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DarkBASIC Discussion / The DB Classic Programming Challenge Thread

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luke810
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Posted: 1st Mar 2007 04:13 Edited at: 1st Mar 2007 04:14
I could probably get my program finished if we extended the deadline. I'm surprised nobody entered as I thought this was one of the best challenges yet.
Phaelax
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Posted: 1st Mar 2007 06:17
It's interesting, but unfortunately requires more learning time than I have to offer. (Finals week, I have enough to learn already)

Latch
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Posted: 1st Mar 2007 08:34
Quote: "I could probably get my program finished if we extended the deadline. I'm surprised nobody entered as I thought this was one of the best challenges yet. "


@luke810 I was hoping it would be a fun brain teaser that would draw more interest! You should keep working on your script - that's a pretty interesting approach. Why isn't it affected by the collision?

I'm extending the deadline to Sunday March 4 2007 midnight GMT

Hopefully we'll get more entries. If not, oh well. Life goes on.

Enjoy your day.
TDK
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Posted: 1st Mar 2007 10:22
I'm afraid I got side-tracked by one of my clients wanting some urgent changes to the software I wrote for them. Unfortunately, when that happens I have to drop everything and do it.

I then didn't think there was any chance to finish what I had started for the challenge within the time limit. With the new deadline on the 4th I might stand a chance.

I too am treading new ground here as I've never done this sort of program either...

TDK_Man

luke810
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Posted: 1st Mar 2007 14:20
@Latch

The collision doesn't push the robot away because I use the point object command every loop in my subscripts. The robot will never actually hit anything when it's finished so I thought it would be ok?
Latch
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Posted: 2nd Mar 2007 23:33
As long as it's not walking through walls!

Enjoy your day.
Latch
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Posted: 5th Mar 2007 18:27
The robot challenge is over.

luke810 is the winner of the Karol the robot challenge!

This challenge was a bit on the difficult side but luke810 stepped up with a very interesting example of A* AI. So luke810 gets to set the next challenge.

Enjoy your day.
Data
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Posted: 8th Mar 2007 23:30
so is a new challenge goign to be set?

www.urbn-tremor.net
luke810
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Posted: 9th Mar 2007 20:00 Edited at: 9th Mar 2007 20:01
Sorry about not replying until now everbody, I haven't been checking the forums lately. I dont really have any great challenge ideas so if no one likes this someone can set a different challenge.

Here it is:
Create a simple movement system for any type of car or tank. All aspects of the vehicle's velocity should be controllable and you should include some sort of collision system for the vehicle. The vehicle doesn't have to run on any sloped landscape so you can use a flat plane if you want. The challenge will be judged on how realistic the movement and collision is and the deadline will be Monday,March 19th at Midnight GMT.

Edit:
The collision objects can be any shape but more points will be given for more complex collision routines.
Latch
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Posted: 10th Mar 2007 01:01
What does

Quote: "All aspects of the vehicle's velocity should be controllable "


mean? And also

Quote: "The collision objects can be any shape "


Enjoy your day.
luke810
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Posted: 10th Mar 2007 01:22
@Latch
By the "All aspects of the vehicle's velocity should be controllable " I meant the player should be able to control the speed and direction of the vehicle. For example they can use the left and right arrow keys to turn the vehicle and they can hold the up or down arrow keys to increase or decrease the speed.

By "The collision objects can be any shape " I meant that the objects you create for the vehicle to collide with can be any shape. So you can use spheres, cubes or whatever else you might like as the collision objects in the program, but the more complex and realistic the collision is the better your will get ranked at the end of the competition.
luke810
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Posted: 10th Mar 2007 01:51 Edited at: 10th Mar 2007 01:53
Sorry for double posting, I didnt realize that my post went to a new page.
TDK
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Posted: 11th Mar 2007 18:25
Sorry for disappearing - my computer died and I took the opportunity to completely upgrade the system to PCI Express and install a better CPU. This took a little longer than expected...

The latest challenge sounds good. Let's hope we get a few more entries with this one.

Most DBC users are new to programming so keeping the challenges as simple as possible to start with is the only way to get them to have a go.

TDK_Man

Latch
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Posted: 17th Mar 2007 23:11
Isn't anyone gonna give this one a shot?

Here's a basic implementation of the idea.



This skeleton should be able to be expanded upon without too much trouble. For example, if an array was created to hold each of the individual objects' x,y,z, coordinates and/or angles, after the collision with the vehicle, the position or even the rotation of the individual collided with object could be updated gradually through each iteration of the main loop. Right now, I just have the object move instantly after the collision just to demonstrate how to detect the collision and have a reaction.

