A look at various approaches for keyboard input and graphics display in QBasic.

Demo code – https://github.com/levidsmith/QBasicShooter

Links and Notes

• QBasic.net – https://www.qbasic.net/
• ASCII character chart – https://www.qbasic.net/en/reference/general/ascii-table.htm
• Keyboard scan codes – https://www.qbasic.net/en/reference/general/scan-codes.htm
• DOSBox special keys – https://www.dosbox.com/wiki/Special_Keys
• QBasic advanced memory functions  – http://www.petesqbsite.com/sections/tutorials/tuts/memory.htm
• Sprites in QBasic – http://www.tedfelix.com/qbasic/sprites.html
• Introduction to QBasic – http://www.petesqbsite.com/sections/tutorials/tuts/dandd/
• WikiBooks advanced QBasic input – https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/QBasic/Advanced_Input
• TekTips forum thread on INKEY$ – https://www.tek-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=243384
• QBasic Nibbles source code – https://archive.org/details/NibblesQbasic
• QBasic Gorillas source code – https://archive.org/details/GorillasQbasic
• Podcast theme music – Ride by Pocketmaster

Knox Game Design

QBasic IO and Graphics, Knox Game Design, December 2022

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Overview of number systems, including decimal base 10, binary base 2, hexadecimal base 16. How to convert between the number systems.  Explanation of addition and subtraction in binary.

Links and Notes

• Podcast theme music – Ride by Pocketmaster

Knox Game Design

Number Systems - Knox Game Design, November 2022

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Explanation of how to read text files to display objects to the screen in Unity, GameMaker, MonoGame, Godot, and SDL.

Demo project – https://github.com/levidsmith/KnoxGameDesign/tree/master/textreader

Links and Notes

• Podcast theme music – Ride by Pocketmaster

Knox Game Design

Reading Text Files - Knox Game Design, September 2022

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00:00 / 49:10

Introduction to the Logo programming language.  Useful for teaching functional programming to beginners.  Explanation of using “turtle graphics” to draw various shapes.

Demo project – https://github.com/levidsmith/KnoxGameDesign/tree/master/logo

Links and Notes

• Berkeley Logo Download – http://people.eecs.berkeley.edu/~bh/logo.html
• Logo Manual – http://people.eecs.berkeley.edu/~bh/downloads/ucblogo.pdf
• Logo Tutorial – https://el.media.mit.edu/logo-foundation/what_is_logo/logo_programming.html
• Logo Quick Guide – https://www.tutorialspoint.com/logo/logo_quick_guide.htm
• Snap! – https://snap.berkeley.edu/
• Software Coding for Kids, Logo – https://softwareprogramming4kids.com/logo/
• Tutorials Point, Logo – https://www.tutorialspoint.com/logo/index.htm
• Terrapin Logo – https://resources.terrapinlogo.com/logo/
• Podcast theme music – Ride by Pocketmaster

Knox Game Design

Logo - Knox Game Design, August 2022

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Overview of four types of curves that can be used in game development.  Basic parabola for moving objects in an arc.  Sine function for moving objects in a wave motion.  Physics using velocity and acceleration for simulating actions such as jumping and falling.  Bezier curve for moving objects along a curved path.  Examples of functions for each curve type and how to calculate coordinates in a spreadsheet.  Demonstration of how to implement each curve type in Monogame with C# and review of source code.

Spreadsheet – https://www.knoxgamedesign.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/curves.xlsx

Demo project – https://github.com/levidsmith/KnoxGameDesign/tree/master/curves/Curves

New Knox Games this Month

Flappy Brid Clone by Andy – https://www.cowell.org/~andy/unity/test/

Links and Notes

• GeoGebra – https://www.geogebra.org/
• GameDev.Net platformer jumping – https://www.gamedev.net/forums/topic/413885-platformer-jumping/
• Javascript.info Bezier curve – https://javascript.info/bezier-curve
• Building a better jump – https://archive.org/details/GDC2016Pittman
• Podcast theme music – Ride by Pocketmaster

Knox Game Design

Curves - Knox Game Design, July 2022

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Overview of I-frames, invincibility, stun lock, and knock back. How these are implemented in games, statistics from examples of classic games, and demo project showing various methods for implementing invincibility time.

Links and Notes

• Demo project – https://github.com/levidsmith/KnoxGameDesign/tree/master/iframes
• Podcast theme music – Ride by Pocketmaster

Knox Game Design

I-Frames and Stun Lock - Knox Game Design, June 2022

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This month’s Knox Game Design presentation topic is Enemy Behaviors.
This is a look at various enemy behavior types:

• Back and forth (timer / collision based)
• Alert and chase, using distance / timer for stop chasing
• Move random direction and wait
• Orbital children, with varying radius length and orbit speed
• Behavior combination (orbital children and move)

This presentation looks at a demo project using Monogame and C# and analysis of demo code for each behavior.

Links and Notes

• Demo project – https://github.com/levidsmith/EnemyBehaviors
• Monogame – https://www.monogame.net/
• Podcast theme music – Ride by Pocketmaster

Knox Game Design

Enemy Behaviors - Knox Game Design, May 2022

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Explanation of calculating collision between basic 3D objects (rectangular solids/cubes and spheres). Methods used can be applied to any programming language or game development environment. Review of demo Ruby code to detect collision between rectangular solids and spheres.

Links and Notes

• Ruby 3D collision calculator – https://github.com/levidsmith/collision3d
• Caverns of Evil on Steam by BlackJar72 – https://store.steampowered.com/app/1929380/Caverns_of_Evil/
• Podcast theme music – Ride by Pocketmaster

Knox Game Design

Basic 3D Collision - Knox Game Design, March 2022

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Explanation of Dijkstra’s algorithm for finding the shortest path in a graph based on a selected starting node. Walkthrough of an example of the algorithm. Demo of implementation of Dijkstra’s algorithm in Unity and C#.

Dijkstra Demo in Unity (Unity WebGL)

Dijkstra Demo Source Code

Links and Notes

• Dijkstra’s Shortest Path Algorithm – https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/dijkstras-shortest-path-algorithm-greedy-algo-7/
• Dijkstra’s Algorithm:  The Shortest Path Algorithm – https://www.analyticssteps.com/blogs/dijkstras-algorithm-shortest-path-algorithm
• Dijkstra’s Shortest Path Algorithm – https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/dijkstras-shortest-path-algorithm-visual-introduction/
• Podcast theme music – Ride by Pocketmaster

Knox Game Design

Dijkstra's Algorithm - Knox Game Design, January 2022

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