Mar172012
By Ben Wochinski on March 17, 2012
I know it’s not officially spring yet, but the weather here the past week has been amazing, with unusual highs above 70°F. Certainly no one reading this cares about the weather though.
I celebrated a birthday since I posted last, am just shy of 30 years old. That feels a bit strange to think about, but not any more so than to think my daughter is 2 1/2 now! It’s been a ton of fun to be able to play outside with her now, and oh man does she ask questions! “Why?” is one of the big ones of course, but she’s also asking us “How do you know?” too! I can already see it’s going to take a lot to keep up with her mind, but I’m looking forward to every second!
On the programming front… we’re still working on it! The game continues to take shape and we are still pushing to get a demo out ASAP. I don’t have much of anything to update on where general progress is concerned, but I very much am wanting to do a write-up on the coding miracle that is Spatial Hashing. Essentially it’s a remarkably simple system that allows for incredibly efficient collision detection in a game. I’m excited.
Overall I’d say I’m doing fairly well. Except for gas prices. but I can’t see anyone being alright on that front. I’m gonna go ahead and leave that kind of thing alone. Or maybe just for a separate post.
I’m still going to promise more frequent updates, though I know you’ve heard that one before. But I’ll try! Until next I write, happy gaming!
Posted in General, Personal, Programming Tagged Birthday, company, daughter, Demo, game, Gaming, gas, hashing, Java, prices, Programming, spatial, spring, warm, Weather
Jan062012
By Ben Wochinski on January 6, 2012
Though I’ve continued the neglect of my blog lately, I can honestly say it’s not due to laziness. This time. Over the past month I’ve put in a lot of hours, and a lot of lines of code, working on a game. I mentioned working on this game a couple of times before, but I felt like talking a little more specifically about things. In the overall picture of working in a small team and just coding a game, I’m absolutely loving this.
One big thing I’m happy to announce is that this will be just the first game coming from our newly forming independent studio. We’re still having discussions about the exact name and a last few details, but I can promise I’ll post more once we have everything registered and a website set up.
As for the game, I’m just one of two programmers on the project, and several other friends (and a few new friends!) are working in other capacities such as design, art, and sound. I am quite happy with how the code is progressing, as the engine and game features are nearing a stable alpha state. Most major pieces of the game play are in place, plus I’ve already learned a ton along the way.
It seems like we’ve only just started getting into the meat of development, but already we’re heading into crunch time. I’m looking ahead a few weeks to where I’m hoping for a demo release, but some things seem impossibly far from done. I’m sure the meetings over the next few weeks will start to show the time crunch coming upon us, but I know we’ll pull through.
I’ll keep the updates coming as things progress, it’s just starting to get exciting!
Posted in Programming Tagged Demo, Development, Games, Gaming, Indie, Java, Programming, Studio
Jan052012
By Ben Wochinski on January 5, 2012
Since I’m so overdue for an update, I just wanted to toss up a quick post about my holiday break. It was a good long vacation too, as I managed to score ten days in a row off work.
A big portion of my time off was spent relaxing at my in-laws’ cabin in the woods. We got to have Christmas up there and also relax and watch a bit of wildlife. My daughter (just over 2yrs now!) really likes it up there, especially going for walks with her grandparents. I caught up on a little reading while there, getting through about a book each day.
After returning from the cabin I just spent time home with my family and played several of the new games I received for Christmas. I’ll go through my impressions another time, but suffice to say a good chunk of time was killed playing co-op with my brother in both Magicka and Portal 2.
New Year’s Eve was no big event, as per usual. No big resolutions this year, we just filled the last days of my vacation alternately with working on small projects around the house and just relaxing and playing. It was some really great time off and I was absolutely loathe to go back in to work tonight.
Now that things are on track to return to normal I hope to (again) be updating just a little more regularly. I also hope to soon be able to talk a little more about the game I’ve been working on for the past month. Until future updates, happy gaming!
Posted in Holidays, Other Games, Personal Tagged Break, Christmas, Holiday, Holidays, New Year's, Vacation
Dec172011
By Ben Wochinski on December 17, 2011
Dear Congress, It’s No Longer OK To Not Know How The Internet Works | Motherboard.
