Southlake, TX
Imparting game development wisdom of dubious quality a ridiculously long time.
August 25, 2008
As mentioned a couple of times, I'm moving everything to a spankin' new quad-processor machine-beast. And I find little things here and there that bear mention.
Today it's fonts. As you can see from my games, I don't like to get too flowery with my fonts. A couple of the games (Pop Pies, Double Twel…
Today it's fonts. As you can see from my games, I don't like to get too flowery with my fonts. A couple of the games (Pop Pies, Double Twel…
August 21, 2008
A while back you might remember that I posted a review of a Razer mousepad and headphones. . .I mean "Destructor" and "Piranha" (gotta love Razer's marketing department). I also mentioned that I'd be posting reviews to the Bargain Basement Blog of fun gadgets that weren't necessarily gaming related…
August 21, 2008
As mentioned a few days ago, I will soon regain full custody of my old puzzle game-pack. Just for grins, I dug out the old source code from the archives and rebuilt 'em.
It took a bit of doing, because everything dated to 2001. The underlying class library (a pre-Sun-acquisition version of the OpenO…
It took a bit of doing, because everything dated to 2001. The underlying class library (a pre-Sun-acquisition version of the OpenO…
August 20, 2008
Hope you were able to grab yesterday's freebie. Today's freebie on giveawayoftheday.com is quite a bit less exciting. It's one of those completely useless "memory optimizers" that appears to give Windows more memory, usually done by trying to malloc ridiculous amounts of memory, forcing Windows to …
August 19, 2008
I have an outstanding freebie today, but unfortunately it's only for today.
It's Edraw Max, and it's one of those flowchart-diagramming tools, not unlike ConceptDraw or Visio 2007. To quote one of the comments, "this is what Visio 2007 should have been". It does all kinds of diagrams and has built-i…
It's Edraw Max, and it's one of those flowchart-diagramming tools, not unlike ConceptDraw or Visio 2007. To quote one of the comments, "this is what Visio 2007 should have been". It does all kinds of diagrams and has built-i…
August 14, 2008
Just got a letter yesterday from the bank that's now taken ownership of my old software publisher. Turns out that they're now chapter 7 and will either be liquidating all remaining assets or will re-form themselves as a much smaller software company. In either case, the chances of me seeing another…
August 14, 2008
As you might've seen in the article/review I posted this week, I got a new machine. And getting a new machine means reinstalling all the conveniences and bits that make your life easier. Figured I'd document the stuff I installed with commentary.
Sorry, but I ain't putting up 30 URL's. I'm far too l…
Sorry, but I ain't putting up 30 URL's. I'm far too l…
August 08, 2008
Howdy hoo folks. Here's an update. . .
Back from Casual Connect last week. Most of the coverage is written. I plan to hand most of it off to Drew today. Hopefully he can start cobbling it together into something resembling coverage so it can get posted next week.
Until then, here's a preview of us be…
Back from Casual Connect last week. Most of the coverage is written. I plan to hand most of it off to Drew today. Hopefully he can start cobbling it together into something resembling coverage so it can get posted next week.
Until then, here's a preview of us be…
July 28, 2008
Howdy hoo, I'm still here.
I'm going in a dozen directions here. I promise to give you more details on my life as I can, and this time I really mean it.
1. I'm spending most of my time on the top-secret-uber-important-project-that's-name-cannot-be-spoken. And the security is really high and you'll ne…
I'm going in a dozen directions here. I promise to give you more details on my life as I can, and this time I really mean it.
1. I'm spending most of my time on the top-secret-uber-important-project-that's-name-cannot-be-spoken. And the security is really high and you'll ne…
July 13, 2008
Yeah I realize that the US economic recession, like global warming, is a paranoid delusion being pimped by sandal-wearing commiefagleebrals. But I like wearing sandals. And so does my wife (her favorite fashion is Birkenstock knockoffs and homemade woolen socks). Furthermore, I can remember when ga…
June 25, 2008
I am gently ushering you to this thread to post comments. And try to keep it serious. While a link to "fifty haikus about boobies" might be fun, we're looking for articles that you found particularly relevant.
And don't suck up to me by posting a link to one of my reviews. They're completely useless…
And don't suck up to me by posting a link to one of my reviews. They're completely useless…
June 23, 2008
Dang, memory has gotten cheap. It's gotten cheap both in the physical sense (I just upped my laptop to the max memory it'll support for $44), and in the metaphorical sense. People just don't think about how much memory things require anymore.
I remember the old 386MAX/QEMM days. Those were apps that…
I remember the old 386MAX/QEMM days. Those were apps that…
June 17, 2008
I'm writing a followup to my venerable old very-outdated What Language Do I Use? article, and I'd like a little advice. The article isn't bad, but it's clearly showing its age. The languages I covered back then were.
C
C++
C or C++ (which is better)
Assembly
Pascal
Visual Basic
Java
Authoring Tools (Flash,…
C
C++
C or C++ (which is better)
Assembly
Pascal
Visual Basic
Java
Authoring Tools (Flash,…
June 12, 2008
Going in about a dozen directions and feeling like I'm not making headway on any of 'em. I got stuff going on with games. I got stuff going on with books. I gotta write reviews. I gotta write outlines. I just gotta write. Bleah, write write write.
