On Fri, Feb 21, 2014 at 4:08 PM, Joe Bogner <joebog...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I wonder if J could make game programming (without big libraries) more > approachable Games are typically built on top of libraries now and it's > lost how it truly works. Game physics and the rendering math is something > I've always wanted to learn but haven't had the time, right resources, or > right language to dabble in. > Yes, definitely. Though currently I favor a mix of J and Javascript. JHS needs better docs, of course. But so does webgl in the browser. And I have been pressuring myself to get something written that connects the dots between the possibilities I see. Unfortunately, I have a lot more in mind and I keep getting sidetracked onto other issues and possibilities. (But that is good also, because those concepts help keep me oriented.) > I remember reading about getting kids interested in programming by building > games and specifically a minecraft clone -- since it was/is real popular > with that group. > Yes. There are a variety of reason why this is important, and our efforts here are just a small reflection of parallel efforts people are engaging in, in other groups and settings. So I expect some hooking up with people representing those other groups, as well. What we bring to the table, though, is special [in a good way]. > I remember seeing this demo, http://jsfiddle.net/uzMPU/, which felt like > a > throwback to the 90s demo scene[1] > > It's done in javascript and writes directly to the canvas > > Here's a youtube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaZvDCmlERc And that's some fun code to read also. And that's the battle we fight - the more we do the less likely someone is to want to read it and the more likely it is that someone will want to admire it. But honestly, most people give up right away anyways. So we need some mentoring to get people from "admiring" to "productive", and that means giving them things to play with and helping them reach some of their goals. Anyways, nowadays, most kids have better computing skills than most older folk, and that has some really interesting implications both for society and for us. > Something like that would be a neat port to J. Or, we could create another > flappy birds clone... > Feel free! (I've got my own plans, of course...) > [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demo_(computer_programming) Here's one of my favorite demo coders from that era: http://www.rasterman.com/ (But John Carmack is maybe a better role model? Or worse, of course, depending on who you are talking to. Personally, though, I am going to go with: better. Still, I think I'd rate Arthur Whitney even better, but they are both pretty impressive and it's all a matter of perspective. No one person can be best at everything and getting anything worthwhile done takes time.) Thanks, -- Raul ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
