A Navigation Mesh or “navmesh” is a data structure used for route planning within virtual environments, and is particularly useful in game… — A Navigation Mesh or “navmesh” is a data structure used for route planning within virtual environments, and is particularly useful in game development. It consists of a collection of convex polygons representing areas of the map; the edges of the polygons are annotated with additional connectivity information, showing which areas…

Engineering Insights — This is a story told to me many years ago by a buddy who once worked at TRW. TRW, as many of you will recall, was a major military contractor, and this guy had been working with some old computer technology — namely, the guidance computer from a Minuteman I…

Engineering Insights — Part of the reason I became a software engineer is because of an interest in electronic music as a teenager. I built a number of hobby synthesizers in the mid-70s, and that got me into electronics, and eventually, programming. In this, I was inspired by many of the early pioneers…

A Writer’s Guide — As a former game creator, I’ve met many people over the years who wanted to “tell their story” within the medium of computer games. This article contains advice for people who want to do just that. It’s based on my experience both as a game player, and someone who has…

In this article, I’ll show you everything you need to know in order to create portals in 3D scenes using the three.js framework. — In this article, I’ll show you everything you need to know in order to create portals in 3D scenes using the three.js framework. Portals are probably best known because of the game Portal published by Valve software, but they are useful in all kinds of games and graphics. An…

Like most people, I enjoy watching movies. But I also get really annoyed at poor screen writing. It’s remarkable how many movies there are… — Like most people, I enjoy watching movies. But I also get really annoyed at poor screen writing. It’s remarkable how many movies there are that have great acting & cinematography, but are completely ruined by a few words on paper. There’s one particular kind of bad screen writing I see…

Engineering Insights — Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted. One of the ironic facts of life is that we generally learn more from failure than from success. While it may feel like a bitter pill to swallow at the time, one of the things that you start…

Project Xanadu was a widely-touted attempt to create a global, networked Hypertext publishing system. It was founded in 1960, three… — Project Xanadu was a widely-touted attempt to create a global, networked Hypertext publishing system. It was founded in 1960, three decades before the web was introduced in 1989. It shared many of the same ideals and aspirations. Yet, despite a substantial engineering team and corporate sponsorship, it never produced a…

Here’s a story from my Air Force days. — Here’s a story from my Air Force days. Back in those days, programming teams were structured very differently. All of the actual business logic and domain knowledge was performed by “system analysts”, who would write down in a document what the program was supposed to do. This document would then…