Notepad++: Syntax highlighting for Killa 0.2

Some time ago I've made a UDL2 definition for Lua-based programming language called Killa.
Actually I was planning to wait until next version of language will be released (which alters standard module names, among other things), but apparently that isn't going to be that fast, so here it is.

If you don't know what Killa is, it's a Lua-based scripting language, which adds some JavaScript-like syntax parts (including proper for-loops, bitwise operators, ternary operators, assignment operators, and more) while keeping the pleasing parts of Lua in. Also it does not allow you to accidentally leak variables in global scope, which excludes possibility of common Lua "silent errors". There's also a topic about it here. You can read more about it there, if this sounds interesting for you.

Download UDL

Love2d: Haxe: Ray-circle intersection test

By user request on Love2d IRC channel, yesterday I've made this nice function to do intersection/collision check between a ray (for clearance, here, a ray is a infinite line with starting point but no end point) and a circle.

Underlying code is fairly simple, though it does not even require understanding to use the function.

Love2d version takes advantage of multi-return values.
Haxe version has slightly longer code due for more optimal implementation of interface.

Download Haxe .hx Download Love2d .love

Snip:

--[[
Does a ray-circle intersection test.
Parameters:
	x1, y1, di - x, y, direction (radians) of ray
	x, y, r - position & radius of circle
Returns:
	result - whether collision occurred
	x - collision X
	y - collision Y
	distance - distance from ray start to collision point
]]
function ray2circle(x1, y1, di, x, y, r)
	local vx = math.cos(di)
	local vy = math.sin(di)
	
	-- get relative XY of circle (relative to ray origin):
	x = x - x1
	y = y - y1
	
	-- rotate it based on ray direction (as if ray starts at XY=0 and goes at +X):
	local tx = x * vx + y * vy
	local ty = x * vy + y * -vx
	
	-- clear misses:
	if (tx < -r) or (ty > r) or (ty < -r) then
		return false, nil, nil, nil
	end
	
	-- find X coordinate that line hits rotated circle at
	th = math.abs(math.cos(math.asin(ty / r))) * r
	
	-- too far behind
	if (tx + th < 0) then
		return false, nil, nil, nil
	end
	
	-- line start is inside the circle:
	tx = tx - th
	if (tx < 0) then
		return true, x1, y1, 0
	end
	
	--
	return true, x1 + tx * vx, y1 + tx * vy, tx
end

Love2d: Semi-turn-based platformer

A very rushed Haxe version to demonstrate how it looks in motion.
Does not necessarily represent features of love2d version in this post.

This was originally going to be a short reply-fix for a topic on love2d forum, but it seems that author did get somewhere with figuring that out on ones own, and I've quite overdone it in terms of a simple answer, so I formatted the code nicely, added several more features, and made this example.

Just in case above demonstration does not work, this example demonstrates a specific approach to game dynamic, where game logic occurs once per interval, while things are drawn and receive input at higher rate. I do not recall any actual platformer games that would use this principle, but a good example of such game is Snake (original grid-based version).
Example includes grid-to-point collision checking, actual specific platformer behaviour (with adjustable values), and value tweening (to make player movement nice & smooth).

Download (2KB .love)

Love2d: A game in 8 minutes


A video.

Yesterday I've made a game in Love2d. In a bit over 8 minutes.
Originally I planned to get everything done in 5 minutes (similar to previous GameMaker-related post), however I somewhat overrated my ability to type 3-segment function names that I'm not that similar with.

Love2d: Platformer engine


Looks nice enough, right?

In free time of last days I've been developing earlier mentioned thing in Love2d, which is platformer engine.
One provides a simple framework for games that use combination of aligned tiles and dynamic objects.
As well it adds a easily modifiable system to load levels from strings, giving freedom for implementing level editors.

You can download a compiled version here or watch discussion thread on official forum here.

Love2d: Simple compilation to executable

While having a look at LÖVE engine, I've noticed that described compilation method under Windows is not quite fast or fun (because of requiring you to open console and type\paste project-specific code). So I've grabbed my semi-existing Batch coding skills and made a better one:
copy /b love.exe+%1 "%~dpn1.exe"
How to use this:
  1. Create a file called 'compile.bat' in the same directory with Love2d runner.
  2. Paste above code into it.
  3. To compile a game, drag it's .love\.zip onto your compile.bat - an executable (compiled game) will appear next to it, named after game's file.
That's it. Couldn't be easier.