Posts Tagged ‘Game’
Unity: Scaling Pixel Art
Posted by Dimitri | Filed under Programming
This Unity post explains how to prepare images and set the Texture Importer settings to correctly render pixel art in Unity3D. So, this post covers how the different Texture Importer settings affects the pixel art textures in 3D models and in the game’s graphical user interface (GUI).
Retro Review: Side Pocket (Genesis / Mega Drive)
Posted by Dimitri | Filed under Retro Games
This was one of the many pool games available back in the 90’s, released for almost every platform, ranging from the Arcade to the Game Boy. All Side Pocket versions were different in terms of graphics and music, however, the gameplay remained almost the same across the different gaming platforms. As one of the major 16 bit consoles at the time, the Genesis also received a version of this game, which is going to be the one this post is reviewing.
This isn’t your standard billiards game. In fact, Side Pocket‘s main mode called Pocket Game has its own rules, that are nothing like 9-ball, 8-ball, snooker or any other pool game played in real life.
Retro Review: Hauting Starring Polterguy (Genesis)
Posted by Dimitri | Filed under Featured, Retro Games
This game was released back in 1993 for the Sega Genesis. The game features a very unique premise: to scare a family out of their home. As the title states, it’s a “haunting” game, in which the player takes control of a ghost named Polterguy that has the ability to manipulate ordinary objects like chairs, bathtubs and other furniture to generate poltergeist events.
The exact reasons why Polterguy needs to make the Sardini family leave their home are not explained at any point of the game, the introductory animation only describes each member of the family as people that deserve to be hated: Vito, the father, is rich and has a MBA in “sleazy economics”; Flo, the mother, is a selfish housewife that likes to spend money and the kids; Tony and Mimi are just annoying spoiled children. At the beginning of the game, they are all eating at the dinning room when the chandelier falls right into the table where the Sardini was gathered. After a brief tutorial that explains the game’s basics, the player takes control of Polterguy.
Using static variables in Unity3D
Posted by Dimitri | Filed under Programming
This post explains how to use static variables when programming scripts for the Unity3D engine. The example scripts in this post are written in C#, but the same guidelines apply for JavaScript.
Before delving deeper into the subject, it goes without saying that static variables should be avoided at all costs, for a great number of reasons that can be easily be found on the internet. It’s better to use a Singleton creational pattern in most cases. with that in mind, here’s a short definition of static variables: they are variables that belong to a class, and not the objects the class creates. This means that static variables retain the same value, regardless of the object from a given class. Another characteristic is that, as long as the class is in the memory, they are still valid references. Static variables are initialized by the compiler right before the class creation, and before any other variables or methods. But what does it mean for Unity3D scripts?
Retro Review: Beyond Oasis (Genesis)
Posted by Dimitri | Filed under Retro Games
Beyond Oasis is a Genesis (Mega Drive) game released in 1995 on the U.S.. It is a ‘RPG’ with very unusual gameplay mechanics for a game in this genre. As most RPGs, it starts with a backdrop story, showing Ali (the game’s main character) finding the Gold Armlet inside a cave. Then, it is explained that this armlet was used as a power source to fuel the magic of a sorcerer that defended the Kingdom of Oasis in a war against another powerful wizard that almost destroyed the entire land.