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Finding 'my game'

Tue, 01 Dec 2020 00:00:00 GMT

Auntie’s house

“Ski or Die” was one of the first games I played as a youngster.

Whenever I got a chance to go to my aunt and uncle’s house, I would play it for hours and hours at a time on their amazingly powerful Intel 80386 PC (turbo button included).

The game ran on MS Dos, and I vividly remember typing “Ski.bat” to launch it. Legend has it… “Ski.bat” was one of the first things I ever typed on a computer keyboard!

I remember the seconds of anticipation… And then… the most rebel rock soundtrack a young boy could dream of:

Doe doe, doe doe doe doe doe, doe doe, doe doe doeee.
Doe doe, doe doe doe doe doe, doe doe, doe doe doooeeeeeeeee.

There I was, coolest of the cool, toughest of the tough, playing the most edgy game around!

Colorful tubes

“Ski or Die” was a game of many play modes. But I always had a special place in my heart for “Inner Tube Thrash”, a level where you speed down a mountain in a fat and fun, colorful snow tube - crashing into walls, getting shaken by bumpy snow, and leaping over perilous cliffs - all while racing against an AI opponent. An actual opponent - you weren’t just playing by yourself - it was the coolest thing!

To be honest, the controls really weren’t great, and the game mechanics weren’t that fun either - but oh boy, did I love those colorful snow tubes!

Lee Siu-lung

Some 25 years later, it hit me like lightning… “I can make this”, and I can make it even better! I can take what worked, leave out what didn’t, and add my very own, unique ideas into the mix.

As Bruce Lee famously put it:

Absorb what is useful,
reject what is useless
and add what is essentially your own.

Little brother

Even better, I realised that I can combine my idea with one of my other favourite childhood memories.

Because a few (probably quite a few) years later, the Nintendo 64 had entered the building! And with it… came a game like no other!

Whenever my younger step brother would come to our house, he would bring it with him, and we would play for hours and hours at a time - only letting go off the controller for the inevitable “dinner’s ready” call coming from mom.

That game… was “Snowboard Kids”. The most funnest snowboarding game that ever was, and likely ever will be.

Familiar, but unique

I recently came accross this Thomas Brush post that mentions how the best games are familiar, yet unique.

At first, it tripped me up a little. How can something be both familiar and unique at the same time? Surely if it is unique, you haven’t come across it before, ergo it ain’t gonna be familar?

But I think I figured it out… Because you see, the overwhelming majority of winter sports games are either about snowboarding, or about skiing.

These types of games are familiar to us, but they most certainly aren’t unique. In fact, there’s a whole sea of them out there, and I really don’t think the world needs yet another one of them…

What is much more unique, however, is a winter sports game about riding in snow tubes:

It’s a familiar concept, the winter sport game.
But with a unique twist, the snow tubes!

Chuffed little boys, all grown up

So here I am, all grown up, working a day job as a software engineer and making “Ski or Die meets Snowboard Kids” in my spare time.

“Super Snow Tubes” is “Ski or Die” meets “Snowboard Kids”, with a pinch of ancient wisdom, and my very own, unique spin!

Funny how these things go… I bet my younger self would be chuffed with how his life turned out. And who knows, one day I may even get to quit that pesky day job and ride snow tubes alllll dayyyyyyy looooooonnnnggg!!!!

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Dual monitor setup for boosted productivity

Fri, 05 Jun 2020 00:00:00 GMT

Motivation

A dual monitor setup at home. It’s what I’ve wanted for the longest time. But as so often is the case when there are too many choices, the result can be overwhelm and inaction. In my case, I have not had a monitor upgrade for almost a decade. So it’s about time!

Today, I am especially proud to say that, given the gift of time that is furlough, I have finally taken the plunge and ordered not one, but two brand-new 27” monitors for an amazing dual-monitor setup! Which one(s)?

The Dell P2720DC (note the extra “C” at the end).

This monitor has been awarded “Editor’s Choice” by PCMag.com.

Click to watch the Video Review on YouTube from March 2020.

Why the Dell P2720DC ?

This monitor offers a broad port selection (including USB-C), a range of ergonomic features (including height, tilt, swivel, and pivot adjustment), and bright, realistic-looking colors. It’s 27-inch screen offers in-plane switching (IPS) technology and a standard widescreen (16:9) aspect ratio with a QHD (1440p) resolution of 2560 x 1440 px.

The flat screen is set in a matte-black cabinet, with minimal bezels, which adds to its appeal as a candidate for a multi-monitor setup. Its practically automatic daisy-chaining to a second display is a bonus.

Features, features, features

On a more personal note, this model provides a number of features that will help me to maximise my productivity:

USB-C for video and charging
Since the monitor features a USB-C port, I can directly connect it to my MacBook Pro (which only has USB-C ports), without needing an HDMI to USB-C adapter. Going even further, the monitor can charge the MacBook Pro using the very same cable that is used for the video signal. This will allow me to remove the regular charging cable from my desk.
Daisy-Chaining to link the two screens together
With Dell Express Daisy-Chaining technology, I only need to connect the first of the two monitors to my MacBook Pro. The second monitor can connect directly to the first monitor using a DisplayPort cable. This will allow me to remove yet another cable from my desk.
Height, tilt, swivel, and pivot adjustment
The monitor comes with a stand that not only allows the height to be adjusted, but the screen can also be swiveled, tilted and pivoted. This will allow me to get the setup just the way I want it.
Portrait support (90 degree rotation)
As a programmer, I like to be able to rotate my screen by 90 degress to fit more code vertically. Expanding on the previous point, this monitor supports that as well.
Small foot
At only about 18cm depth, the monitor’s foot is much smaller than the above-listed features would suggest, taking up as little of my precious desk space as possible.
VESA support
The monitor supports VESA, making it future-proof in case I ever decide to mount the two devices to my desk or wall.
Super-slim bezels
When using two monitors side-by-side, the bezels at the outer edges of the screens always are a little distracting. With this monitor however, the bezels are minimal, only around 0.5cm each on the left and right.
Display Manager app
The Dell Display Manager app allows partitioning the displays, making it easy to set up specific configurations and get the most out of the avaialble space.
More USB
In addition to the above-mentioned USB-C port, the display packs in four more USB ports (two USB 3.0, two USB 2.0) for charging handheld devices as well as connecting peripherals.

