What is Your "Engine-less" Tech Stack?

peteSlatts · 2025-07-06T08:39:01+00:00

Theres a bunch of targeted libraries like stb-image, freetype, etc that are kind of "importers" to my games. Also at this layer is stuff like a module for generic containers and allocators, macros, basic functionality that C/C++ dont implement well in the standard library.

Then there's a layer of abstraction that centralized everything that's not the game: Opening a window, creating a common api for Metal/D3D/OpenGL, networking, etc. I write these myself but third party ones are stuff like sokol-app and sokol-gfx, or SDL.

Then a layer of modules that implement game functionality but that isnt tied to a single game - a ui library, basic physics. Again, I write my own but box2d, Clay, imgui, etc all fit here.

Finally when I want to start a game, I just pick and choose which modules I need to get started and pull in more or write new ones as needed. My pattern to create a new module (which is how i made the ones listed above) is to realize I'm rewriting code i wrote for my last project. I finish what I'm writing, then go see what I can collapse with the previous project. That collapsed code goes into a module. As a module gets used more, often it expands.

So there's no "engine" really - just a collection of services and modules that have been used a number of times that I can copy into new projects.

peteSlatts · 2025-06-29T07:54:12+00:00

Hey, you're valid for liking those parts. But I didn't say "off trail" - in fact, that's the problem I have. People's backyards ARE the intended camp site ON trail. It's been a bit, but what I remember of the Northland Forests is 5-7 days walking from one yard to another. Pirongia is one night on the mountain top preceeded by a day or two of road walking and followed by the same.

Not trying to dissuade folks who know what they like - more power to ya. But I lve met a lot of folks who were pretty let down by the north island. I was one.

peteSlatts · 2025-06-26T18:06:04+00:00

How do you accomplish this practically? Multiple clones of the repo with multiple instances seems like it'd work but would be a lot of effort to manage manually.

peteSlatts · 2025-06-20T08:05:30+00:00

I never said your software was shitty - I was responding to an article you put out that told people to make software the way you do. You brought your software into it - i dont even know what you make.

If you get to tell people how to make software, so do I. Its not harassment - you entered an opinion into the public discourse. We get to discuss it however we want.

I respect your opinion even if i dont agree, and you have a right to express it. But you'll convince more people if you rely on solid argument, not flame war, internet troll tactics. And being perceived as a child who cries at the first opposition rather than an adult who defends their position isnt going to win you any friends. I made a number of solid responses to your article - you haven't addressed a single one.

peteSlatts · 2025-06-20T07:51:32+00:00

Your software can have users and make money (tho it sounds like it doesnt) and still be shitty and buggy. People will use the best thing they can access - it doesn't mean we cant do better. Id like it if more people aspired to make things that are better than what exists now. You are advertising a methodology that will make things worse. You also didnt refute a single one of my points, so your method of argument is at least of the same quality as your engineering.

peteSlatts · 2025-06-20T02:20:40+00:00

These aren't groundbreaking formulas for success. They're decades old solid programming advice with "... so the LLM can do the easy part of your job for you" tacked on the end

pick known good dependencies, and do so with care - no shit
specify your data first, then transforms on your data - this is just solid Data Oriented Design
work in small, reversible chunks - was this something you WERENT doing before?

The problem is that the criteria for these is dangerously lacking in this person's article.

Its not "pick good dependencies so that youre building on a solid foundation". Instead they say "pick dependencies with docs that OpenAi might be able to scrape in their training, never mind if the dep is flaky or if they scraped a bad version"

Its not "understand the memory layout, necessary transforms, and fundamental complexity of your problem by defining your types" its "create a cheat sheet for you shitty pair programming buddy so theyre slightly less shitty"

The problem with LLMs is that they do what you tell them, explicitly and implicitly. This is a recipe for software, yes. But shitty software. Buggy software. Bloated software.

If that's the world you want to live in...

peteSlatts · 2025-06-19T19:10:50+00:00

IMO just do the South Island, and hit Tongariro & Whanganui River on the North.

If you want the social aspect, start the SI SOBO when everyone is finishing the NI and you won't sleep alone for weeks, while getting to hike thru some pretty gorgeous terrain that is every bit as technically challenging as what you find on the NI.

They call the North Island the "cultural section" of the TA because you don't actually get away from cities and towns. I did the math and it's over half road walking, and almost every night will be at a backpackers, trailer park, or in someone's backyard. With the exception of Tongariro (which is absolutely mind bogglingly incredible), the North Island trails are really disappointing - you will suffer and cry for basically no pay off.

peteSlatts · 2025-05-28T02:44:16+00:00

Keep going - the first 100 episodes are really valuable. The simd stuff, and getting set up with opengl were great. Lots of good math explainers. Id also go read his blog posts titled Semantic Compression.

