OpenGL gotcha: depth buffer distortion
Posted by Peter | Filed under Programming
While I’m on the topic of OpenGL gotchas, I thought I’d mention another which caught me out a couple of years ago. I was working on some prototypes with some friends, and you can see a screenshot on the right (click it for a full view).
Notice areas where polygons overlap — you can see a striped or checked pattern of the occluded polygon showing through. In this case, it was 2d graphics and a 3d camera (so that we could make some interesting visual effects). However, the problem manifests just as badly in full 3d.
It took quite a while to figure out the problem, and it’s one I’ll never forget.
OpenGL gotcha: mipmaps only please!
Posted by Peter | Filed under Programming
Here’s an OpenGL gotcha which caught me out for quite a while. I was writing code to load textures, but it only worked if I was using the GLU function to build mipmaps. After lots of hair-pulling, I realised that it was entirely my mistake.
Review: “Crush the Castle”
Posted by Peter | Filed under Games
It’s been a while since I reviewed some games, so here goes with another great one I found recently. “Crush the Castle” is yet another physics-oriented game (you know I love ‘em!). It seems to be a single programmer job (+ 1 artist), and the concept is absolutely great. Unfortunately, it is not an original concept… it is borrowed (with permission apparently) from “Castle Clout“. Nonetheless, I enjoyed it, so here’s my thoughts…
Information finding on Oyyy.co.uk
Posted by Peter | Filed under Interface and Usability, Websites
On a recommendation from my dad, I decided to try shopping at Oyyy.co.uk — it’s an online shop for various computing and other technological things. The experience was good and I had no trouble finding the products I wanted. However, there was an apparent lack of information in one key area.
Before I go into this, please don’t read this as any kind of criticism of the Oyyy.co.uk shop or its staff. This is simply intended as an analysis of a usability problem. As an online shop, the site is better than many I have used, so this one issue is not a big deal at all.
