Author Archives: Vadym

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A small guide on writing interpreters, part 2

label hello: select dialog("Hello! What would you like to do?") {
    option "Count to 5":
        for (var i = 1; i <= 5; i = i + 1) {
            wait(1);
            trace(i + "!");
        }
        return 1;
    option "Nothing": jump yousure;
}
label yousure: select dialog("You sure?") {
    option "Yes": trace("Well then,"); return 0;
    option "No": jump hello;
}

Example of supported syntax

As some might remember, earlier this year I have published a small guide on writing interpreters, which went over the process of implementing a basic interpreter capable of evaluating expressions consisting of numbers, operators, and variables.

This continuation of the guide further expands upon concept, outlining how to support calls, statements, and branching - enough for a small scripting language.

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GameMaker: Checking whether a string is a valid number


Some things are numbers, some aren't

GameMaker Studio 2.2.2 released few days ago, bringing, among improvements, "GML consistency", which changes how automatic type conversion works in corner cases.

A little less known thing, together with that it also changed how GameMaker's string-to-number conversion function (real) works, having it throw an error if your string is definitely not a number.

A slight inconvenience, given that there is not a function to check if a string is a number before attempting conversion.

But, of course, that can be fixed.

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FAQ: Things I made with Haxe

A wireframe Haxe icon on a familiar calm blue background

Recently someone pointed out that they never knew that GMEdit was made in Haxe, and that you often don't even know that something was made in Haxe. Which is a pretty good point - for instance, you might suspect that a lot of things that I do have some parts of them written in Haxe, but never exact.

So, as for my activities, I looked over the local projects and formed a semi-comprehensive list of which of my works to date were made in Haxe, and to what extent (excluding ones still under non-disclosure agreements, obviously).

Also includes an opening on why I like Haxe anyway.

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A yellow accent skin for GameMaker Studio 2 (and how to make your own)


(click for full-window version)

As it becomes increasingly more apparent that many people are completely unware of GameMaker Studio 2 having a light skin and fail to recognize it as being GameMaker as such, I have decided to stop using it for screenshots in my assets/blog posts.

However, the default dark skin is a little boring, so I decided to make a custom one with a familiar yellow tone for accents. This also doubles as a general explanation on how to make skins.

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GameMaker: sprite_add_sprite in Studio / Studio 2

On this fine day[1], we're[2] proud to announce that we're bringing back everyone's[3] favourite GameMaker 8.x function!

That's right, we're bringing back sprite_add_sprite! 🎉

Now, you might be thinking either "this is not what I've expected" or "this is exactly what I expected [after reading the title] and I only have more questions now". You see, there's not always justification for things happening, sometimes they just do.

Should you actually need this function or if this introduction got you curious, take a seat and let me tell you a story (and some code),

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