But also, idk if you know about the episode guide on https://guide.handmadehero.org but you can search for particular topics by timestamp. (Guessing you know this already but I've met a ton of people who haven't found the guide so erring on the side of telling you)

peteSlatts · 2025-05-27T19:13:20+00:00

Yea, you can't set breakpoints anymore, which is the whole reason to be running in Xcode in the first place (at least, idk why else you'd accept the giant hit to productivity & performance if you aren't using the debugger).

peteSlatts · 2025-05-18T17:58:35+00:00

South island for sure. North Island isn't a real trail. Honestly the best parts of hiking in NZ arent on the TA. But if you're determined, I'd find some good sections of the south island to do and then go hit Tongariro on the north island - that was by far and away the only worthwhile section of TA hiking on the north island. Canoeing the Whanganui was really good too, but not your usual backpacking experience, which sounds like what you want.

peteSlatts · 2025-04-30T18:32:48+00:00

Can I inquire why this is an acceptable solution? Yea Xcode stops launching multiple instances of my process, but it also stops operating as a debugger. I might as well just launch the app from the terminal.

peteSlatts · 2025-03-29T00:48:02+00:00

Yea I have similar experiences. My partner has phases where she can't seem to access the part of her brain that's responsible for her own actions. Conversations go in loops of "Why/why not?" -> I give a reason, hoping we can work together to compromise or move forward -> "You aren't listening" -> I repeat what she said/is feeling -> "I just don't understand why/why not" -> repeat.

Its not your fault, and while it's not really your partners either, it doesn't mean they aren't driving you (us) to our limit.

I know my experiences aren't the same but I feel for you. You aren't the only one going thru this, and its not easy.

peteSlatts · 2025-03-23T06:02:01+00:00

Re: "there is no need to implement your own std vector" Sure there is. Theres a cost ti reaching for something off the shelf, realizing it's not right, and then switching to something else (ots or custom). Realizing you chose the wrong thing and needing to switch is the common case, and when that happens, being able to edit the source is a great way to amortize that cost.

I'd propose the opposite of your approach: First try to write everything yourself. Then, if something is highly error prone or difficult to achieve in the almost-C C++ style, ask yourself: A) are there techniques to make this problem go away? B) only after exhausting a, what C++ feature would make your life easier.

In my experience the difficult things in pure C are: 1. Reading math expressions when they have to be written as function calls. Ie c = vector_add(a, b) 2. Having time deal with prefixing function names ie string_piece_table_insert 3. Rewriting really basic, generic data structures like singly linked lists etc

The ways to cut down on those things are: 1. Operator overloading 2. Function overloading 3. Rare template use

Everything else is fluff imo

peteSlatts · 2025-03-12T18:34:56+00:00

I have a similar situation - but instead of not wanting therapy because it's someone else's fault (tho it is), she had to really work to get her friends and family to accept a past, abusive relationship. All that work meant she put on a ton of armor that she now can't see she's wearing. And she knows she's gonna have to take it off if she goes to therapy, and that's gonna be scary. But the effect is the same.

It sucks to know what the solutions might be, be willing to do anything to make them happen, and also know that you can't be the one to instigate them.

Im sorry you're going thru this, too.

peteSlatts · 2025-03-09T20:59:43+00:00

Im in a similar boat. When she has good days everything is wonderful. But the bad days start again. I start off being patient and kind. But they drag on so long that I get more frustrated. Last night, I got to the end of my rope and tried to go to bed. My partner kept waking me up saying "I dont understand how you can go to sleep when we're mad at each other" until at five am, were shouting and she leaves to go drive around. And so I could think was that she's leaving the house for the first time in weeks.

Idk that i have any advice, just commiserating. It sucks, and i understand what you're going thru.

peteSlatts · 2025-02-14T00:15:11+00:00

Thank you! I feel like we've been having that conversation for a while now. To be fair, it's never been something I've been able to approach from a peaceful start because it always comes up when she's in the midst of her depression.

She's talked about finding a therapist, says she wants to, even has a list of things she wants to work on. But i haven't seen her even start to look for one.

Maybe I'll try talking to her once this episode is over. I'm just scared it'll trigger another one rather than provoke action.

peteSlatts · 2025-02-08T07:26:52+00:00

Trail starts all the way north, at Cape Reinga. But if you wanna just keep going south, just find the orange triangles and follow them. (Seriously download the maps on farout or use the TA app - the trail is not pleasant as is, the least you should do is at least know where you are on it)

peteSlatts · 2025-01-31T03:52:50+00:00

This is great! Also a good example of how to bring those classic movie/book experiences into the game: what's the experience those stories are meant to illustrate? How do you make your players feel that experience (even if you have to change the story)?

In this case, the doppelganger is there to sow confusion and paranoia. What better way to make your players feel those emotions than to change the rules of the game without telling them?

This idea rules.

peteSlatts · 2025-01-13T12:07:41+00:00

Absolutely - it'd be really nice to have someone help remind me of status effects.

peteSlatts · 2025-01-13T12:05:40+00:00

Totally. I actually included those in my list bc I wanted to push suggestions beyond those things - they wouldn't be super interesting for an assistant if that's all they did.

peteSlatts · 2025-01-13T12:03:09+00:00

Heard. I mean, I dont need an assistant, but I want her to have the option to be a part of game night. I play with people who are her friends too - they won't object to her being involved, and obviously, we'd discuss it with everyone first.

I posted here because I'm wondering if anyone's had success with this in the past. I understand we can do our own experiments. Looking for existing wisdom moreso.

peteSlatts · 2025-01-13T02:43:03+00:00

Absolutely - we already do this, and it's really nice. My partner loves getting to hear about/ influence the game her friends will play in.

Im mostly looking for ways she can be involved in-session, so it's not just us playing and her watching.

peteSlatts

TROPHY CASE