I’ve been working on implementing a content generator and mutator, this particular version was based on the Pixel Spaceships work. This was indeed my first goal.

One Iteration based on a base pattern gives us many ships to choose from.

The next logical step is to start separating the various parts of the code and begin to implement various means of generating content, adding noise based on a map/pattern as well as being able to mix different patterns to change the outcome. Another step in the process is to allow the use of arbitrarily sized patterns.

With just a few modifications to the base pattern we can generate all kinds of content, we then choose the one we like the most and select it’s pattern as the new base design for future mutations. The possibilities are endless!

Generating procedural content is nothing new, but it sure is exciting! — And it’s always a challenge to optimize and evolve this type of code.

Hopefully I’ll come up with something usable in the near future.

Dependent on the time-lapse lib, the animation code provides you with several count methods to manipulate your animations in an easy and comprehensible way.

If you add a sprite atlas library (I’ll share later) you’ll be able to manipulate sprites with animation in quite a flexible way without too much hassle.

The idea is to encapsulate the animation functionality in such a way that it makes it easy to work with. You have the ability to start, stop, pause, change speed, etc. You can create animations that range from any frame to any frame and that can animate in many ways such as sequential (loop), play-once and ping-pong (back and forth, or rather the inverse). By making use of the time-lapse library we can easily create time-based animation.

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This little lib is used to keep track of time using the low resolution timer provided by the OS (in Windows “GetTickCount”). The goal of this type of library is to encapsulate timing actions. It was originally designed for game development in mind but needless to say you can use it and adapt it to your own needs.

Basically you define a time interval as you create the “timelapse” instance. Every time you call the update function a simple check determines whether the time was reached or not. This is trivial, but encapsulating it makes sense. Specially if you plan to create an animation system in the future!

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I’ve been thinking about writing a game proxy, specificaly for the game Tibia. Now, as with all proxies: one bug equals catastrophic failure. And this, specially in an MMO, can’t be good for you.

Let me clarify, even if you attempt to hook the process and detour the original routines (ie. send and receive functions) or use a full-blown TCP/UDP router; if your code is buggy, you may as well close the process yourself before it crashes and your character joins limbo as deadly monsters chew its legs off and the game’s gods laugh off their asses in front of you, of course, you won’t be able to see it but you can imagine it wont be pretty.

Perhaps, redundancy is the key here. More…