Archive for the ‘Programming’ category

Loading From Zip Files

December 16, 2011

It has been a long, slow journey, but Retrobooster finally has a decent system for loading data from zip files. This was particularly challenging because it uses OpenSceneGraph for graphics, which didn’t have the ability to access zip files for resources the same way it could access file system paths. I wanted them to be […]

Retrobooster Particle Effects

September 20, 2011

As mentioned in my Thrust Ship Flight Dynamics post, the fun in Retrobooster hinges on flying around and blowing stuff up. So it was clear from the start that the particle effects needed to be as beautiful and interesting as I could make them. In particular, I wanted bright, loud, organic, swirling explosions with unique […]

Infrastructure for Testing

September 4, 2011

I’ve been programming bits of infrastructure necessary to get Retrobooster out to testers so they can play at home. There have been three rounds of alpha testing so far–all here on my development computer. The most recent round had one tester going for a full eight hours without completing all the levels. There were about […]

High Quality Specular

August 10, 2011

Here is a trick you can do with shaders to remove common ugly artifacts from your specular highlights. You might have seen it before–the Microcosm screensaver uses this technique to good effect. I’m sure other people have thought of this, but I haven’t seen it written up anywhere, and it’s a simple enhancement that can […]