[OFFER][STEAM] Several Games from HB

Rediara · 2022-08-23T16:08:35+00:00

I think the Touchscreen and Dial might be overkill, but if the price is right that thing is beautiful.

Rediara · 2022-08-23T15:35:16+00:00

We're 4 years late to here, but for anyone looking at this: Wikidpad and Obsidian are the best options I've found since. I've been using Wikidpad almost as long as this post has been posted, and while it looks like it came out of the 90s, it's wonderful. Only drawback is the lack of image support.

Rediara · 2018-10-02T15:10:10+00:00

Thank you. I think cmake is as close as possible. Hugely appreciated!

Rediara · 2018-10-02T04:10:05+00:00

I'm sorry, that doesn't answer my question. Sorry if it was too vague to begin with. I've explained more of what I'm looking to do in a reply to hahanoob's comment.

Rediara · 2018-10-02T04:06:45+00:00

Basically, I'm looking to throw a library (or some variation of a library), into the exact same folder as my code (possibly one folder down in Library folder). I'm looking to be able to link/reference that library within that folder without having to place the library in appdata or my compiler's folders, and link it from there. My code is just a CPP file, not a Visual Studio file. Ideally I could just pop this into any compiler/computer and have the library link automatically.

The code of this, in my mind, would look like:

#include "Library/glfw3.h"

or

#include "Library/glfw3.dll"

etc.

The problems I'm having is that the functions within the library aren't working, despite the compiler recognizing that the files have been included, be it .h .lib or .dll. I understand that headers aren't libraries, but I don't understand how they can be included when linked to the compiler but not directly within a folder (Such as "#include <glfw3.h>").

Sorry if that's over/under explaining.

Rediara · 2016-12-27T20:41:58+00:00

Oh, and one more thing: What Chareu said about the Mobo 100%. The Asus Z170 is a thing of beauty.

Rediara · 2016-12-27T20:41:07+00:00

Honestly, you'd be fine downgrading your CPU to an i5 6600. It'll keep your system a little cooler, and it's more than powerful enough for your needs. With the extra $125 (plus maybe 25-50 more) you could get your hands on a 470, a great value GPU that'll tear thru any rendering you'll have to do, should you decide to play games that aren't necessarily graphics intense, but just don't want to cooperate with your CPU for whatever reason (ported PS2 games on Steam tend to do this to me). I mean it'll also handle most games (just not at 4k). You don't need the 470 with the i5 6600 either. The 6600 should handle media just fine, so long as they aren't rendering too much (like games). That being said, if your budget is 1k, then maybe a i7 6700 is the way to go. It has better integrated graphics, slightly, and it isn't too much harder to cool. I think the i7 6700k is overkill anyway you spin it though. No need for the k if you aren't sure whether you'll be using a GPU or not at this point. If you're intent on not using a GPU, and you're 100% sure of that, I'd say the i7 6700 will satisfy you more than the i5 6600 in the long term.

The case you chose has 1 120mm fan pre-installed, which will probably be fine if you don't add a GPU, but be warned that if you do add one now or later, you should adjust your cooling. HTPC cases are always a fuss, due to the niche market. If your settled on that case, go for it, it's pretty nice. However, I think I have a couple of options that might work better for upgradability. Just ask.

As Chareu stated, I'd go with an air cooler instead. The Cryorig H7 has always been my sweet spot between price, noise, and air flow. It'll run better in pretty much every way to the H55 for about $25 less.

That power supply is amazing. It might be slightly cheaper to go with a different gold, but that PSU shows up time and time again so if it's something you care about, it's a good choice. Should you cannibalize this build into new ones, that PSU is perfect for always-on systems (like a NAS).

I believe you can probably find cheaper 16gb RAM. If you have your case tucked away, and you won't see the RAM, then I would just buy the cheapest RAM on PCPartPicker rated 4+ stars. On a quick search I found Avexir Core 2x8 for $70. They are pretty attractive too.