Just read this piece tonight while plugging away at work. It’s an excellent point, and something that I’ve always thought needed to be rectified. I also think the same should be said for the judiciary, regardless of jurisdiction.
I understand that it’s a heavy burden to ask that every representative in congress have a deep understanding of the internet, but quite frankly that’s the job. As it stands, a fair number of congressmen may not meet the standards of what could be considered a high school level of computer and internet knowledge. To sum up something the article states, it isn’t even the lack of understanding that is the biggest problem, but the unwillingness to even attempt to understand.
This is the base on which SOPA is now running through congress, and the thought is enough to make one sick. I can’t imagine what might happen to the internet if it passes, but I tend to imagine it like a digital martial law.
Posted in Government, Internet Tagged Censorship, Committee, Congress, Education, Government, Internet, Law, Nerd, Regulation, SOPA, Technical
Nov232011
By Ben Wochinski on November 23, 2011
Well my blog here is feeling more and more neglected lately, but that’s how these blog things tend to go with me. Never fear though, I am still determined not to give up on the blog. With the holidays coming up things are staying fairly busy at home, not to mention the fact that my job doesn’t allow for the normal days off for Thanksgiving this week. I’ll have a regular full week at work and still try to fit in visits to family.
As a quick aside since I completely neglected to mention it over the weekend, Minecraft version 1.0 (not beta!) has been released! I haven’t had the chance to play for more than a couple hours, but the changelog looks very interesting and I look forward to experiencing all the new content one day. 
The main thing that has been taking up my free time is still coding. I don’t recall how much I mentioned about the game I’m working on with a few friends, but it’s been going well and I’m able to keep getting more excited. The concept is an adventure/rpg game, with a bit of a retro style. The design is just starting to get more fleshed out, but the lead and I have already been hard at work building up the basic engine in Java. It’s a lot of good experience, this being my first time working on a game with a team, and development is going great.
Lastly, something I wanted to post about from a little while back is YouTube. I’ve loved YouTube since I first visited the site shortly after they launched. I’ve had my same account there since 2006 and have posted the occasional video for nearly as long. Lately I haven’t posted many videos, but out of the blue I got an email from YouTube suggesting that I apply for monetization of my videos. I figured what the heck and applied. Scarcely a few hours later I’m approved and left wondering what I could even monetize. So I’ve been tossing ideas around in my head ever since. I’ve often liked the idea of doing a “Let’s Play” of Minecraft and perhaps a few other games, though same as always, a lack of extra time is usually what holds me back. The monetization isn’t a big factor in whether I will be making videos, it’s just a small extra incentive to make them good if I do. I’ll continue to ponder this.
Hopefully everyone has a good holiday and enjoys visiting with family, and I will post again soon. Happy Gaming!
Posted in Minecraft, Personal, Programming, YouTube Tagged Adventure, Coding, game, Holidays, Java, Let's Play, Minecraft, Monetization, Programming, RPG, Thanksgiving, Video, Video game, YouTube
Nov052011
By Ben Wochinski on November 5, 2011
The title of this post pretty much sums up things for the past couple weeks. Well that and neglecting my blog.
This past week I picked up a new iPhone 4S after the volume button decided to fall off my 3GS. It’s a really nice upgrade and I’ve actually been able to “write” this entire post using Siri’s dictation feature. It is saving me a ton of time tapping on the tiny little touch keyboard. I haven’t found any other particularly good uses for her yet, but I’m sure things will pop up over time.
As for what I’ve been up to its mostly been coding Java over the last few weeks. I’ve been working on a project with a friend and things are coming along great. We’re nowhere near ready for a demo yet but I’ll certainly keep you updated here when that comes about.
On the Minecraft front I haven’t played very much lately, the only thing I’ve accomplished is digging a long tunnel. I also played just a few minutes of Dwarf Fortress this past week. I think I only quit because I got bored with the particular fortress I’d been playing. The problem is I play too carefully and end up not having much fun. I’d like to start a new fortress if I can find the time.
The rest of my time has been filled with working, sleeping, and spending time with my family. Overall things are great, and I will try to be more diligent updating my blog, I would hate to see another one die.
Until next time, happy gaming!
