Upgrading to WordPress 3.0 – let me know if any of you experience any issues. Thanks.

Edit: Updated. Everything seem okay?

I’m just kind of throwing this idea out there – but would any of you benefit from video tutorials with me explaining things as each tutorial is coded?

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As an aside, here’s a quick plug for Skylar Payne. He has made some video tutorials that you can check out:

I’m pondering over what tutorial should be next. What do you think should be next?

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Update:
I think it’s pretty obvious. I’ll go for making the space shooter the next tutorials. Bits and pieces will be taken from Ace of Space (of course). I may throw in Game States in the same tutorial, or make a side tutorial (as it would be relevant here).

Thanks everyone.

Check this out. 5 indie games for any price you specify. Games are World of Goo, Aquaria, Gish, Lugaru, and Penumbra. Money goes toward the developers, charity, or EFF (and can be split however you want). Please be a generous giver for this awesome opportunity.

http://www.wolfire.com/humble

P.S.
Time is running out on this bundle – about 5 days left.

On a more serious note, I am starting to research more and more about SDL 1.3 – and I think all of you should too. If you aren’t familiar with what SDL 1.3 is all about, here’s a quick list of features that I know of:

– Full backwards compatibility with 1.2 apps (no need to rewrite your code to get it to work)
– Support for the latest version of OpenGL and OpenGL ES
– Multiple Windows
– Multiple Displays
– 2D Hardware Acceleration (OpenGL or Direct3D depending on the platform)
– Textures used instead of Surfaces (for hardware acceleration when available)
– Multiple input devices (multiple keyboards, multiple mice, etc.)
– Pressure / Tilt / Accelerometer support
– Much better Unicode support
– iPhone support
– Audio recording
– Multiple audio output streams
– 7.1 surround sound support
– SDL_main is no longer required

If you have time, check the SVN out here: http://www.libsdl.org/svn.php (don’t get the old zip file, checkout the latest trunk).

I’m looking to start covering other “devices” that SDL can run on, so look out for that. Any additional features that I am overlooking? Let me know.

Well, I’ve been on this overtime marathon again at work, so I haven’t had any time to do much on here. Well, lets fix that. I can’t really offer any prizes this time, but hopefully that doesn’t deter people.

The Goal: Make a Tetris-like game
The Inspiration: Tetris, Pokemon Puzzle League
The Rules: This contest is open to all game developers, with the following requirements and/or conditions:

1. No more than 3 people per project
2. You may submit as many projects as you like
3. I prefer SDL / C/C++ (optionally can use OpenGL with SDL); SDL must be used. Other languages allowed: Delphi, VC++.NET, Java
4. Project must compile/work on at least one major operating system (Windows, Mac OSX, *nix); extra bonus points for cross-platformy*
5. You give SDLtutorials.com permission to use any and all submitted resources, code, and/or files for non-commercial use. Submitter retains the rights to his/her project. (SDLtutorials.com will most likely use the winning project as the basis for a tutorial)
6. All code, resources, and/or files submitted must be the submitters original work, with the exception of use of 3rd party open-source libraries, and/or royalty free resources. No commercial libraries and/or resources are allowed, and will result in immediate disqualification.
7. No plagiarism is allowed, with the exception of the “minor”** use of code from tutorials. Code used from tutorials cannot make up more than 20%** of a submitted project’s code. You may use the framework provided on this website without limitation.
8. SDLtutorials.com has full discretion to accept/reject any projects submitted, and can cancel this contest at any time.

* No actual points are involved in the judging of entries.
** This, obviously, is hard to determine. Be fair, do your own work; if you use code from online, make it your own.

The Details:

• The game should play / look like a Tetris clone
• You must provide a completely working no time-limit game. (Meaning, there don’t have to be levels, bosses, etc.)
• The game should at least be point based
• You must provide a basic menu (Start, Exit at minimum)
• The game may be 2D or 3D (using OpenGL), and may use scripting

The Prize:

• $20.00 (PayPal)

The Deadline:
May 1, 2010

Once all entries are received, I will post 5 of the top projects received. The community will then be able to voice their opinion (which should help weed out any plagiarism). A week after the deadline, I will post who is the winner. If I cannot contact the winner within 30 days, the 2nd place project will become the winner (and so on).

You have plenty of time, make it as cool, and interesting as possible. I could probably make a straight Tetris clone in a day, and all you will have almost 2 months. The only thing I don’t necessarily want to see is something exactly like Tetris (not unless you put some crazy spin on it).

