Messages

46

7DRLs / Beware of Strange Warp Points - a Space Empires themed 7DRL

« on: March 09, 2014, 11:31:54 PM »

Since everyone else is posting here about their 7DRL, I figured I might as well spam the forum too...

I don't feel like reposting everything I already posted on my blog, so I'll just link it here - check back every day for more updates!

http://edkolis.blogspot.com/search/label/roguelike-dev

47

Challenges / Re: Registration is Open for the 2014 7DRL Challenge at http://7drl.roguetemple.com/

« on: March 09, 2014, 11:30:01 PM »

Someone or other on IRC suggested using it based on a client side attribute (e.g. a cookie or a hash of some information about the user's browser). This would mean that everyone who views the page would get a different order, but the order would be consistent between visits (at least until the cookie expires or the user switches browsers).

48

Challenges / Re: A Legend Handed Down - 7DRL 2014 - Update Thread

« on: March 09, 2014, 11:28:02 PM »

Ooh, that sounds awesome! Can't wait to try this one out!

49

Challenges / Re: How To Finish A 7DRL - Tips From a 4 Time Champion...

« on: March 08, 2014, 01:16:59 PM »

I like to plan out my schedule in advance, so I have goals to accomplish each day and I can pace myself. Like, today I wanted to do map generation and getting an @ moving about, while tomorrow I'll add enemies and a simplified form of combat.

50

Temple of the Roguelike / 7DRL registration page looks a bit confusing

« on: March 07, 2014, 09:59:15 PM »

The rows in the list of entries are center-aligned, not top-aligned, so sometimes I'll be reading the description of a roguelike, and then start on the next, without realizing that I'm on a completely different game than the one I'd started reading! Happens a lot when the second one has a really long description

Also... sorting by game name seems completely broken, unless I'm missing something obvious... At least for the 2013 entries!

51

Programming / Re: I don't understand random seeds.

« on: March 07, 2014, 07:26:40 PM »

I still don't understand why people bother writing "more perfect" RNG algorithms when they could just take some sort of sensor and attach it to the computer and use environmental noise. Heck, most computers these days have built-in fan speed and CPU temperature sensors - surely taking the least significant bit of that data and aggregating it over time could produce something useful?

What about portability? Most of smartphones don't have fans. I'm not sure about sensors, but it doesn't sound like a portable solution, either. Telling people that the game doesn't run on a computer without some piece of hardware just because the programmer doesn't know how to implement a good RNG is kind of lame, don't you think?

Sure, if you're going for portability, then you need something more generic. But it seems like far too much effort is wasted on replicating something that is mathematically impossible to replicate, when in many cases it is available basically for free, without any special mathematical wizardry.

52

7DRLs / Re: Can't log in to 7drl.org blog

« on: March 06, 2014, 07:57:26 PM »

Thanks!

53

Development Process & non-technical / Re: Dev blog aggregator

« on: March 06, 2014, 07:54:19 PM »

OK, here you go:

http://edkolis.blogspot.com/search/label/roguelike-dev

54

Development Process & non-technical / Re: Dev blog aggregator

« on: March 06, 2014, 06:56:10 PM »

Here's my roguelike tag: https://http://zireael07.wordpress.com/category/roguelike/

I've got a comparison with Incursion in the works, do you want to see it?

The posts you do have are release notes and relevant to players of your game, not to people who might want to develop their own game.

Well, if you're going to be that strict, then technically none of my posts are of interest to people developing their own roguelikes, unless you count "me blabbing on about the progress of my roguelike" of interest to folks developing their own... I mean, I'm not getting into algorithms or anything useful; just sharing what I've done so far. Maybe I misunderstood what you were looking for, and so my blog wouldn't be a good fit for your aggregator?

55

7DRLs / Can't log in to 7drl.org blog

« on: March 05, 2014, 07:32:54 PM »

I tried resetting my password, but even after I did so, I couldn't log in with the password I'd just set!

56

Programming / Re: I don't understand random seeds.

« on: March 05, 2014, 07:05:32 PM »

Often the "more perfect" part is actually "more cryptographically secure" which has more to do with what happens after the seed is obtained, in addition to the parameters of the seed itself.

Traditionally the sensor used to "randomly" seed prngs is the system clock.

Well, yeah, but I'm not talking about taking a single seed and feeding it into an algorithm and never getting a new seed - I'm talking about using some unpredictable environmental input as input for a function which determines your random number. In essence, re-seeding the RNG with a new (but truly nondeterministic) input constantly.

57

Programming / Re: I don't understand random seeds.

« on: March 05, 2014, 06:16:24 PM »

I still don't understand why people bother writing "more perfect" RNG algorithms when they could just take some sort of sensor and attach it to the computer and use environmental noise. Heck, most computers these days have built-in fan speed and CPU temperature sensors - surely taking the least significant bit of that data and aggregating it over time could produce something useful?

58

Development Process & non-technical / Re: Dev blog aggregator

« on: March 05, 2014, 06:13:14 PM »

The link is still pointing to the admin page. Perhaps you only edited the text, and not the actual link URL?

59

Development Process & non-technical / Re: Dev blog aggregator

« on: March 05, 2014, 02:14:18 PM »

Zirael, your link is asking me to sign in...

60

Development Process & non-technical / Re: Dev blog aggregator

« on: March 05, 2014, 08:16:06 AM »

OK, here you go!

http://edkolis.blogspot.com/search/label/roguelikes

edit: Actually, I did tag one non-dev post as "roguelikes", but it was a discussion of the genre in relation to other genres of games. Is that OK, or should I make a specific "roguelike-dev" tag?