Books, games, and other creative junk
Updates on free books and small games.
I write to you while sipping on peppermint tea, and I hope that you are well. Happy winter, may the light last longer. Let's get right to it. I've got a bunch of projects to share, and I promise I won't let them pile up again.
Projectbook
I've kept a private list of project ideas I'd like to build for years, usually just for learning some new programming language or technology. These ideas aren't so simple as to be boring but not so complex as needing an entire board of directors and no fewer than six investment rounds from the richest people in the Bay Area.
As I was adding ideas to the list, I thought... I should just make this public! I present to you, Projectbook!
It's a free, online book collecting 100+ ideas for projects to build when learning programming and lacking inspiration. I learn my best when working on projects, especially ones that have a pretty limited scope. So I wrote out what each project could do, added some wireframe designs, and put this gosh dang thing together.
I finished Projectbook back in October and people seemed to find it useful, so that was rewarding. If you or someone you know is interested in learning programming and wants ideas for what to make that aren't just weird exercises, maybe it'd be helpful.
Check Projectbook out!
Lonely Paddle
I've had different stints of trying to make games throughout my life, but I always take on projects that are too large, burn out, and get discouraged. They've always been learning experiences, and that desire to make games never really went away. I really love that they combine art, music, storytelling, programming, and interactivity. It's such a unique medium. Plus, they're fun. Lately, I'm just happy to enjoy something that's fun. So I've been making games. Small games. Games I can finish in a few days or weeks. The first game I finished is called Lonely Paddle. It's like the old game Pong but for playing by yourself. It's cute!
I started this game back in mid-2021 and thought, why not freaking finish it? Finishing things always takes longer than you think, and it's a skill in and of itself. So I've set out to finish and release the various small games I've started over the years. Making the music and sound effects was fun.
You can play Lonely Paddle in your browser.
XENO.TEST
The next game I made and finished is called XENO.TEST. It was made for a game jam where the game has to be 20 seconds long. I thought that it'd be fun to make something like the Voight-Kampff test from Blade Runner. But instead of proving you're human, you need to prove you're not human because androids have taken over...
XENO.TEST is basically just a silly quiz game. The questions are selected randomly, so replaying it will result in different questions.
I had grand ambitions of making all sorts of cool cyberpunk pixelart for it, but I ended up going for a minimal style.
You can play XT in your browser, too!
Building Games with DragonRuby
As I've been getting into making games again, the question of "what engine/language/technology should I use to make them?" arises. I stumbled across this game engine called DragonRuby Game Toolkit that uses the Ruby programming language, which is what I've used for my entire career and really enjoy working with. There aren't many resources out there for the engine, so I wrote a free book for beginners to learn game programming with Ruby called Building Games with DragonRuby.
It's 12 chapters long and free! You build a game where you play as a dragon doing target practice. The target audience is someone entirely new to programming. It brings me back to when I taught middle school students Ruby as part of a summer camp! That was a real blast. I wanted to capture that same energy.
The reception of the book has been warm, and that's encouraging. I'd like to expand it as I get more and more familiar with the engine.
Read Building Games with DragonRuby online.
Destroy All Goblins
Lastly, I'm working on a new project. It's called Destroy All Goblins. You play as a frog who has to... destroy all the goblins. I really have grown to like the goblins though and pity them a bit, so maybe they'll get revenge or all become friends at some point. But for now, goblin destruction.
It'll be a cute, frenetic action game. More to come soon on Destroy All Goblins in the new year.
Thanks!
I'm having a blast making games. I've got a lot of ideas for future ones. Some ideas like: hanging out at the mall. A game that teaches you how to type. A game where you're sleeping over your best friend's house and using the computer. A game where you date Dracula. War & Peace adapted as a tactics game. etc. I'm looking forward to making those soon.
Anyway, my peppermint tea is cold. Let me go heat that up! Thanks for following along and for your support. Please say hello and let me know what ya' think!