Enjoy your day.
Latch
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Posted: 19th Mar 2007 01:58
Nobody's giving it a go, huh?

I would think it's a great opportunity to share ideas and see what others are coming up with. Users are asking questions. Would a good challenge be common questions users are asking?

Enjoy your day.
Phaelax
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Posted: 19th Mar 2007 10:04
Vehicle physics can get quite complex. This sort've ties in with the DBP challenge going on right now, a top-down race game.

luke810
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Posted: 20th Mar 2007 05:35 Edited at: 20th Mar 2007 05:38
Im surprised again by the lack of entries for this competition. I suppose that becuase latch is the only one who entered he is the winner.

Latch: I thought that your program was off to a good start with the skeleton and your collision idea was great. A simple way to add more realistic movement for the car though is to relate the rotation rate of the vehicle to the speed like this:

Phaelax
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Posted: 20th Mar 2007 06:31
Oh the car challenge is over already?

Latch
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Posted: 20th Mar 2007 09:11
@luke810

Thanks for the suggestion on the car turn radius!

I was hoping someone would just add to that skeleton - even a cube or something - and post that as an entry. Oh well, I don't want this thread to fade into oblivion so the next challenge will be something a little easier...

Ok

Make a House Challenge

Using objects made in DBC (cubes, boxes, planes etc), build a house or an interior of some kind (doesn't have to include furniture or anything that elaborate), could be a barn or building or tunnels, etc. When the structure is finished, include the ability to control the camera to go through and look around inside the structure. This doesn't have to be an architectural feat. If you can slap together a few rooms and a roof, you're in business!

Points will be awarded based on creativity and ingenuity - while these can't really be measured, I'll just have to see how it "feels." The camera control will be part of this.

Extra points awarded for use of lighting and any textures that are applied. Remember, no outside media and no dlls. Everything has to be created by the program.

Deadline for this one, Tuesday, March 27, 2007 midnight GMT

Enjoy your day.
Tone3e
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Posted: 21st Mar 2007 03:42
I like this one, I already started. I gave the car challenge a try, but I didnt get anything near descent. This one is a lot more simple.

Future programming master.
Comrade Robski
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Posted: 27th Mar 2007 11:04
My attempt at the Make a House challenge:

Move using up and down arrow keys
Turn using left and right arrow keys or the mouse
Look up and down using the mouse

Latch
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Posted: 28th Mar 2007 00:51 Edited at: 28th Mar 2007 12:06
@Tone3e

I hope you try it out!

@Comrade Robski

That is really cool! Looks like you put a bit of work into it! Good Job!

Since yours is the only entry, you win! You can set the next challenge.

Enjoy your day.
Comrade Robski
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Posted: 28th Mar 2007 15:32
Great, thanks Latch!

OK here's the next challenge.

Make a bouncing ball. 2D or 3D, up to you. It's pretty simple but there's lots of ways to add to it:

Make a game where you control the ball and have to avoid obstacles

Make a "pong" type game where there is gravity and the ball bounces on the ground

Make a keepy uppy game where you have to keep the ball bouncing for as long as possible on a bat

Make a target shooting game where you have to shoot bouncing balls

Make a 'screensaver' type thing, with colour changing bouncing balls going all over the place.

Make it as simple or as complicated as you like. Marks as always for creativity, use of textures, etc.

Closing date is Midnight GMT 5 April, 1 week from now.
NanoGamez guy
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Posted: 28th Mar 2007 19:20
I made a game a long time ago when I was still learning to program (actullay, I'm still learning now!) that meets the challenge spesifications. Will it still count if I made it a while ago? I made the original with media but I've got ride of that to meet the rules of this thread. So here it is:




Nothing is impossible...
Zombie 20
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Posted: 28th Mar 2007 19:44
its kinda sad, because i can't even do that. But i'll give it a shot. We'll see what i can come out with, i've been in a slump as far as coding goes.

Tone3e
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Posted: 29th Mar 2007 04:20
Awwww man. I forgot to post my entry. Oh well, I have an entry for this one almost ready. We cant use outside media?

Future programming master.
Tone3e
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Posted: 29th Mar 2007 04:20
Awwww man. I forgot to post my entry. Oh well, I have an entry for this one almost ready. We cant use outside media?

