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DarkBASIC Professional Discussion / - DBPro Coding Challenges -

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DarkBasic Pro Guy
22
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Location: Broomfield, Colorado
Posted: 15th Sep 2008 05:21
Good job, Mr Tank. I'd like something along the lines of a platform game. But Blowing stuff up sounds pretty great too!

Mr Tank
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Posted: 15th Sep 2008 05:26
Thanks. OK sorry if i should have done this sooner, but here's the brief:

Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to create life. There should be some sort of player interaction, although this could be as little as setting initial conditions and watching things run around and eat eachother.

I want to see things that are compelling to play, and which someone should be able to start playing or experiencing without much fuss, although hidden depths are a plus too. I'd like to see something that invokes an emotional response, though i realise this is kind of a tall order!

It could be cultivation of virtual watercress, looking after a spherical cat, a self stabilising evolving ecosystem, or a simulation of a fungal nail infection. Up to you. Two weeks starting from now (check the time i posted this). Good luck and have fun!

DarkBasic Pro Guy
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Posted: 15th Sep 2008 05:34
I like your wording. This sounds interesting and hardish lol

Mr Tank
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Posted: 15th Sep 2008 05:34
DBP guy : we posted at the same time! I set the challenge before i read your post. You could still make a platformer. Like the game "Creatures" or something. The rules are open to interpretation. Or just win and set the challenge for a platform game next time.

DarkBasic Pro Guy
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Posted: 15th Sep 2008 05:40
Nah you were writing the challenge while I posted, now we posted at the same time (20:21 vs 20:26? then 20:34 vs 20:34)

Anyways so you mean like a simulation? I got something!

Mr Tank
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Posted: 15th Sep 2008 05:51
Nice. Good luck!

Tinkergirl
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Posted: 15th Sep 2008 16:38 Edited at: 15th Sep 2008 16:40
Nice challenge! I'll definitely have a go at this one - I've dabbled in the past with cow and goblin AI, so maybe I'll try something different this time. Interesting, interesting...

(Also, for those curious, two weeks would make it 29th September, 3:26am BST, a Monday?)
DarkBasic Pro Guy
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Posted: 16th Sep 2008 02:30
The 29th is indeed a Monday, Sunday the 28th of September at 8:26 PM MST. Anyways good luck

Mr Tank
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Posted: 16th Sep 2008 03:13
I posted about 3am in the UK (BST), so which day it was probably depends which side of the atlantic you are based. Good luck all. I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

Monk
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Location: Standing in the snow =D
Posted: 25th Sep 2008 21:31
Hi,
Im a new kid to dark basic and i was wondering if there were any more challenges to do.
Ive only been programming a month or so and am not very good but i would be interested in trying to do some simple challenges (hopefully to improve) but generally for fun.
It would be good if someone could set a very simple challenge for me to try as i would definitely like to improve,
cheers
monk
BMacZero
20
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Location: E:/ NA / USA
Posted: 26th Sep 2008 00:44
If you go to http://dbp-site.com/ you can see a list of past challenges. See if you can find one of those that isn't too hard.
jason p sage
19
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Location: Ellington, CT USA
Posted: 26th Sep 2008 00:49
Welcome Monk! Trials + Tribulations + Failures + AND TRIUMPH await! Welcome! Be Patient - Diligent - and be creative - do lots of testing and "hacking" and GOOGLE ALOT - and read all the newsletters and comb these forums!

I wish you all the luck and most importantly hope you have a lot of fun here!
--Jason

flashing snall
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Location: Boston
Posted: 28th Sep 2008 03:37
Oh yes. the hacking is the key part. If any of your friends ask what your doing with all your afternoons after you picked up that mysterious software... tell them your hacking mainframes. Its the only way to say afloat.

But, Ive been away for a few weeks cause of other stuff, and I come back to find no challenge for me to attempt?