Please send all completed Projects to: tim [at] metacipher.com

You may send your project multiple times up to the deadline. The last project I receive before midnight is the one that I will use.

Good luck everyone!

Terms are subject to change at any time; I will give notice to such changes.

The following are some guidelines for when you submit projects. A real quick note first: by submitting your project multiple times up to the deadline, I can give you feedback and/or help. Please note, I will not give you any code, or any links to code. All I will simply do is point you in the right direction. This should even the playing field a bit for newbies.

1. Please provide a project file and/or makefile for me to compile your code depending on the target platform.
2. Please include any and all libraries involved with your project; already compiled. I don’t want to have to sit here for hours compiling libraries that are used in your project. Exceptions: if the library is easy to grab myself, simply let me know in a ReadMe.txt or something (i.e., being able to apt-get what I need, or simply download).
3. Please compress your project into a single file, and email it to me with the subject: CONTEST – [My Project Name] ; remember, email to: tim [at] metacipher.com
4. Though you can submit projects ahead of time for help, please do not submit your project more than once a week to me. I will provide help, but very limited; remember, this is a contest. I would only ask for help if you really need it; it’s very likely I’ll give more kudos to a project that asked for very little to no help, v. the person that asked every week.
5. Please…. please! Comment your code. Please.

I’ve decided to not give up, please forgive me everyone for even thinking that. I don’t want to send the wrong message. When things get harder in life we need to keep pressing on. In this new year hopefully I can push out a lot more tutorials. I’ve also decided to show on the sidebar upcoming tutorials in the works. Hopefully this will create some excitement. In addition, this year I plan to get a new website out and rolling for SDLTutorials.com, along with a new website for MetaCipher Studios, my upcoming indie game studio. It will not only be a place where I can put my own games to sell, but for all of you as well.

If you all cannot tell, I have been very busy in life lately with two kiddos, full time job, and all sorts of other stuff. As such, I’m having to cut certain things out to make more time for other things. Unfortunately, that may mean SDLtutorials.com . I hate to say this, but only by donating will keep SDLtutorials.com going (it’s actually depressing to have only 1 donation [for the contest] come in since the website started). Otherwise, I’ll be looking to sell the SDLtutorials.com domain name, and only the domain name, to the highest bidder. Sorry, I won’t be selling the rights to my tutorials unless you make an extremely good offer.

Update:
It has come to my attention that even if I wanted to sell the domain today, I wouldn’t be able to do so for at least a year. At any rate, I am simply stressed out and I don’t think I want to give up on this venture. So, I need your help. 1. Please continue to be patient as more tutorials will eventually come. 2. Lets be an active community helping each other, so that if I’m idle for a while, people are still getting help. 3. If you’d like to donate, that’s up to you guys.

Welcome to the last planned release for SDL 1.2!
http://www.libsdl.org/download-1.2.php

This release is intended to clean up the bug list for SDL 1.2 and let us focus on new development for SDL 1.3!

I would like to thank everybody who contributed bug reports and fixes for this release!

General Notes

* Fixed flicker when resizing the SDL window
* Fixed crash in SDL_SetGammaRamp()
* Fixed freeze in SDL_memset() with 0 length when assembly code is disabled.
* Added SDL_DISABLE_LOCK_KEYS environment variable to enable normal up/down events for Caps-Lock and Num-Lock keys.
* Fixed audio quality problem when converting between 22050 Hz and 44100 Hz.
* Fixed a threading crash when a few threads are rapidly created and complete.
* Increased accuracy of alpha blending routines.
* Fixed crash loading BMP files saved with the scanlines inverted.
* Fixed mouse coordinate clamping if SDL_SetVideoMode() isn’t called in response to SDL_VIDEORESIZE event.
* Added doxygen documentation for the SDL API headers.