PS – No matter how long I pause, Siri will not insert a comma, or any punctuation at all for that matter. So she’s not quite perfect yet.
Posted in Dwarf Fortress, Minecraft, Personal, Programming Tagged 4S, Coding, dictation, Dwarf Fortress, iPhone, Java, Life, Minecraft, Programming, Siri
Oct252011
By Ben Wochinski on October 25, 2011
Just wanted to post a quick update that I’ve rendered another map of my server. Also, the save file size has now passed 250MB for the current world.
I know my blog has been quite neglected lately, but in a way it can’t be helped. Lots of other things I need to, and in some cases, would rather, spend time on. I’m going to keep posting though, even if it is fewer and farther between. I only just got to play some Minecraft for the first time in over a week last night, so that happened instead of a post.
Anyway, new map here – both day and night render this time.
Posted in Minecraft Tagged Map, Minecraft, Multiplayer, Online, Render, Server, SMP, World
Oct122011
By Ben Wochinski on October 12, 2011
I haven’t updated in a while, but this is mostly due to the fact that I’ve been working furiously over the past week on my first mini-game. I am participating in the UReddit Learn Game Programming class taking place on /r/learngameprogramming/, and I’m having a great time. It’s only the second lesson so far, which was to put together the basic elements of a Galaga type shooter. I had a good idea of what I wanted to do going in to the lesson, and so I put in the effort to round out the game into a more or less finished state.
The game is called Crack Shot and is a very basic survival shooter. Kill enemies and collect pickups to score points, survive as long as you can. I’ve listed the game and download on the lovely new My Games page here on my blog, which I hope to continue adding my creations to!
Any thoughts or feedback are welcome!
Posted in Programming Tagged 2D, Free, game, Game programming, Games, Indie, Java, Programming, Shooter, Slick, Video game
Oct052011
By Ben Wochinski on October 5, 2011
Just wanted to get this posted now that I’ve finally got it done. Current rendering of the current world on my server. I’ve given up on using Tectonicus. Though cool and detailed, it took nearly two hours to render the other world map at just over 100MB. The new world is just about 200MB already.
I fell back on good old Cartograph G and just did the overhead view. Rendered the entire world in like 5 minutes. So here it is in all it’s flat looking glory. All you on the server can hopefully find one another now!
Map image after break…
Continue reading »
Posted in Minecraft Tagged 1.10, 1.8, 1.9, Biome, Desert, Grassland, Map, Minecraft, Multiplayer, Ocean, Online, road, Server, SMP, Swamp, World
Sep292011
By Ben Wochinski on September 29, 2011
Hello readers one and all, I have returned. Now that I’m back from my lovely 10 days of vacation I will try to return to my regularly irregular posting schedule.
On vacation my wife, daughter, and I flew on down to Florida for a visit to Disney World! My daughter is just about to turn 2 years old, and she loved almost everything. Anytime we came upon a costumed character she would just run up to them and give them a big hug. It was really cute and we got a bunch of really good pictures and video as well. The time in Disney World wasn’t super relaxing, however, due to the little one wanting to run off for something at every opportunity.
As I was exhausted when we got back I’ve spent the last two days just chilling out with my family and playing a whole bunch of Minecraft. I only had the opportunity to play for about an hour or two before leaving on vacation, so it was good to get some serious uninterrupted play in. Overall, I’m absolutely loving the new play style for 1.8. Hunger isn’t an issue after the first day or so and it really has helped me out a lot. I find I die much less often than before, and fall damage is now laughable in most cases since I’ll have regenerated before I even notice how much I was hurt.
For now I’ve got to plunge back into the work week, but very soon I need to get numerous things posted here on the blog. Firstly I’ve promised several people that I’ll upload the old map from the server. Second, I need to get a rendering of the new map posted, I’m really curious to see how it will look with the distances that most of us have spread out. And finally some screenshots of my constructions are on their way, since I’ve been trying to at least take a shot here and there as I go.
Who knows, might be that we get another chunk of the Adventure update in 1.9 this week as well! Until further posts, Happy Crafting!
Posted in Minecraft, Personal Tagged 1.8, 1.9, Disney World, Florida, Minecraft, Vacation, Walt Disney World Resort