This is my WIP, not even ready for a WIP thread yet though.http://smallgroupproductions.com/
BMacZero
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Posted: 28th Sep 2008 04:58
Quote: "Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to create life. There should be some sort of player interaction, although this could be as little as setting initial conditions and watching things run around and eat eachother.

I want to see things that are compelling to play, and which someone should be able to start playing or experiencing without much fuss, although hidden depths are a plus too. I'd like to see something that invokes an emotional response, though i realise this is kind of a tall order!

It could be cultivation of virtual watercress, looking after a spherical cat, a self stabilising evolving ecosystem, or a simulation of a fungal nail infection. Up to you. Two weeks starting from now (check the time i posted this). Good luck and have fun!
"
Neuro Fuzzy
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Posted: 28th Sep 2008 07:22
huh... maybe ill try to do this challenge. i'll see what i can come up with!

flashing snall
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Posted: 28th Sep 2008 23:35 Edited at: 28th Sep 2008 23:37
OH, thanks man, I cant believe I didnt see it !
EDIT: SO, it ends today eh? Lets see what I can do. I have been away from DBP for so long, messing around with other languages, this is goin to be an interesting task.


This is my WIP, not even ready for a WIP thread yet though.http://smallgroupproductions.com/
BillR
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Location: United States
Posted: 29th Sep 2008 07:29 Edited at: 29th Sep 2008 07:32
I have been working on a challenge entry this week.
I wanted to make a snake simulation where the snake would grow longer as it ate food, but I ran out of time.

So here is my entry

Mr Tank
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Posted: 29th Sep 2008 19:14
Nice one BillR! It does seem lifelike, with a mind of it's own. It's sweet to see how simple rules generate such behaviour. It's fun to watch like it's fun to watch a real animal doing it's thing. It's also cool to see you've coded it pretty neatly and concisely.

Would be cool to see this developed further. It would be cool if the player could chuck the food in by clicking the mouse or something. I know feeding ducks or fish or whatever and seeing them race for the food is good fun in real life.

Unless i'm being incredibly stupid, it's been two weeks now, although i think if there's anyone who's been working hard on something and has a good reason for missing the deadline, then i can probably accept their entry too - Not entirely sure what the rules are for this. In the non event of such extenuating circumstances, you've won! Congratulations, Bill.

Best start planning what the next challenge should be.

BillR
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Posted: 29th Sep 2008 22:41 Edited at: 29th Sep 2008 22:49
New Challenge: Cool Fractal/Mathematical Object

Make a function to create a mathematical object, 2D or 3D.
Use fractals or just some cool math!
I was thinking more like a fractal tree, but anything will be judged,
a snowflake, a plant, a futuristic polyhedron type object, etc.

Extra Credit:
1) The ability for symmetrical AND non-symmetrical objects
2) 3D gets extra credit
3) User adjustable parameters

Deadline: 2 weeks
Monday Oct. 13th 11:59PM PST (San Francisco, CA)
Mr Tank
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Posted: 29th Sep 2008 22:57
That's a cool challenge. I'll give it a go! Will be interesting to learn about fractals. I remember way back in the day, one of the coolest things that my CPC464 did was to draw one.

Mr Tank
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Posted: 2nd Oct 2008 01:00
Here's something. I plan to play some more and read up about fractals. Not sure how i'm going to do player interaction. Maybe some kind of dynamic fractal, or being able to zoom in. Plus 3d and making the code cleaner.





BMacZero
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Posted: 2nd Oct 2008 02:33
Ooh, that's pretty neat

Here's my WIP:
It basically only works with triangles, but other shapes can yield interesting results occasionally.
Mr Tank
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Posted: 2nd Oct 2008 03:19
Dude that's fricking sweet. Very similar to what my CPC used to do.

Monk
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Location: Standing in the snow =D
Posted: 2nd Oct 2008 21:02 Edited at: 2nd Oct 2008 22:46
Im pretty sure that this isn't a fractal or a maths shape but its odd and im not sure how it was made.
Mr Tank
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Posted: 3rd Oct 2008 04:30
That's cool. Sometimes you put in some wierd rules and the coolest stuff pops out.