Unix Notes

* Fixed potential memory corruption due to assembly bug with SDL_revcpy()
* Fixed crashes trying to detect SSE features on x86_64 architecture.
* Fixed assembly for GCC optimized 50% alpha blending blits.
* Added configure option –enable-screensaver, to allow enabling the screensaver by default.
* Use XResetScreenSaver() instead of disabling screensaver entirely.
* Removed the maximum window size limitation on X11.
* Fixed SDL_GL_SWAP_CONTROL on X11.
* Fixed setting the X11 window input hint.
* Fixed distorted X11 window icon for some visuals.
* Fixed detecting X11 libraries for dynamic loading on 64-bit Linux.
* SDL_GL_GetAttribute(SDL_GL_SWAP_CONTROL) returns the correct value with GLX_SGI_swap_control.
* Added SDL_VIDEO_FULLSCREEN_DISPLAY as a preferred synonym for SDL_VIDEO_FULLSCREEN_HEAD on X11.
* The SDL_VIDEO_FULLSCREEN_DISPLAY environment variable can be set to 0 to place fullscreen SDL windows on the first Xinerama screen.
* Added the SDL_VIDEO_FBCON_ROTATION environment variable to control output orientation on the framebuffer console.
Valid values are:
o not set – Not rotating, no shadow.
o “NONE” – Not rotating, but still using shadow.
o “CW” – Rotating screen clockwise.
o “UD” – Rotating screen upside down.
o “CCW” – Rotating screen counter clockwise.
* Fixed DirectFB detection on some Linux distributions.
* Added code to use the PS3 SPE processors for YUV conversion on Linux.
* Updated ALSA support to the latest stable API
* ALSA is now preferred over OSS audio. (SDL_AUDIODRIVER=dsp will restore the previous behavior.)
* Improved support for PulseAudio
* The Network Audio System support is now dynamically loaded at runtime.
* Fixed crash with the MP-8866 Dual USB Joypad on newer Linux kernels.
* Fixed crash in SDL_Quit() when a joystick has been unplugged.

Windows Notes

* Verified 100% compatibility with Windows 7.
* Prevent loss of OpenGL context when setting the video mode in response to a window resize event.
* Fixed video initialization with SDL_WINDOWID on Windows XP.
* Improved mouse input responsiveness for first-person-shooter games.
* IME messages are now generated for localized input.
* SDL_RWFromFile() takes a UTF-8 filename when opening a file.
* The SDL_STDIO_REDIRECT environment variable can be used to override whether SDL redirects stdio to stdout.txt and stderr.txt.
* Fixed dynamic object loading on Windows CE.

Mac OS X Notes

* SDL now builds on Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard).
Eric Wing posted a good rundown on the numerous changes here: http://playcontrol.net/ewing/jibberjabber/big_behind-the-scenes_chang.html
* The X11 video driver is built by default.
* Fixed SDL_VIDEO_WINDOW_POS environment variable for Quartz target.
* Fixed setting the starting working directory in release builds.

Dun dun dun…

» Read more: And the winner is…

Alright guys, we’re down to the wire. Tomorrow, at approximately this time, I will post who is the winner. So what does that mean in the mean time? Well, vote! Give me your opinions, post in the forum! Remember, votes can help persuade me, but it alone will not determine the winner.

I decided to shake things up a little bit. Today I am narrowing down the finalists to 4. First though, a big thank you and congratulations to all of you who participated in the contest. Keep on programming and continue making games. After this 2nd round, I’ll be deciding the winner. Again, the community can help influence my decision. This time around I’ll be putting up the source code, as I know some of you were unable to run some games. The focus is, is the code easy to compile? Does it work on multiple systems? Is the code “good code”?

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Ace of Space

Download
Source

K.A.A.T.I.

Download
Source

Supernova

Download | Alternative Download
Source

Zallan

Download
Source

These are being listed in alphabetical order. Because of the small number of entries I’ll be putting them all up here for people to look at and voice their opinion. Which one do you think is the best?

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Ace of Space

Download

K.A.A.T.I.

Download

Labarum

Download

SDL Boss

Download

Supernova

Download

Zallan

Download

Late Entry:

First Flight Planet

Download

No, I didn’t take all of the code submitted and run away. Yesterday I did a basic run through as a normal gaming user for actual game play. I am going to be reviewing the code next. I’ll get some videos up soon of each entry. Not too soon after that I’ll release the games themselves (no source) for people to try out, and I’ll put a poll up. There’s a few projects that because the way they are compiled don’t work quiet “out of the box.”

Here it is guys, last day! You guys have until 11:59:59 AM tonight (Pacific time) to submit your contest project files.

Update:
The Contest has ended. I will take this week to review all entries. Here’s a list of people I have received contest entries from. If you sent something in, and are not on the list, email me asap.

Matt C.
Vincent L.
Anthony P.
Jason N.
Leonardo G., and Hugo V.
Zack F.

* Late Entry:
Fabrício G., and Paulo S.

* Because of the low turn-out I decided to accept this late entry; to be fair, I will give others until 9/3/2009 – 12:00 AM tonight (Pacific time) to also turn in a late entry. Please note that by being a late entry it will most certainly count against you in terms of judging. Existing entries from the people up who were on time can send in updated code if they like with no penalty. After 12:00 AM tonight, no more exceptions. If you turn something in to me after 12:00 AM you will not qualify for the contest, but I can put your name up.