Okay so last time I tried way too much and ended up just having a project that I couldn't run and did absolutely nothing. This time I thought first thing I would do is make sure that I can convert my 2010 JBEngine solution into a 2013 version. This brought quite a few problems:

First of all there were issues with me having used NULL instead of nullptr's for the std::function objects I've used in a couple of places. This was fairly straight forward. 

The next thing that hit me and set me back a little is that I was getting a LNK2038 error because of the 3rd Party Networking library I was using (RakNet). This error basically meant that It was compiled in a Visual Studio Version that wasn't compatible. 

So I had to download the source and re-compile it in Vis 2013. A bit of a pain but it needed doing. Also whilst I'm doing this I am going to have a look through and make sure I create as many of the libraries as I can and link with them where needed. i.e. MTd, Mt and also the dll version. I think using the dll version would be more beneficial but I had this idea in my head about shipping my "Engine" as one binary but in terms of flexibility and general ease I will probably use the dll instead to avoid this happening again.

Another added note is that I'm going to keep hold of the source so that I can use it to make the Linux library when it comes time to doing cross platform development. 

One final annoyance was that the project wouldn't seem to build because Vis couldn't find rc.exe so after copying and pasting it to the correct path It all started working. ( Only took an hour or so! )

Okay so yesterday my motherboard and CPU arrived and I was really excited so I went and bought a little set of tools so I could get cracking on it when I got home. My thinking was, I don't need to bother buying RAM yet I can just stick my old RAM in for now and I will make do with 4gb. I had forgotten that my current desktop was over 7 years old now and only had DDR2 RAM.. Well done Jordan!

So I have a new Mobo and CPU sat in the corner of my room until I have the money to dish out for the RAM. The only positive I have taken away from this is that I hadn't actually started taking anything apart before realising this.

Okay so next on the cards is to finish off these library bits and pieces and then get it all checked in to git. I will then look at my new messaging implementation and try and get that integrated into the engine. This is sort of phase 1 of the new ECS Integration.

Cheers :)

Okay so my first day back into my JBEngine project and I decide to try and integrate the new ECS System into the engine. What a bloody mistake that was! I started off initially tidying up some of the classes of the new ECS and got it into a state that I thought it might merge over fairly easily. 

After swapping all the files across and realising exactly how many problems there were and all to do with classes being templated I quickly realised that it was a massive mistake. 

You definitely shouldn't jump into some code that you've not looked at for months and try and implement a massive piece of new functionality. It was just daft on my part. 

As a positive though at least I have done *something* even if it didn't quite work out this time, it wasn't really a failure:
"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." - Thomas A. Edison

Something else I thought I might mention is that I'm in the process of buying a new desktop. I managed to buy a new motherboard and CPU today and after next payday I will be able to buy some RAM and I will be good to go for a while. 

I will still need to buy a new GFX card as I'm still rocking an nVidia GeForce 8800 GTS, but it's not really a necessity for now. I will see how I feel on payday and decide whether I buy one ;)

I have also got another computer that I managed to save from being scrapped at one of my old jobs and I will be taking a few pieces from my current setup and putting it in that to use as a server. That way I can get a proper Server-Client test for my networking code.

Exciting stuff to come if I can keep up the work. 

Cheers :)

I'm now about two weeks into my new job and all seems to be going well. Everyone there is much more friendly than I had first thought they would be. I had this image of everyone being a corporate drone and wanting to just get there work done and go home but luckily this isn't the case.

Over the past few weeks I have been doing a lot of training as I really had no real clue about using Linux or even the products that IBM create there. It is all very much all the things I have stayed away from in the past: Networking and hardware. I have really come to grips with it now and I see how it is such a massive industry. At the end of the day even a small business ends up needing to think about some Networking/Storage Solution.

It was my Birthday on Thursday and I was spoilt rotten as always :)

Turning 24 isn't that special though, I was hoping I could be 21 forever but that didn't seem to pan out. Anyway on the Friday my girlfriend Meg treated me to a relaxing night away in Liverpool. We stayed at the amazing Titanic Hotel and we had a great night. The hotel was huge! It is where the Titanic used to dock and they have transformed into this amazing hotel whilst still keeping a lot of the industrial features. We both had such an amazing time there and spent a lot of time relaxing in the spa as you can see from the photo's.

Anyway that sort of sums up what I've been up to. Okay so there wasn't much talk of actual development but this is the first step towards getting some done. I had my desktop unplugged and out the way for a while but I've got it setup now and I'm hoping this post will spark off some motivation. 

My only worry is that because I didn't implement the new ECS system into my engine when I had my head in the code it might now take me a while longer to get it done.

Take it easy :)

Wow it's been a while since I did a blog post. I've really let it slide for quite a while recently and basically it's because I've not been doing any real dev work outside of work. This is a bit annoying but there are a few reasons for this. 

So last post I was talking about the game I was wanting to develop with a couple of other people. I have pretty much given up on this, there were some differences in how the project should be progressed and motivation for it dropped. I have never really had any trouble keeping motivation high for my own projects so that was an indicator for me that it wasn't working. 

I am going to start back up on my JBEngine project which is great as that is really where my interests lie. I may not have as polished a game as I could using a commercial engine but I think a lot of the satisfaction will come from the fact that I've built it all myself. 

That brings me to something else I have been thinking about. I'm going to really reign in the scope of my JBEngine project and try and create a 3D version of a classic arcade game. This will allow me to create a finished game hopefully and then I can polish and have a product that I can actually say I've completed. 

I've just got myself a new job as a Software Developer at the IBM Manchester Lab. I'm pretty damn excited about it and will hopefully be a massive career boost for me. The only thing I'm really nervous about is that they use Linux which I have never used before. This past week I have been getting myself up and running getting used to using Linux for development in preparation for starting on Monday. 

I will be fairly sad to leave Inspired Gaming as it was a really fun job and I got along well with everyone there. I've learnt a lot from the people there, and had much more experience working closely with a tester and project manager than I did at Arden. 

My new job will hopefully bring a lot more experience with it being such a different area to what I'm currently used to. 

I hope to back up and running with regular dev updates soon.

Cheers :)