iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Stephen Ulibarri @druidmechanics.bsky.social · 10/01/2025

Stretching and squashing animations really look good on fast-moving characters.

Stephen Ulibarri @druidmechanics.bsky.social · 09/01/2025

Yeah, FAB has its kinks to iron out, but think about the artists who now get zero sales. We shouldn't punish them for the platform change they had zero control over.

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Stephen Ulibarri @druidmechanics.bsky.social · 07/01/2025

Consider pass-by-value instead of reference if the function requires a copy of its argument. This is conceptually identical to taking a reference to const plus doing a copy, and it can help the compiler to better optimize away temporaries.

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Stephen Ulibarri @druidmechanics.bsky.social · 05/01/2025

Using an object-oriented language like C++, we often forget the power of free functions. They elegantly separate concerns, reduce dependencies, and fulfill the Single-Responsibility Principle.

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Stephen Ulibarri @druidmechanics.bsky.social · 01/01/2025

"What do you want for your last meal" sounds really ominous if you leave out "of the year"

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Stephen Ulibarri @druidmechanics.bsky.social · 29/12/2024

Unreal Engine has its own version of many std library utilities. For instance std::accumulate exists in the form Algo::Accumulate. Syntax isn't always 1:1.

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Stephen Ulibarri @druidmechanics.bsky.social · 28/12/2024

Before naming it C++, Stroustrup was going to call it "C with Classes" lol

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Stephen Ulibarri @druidmechanics.bsky.social · 26/12/2024

Bjarne Stroustrup knew 25 languages when he invented C++.

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Reposted by Stephen Ulibarri

Slime 💚🧪 @capernica.bsky.social · 26/12/2024

Game: This weapon is far superior to your current weapon. Me: But it’s ugly and doesn’t match. How can I possibly slay my enemies if I can’t slay the outfit?

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Stephen Ulibarri @druidmechanics.bsky.social · 26/12/2024

If you lie to the compiler, it will get its revenge. --Henry Spencer

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Stephen Ulibarri @druidmechanics.bsky.social · 26/12/2024

It is a common fallacy to use list just because "list is obviously the right type for list operations," such as insertion into the middle of a sequence. Using vector for small lists is almost always superior to using list.

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Stephen Ulibarri @druidmechanics.bsky.social · 26/12/2024

It's hard enough to find an error in your code when you're looking for it; it's even harder when you've assumed your code is error-free. --Steve McConnell

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Stephen Ulibarri @druidmechanics.bsky.social · 26/12/2024

Your quote here. --Bjarne Stroustrup

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Stephen Ulibarri @druidmechanics.bsky.social · 25/12/2024

Remember: it's far, far easier to make a correct program fast than it is to make a fast program correct.

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Stephen Ulibarri @druidmechanics.bsky.social · 25/12/2024

Don't write namespace usings in a header or before an include. Using namespaces is for your convenience - but should not affect someone else's code - be it code that includes your header, or other headers included after the using.

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Stephen Ulibarri @druidmechanics.bsky.social · 24/12/2024

Systems have sub-systems and sub-systems have sub-systems and so on ad infinitum - which is why we're always starting over. -Alan Perlis

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Stephen Ulibarri @druidmechanics.bsky.social · 24/12/2024

I fail to see why a Flettened Green Toaster Toothbrush with Flag could ever be less than desirable.

A funny excerpt from Large-Scale C++, Volume 1 by John Lakos

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Stephen Ulibarri @druidmechanics.bsky.social · 24/12/2024

Avoid calling virtual functions in constructors/destructors. A parent class's constructor's call to a virtual function will not call the most-derived override as the most-derived child hasn't even been constructed yet.

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Stephen Ulibarri @druidmechanics.bsky.social · 19/12/2024

Games are made of systems - those systems are made of parts which themselves are little systems of a lower order in the hierarchy. When the hierarchy has multiple levels, we call it "depth." It can be rewarding to make game systems that are deep.

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Stephen Ulibarri @druidmechanics.bsky.social · 19/12/2024

Marvel Rivals is a clone of Overwatch and I love it

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Stephen Ulibarri @druidmechanics.bsky.social · 17/12/2024

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Stephen Ulibarri @druidmechanics.bsky.social · 17/12/2024

Just because a pointer isn't null doesn't mean it is safe.

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Stephen Ulibarri @druidmechanics.bsky.social · 17/12/2024

Clearer code is better code. If your cute semantic trick results in the most miniscule of microoptimizations, yet renders the code harder to read and understand, it is worse code. Period.

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Stephen Ulibarri @druidmechanics.bsky.social · 14/12/2024

Strip away the assets of your game and replace everything with boxes. If it isn't fun to play, it isn't fun with the asset wrapper either.