And I gotta write a blog. Thus-far, I've been more f…
And I gotta write a blog. Thus-far, I've been more f…
June 02, 2008
Here's some good news if you're a fan of putting web-widgets on your personal pages. Thanks to the folks at WidgetBox, all of The Code Zone's Flash games are now available as web-widgets for your favorite homepage and social network. Every game page (as well as the Play-n-Share page) now has links …
May 28, 2008
First off, a big thanks for nothing for the utter lack of response to my previous entry. Either you don't care or you don't read. Neither is all that encouraging, but it does take the pressure off to know that there's really no standard to which I need to aspire, public or private. I guess it's a b…
May 22, 2008
Just noticed that four of seven of the featured articles on the front page of gamedev are mine. Mind you, a couple of 'em are pretty minor, specifically a review of a book aimed at kids and a review of some kewl gamer-oriented bits. Still, I do a fair amount of semi-professional writing.
And apart f…
And apart f…
May 16, 2008
I'm trying something a little different here.
You see, I get lots of products to review. And I'm loath to turn anything down, and that's for two reasons:
1. I actually rather like writing reviews. It keeps me from living under a bridge, and it keeps my writing skills sharp.
2. I like stuff.
Problem is,…
May 08, 2008
Dunno if any of you have been following the RIA (Rich Internet Applications) space, but that's getting to be a big thing. Basically it's people putting replacements for apps that you'd normally install on your hard drive up on the web. It's currently taking baby steps right now, but there is a crit…
May 07, 2008
This comic gave me a laugh because it reminded me of a "full moon fever" event in my own life.
About 6.5 years ago, Shelly and I were doing the "getting ready to make a baby" shtick, and we toured the babymaking ward of our local hospital to see all the rooms and the check-in procedure and all the i…
About 6.5 years ago, Shelly and I were doing the "getting ready to make a baby" shtick, and we toured the babymaking ward of our local hospital to see all the rooms and the check-in procedure and all the i…
May 06, 2008
Well, mostly free. After looking over my existing games, I decided that Duck Tiles could better serve the community (and make more money) if it was ad-supported. Therefore I have re-tooled the game a bit and I'm releasing it 100% free.
As it stands, not all 216 levels are currently available. Like B…
As it stands, not all 216 levels are currently available. Like B…
May 02, 2008
It's recession-time, folks. And that means that you need to take advantage of the freebies as you can get 'em. Here are the freebies for today. . .
1
First up is free science fiction books! Well, not really books per-se, but Tor, the science fiction division of McMillan publishers, is giving away fre…
1
First up is free science fiction books! Well, not really books per-se, but Tor, the science fiction division of McMillan publishers, is giving away fre…
April 29, 2008
Sorry about the recent lack of updates. I do have some new stuff happening and I'll report on 'em when I get the chance.
If you're one of the millions who worship me and live vicariously through me and cannot go 24 hours without immersing yourself in the wonder that is me, then you can keep up with …
If you're one of the millions who worship me and live vicariously through me and cannot go 24 hours without immersing yourself in the wonder that is me, then you can keep up with …
April 22, 2008
I'm now working on a more regular writing schedule with Gamedev, and my goal is to post one large-format (approx 1000 words) article or review per week.
And here's the first review from that new schedule. It's the Chumby, which is an adorable little lumpy thing that displays widgets.
https://www.game…
And here's the first review from that new schedule. It's the Chumby, which is an adorable little lumpy thing that displays widgets.
https://www.game…
April 17, 2008
Sorry if this machine-build shtick is boring, but I got another piece. This time it's one of those nVidia 8800zyxwvu 500-core video cards. Slickdeals had a rather convoluted deal here that sounds like this. . .
1. nVidia 8800 video card = $190 - $30 rebate
2. Microsoft Windows OneCare = $30 - $30 reb…
1. nVidia 8800 video card = $190 - $30 rebate
2. Microsoft Windows OneCare = $30 - $30 reb…
April 16, 2008
Well not really an update per se, as I haven't done anything on it since last time. But since the universe apparently tilted towards me yesterday, I got an email from a PR-guy who was wondering if I'd be interested in reviewing a computer case, specifically this huge thing.
So I'm gonna review it. I…
So I'm gonna review it. I…
April 12, 2008
Ahh the bottomless fun of building a new computer.
Actually a little background. Shelly's the official AutoCAD witch around here. And the projects she does on AutoCAD (actually Civil 3D, which is a special super-extended version for Civil Engineering) are absolutely enormous. And they take up gobs o…
Actually a little background. Shelly's the official AutoCAD witch around here. And the projects she does on AutoCAD (actually Civil 3D, which is a special super-extended version for Civil Engineering) are absolutely enormous. And they take up gobs o…
April 08, 2008
Okay, I got the entries here. I downsized 'em, but this is still gonna be an image-heavy entry. First off, we have an entry from ukdm. . .
While it's clearly just my little clipart spaceship with the border removed, I do like the big concentric circles in the back. Gives it a bit of a kitschy "outer…
While it's clearly just my little clipart spaceship with the border removed, I do like the big concentric circles in the back. Gives it a bit of a kitschy "outer…
April 07, 2008
Well, in my last entry I mentioned my disappointment with the number of entries I'd received in the contest. And two (i.e. half) of the entrants chimed in that they wouldn't be averse to rebooting the contest.
And I'm rather at a crossroads about the whole thing. There wasn't an entry in the contest…
And I'm rather at a crossroads about the whole thing. There wasn't an entry in the contest…
April 04, 2008
Logo contest ends today.
Just a reminder, I'm looking for cleverness more than just technical skill. If this is something you can initially rough out and can make an improved version later, then do so.
Also if you've already entered and you want to enter another one, feel free.
Shelly's on the last da…
Just a reminder, I'm looking for cleverness more than just technical skill. If this is something you can initially rough out and can make an improved version later, then do so.
Also if you've already entered and you want to enter another one, feel free.
Shelly's on the last da…
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