Analysis of how battle damage is calculated in role playing games (RPGs). How damage is calculated in traditional table top RPGs using dice rolls. Statistical analysis of outcomes of various dice combinations. Calculation of battle damage in the video game RPGs Dragon Quest (Dragon Warrior) and Final Fantasy along with verification of damage outcomes.

Links and Notes

• Dragon Warrior (NES) Formulas v1.0 – https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/nes/563408-dragon-warrior/faqs/61640
• Dragon Warrior/Items and Equipment, StrategyWiki – https://strategywiki.org/wiki/Dragon_Warrior/Items_and_Equipment
• Attributes, Dragon Quest Wiki – https://dragonquest.fandom.com/wiki/Attributes
• List of character statistics, About Dragon Quest Wiki – https://dragon-quest.org/wiki/List_of_character_statistics
• Final Fantasy Game Mechanics Guide – https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/nes/522595-final-fantasy/faqs/57009
• The FF4 Battle System, Free Enterprise Wiki – https://wiki.ff4fe.com/doku.php?id=battle_mechanics
• Final Fantasy IV Weapons, The Final Fantasy Wiki – https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Final_Fantasy_IV_weapons
• Podcast theme music – Ride by Pocketmaster

Knox Game Design

RPG Battle Damage - Knox Game Design, October 2024

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Overview of how to use NFTs (non fungible tokens) in games, including how to mint tokens, specify trait values, and using OpenSea API to read NFT data into a game. Demo of Unity RPG game using NFTs for equippable weapons.

Links and Notes

• Blockchain RPG demo – https://github.com/levidsmith/KnoxGameDesign/tree/master/blockchain/BlockchainRPG
• OpenSea API – https://docs.opensea.io/reference/api-overview
• Podcast theme music – Ride by Pocketmaster

Knox Game Design

NFTs - Knox Game Design, September 2024

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Proof of concept demonstration on how to implement a blockchain to track game currency and purchase of game items.  In this demonstration, the blockchain is created in PHP on a Fedora Linux virtual machine running in Virtual Box.  The block chain is pulled into Unity through C# networking code.  Regular expressions are used to parse the blockchain to return the user’s game currency and items purchased.

Links and Notes

• Creating a blockchain with Javascript – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVqczFZr124&list=PLggJAWhpyrRxKmetiP3RdTa7VAbGaXWub
• SHA-256 standard – https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/FIPS/NIST.FIPS.180-4.pdf
• RFC3339 – https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc3339
• ISO8601 – https://www.iso.org/standard/70907.html
• UUID – https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc9562
• Setup VirtualBox VM as server – https://www.howtogeek.com/122641/how-to-forward-ports-to-a-virtual-machine-and-use-it-as-a-server/
• Unity JSON Serialization – https://docs.unity3d.com/2020.3/Documentation/Manual/JSONSerialization.html
• Newtonsoft JSON parser – https://www.newtonsoft.com/json
• NFTs at Magic Eden – https://magiceden.io/
• NFTs at OpenSea – https://opensea.io/
• Gaming NFTs at OpenSea – https://opensea.io/learn/nft/gaming-nfts
• Ethereum blockchain – https://ethereum.org
• Ethereum transactions – https://etherscan.io
• Polygon blockchain – https://polygon.technology
• Polygon transactions – https://polygonscan.com
• BitCoin blockchain – https://bitcoin.org
• BitCoin transactions – https://mempool.space
• Podcast theme music – Ride by Pocketmaster

Knox Game Design

Blockchain for Game Development - Knox Game Design, August 2024

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51:50

Demonstration of how to use the FCEUX emulator memory tools to determine the memory location of in-game variables, such as number of coins. How to set a breakpoint with the Hex Editor to find the 6502 assembly code that is executed when a memory location is changed. Analysis of assembly code for awarding an extra life when 100 coins are collected. Verification of OpCodes used. RAM Search for alternate searching of NES memory for specified values.

Links and Notes

• FCEUX – https://fceux.com/web/home.html
• Super Mario Bros memory map – https://www.romhacking.net/documents/345/
• FCEUX Hex Editor – https://fceux.com/web/help/HexEditor.html
• 6502 Opcodes – https://www.pagetable.com/c64ref/6502/
• Podcast theme music – Ride by Pocketmaster

Knox Game Design

Exploring NES Memory - Knox Game Design, July 2024

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Comparison of jumping statistics from various characters in classic platformer games. Analysis of states in jump cycles. Demo of implementation of jump for a 2D platformer game.

