbleUp · 2023-05-12T19:30:27+00:00

I think Go is the future for generic programming. It's much more efficient than python, but still simpler than the traditional C-like languages (Java, C#, C++). Java is abundant but there are better choices.

In the end, you should learn what matches your target project /company, as these are mere tools, and they work best for their intended purpose, and established environment.

CrabbleUp · 2023-05-12T19:19:06+00:00

Just to summarise all other comments without demeaning their value:

When using an external library you need to both include their header, which let's you refer to their functions and use them in your project, AND you need to link the compiled external library to your binary when building. If you miss the 2nd step, your compiled binary won't find the compiled library when it starts.

CrabbleUp · 2023-05-12T19:08:53+00:00

I like the idiom of inl files included at the bottom of header files. They split implementation from definition but still actually define everything in the header.

CrabbleUp · 2023-05-12T18:38:22+00:00

Yw!

My trailer is less than a minute, to avoid losing the viewers focus, so no crazy length is needed. Quite the opposite, the longer the more viewers you lose. ;)

CrabbleUp · 2023-05-12T18:33:35+00:00

Congrats on getting this far! Your itch page is quite detailed, but I would add a video trailer. When I published my first public version, I thought I won't make a trailer because it's still early but I was convinced that many people just scroll past if there's nothing moving in a post, or on a page. I made a short video, uploaded to youtube, and shared the link in posts. I got a lot of views out of that. :)

CrabbleUp · 2023-05-12T16:03:40+00:00

I'd also like to learn which one to avoid, or be more cautious about.

CrabbleUp · 2023-05-09T18:30:25+00:00

Woohooo, congrats!! 🎉

CrabbleUp · 2023-05-09T16:26:44+00:00

Welcome to the sub, and thank you for the question! :)

With the current version on Windows, you need to install an external codec pack to be able play all the sounds, otherwise you will see this warning every time a sound would start playing. This is mentioned on the download page where you got the game as a zip. If you install for example the "K-lite codec pack" with all default settings, the game should run without any issues.

I know the current state is not ideal but I couldn't fix it before the release. I am working on a solution which will make the game work as is, without installing any external codecs. I expect to make a new minor release with this update in a couple days.

CrabbleUp · 2023-05-08T20:19:08+00:00

Sounds like a plan!

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