Future programming master.
Comrade Robski
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Posted: 29th Mar 2007 13:00
@Tone3e: that's right, no media

@NanoGamez guy: Your game is great! Very simple idea but addictive. It starts off slow at first, but soon gets frantic. I got to level 7 on my first try, about 44,000 points. Then I lost all 3 lives very quickly.

I don't know about the rules concerning entries you made before the competition... maybe TDK could answer that one?

@Zombie 20: Give it a go, you'll surprise yourself! Don't worry about writing a whole game, just get yourself a sphere and move it up and down. Voila! Then play around with it: change the colour, maybe cycle through different colours, use SCALE OBJECT to make it 'squish' when it bounces. Add more bouncing spheres. You don't always have to plan things, especially for a little project like this, just go with what you feel like. Before you know it, you'll have some great visual effects going on.
Zombie 20
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Posted: 29th Mar 2007 18:58 Edited at: 4th Apr 2007 13:43
Well..i found a great example and i modded it. It might not be great to you guys, and i couldn't do a lot to it at all, but i'm very proud that i could even make the small ones that i did, and i paid credit to the orignal creator.

So let me know if this is not allowed. sorry, the code tab didn't want to work.

Here is my entry.



I'm going to keep working with this, i'm determined now to give it a score function and multiple levels, something to work towards.

Tone3e
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Posted: 30th Mar 2007 01:08
how come when I post, It shows as a double post? And for the game, can it be two player or can it be single player?

Future programming master.
Comrade Robski
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Posted: 30th Mar 2007 11:28
@Tone3e: One player or two player. Whatever you like.

Remember folks it doesn't have to be a game: a cool graphics effect or a screensaver will be fine.
Zombie 20
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Posted: 1st Apr 2007 00:29
@comrade- i think i may have violated the rules, it says you can mod any code that was "inside the challenge thread". Somehting i did not follow, so i'm going to pull out, i modded code from the codebase.

I'll join the next challenge, and on my own merit.

But for now, i'm dropping out, i violated a clear rule.

zombie

Latch
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Posted: 1st Apr 2007 01:42
@Zombie

In my opinion, I don't think you should drop out. The code base is there to offer code snippets freely to whomever wishes to use them. It also stands to reason that any functions or subroutines one has written for any purpose should be able to be reused (what's the sense of reinventing the wheel?) - however, it is in good form and polite to credit the original author for their work. For the sake of the challenge, it's really in the modification and the use of the code to make something more unique that stands as a viable entry. And these challenges are just for fun and to help us learn. There's nothing at stake.

I use my own functions over and over again. I don't need to create a new camera look routine or move cube around thingy every single time I want to implement that functionality. I might tweak them here and there for the goal of the over-all program. The whole point of a sequential procedural language (like DarkBASIC) is to have routines that you can use again and again.

Enjoy your day.
Zombie 20
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Posted: 1st Apr 2007 01:49 Edited at: 2nd Apr 2007 09:36
that does make sense, i just felt bad after going over the rules again. I'll let the judge make the final decicsion, i mean its not like i couldn't join the next one.

i don't know, i always think i've done something wrong, its just something with me.


@latch- i wanted to thank you for helping with the collison, I now have it picking up more than one item and i ghosted the sphere so you can see the items ala katamari damacy. I wanted to make a small application for my friend by may, we're both big fans and thanks to you, it took a big leap. Thanks again.
zombie

Comrade Robski
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Posted: 2nd Apr 2007 13:32
OK we have two entries so far.

I've got a bit of a problem though. I'm running DBC 1.08 and in Zombie20's code I get an error on the command

make object collision box 1,-10,-11,-11,11,10,10,0

Is this a DBC command in the latest version?? Or has a DBP command slipped in?

Anyhow, here is my contribution, just for fun of course: 3D pong



Read the rems at the start of the program - you can change the difficulty settings, and spacebar is the "cheat code" to advance to the next level. I can get to level 7 without cheating, how about you?
Zombie 20
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Posted: 2nd Apr 2007 14:15
yea, i have the enhancement pack on.

TDK
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Posted: 2nd Apr 2007 15:52
Quote: "In my opinion, I don't think you should drop out."


Agreed!

Quote: "I'm running DBC 1.08"


Good heavens!!

Why on earth are you using a version that old? Apart from the compatibility with everyone else aspect, It's probably also got loads of bugs the rest of us have long since forgotten about.

Quote: "Is this a DBC command in the latest version?? Or has a DBP command slipped in?"


It's not a DBP command and I'm sure it's down to the fact that you are using a ridiculously old version. Upgrade free to V1.13 as soon as possible (http://darkbasic.thegamecreators.com/?f=upgrades) and take advantage of the new commands since 1.08 and all the bug-fixes!