Jimmy
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Posted: 3rd Oct 2008 07:38
I call this the Multi-Colored Broccoli Fracalator.

It's not so much fractal as it is... random-procedural.

As always, Enjoy.



"Oh hey, nice website Jimmy, it's really nice and fancy." -- That C++ Nerd
Visit. Website. NOW!
Mr Tank
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Posted: 3rd Oct 2008 16:58
That's cool. Does look like brocolli.

Image All
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Posted: 4th Oct 2008 03:40
Fractal Lightning!




Remember those old guys? They made epic renders, I think one of them was called DaVinci, and all they used was MS Paint. Sometimes it's just skill....
Jimmy
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Posted: 4th Oct 2008 03:50
I like it

"Oh hey, nice website Jimmy, it's really nice and fancy." -- That C++ Nerd
Visit. Website. NOW!
BillR
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Posted: 4th Oct 2008 11:45
@Jimmy- I like the 3D structure to your creation!

@Image All - I kept waiting for something to happen, I didn't know to click the mouse until I looked at your code, maybe just a note next time to click the mouse.

Your Fractal Lightning is Really Nice!
I like that it is NOT symmetrical!

I am excited by all the different ideas, Keep up the good work!

Also, don't forget 3D gets extra credit!
HowDo
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Posted: 4th Oct 2008 12:57 Edited at: 4th Oct 2008 12:59
Image All, I like the way it works brillant.

Add this line just below the first line drawing command in Image All Fractal Lightning demo, it makes it look like sparklers!



Dark Physics makes any hot drink go cold.
Ric
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Location: object position x
Posted: 5th Oct 2008 04:09
I guess no fractal challenge would be complete without a Mandelbrot Set! Point and click to zoom in. You can keep zooming up until the point where DBPro can't handle numbers that small.






Monk
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Posted: 5th Oct 2008 20:41
Thats amazing!
A bit slow to refresh but the detail is great!
RiiDii
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Posted: 6th Oct 2008 17:09
Nice Ric. But, come on - use double floats


Open MMORPG: It's your game!
Ric
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Posted: 8th Oct 2008 04:10
I've had trouble with DBPro's double floats in the past which is why I left them alone, for the sake of being able to zoom a few more times before the same problem arises anyway. I've pondored on a way to solve the problem absolutely but havent had any bright ideas yet.

RiiDii
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Posted: 8th Oct 2008 13:09
I see a bug report on double floats. My bad.


Open MMORPG: It's your game!
calcyman
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Posted: 8th Oct 2008 18:18
I've recently made a fractal-generating program (no media or plugins):

http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=135602&b=8

The source code alone will not work, as it needs a parameter file. I suppose that will disqualify it. Feel free to download the zipped program, help file and examples.

The optomist's right, The pessimist's right.
Garzu
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Posted: 8th Oct 2008 18:31
Calcyman, why not generate random numbers for rthe parameters or allow input ?

BillR
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Posted: 13th Oct 2008 06:27
Just 1 more day for the Fractal/Mathematical challenge.

I will be judging the entries Monday Night
Monday Oct. 13th 11:59PM PST (San Francisco, CA)

Finish up any code and submit it, good luck to all!
Mr Tank
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Posted: 14th Oct 2008 01:38
I kind of gave up on this when i saw how bodacious everyone else's stuff was. Anyway, here:



BMacZero
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Posted: 14th Oct 2008 02:55
The zooming in is awesome!
BillR
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Posted: 14th Oct 2008 10:57 Edited at: 14th Oct 2008 10:59
Judging for the Cool Fractal/Mathematical Object Challenge

bmaczero - Sierpinski Gasket
Nice, User input gets extra point

Monk - Triangle Fractal Fill
Nice, A good start, visually interesting.

Ric - Mandelbrot Set
Always good to see one in action, very math intensive!