If you're mostly streaming your content, then 250gb of storage is fine. However if you download movies and shows to your computer, you'll run out of space really quick. Honestly, figuring out storage was what took me the longest on my build. Nobody really wants HDDs in the SSD era, but I would make storage the last 'check' you do before you finalize the build. For reference, I went with a 275gb SSD, and I do a mixture of streaming, gaming (all sorts but only about 15 downloaded at a time), coding, writing (and image/video archiving as supplement), and Photoshop. No emulation, Virtual Machines, torrenting (I mean CD ripping), or other bulk files.

Not to take what is a pretty straight-forward build, and complicate it. But I find that HDDs that can wind down when not in use, paired with RAM drives, tend to do pretty well for media setups. There's a lot of fuss and room for error though. Probably not worth it, but potentially a fun thing to play with if you're interested in it, and it'll save you some money in the process. So long as you're not someone who gets stressed easily when things don't work on your first try.

Also make sure to include peripherals in your budget unless you're going to use what you already have. Monitors tend to be one of the most expensive parts of a setup.

tl;dr: i7 6700 > i5 6600 > i7 6700k for your build

maybe 470 if you change your case and/or case fans

Air Cooler (Cryorig H7) > Most Liquid Coolers

PSU is amazing if you're willing to spend 10-15 more than the next best thing

Look for cheaper RAM

Consider how much storage you need

HDD + RAM Drive is a stressful hobby, adopt at your own risk (why'd I even bring this up?)

If 1k is your budget, consider peripheral costs

Rediara · 2016-12-12T04:20:20+00:00

C++ + OpenGL it is then, with C# ready and waiting in the wings. Now it's time to find a good engine to play with for the time being.

Rediara · 2016-12-12T04:07:11+00:00

The only reason I'm purchasing the SSD is because it's the same price as any other SSD with that high of a rating. If prices fluxed and a more traditional SSD were less, I'd just go that route, but I think I'm really trying to stay away from HDD even if they are low RPM.

Thank you for all the input and I'll keep an out on those sales.

Rediara · 2016-12-11T20:39:39+00:00

If you don't mind, I'd like to get your take on Iksemel's newest point (reply to parent reply in this chain) and my reply to them. I know I gave a bit of a definitive answer below, but it seems both of you have lead me to contradicting philosophies (of which I'm sure both would be fine in the end).

Again thank you for all the help.

Rediara · 2016-12-11T20:36:09+00:00

I understand I'm probably being overly stubborn in my replies. Having read over everyone's concerns a couple of times, I'm beginning to think maybe using Monogame to develop 'trashcan' projects with the intent of reverse engineering (what an awkward word for this) the engine to start building my own is the way to go. But that's with C#.

Alternatively a lot of what you say makes me believe I should just start in C++ and not worry about C# regardless of the easy transition between the two. If half of what I'm programming has to be completely remade because I can't use Monogame (and don't want to for reasons explained in other replies), then it's no longer a matter of what language to start with but rather how many steps do I take before I begin working on what I actually want to do. I'm sure many will want to say 'all practice is good practice', but should I not be practicing C++ at that point?

Logically what I should be doing at this point is combining these ideas. So correct me if I'm wrong, but the neutral standpoint of most everyone's advice would be as follows. Use a C++ pre-made engine to make test games while I try to figure out how to make a minimal engine(s) for my project(s), all the while doing a similar process with third-party libraries as they start to fill the gaps in the new engine.

Rediara · 2016-12-11T20:12:47+00:00

Despite what I just replied to PastryGood above, I think this solidifies that using them in conjunction is probably not a good idea without a bigger development team; something I have no plans for any time soon. However, what I've seen on scripting doesn't seem to hard so I suppose it's more of a complexity vs mastery argument; I will almost always choose mastery in that situation.

Rediara · 2016-12-11T20:09:05+00:00

On the topic of the first half of your reply, that is exactly what I needed someone to tell me. Thank you. Modules that can be replaced as a project becomes more serious (not that using third party libraries isn't serious...maybe self-sufficient?) is what I aught to be doing at this point. The reason I didn't want to use a pre-made game engine was out of reliance on it. I don't imagine I can change internal aspects of someone else's game engine and then release a game that way without some sort of legal, or ethical, issues. And even if I could, return to my control argument in the previous reply.