TDK_Man

Comrade Robski
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Posted: 2nd Apr 2007 16:34
Quote: "Good heavens!!

Why on earth are you using a version that old? Apart from the compatibility with everyone else aspect, It's probably also got loads of bugs the rest of us have long since forgotten about.
"


Thanks for the tip TDK! For some reason I was under the impression that you had to have bought DBC from this site to get the updates. I'll fire up the patch when I get home.
Zombie 20
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Posted: 2nd Apr 2007 20:24
well if you guys don't think i should drop out, i'll stay in. I hope you guys like it. I'm gaining a lot of experience and its really fun. I look forward to the next challenge.

Zombie 20
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Posted: 4th Apr 2007 00:20 Edited at: 4th Apr 2007 07:40
one more day guys! I'm excited, this is going to be really cool.



Binary Coder
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Posted: 4th Apr 2007 05:39
I tried this one but halfway through my power went out!

Oh well maybe I'll give it another shot!
Comrade Robski
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Posted: 4th Apr 2007 13:28
@Zombie20. After upgrading DB I finally got your game working. It's good, very colourful, and runs smoothly. I like how you can put 'side' on the ball if you hit it when your paddle is moving.

A couple of points that could be improved to make it even better: It seems like the computer is unbeatable - I can never hit the ball past him. And I have got it moving really fast at times! He always hits it! Also, when the human player misses the ball, nothing happens - it just disappears off the screen - the scores don't change and a new round doesn't begin.

A good effort though!
TDK
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Posted: 4th Apr 2007 13:46
Zombie 20:

I just edited your post to put your code snippet in a code box for you.

It wasn't working because all your attempts at adding code tags were stacked up at the end of the message. You need to paste the code into the message then highlight it with the mouse before you click on the Code button.

TDK_Man

Zombie 20
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Posted: 4th Apr 2007 21:01
@tdk-Thanks you.

@comrade-yea, i don't know how to do a score function yet. I'll adjust the computer's ai. I'm doing final touches tonight to spruce it up, so i'll be put my new entry in.

Zombie 20
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Posted: 5th Apr 2007 01:49 Edited at: 5th Apr 2007 01:54
well here's my final work for the comp. To be honest, i'm dissapointed that i couldn't do more to it, i just wasn't able to figure it out. But..its something i can work on, i know i won't be able to do it in time though. So i hope you guys like my first attempt. I don't know whats going on, all of a sudden the code won't work in my editor, could you guys see if its okay. I don't know whats going on.



Latch
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Posted: 5th Apr 2007 03:22
@Nano
Such a simple idea - very addictive! Must beat last score!

@Comrade
That is a really cool program - I like the fading contact points on the paddles

Quote: "@latch- i wanted to thank you..."


@Zombie
No problem.

From what I could tell, your pong program has Load cdmusic and play music at the top. Since there is no media, there's aren't any files to find. I also stuck in a couple lines of code for score keeping - nothing fancy at all - I ended up changing main a little. You might want to look at that and see if you could modify your program to behave how you want.



Enjoy your day.
Zombie 20
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Posted: 5th Apr 2007 03:58 Edited at: 5th Apr 2007 23:22
latch- thank you so much! you guys are too nice to me, i'll see what else i can do to it. Thank you again.

Alright, i'm ready to submit my final program in. I'm going to keep working on it however, i want to make more levels and different opponents.

Thank you all for the support and for the help.

Final Program-


Today's the day!!! Good luck everyone

Tone3e
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Posted: 6th Apr 2007 05:19
Quote: "Make a "pong" type game where there is gravity and the ball bounces on the ground"

i couldnt get the bouncing on the ground part, but here is what i got.
Quote: "[/quote][quote]"
[quote][/quote][quote]

Future programming master.
Latch
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Posted: 6th Apr 2007 11:52 Edited at: 9th Apr 2007 22:45
Ice Orb

[Edit]

I'm gonna remove this upload and work on it some more

Enjoy your day.
Comrade Robski
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Posted: 6th Apr 2007 12:11 Edited at: 6th Apr 2007 12:17
OK guys as Latch said, time is now up for this challenge. Since there was a flurry of entries right at the end, I'll take a little time to look over them all.

I'll post back with the result as soon as possible. Thanks and congratulations to everyone who entered!

EDIT: Because of the Easter holiday here, it may take a day or so to get the results back - but I'll try to do it as fast as I can, please bear with me

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