Calcyman - Fractal Generator Program
Very Nice! I loved some of the renders!
Uses a parameter file though, would have done very well
if you had it working with either random numbers or user input.

Image All - Fractal Lightning
Wow, I liked this one.
Simple, and clever, I would love to find a use for this
in a game or something.

Jimmy - Multi-Colored Broccoli Fracalator
I thought it was visually very interesting!

Mr Tank - Fractal Plain Simulation
Good Visuals,Cool camera trick to simulate zooming in forever.

I was very pleased with the variety of entries!
All different, surprisingly small code for each entry,
some very clever programming!

Congrats to all of you for a job well done!

The Runner Up


The Winner!
Jimmy
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Posted: 14th Oct 2008 15:38
Yay for me broccoli...

The next sshhhhallannngge will be:

To:

Create:

A Massive Loadless Seamless Zoneless Endless World of beauty and pain...

What I mean is, say you start me out in a game next to a cottage and a tree and a bunny. If I were to run at a high rate of speed in one direction, eventually I would end up back at that same cottage and tree and bunny. You know, like you would in real life, on a real globical planet. All the while, of course, seamlessly loading the areas of the world I was in as I ran through. Make sense?

I hope so.

You have until 8:00 PM EST (GMT-5) on the 28th of October, 2008.

At the very least, I'd like to see terrain features and maybe some floral (plants) so the feel of traversing a real planet is there. Extra points will be awarded in pie form for implementing some type of gaming element into your world.

Have fun girls and germs.

"Oh hey, nice website Jimmy, it's really nice and fancy." -- That C++ Nerd
Visit. Website. NOW!
Monk
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Posted: 14th Oct 2008 19:53
thats a cool challenge jimmy
should be good fun to try
Mr Tank
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Posted: 16th Oct 2008 01:08
I can't believe i got runner up! Cheers.

New challenge sounds pretty sweet. I'm tempted to do either a spherical world (albeit with lumps and that), or an infinite 3d world with staircases and stuff, like a crystal. More likely the first one because it fits the brief better.

Neuro Fuzzy
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Posted: 16th Oct 2008 04:55
Hmm, this seems like a time to try out this thingy i found.

http://freespace.virgin.net/hugo.elias/models/m_landsp.htm

It seems like a really cool thing to try to do with this challenge... the only problem is i don't have the slightest idea how to actually implement this...

I guess i'll take a look at it.

Mr Tank
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Posted: 16th Oct 2008 05:11
That looks interesting. One way that works is to use a 3d perlin texture, and the heightmap is where the sphere cuts through this. Not completely isotropic but it works. There are some topics about that kind of stuff around here someplace.

My plan is to use a spherified cube grid, like i use for collision gridding in Asteroid Worlds. I can make a planet object from via memblocks and have a quick "ground height" function like that available for DB matrices.

Essentially this is like having a cube made from six terrains/matrices, and blowing them up by moving the vertices away from the cube centre to form a planet.

Monk
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Posted: 17th Oct 2008 20:50
This is my first poor attempt but its an attempt so i thought id show it.



Could anyone tell me how to get rid of the flickering in the "grass" because as soon as i add the skysphere, it disappears and starts flickering.
Mr Tank
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Posted: 18th Oct 2008 23:36 Edited at: 18th Oct 2008 23:40
The reason your rendering is going mental is because the camera range you have set from 0 to some number. How well the z-buffer works (thing that decides which things are in front of other things) basically depends on the ratio of the maximum distance to minimum, so with the minimum set to 0, it works infinitely badly, or something!

put

set camera range 1, 1, 10000

and it should work better. There are some other things you'll want to change too. For instance, why don't you use camera 0, and you should also position the skybox at the camera position prior to each sync. Anyway, keep it up, and have fun!

Here's your code. I changed the cam range, set the skysphere position before syncing, and made the skysphere a little bigger. I didn't know about setting the sphere size negative before! Thanks.



Monk
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Posted: 19th Oct 2008 17:54
Cheers Mr Tank loads better now!

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