First programmer, and AI in 1843
Ada Lovelace was the mother of Computer Science. You may have heard of Alan Turing, but Ada Lovelace was many years before the first computer, yet still came up with a lot of things that were ahead of her time.
Figuring out Isometric Coordinates
If you’re thinking of making a game for your A-level project and considering doing something isometric, this video games a nice look at the maths. It initially seems complex, but once you’ve got the translation from grid and screen coordinates done once then it’s sorted.
Referencing Sources
Some A-Level students will be working on a major piece of coursework, or NEA (Non-examined assessment). I often see students unsure of how to reference their sources. There are various ways, the method I’ve often been told to use is Harvard Referencing. Sheffield University have a good article (Harvard referencing, no date) which gives some …. Read More
How bullets work
A look at how shooting games program bullets. Whilst A-level students don’t often make 3D shooters, it’s an interesting thought process and showcases the level of detail you have to be thinking about when programming a game.
Epic Games buys a compression company
https://www.polygon.com/platform/amp/2021/1/7/22219284/epic-games-acquires-rad-game-tools-announcement Epic Games, yes, the people that make fort**** and Epic Games Store, they’ve just bought a company called RAD. There’s no information on how much they paid, but I doubt it was cheap. So what is RAD? They make various tools, but the main ones do compression. Like zip and MP4. Why bother buying …. Read More
Layers and abstraction
This looks at Linux gaming, and how they get Windows games working and how the systems interact with the hardware through the different stages of abstraction. GCSE and A-level students should have a watch to see about drivers and APIs.
The F Word
Watch this video before you talk to me about Fortnite. It’s illuminating how things are working and the science behind it. One of those scenarios where I’d be impressed if I wasn’t so scared.
How Among Us Was Made and Why The Developers Wanted to Quit
This is a nice look at the realities of the games industry and how indie games are made. It touches on the product life cycle which might be of interest to the imedia students.
The Mandalorian – Giant LED Screens Vs Green Screen
In The Mandalorian they make use of giant wrap round LED screens powered by a computer game engine.
Interview with a hacker
Kevin Mitnick is a world renowned hacker, even has a movie created about him. This video is an interesting interview, the last sentence gets me. “When we test organisations using social engineering trade craft, we always get in.”