
Amit's Game Programming Information - WoodenChair
http://www-cs-students.stanford.edu/~amitp/gameprog.html
======
amitp
Seeing my game programming bookmarks page up on HN is unexpected. :)

Yes, I started it a very long time ago (most likely 1994 but that's before
Wayback Machine, and I don't have my own archive). I should update the links
on that page, but I've been focused more on my new site
([http://www.redblobgames.com/](http://www.redblobgames.com/)), where I'm
writing tutorials with interactive diagrams.

Longevity is a goal for my site so I try to focus on algorithms, design, and
techniques, rather than specific platforms, languages, or code.

~~~
efdee
Thank you for Barren Realms Elite. You owe me many hours of my life!

~~~
T-hawk
Sorry but gotta jump in to set this straight. Amit programmed Solar Realms
Elite. His brother Mehul did Barren Realms Elite. SRE came first, then later
BRE was the more popular one thanks to the inter-BBS play.

~~~
amitp
Yep. I wrote SRE, and then wrote a game engine (modem communication, bbs
interface, logins, menus, inter-bbs communication, ansi color, etc.) so that
Mehul could write AC6 and BRE. He continued writing games (see
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swirve.com](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swirve.com)).
I had gotten bored of BBS games and decided to try a hex-board strategy/sim
game. That didn't go anywhere but I learned a lot. Fun times.

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prawn
It's an incredible resource. We leaned heavily on the hexagon section
specifically in the creation of Hexiled
([http://hexiledgame.com](http://hexiledgame.com)) - we marvelled each day at
how comprehensive and helpful it was. The interactive diagrams throughout that
section are visually simple but still very cool:

[http://www.redblobgames.com/grids/hexagons/](http://www.redblobgames.com/grids/hexagons/)

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tdicola
Awesome, I remember reading Amit's page many years ago in ~2000 or so as a
student. Nice to see it's still around all these years later. Here's a wayback
link to the page 15 years ago, still pretty similar info:
[https://web.archive.org/web/19991111192444/http://www-cs-
stu...](https://web.archive.org/web/19991111192444/http://www-cs-
students.stanford.edu/~amitp/gameprog.html)

~~~
je42
Looks like we both had the same thought ! :)

~~~
tdicola
Haha yep--now I'm going to go on a nostalgia trip on the wayback machine.

Gamedev.net circa 2001:
[https://web.archive.org/web/20010608083939/http://www.gamede...](https://web.archive.org/web/20010608083939/http://www.gamedev.net/)

NeHe's OpenGL tutorials, I spent a ton of time playing with these:
[https://web.archive.org/web/20010214030327/http://nehe.gamed...](https://web.archive.org/web/20010214030327/http://nehe.gamedev.net/)

~~~
je42
LOL. Yeah !

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je42
I think it must have been almost 15 years ago, when I first stumbled across
his page. Nice, that it's still around.

See this link in the wayback machine:
[https://web.archive.org/web/19990117080207/http://www-cs-
stu...](https://web.archive.org/web/19990117080207/http://www-cs-
students.stanford.edu/~amitp/gameprog.html)

:)

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dinkumthinkum
This comes up on HN every so often. It is a very high quality guide. The
redblobgames.com seems to be a good companion to the Visual Algorithm site
posted the other day [1].

[1] -
[http://www.comp.nus.edu.sg/~stevenha/visualization/](http://www.comp.nus.edu.sg/~stevenha/visualization/)

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curiousDog
A few other good resources:

Bit hacks:
[https://graphics.stanford.edu/~seander/bithacks.html](https://graphics.stanford.edu/~seander/bithacks.html)

Algorithm implementations:
[http://www.keithschwarz.com/interesting/](http://www.keithschwarz.com/interesting/)

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flashgordon
Wow I remember going through Amit's site almost 7 years ago and it was really
really useful even for non game related stuff. Never realised Id be bumping
into it again! Awesome work mate.

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evo_9
Another great resource for learning about game programming:
[http://gamemechanicexplorer.com/](http://gamemechanicexplorer.com/)

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schnevets
Looks like an awesome resource! And just in time for the Ludum Dare this
weekend!

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jccooper
Great. There goes my month.

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bitwize
It is inadvisable to start with Tetris. The Tetris Company LLC owns the
copyright to the game concept; any falling n-omino game is potentially
infringing, especially for n=4. Yes, I know that copyright law theoretically
doesn't apply to game concepts; that won't stop TTC from suing you and winning
by attrition (TTC has enough money to litigate well after virtually indie
developer has gone broke).

~~~
jeffreyrogers
I don't think most people plan on selling the first game the make. They
probably just want to get some experience writing games and Tetris is one of
the most gradual ways to get into it.

