A brief introduction to Genetic Algorithms

In software engineering, genetic algorithms (GA) focus on how the evolution theory in genetics works. The structure of most GA attempt to achieve a goal by trialling and mutating over time to achieve the desired results. This is accomplished by randomly populating a bunch of subjects (in most cases they are generally named creatures or … Read more

HEY! Listen – Audio Programming

At the end of last year, I worked as part of a team of nine to create a demo scene for the final first-year project. Together, over a period of eight weeks, we created a physics-based game in which the aim was to use a ray gun to either shrink or enlarge objects and a … Read more

Being a peer in a peer to peer connection

Peer to peer network connections give the ability of devices to communicate to other devices in a network without the need of a central unit architecture (client-server connection), in which each user on the network contributes towards the information being shared between all the clients on the network. Peer to Peer has two common factors … Read more

Multi-threaded architecture in UE4

In UE4 the architecture runs parts of the engine differently to previous versions. The system has three unique threads that run one after another in separate frames to draw objects and items onto the screen. These three threads are referred to as the Game thread, which is the current frame this is being displayed, the … Read more

How a rendering engine works

A rendering engine needs a little knowledge of how GPU shaders work, and how Open GL works. Open GL works as the bridge or medium between receiving information from the CPU and the GPU. It is not so much a programming language, but more a set of data that is sent to the GPU. The … Read more

The lightbulb above your head needs lighting

The development of lights in video games and the potential for lighting has increased as games get larger. However, this was not always the case. As hardware has gotten better, lighting has seen a bigger push in development. Principles about how lights are incorporated into a game are different to other mediums such as movie/tv … Read more

How materials and texture work in Unity

Applying a material inside of the Unity is one of the first things many tutorials from unity explain how to do. After creating a shape such as a sphere or cube, you right click, scroll to the top where it says create, and select material. The defaults properties inside of the new material you make … Read more

Rasterisation! What and How

Rendering Geometry In 3D geometry, vector conversion to graphics is called rasterisation. End of post. In all seriousness, rasterisation is arguably the most used method of rendering a 3D image for computer graphics. Along with ray tracing, both compete to do the same thing. Unlike the latter option, the history of how this method was … Read more

Early Camera Projections in Video Games

Camera and Projections As a fan of action adventure games from a young age, the experience of controlling a character was what brought me into video games. The industry standard during my childhood had a few ideas with camera angles. The picture to the right from the first Legend of Zelda game (1986) shows the … Read more