Links and Notes

• Demo Code – https://github.com/levidsmith/KnoxGameDesign/tree/master/jumping
• FCEUX – https://fceux.com/web/home.html
• Podcast theme music – Ride by Pocketmaster

Knox Game Design

Jumping - Knox Game Design, June 2024

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34:22

Overview of recursion and an explanation of a simple flood fill algorithm. Example demo in MonoGame with C# code.

Links and Notes

• Demo Code – https://github.com/levidsmith/KnoxGameDesign/tree/master/floodfill
• MonoGame – https://monogame.net/
• Podcast theme music – Ride by Pocketmaster

Knox Game Design

Flood Fill Recursion - Knox Game Design, May 2024

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26:01

Overview of using the Dia tool for creating UML diagrams. UML is a standard for creating various types of diagrams, such as class diagrams, state diagrams, and use case diagrams.

Links and Notes

• UML – https://www.uml.org/
• UML examples – https://www.uml-diagrams.org/
• Dia at Gnome – https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Dia
• Dia installer – http://dia-installer.de/
• Podcast theme music – Ride by Pocketmaster

Knox Game Design

UML with Dia - Knox Game Design, March 2024

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34:20

Explanation of how to create a texture mapped box by reading a BMP image file and displaying with OpenGL.  Then how to create that same texture mapped the box in Blender to export into FBX format.  The model is then imported and displayed multiple different game development environments, such as Unity, MonoGame, Godot, and Unreal Engine.

Texture mapping code examples  – https://github.com/levidsmith/KnoxGameDesign/tree/master/texturemap

Links and Notes

• Loading a BMP texture – https://www.opengl-tutorial.org/beginners-tutorials/tutorial-5-a-textured-cube/
• Read pixel data from BMP – https://stackoverflow.com/questions/12518111/how-to-load-a-bmp-on-glut-to-use-it-as-a-texture
• OpenGL Texture – NeHe – https://nehe.gamedev.net/tutorial/texture_mapping/12038/index.html
• OpenGL Texture – LazyFoo – https://lazyfoo.net/tutorials/OpenGL/05_texture_mapping_and_pixel_manipulation/index.php
• glTexImage2D – https://registry.khronos.org/OpenGL-Refpages/gl4/html/glTexImage2D.xhtml
• Learn OpenGL Getting Started Textures – https://learnopengl.com/Getting-started/Textures
• Texture wrapping – https://gamedev.stackexchange.com/questions/62548/what-does-changing-gl-texture-wrap-s-t-do
• MonoGame beginning 3D programming – https://gamefromscratch.com/monogame-tutorial-beginning-3d-programming/
• Godot importing scenes (FBX, glTF) – https://docs.godotengine.org/en/3.4/tutorials/assets_pipeline/importing_scenes.html
• Gimp – https://www.gimp.org/
• OpenGL – https://www.opengl.org/
• Unity – https://unity.com/
• MonoGame – https://monogame.net/
• Godot – https://godotengine.org/
• Unreal Engine – https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US
• Podcast theme music – Ride by Pocketmaster

Knox Game Design

Texture Mapping - Knox Game Design, February 2024

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31:07

Introduction to OpenGL and how to setup development environment using MSYS2. Code examples in C for displaying polygons, keyboard input with GLUT, and a simple game demo.

OpenGL code examples in C – https://github.com/levidsmith/KnoxGameDesign/tree/master/opengl

Links and Notes

• OpenGL – https://www.opengl.org/
• MSYS2 – https://www.msys2.org/
• Setting up OpenGL development Environment on Windows with MSYS2 – https://www.jamiebayne.co.uk/blog/opengl-windows
• Lazy Foo OpenGL tutorial – https://lazyfoo.net/tutorials/OpenGL/index.php
• Geeks for Geeks Getting started with OpenGL – https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/getting-started-with-opengl/
• OpenGL GLUT API reference – https://opengl.org/resources/libraries/glut/spec3/node1.html
• Learn OpenGL – https://learnopengl.com/
• OpenGL lighting – https://www.khronos.org/opengl/wiki/How_lighting_works
• Computer Graphics, Principles and Practice (“Foley book”) – https://openlibrary.org/books/OL7409090M/Computer_Graphics
• The OpenGL Programming Guide (“Red Book”) – https://openlibrary.org/books/OL27958321M/OpenGL_Programming_Guide
• Podcast theme music – Ride by Pocketmaster

Knox Game Design

OpenGL - Knox Game Design, January 2024

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39:23