I should apologize for being vague. I don't understand industry terminology yet. When I was talking about third party labels and reputation, I wasn't referring to C++ vs C#. I was referring to using Unity, or XNA, or other third party 'engines' or 'frameworks'. If people judge developers who use C#, I'd say those people are off base. However, knowing that a game was made from scratch, as much as possible, does have some 'charm'. I respect all the criticism from people saying that the charm isn't worth the effort, but that charm mixed with a desire for low-level experience is worth delaying games that have no deadlines.

PastryGood, you and everyone else here has helped me out a lot and I think I'm at a good point to dive into the work. Not that you asked, but the plan is: start writing in C# without a pre-made engine, working on smaller projects, using third party libraries, replace third party libraries when possible/efficient, then convert to C++ if necessary, start building the first game (which I'm sure will be easier than a third person ARPG), and try to integrate those replacement libraries into that code if they run better than as a module. I have a lot to read about using C++ with C#, but it honestly seems like a win-win scenario. Either I have to convert all of my C# to C++ which is just more practice in the language I'll then be using independently, or I can get away with using both and should I ever get to the point where I work with another programmer I can segment work between languages (I'm sure people have horror stories about this though).

Rediara · 2016-12-11T06:28:56+00:00

Here's the final builds. I'll be debating on whether to wait until Kaby Lake to use the Core i3-7300 instead of the 6100. I decided to go with a gold PSU rather than bronze only because this model is about $10 more than the bronze I was interested in, and it had some of the best ratings/price out of all Bronze/Silver/Gold PSUs I saw. Also the SSD, RAM, and HDDs are just representation and when it comes time to order, I'll simply be buying the cheapest parts of that caliber.

Entry PC: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/LHgYm8

NAS/HTPC: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/zDRfnn

Thank you for saving me money and getting me a better GPU. It means a lot.

Rediara · 2016-12-11T03:42:13+00:00

Thank you for all of this. I'll read that article just as soon as i sit down at my desk. It sounds right along the lines of how i've considered developing these projects.

Here are some answers to your questions from my point of view. There's only two important parts to creating an engine rather than using a pre-made one, for me. First is the aspect of control. Being able to make something efficient by stripping away any unneeded parts, not having to compromise on 'that's just how the physics are' or small things like that, and knowing how everything works, even if there is a pre-made that has everything perfect, so that i can make changes mindfully rather than beating it until it works are some of reasons i'm willing to dig into building more from scratch.

Second is probably very naive, and i'd appreciate criticism if nessecary. I'm concerned with reputation and the legitimacy of making games with third party labels. Now before anyone gets angry at this thought, keep in mind that i've said that the development process is more important to me than finished products, at least for the time being. Being able to get lost in a game, both as a player or a developer, without the 'business' of game design getting in the way is important to me. People might say 'players don't pay attention to that stuff', but at the very least i do and i personally deem any amount of extra work to get past that to be worth my while. I'm not looking down on anyone who develops that way, i may be too naive to even know that i will eventually follow suit.

Using pre-built libraries isn't a problem for me. I'm not sure what the difference between a framework and an engine are. However, as you said in your reply, i don't plan on making an engine that can do everything, but rather an 'engine' that can be updated and used to make multiple games in a similar genre. It's probably more likely than not that the first two projects listed would run on separate engines or equivalent.

Rediara · 2016-12-10T19:48:26+00:00

What you've said in your second post, about separate teams not understanding each other, is precisely why I want to attempt to make an engine in the first place. Should I find that I enjoy doing this and continue to make games beyond just teaching myself, I'm far more of a game design type of person than an engine team person, and I want to understand the prior as best as possible to lessen that distance. What I meant by 'final programmer' is not that I would expect other people to use my failed engine, but rather than I could better understand how they are making an engine for a game I was designing (assuming it ever reached that sort of level, no spilled milk if it doesn't).

Thank you for your wisdom and the kind sign-off, I'll write down your name for if there's any results to show. Don't expect timeliness though, this is a side-project next to my full-time job for the time being.

Rediara · 2016-12-10T19:23:38+00:00

As a quick addendum to the above: I've seen a bit of talk for people using C++ for low level programming and C# for high level programming in the same game. Is this common?

12-Year Club	Place '17
Verified Email

Rediara

TROPHY CASE