GameDevKicks.com

Quantum Engine 1.0 (Beta 1) Released!

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:37:47 GMT

Quantum EngineT is an advanced 2D game application framework for PC's running Microsoft Windows® and Direct3D for hardware accelerated rendering. It's made with and usable from the Delphi programming language from Embarcadero (bindings for other languages such as c/c++ can also be made). Quantum Engine is designed to be easy to use, robust and feature rich. It's suitable for making all types of 2D games and graphic simulations and should be easy to incorporate into your current and future projects.

Introduction to DirectX Course

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:28:28 GMT

Welcome to this free online DirectX 10 course. This is the place where you can learn the basics of graphics programming using DirectX 10 API, learn HLSL (High Level Shader Language) and gain necessary math skills that you need on way to become a game developer.

Co-op storylines.

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 22:10:57 GMT

How to involve multiple player's in the story of a co-operatively played game.

Zero Budget Indie Marketing Guide

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 20:11:09 GMT

This guide is for anybody who has a nice game under their belt and wants to give it some more exposure. It doesn't matter if you're just a two-bit dev submitting simple concepts to some backwater forum. In fact, it's probably better if you are: this article is geared towards you, and can help you make the most of something that would otherwise disappear into the murky undercity of the Internet.

Managing Data Relationships

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 19:03:31 GMT

How does your game data relate to each other? In this independent technical article, originally published in Game Developer magazine and posted online as part of Intel's Visual Computing section, game development veteran Noel Llopis looks at how coders should structure and retrieve the intertwined world of game data in memory.

How I got art for my game, part 1.

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 13:23:30 GMT

The first part of how I went about getting artwork for my project.

Game State Management and glitch free loading

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 16:34:33 GMT

Shawn Hargreaves discusses how to expand upon the Game State Management sample and implement faster run-time performance by pre-loading all of the assets required to draw the screens.

C# Networking Tutorial

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:39:24 GMT

A networking tutorial with a game making perspective. Has 5 parts. (not too long) It has bits on how to implement it, and has a basic implementation example of TCP. It also has a section about Security and how what information should be sent from server to client to keep hackers at bay.

Ziggyware Summer 2009 XNA Article Contest

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:39:24 GMT

It's time for the Ziggyware Summer 2009 XNA Article Contest. This go around I am giving away an XBox 360 with 120 GB HDD, XNA Logo Black Zunes, SunBurn Lighting and Material Engine licenses and a lot more.

Why developing for XNA?

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 18:15:35 GMT

The current sales figures might be disheartening, but there's a couple of good reasons why developing for XNA isn't such a bad idea.

Rendering Animated Avatars with XNA

Sat, 13 Jun 2009 00:33:14 GMT

have written a short tutorial describing the basics of Avatar rendering in XNA using the Microsoft samples as a reference.

ATI Catalyst 9.6 (BETA): A Stack of New OpenGL Extensions!

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 13:41:43 GMT

The upcoming Catalyst 9.6 brings a stack of OpenGL extensions: 10 extensions have been added for a total of 149. More on this in the post!

XNA Game - Soft Blocks

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 18:12:28 GMT

Creative Cog Games has a new XNA game in beta: Balloon Blocks, a soft body physics based match-3 game that aims to use soft-body physics to create unique and intuitive game play and simple, inviting graphics to make the game appealing to gamers of all stripes.

Rendering Water as a Post-process Effect

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 16:22:25 GMT

Water plays an important role in all terrain renderers used in modern games and visualizations to present outdoor areas. This is because it improves general image quality in an extent bigger than any other technique and makes it more photorealistic. Alas, even though it tends to look better and better with every game released it is still far from being realistic.

AdamAtomic releases his Flash engine, Flixel

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 15:21:53 GMT

Just released by Adam 'Atomic' Saltsman for the benefit of indie devs everywhere: the Flixel engine, an open-source, fully featured, newly updated version of the Flash AS3 library Saltsman used for both his original web hit Gravity Hook, and the most recent Offworld-featured Fathom.

Tribes of Mexica, the beginning.

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:10:28 GMT

The first tech-demo/proof-of-concept post in what's to be a series about designing, developing and promoting an indy game from the ground up.

The uncanny valley of videogames.

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 02:59:28 GMT

On states and simulations.

Postmortem: Gaijin Games' BIT.TRIP BEAT

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 13:25:23 GMT

In a postmortem of the acclaimed WiiWare title, Gaijin Games' Alex Neuse looks at the creation of abstract action game BIT.TRIP BEAT, detailing what went right and wrong in the making of the original WiiWare title.

Analysis: The Psychology Behind Item Collecting & Achievement Hoarding

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 18:13:27 GMT

Item-collecting has been a staple of video games for many years. What is it inside gamers' heads that makes us want to accumulate items and chase after Achievements? Gamasutra's Kris Graft speaks with the experts...

Splitting Octal Tree (OCTree) with Sliding Sphere Collision

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 19:53:54 GMT

XNA Splitting Octree Sample With 3D Collision Response using Sliding Sphere collision. This sample calculates splitting octal trees for improved collision query times. Direct vertex buffer access is used to get around the need for the XNA content pipeline. This sample features spherical collision with an arbitrary world of polygons and is very fast an stable.

The cattle prod.

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 13:37:34 GMT

Forcing the player to move forward.

From Concept to Execution - The Art of Defense Grid: The Awakening

Wed, 27 May 2009 16:50:47 GMT

In an in-depth article, the creators of Hidden Path's critically acclaimed PC and upcoming XBLA title Defense Grid: The Awakening look at the visual concept work that went into the game's creation, suggesting that "pre-production concept development and visualization resulted in a much better looking game and in significantly reduced problems" during the title's development.

The Alamo standoff.

Wed, 27 May 2009 13:38:20 GMT

The effects of getting swarmed in by enemies.