
_This was the first video game I ever created. It is a infinite horde space shooter that heavily based off of Space Invaders. The objective in the game is to eliminate all enemy spaceships before you die. This game was created purely in Java_

## Tools, Technologies, and Skills

- Eclipse IDE for development
- Photoshop for graphics and sprites
- Simple graphics editing in Photoshop
- Basic object oriented programming

## Challenges, Issues, and their Resolutions

Starting off is never easy, and boy was this project no exception. As mentioned above I wish that I had a stricter planning and development process. My process for this project was to just think of what I wanted to implement and then spend hours dredging through the Java API and a plethora of internet forums to try to find answers. As you can imagine, this was in no way effective, but as a newbie I was ignorant of the fact of how a good plan can lead to a much faster and more easily maintainable code. Ultimately the challenges weren't ones with code (those are there regardless, and there were MANY here), but instead with planning. The resolution for this was quite straight forward, **PLAN MORE**, and think the problem and implementation through before starting. (:

## What did I Learn

During production of this game I was learning to program at the same time. This combination at the time did not work so well since there wasn't a real structure to my work or process in any form. It took me immensely longer to create this game than it would have, in retrospect. In the same vein, learning object oriented programming in the process was a vital step to learning the basics of programming (as this was one of my primary objectives of this undertaking). As an avid gamer, I definitely garnered a new found appreciation for game development, and software development in general. In addition, learning simple photoshop to create simple sprites for the game was a much lesser challenge then trying to figure out how to actually implement the game, but I ultimately managed to create a product that was not a complete disaster.

## Links

- [Source Code](https://github.com/ShabazBadshah/SpaceWars)
- [Video Demo](http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=vSHpG_tWrcE)


This was the first video game I ever created. It is a infinite horde space shooter that heavily based off of Space Invaders. The objective in the game is to eliminate all enemy spaceships before you die. This game was created purely in Java.

A Space Invaders Remake


_Tetris is one of the most influential games ever created, and one of my personal favorites (I'm not very good at it). This was the second game I ever made. My objective for this game was to create it in as little time as possible (at most 5 days) with a unique implementation. This game took me 4 days non-stop to create, and was programmed in Java._

# Tools, Technologies, and Skills

- Eclipse IDE for development
- Photoshop for graphics and sprites
- Copious amounts of coffee
- Object oriented programming (use of MVC design pattern, I wasn't intentionally aware of this at the time)
- Fast iteration of solutions to a problem (trying to quickly come up with implementations for the logic of Tetris)
- Image editing and processing via Photoshop

# Challenges, Issues, and their Resolutions

Determining an implementation for this game was the most difficult part due to the time constraint I had set on myself. So, I got out a piece of paper and just started writing down possible ways to implement the logic and graphics of the game. Ultimately, I came to the conclusion of the 2 following implementations for the logic:

- Using an nxn grid of booleans to keep track of where each tetromino was located. Draw the shapes wherever the value was True
- A collision based approach where each tetromino would have a position variable, and that variable would be used to calculate where to draw the shapes

Eventually I chose the boolean grid approach due to the fact that keeping track of True/False values made work simpler than keeping track of each tetromino's position. The pieces were also True/False values; as the blocks would move down the grid, the game would update its grid based on the values of each piece. The rotation logic also took a little bit of effort to implement but was relatively simple when compared to implementing the grid.

# What did I Learn

Sometimes iterating through a plethora of solutions very quickly is a good way to determine the best solution. If you think something might not work try to implement it and figure out improvements upon it, or try to attempt a different solution. When working with teams you have to complete projects with very strict deadlines. During this process, if a solution does not work you will have to quickly determine another solution. This project gave me a sense of this urgency.

On a more direct note, I definitely learned a lot about arrays and other general container objects, pertaining to performance. Iterating through different implementations allowed me to begin forming a general workflow for projects or any other type of work, which I will undoubtedly use in the future. Roughly speaking the process goes something like this:

- Write down exactly what your objective for the project is
- Write down the general steps and sections you will have to go through to reach that objective
- Come up with mockups, algorithms, architecture, etc before starting any work on the app. Essentially think through solutions
- Create the product while solving and iterating through solutions if necessary. Also keep track of everything you do (daily logs, backups, design mockups, etc)
- Once project is complete, reflect upon it, and use this opportunity to create more improved products in the future

# Links

- [Source Code](https://github.com/ShabazBadshah/TetrisRemake)
- [Video Demo](http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=EOo-WPmIbdY)


This was the second Java game I ever made. My objective for this game was to create it in as little time as possible (at most 5 days) with a unique implementation.

Shabaz Badshah

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