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Stephen Ulibarri @druidmechanics.bsky.social · 12/12/2024

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Stephen Ulibarri @druidmechanics.bsky.social · 12/12/2024

Choosing an established game genre is to compete with billion-dollar corporations. Choosing a new frontier sets yourself at the top of your field.

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Stephen Ulibarri @druidmechanics.bsky.social · 09/12/2024

The order in which arguments of a function in C++ are evaluated is unspecified, so don't rely on a specific ordering.

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Stephen Ulibarri @druidmechanics.bsky.social · 09/12/2024

Proc gen is cool and all, but nothing quite beats a handcrafted piece of the scene.

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Stephen Ulibarri @druidmechanics.bsky.social · 09/12/2024

Don't overload && or || These have short-circuit evaluation, but your overload will not, which is dangerous.

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Stephen Ulibarri @druidmechanics.bsky.social · 09/12/2024

If your function has 10 parameters, you probably missed some.

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Stephen Ulibarri @druidmechanics.bsky.social · 09/12/2024

An ancient joke about C++ was that the language is called C++ and not ++C because the language was improved (incremented), but many people still use it as C (the previous value).

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Stephen Ulibarri @druidmechanics.bsky.social · 08/12/2024

Spur not a willing horse (Latin proverb): Premature optimization is as addictive as it is unproductive. The first rule of optimization is: Don't do it. The second rule of optimization (for experts only) is: Don't do it yet. Measure twice, optimize once. --Sutter & Alexandrescu

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Stephen Ulibarri @druidmechanics.bsky.social · 08/12/2024

The palest ink is better than the best memory (Chinese proverb) - use a version control system.

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Stephen Ulibarri @druidmechanics.bsky.social · 06/12/2024

// set health to max health Health = MaxHealth; This is a crap comment. Don't comment the "what," comment the why. Most good code is self-explanatory and needs no comments. // not in order after removal Players.Sort(); Is an example of "why."

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Stephen Ulibarri @druidmechanics.bsky.social · 03/12/2024

Accurig can automatically rig humanoid characters, even to the Epic skeleton.

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Stephen Ulibarri @druidmechanics.bsky.social · 01/12/2024

In Seamless Travel, the server moves to a new level without disconnecting players. In fact, their Player Controllers persist in this process. GameModes can perform initialization logic in InitSeamlessTravelPlayer.

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Stephen Ulibarri @druidmechanics.bsky.social · 30/11/2024

UGameplayStatics::OpenLevel takes in an optional FString called Options. You can pass in any custom options you like. The GameMode receives them in various functions that are called when a client joins, such as PreLogin(), where you can accept/reject the player.

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Stephen Ulibarri @druidmechanics.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

Attention fellow nerds: Eating too much cake is the sin of gluttony. However, eating too much pie is okay because the sin of pi is zero.

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Stephen Ulibarri @druidmechanics.bsky.social · 28/11/2024

TArray::RemoveAtSwap is useful for removing items from an array in a more efficient manner. Instead of shifting all elements after the removed item (which can be costly) it instead swaps the element to be removed with the last item in the array, then removes the last element.

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Stephen Ulibarri @druidmechanics.bsky.social · 28/11/2024

As AI continues to assist creators more and more, we will steadily see a growing world of "content" devoid of soul or character.

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Stephen Ulibarri @druidmechanics.bsky.social · 28/11/2024

Times in programming when I was blocked for days on end, I learned and grew the most as a developer. Finding the solution to a seemingly impossible challenge is a major breakthrough.

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Stephen Ulibarri @druidmechanics.bsky.social · 27/11/2024

Gatekeepers' gates are solely dependent on your belief in them.

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Stephen Ulibarri @druidmechanics.bsky.social · 25/11/2024

If you aren't getting any compiler errors, you aren't challenging yourself enough.

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Stephen Ulibarri @druidmechanics.bsky.social · 24/11/2024

Life's filled with try/catch blocks. But all the magic happens in the try.

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Stephen Ulibarri @druidmechanics.bsky.social · 23/11/2024

As a developer, especially an indie, we often do our work isolation. It can be nice to find someone who shares your excitement, so you can revel in your victories together.

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Stephen Ulibarri @druidmechanics.bsky.social · 23/11/2024

If you're feeling a bit like butter, spread across too much bread, it might be time for a break. Your work will be there when you get back.

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Stephen Ulibarri @druidmechanics.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

You can create raw C++ classes in Unreal, just like in any other C++ project. I think Unreal devs often forget that and opt for classes in the Unreal hierarchy, taking on unnecessary inherited code and features they don't need. You can even use smart pointers to manage them.

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Stephen Ulibarri @druidmechanics.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

We get a lot of sus DMs from randos on our Discord. Some can sound quite convincing. I recommend never clicking on links from random unsolicited DMs in general. Lots of phishing and scams going on.

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Stephen Ulibarri @druidmechanics.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

Check your startup apps. Does Steam really need to be running in the background?

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