Why not a gaming monitor ?

The downsides of this model include it’s 60HZ refresh rate and 5-8ms response time. So if you are a hardcore gamer, this model likely isn’t for you.

But in my case, I am not planning to game on these monitors. I am planning to use them primarily for web and game development, in particular long programming sessions in Visual Studio and having multiple applications open at the same time.

So given my use-case, I have chosen to opt for the many great productivity features this model offers, over a slightly faster refresh rate or response time that a more gaming-oriented model might offer.

Put simple: This model has everything I need.

Why two 27” instead of one 32” or 34”?

For me, it’s all about maximising my productivity. When I am working on developing games, I want to be able to have:

Untiy on the first screen
Visual Studio on the second screen
Chrome (Trello, Docs, YouTube, Udemy, etc) on my laptop screen

Similarly, when I am working on web development for my day job, I want to be able to have:

VSCode on the first screen
The website I am working on on the second screen
Chrome (Trello, Docs, YouTube, Udemy, etc) on my laptop screen

Most importantly, I want to be able to quickly and easily arrange the windows how I want them to be. Having two separate monitors allows me to do that.

Having two separate monitors also makes it easier to share my screen with my colleagues, and to record my screen for tutorials.

Having a 16:9 monitor also is better for testing games and websites at an aspect ratio that is the same as what most of the target audience will use.

Some applications take up the whole screen when in full-screen mode, e.g. the YouTube and Udemy video players, as well as games. If you use a single screen, those applications will use the whole screen, leaving no room for anything else.

If everything ends up not fitting on the single screen, I’d be back to switching apps, which is exactly what I want to avoid to enhance my productivity and keep my sanity.

Conclusion

After using my previous, single 24” monitor for almost a decade, I am so very pleased that I finally took the plunge to upgrade. Here is my brand-new setup:

If you want to get the same, or a similar monitor, consider these links:

Dell P2720DC 27” Monitor (the one discussed here)
Dell P2421DC 24” Monitor (the smaller brother)
Dell U2520D 25” Monitor (slightly different model that sits just inbetween)
BenQ EX3203R 32” Monitor (larger one I was considering as a single monitor alternative)

Never waste a good crisis

Fri, 15 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT

Never waste a good crisis

“This… is a blessing in disguise”, I quickly realised, when the Big Boss delivered the inevitable news during a group call:

I am sorry to inform you, but your position is being furloughed.

I was not surprised. Not surprised at all. Finally, the furlough wave swooping through the country had made it to my little development desk.

Here in the UK, “furloughed” means the government pays a percentage of your monthly salary (up to a certain limit), while you remain employed, but are no longer allowed to perform any work for your employer. No work at all. No calls, emails, texts. Nada, nichts, nothing.

“Never waste a good crisis”, a wise man once said. And so I immediately shifted gears and started searching for the best use for this gift of time that I had so unexpectedly been blessed with.

Something I wanted to do for the longest time, was to create a place to share small snippets of my own, personal game development journey. In a format that I hope will inspire and motivate others who share a similar passion.

Making my website with GatsbyJS

As a first step, I wanted to create a truly simple, blazing-fast, SEO-friendly website centered on one key feature:

A blog.

I didn’t want the complexity and hassle that often comes with a custom backend, a CMS, or even just a WordPress site. Instead, I wanted my blog to be based on Markdown, which I feel provides a fantastic editing experience that is just perfect for my needs.

To be search-engine friendly, fast, and cheap to host, I also wanted my site to be static.

Working in web development, I regularly use a JavaScript framework called React. And I remembered that GatsbyJS, a React framework I long wanted to learn, might just be the perfect tool to get this site done in a matter of days. So I went with it!

Here are the steps I took to create this very site:

First, I browsed the official GatsbyJS website to develop a general understanding of the technology.
Next, I downloaded the official GatsbyJS Blog Starter and familiarised myself with the code, changed things here and there, and experimented for a few hours until everything started to make sense.
It soon became clear that, while this little starter provided basic blog functionality, I wanted a few more features than what came out of the box. So I realised that I would need to develop a slightly better understanding of GatsbyJS to achieve what I had in mind for my site.
Fortunately, I found an awesome article titled Build an advanced blog using Gatsby and React that covered many of the features I wanted to implement. In addition, the source code for Dan Abramov’s OverReacted blog was a great help as well.
For the final nooks & crannies, I found the official GatsbyJS Docs to be a godsend. You wonder how to achieve a specific functionality, only to find that they’ve already anticipated your need, and already have a page covering just that!

Branding anything is hard

With the majority of the technical aspects of my site done, I could no longer escape having to commit to a brand name for my site and its associated social profiles.

If you’ve ever branded anything in today’s day and age, you know that this is a process plagued with constant confrontation with some form of prompt that basically boils down to:

That brand name is already taken.

Whether the culprit is the domain name, the social handles, or the YouTube channel, something is typically taken.

So after much brainstorming and research, I am especially proud to present to you my new game development brand:

GameDevMix.com
Game development inspiration. Brought to life. With Unity.

And that, dear reader, is how far I’ve gotten and where I’m at right now. Well, I’ve also created some matching social profiles for GameDevMix.

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