Without a nice suite of vector tools, the same code might look like this:<\/p>\n
\r\n\/\/Get the distance between two points in 3D space\r\nfloat GetDistance (float start_x, float start_y, float start_z, \r\n float end_x, float end_y, float end_z)\r\n{\r\n float diff_x, diff_y, diff_z;\r\n float distance;\r\n\r\n diff_x = end_x - start_x;\r\n diff_y = end_y - start_y;\r\n diff_z = end_z - start_z;\r\n return sqrt (diff_x * diff_x + diff_y * diff_y + diff_z * diff_z);\r\n}\r\n<\/pre>\nThis is a simple example, but hopefully even a non-coder can see that the second example is just a bit more verbose and cluttered. This problem is exacerbated once you really get into the tricky stuff. A good set of vector tools will turn half a page of dense math into a couple of lines of descriptive code. Now, C and C++ don’t come with their own vector variables, so you have to make them yourself. (Well, okay, it does have vectors<\/a>, but they’re nothing to do with geometry.) If you use a third-party game or graphics engine, they always come with their own vector variables. <\/p>\nThe thing is, my 3D dimensional vectors are really well developed. You can add ’em, multiply ’em, put ’em in a stew. Get the dot product between two of them, find the length of another, and reflect them off each other. By contrast, my 2D tools barely exist. <\/p>\n
For the first hour or so I keep running into situations where I try to add a couple of vectors and have the compiler chide me because I didn’t write any code for adding 2D vectors. So I stop what I’m doing and put that in. Then five minutes later I run into the same thing for multiplying 2D vectors. Then again for multiplying a 2D vector by a single value. And so on. There are a lot of permutations in the number of ways you can combine vectors, so I get a lot of these little interruptions until I suck it up and just write all of them. <\/p>\n
Okay, done. Now I guess we can start making something.<\/p>\n
Usually in the programming projects I’m reluctant to talk about gameplay or influences. I don’t want to answer a bunch of questions about things I haven’t even designed yet. Is there a limit to how many dots this Pac guy can eat? Can he shoot the ghosts? Does the player have to be yellow, or can we configure our color? Can I play as a girl? Will there be DLC hats? Will there be a power pellet that lets you bash through walls? Shouldn’t the ghosts stop chasing the player and try to steal the fruit? Will we get a sprint button for getting out of tight situations? <\/em> Eventually you end up with other people trying to design your game through the art of passive-aggressive suggestions. <\/p>\nBut I’m doing this project to work on gameplay, so we might as well talk about gameplay. With that in mind, here are the influences I’m drawing from, from the minor to the major:<\/p>\n
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