Code + Creativity
I have been talking about making my own game for almost two years. Two years! In that time, I have made some games using Python and Pygame. I have also been studying and working and trying to enjoy life. But I always find myself still thinking about it. Wanting to take a chance. So when I noticed that Brackeys and others were hosting a new game jam, I just had
The field of Machine Learning isn’t a new one. In the recent decade or so it has really taken off with exciting new research and technologies. Today, we are going to take a brief look at why that is and try to understand the amazing potential of Machine Learning (ML). If you ever wanted to understand what ML can do, but didn’t know where to start, then this is the
Last month, I had a friend approach me with an amazing offer. My friend is definitely a very outgoing person, and long story short, she wanted me to help her design a one day science and technology camp for some really awesome children. The task: Design a creative and educational camp that would introduce children to robotics through Project Based Learning (PBL) and Problem Based Learning (PBL), and allow them
December 31, 2018. Officially the last day of the year. I wanted to end this year by finishing what I started: Creating the last post for how to make a Space Shooter in Pygame and Python. It feels right to wrap things up and start something new and fresh for the new year. There are a number of machine learning and game development projects that I am looking forward to
After completing today’s tutorial we will have finished a lot of loose ends in the space shooter. Every game has some kind of display or system to tell the player their current status, such as their health or strength, and some kind of reward system, displaying a score or even giving actual rewards for achieving some goal. These are all used as a way to give the player feedback about
Today was the first snow of the winter season here in Hangzhou, China. It was so nice to see snow again. Most space shooters rely on a way to either improve the ship’s capabilities or on random power-ups that enemy characters pick up when they are destroyed. So for our space shooter we are going to create two types of power-ups: a shield and missiles. Each will have its own
There is something magical about animation. Seeing each still image assembled on top of one another with ever so slight variations to create the illusion of movement. And then playing those animations at higher speeds to create a moving picture. I still remember my first game was just a square that could move, but the first time I made it move I knew I loved game making and programming. Today,
I finished the last post and got super excited to just keep going today. To recap what we have done so far, we have created our space environment and background, loaded our player’s spaceship, added movement, and made two different kinds of enemies for our player, asteroids and enemy space fighters. Let’s get right into the next tutorial and finally give our player a way to fight back! In today’s
Keep it simple. It’s a good motto to remember in life, in your ventures, and especially when you set out to make your own game. I can tell you with every game that I make I try to create some elaborate ideas. I think they are some amazing ideas (and maybe they truly are), but I sit down and begin coding and reality sets in. More complexity leads to more time.
Enemy AI is an important aspect of any game. Graphics, story, and music can all be drowned out if your game contains some wonky or useless AI or gameplay. Sometimes graphics takes a backseat and the developer can create a memorable experience from gameplay and simple graphics. When you decide to make your first game, think about the users’ experience. Try and think about what adventure you want them to