Blog
225 posts on game development, programming, and indie games.
- blogby MrPhilJai in 2026: The State of Jonathan Blow's Programming Language
Jai — from closed beta to the upcoming open-source release, community growth, and how it compares to Odin and Zig.
- blogby MrPhilThe Last Techno-Scribes
AI is to programming what the printing press was to hand-copying manuscripts. That's wonderful for humanity and terrifying for the scribes.
- blogby MrPhilLetter to Congress: DoD's Threat Against Anthropic
A template letter to send your representatives about the Department of Defense's threat to designate Anthropic a 'supply chain risk' for maintaining AI safety restrictions.
- blogby MrPhilMyFitnessPal Bought Something Anyone Can Build
MyFitnessPal acquired Cal AI for its photo-based calorie tracking. Two teens built it. In the age of AI, so could anyone else.
- blogby MrPhilThe DoD Wants AI Without Guardrails. Gamers Should Care.
The DoD threatened to blacklist Anthropic for refusing to remove AI safety restrictions. Gamers have seen this playbook before.
- blogby MrPhilMCP Is Wasting Your Context Window (And How to Fix It)
The Model Context Protocol loads every tool definition upfront, burning up to 30% of your AI's memory before you type a word. Here's what a leaner version could look like.
- blogby MrPhilWhat Stripe's Minions Get Right About Coding Agents
Stripe's AI coding agents produce over 1,300 merged PRs per week with zero human-written code. The secret isn't a better model — it's better infrastructure.
- blogby MrPhilCLAUDE.md for Game Devs: The File That Makes AI Actually Understand Your Game
Your AI coding agent is brilliant but clueless about your game. CLAUDE.md fixes that. Here's how to write one that actually works for game projects.
- blogby MrPhilWhat is Agentic Coding? (And Why It Changes Everything)
Agentic coding is the biggest shift in software development since the IDE. Here's what it is, how it works, and why I'm building all my games with it.
- blogby MrPhilStellar Throne Devlog #10 — From Bug Fixes to Breakthroughs
Fleet navigation, event system, research persistence, and construction system all fixed and implemented. 13 commits, 1000+ lines changed.
- blogby MrPhilStellar Throne Devlog #8: Validation, Parity, and Precision
Building a comprehensive serialization parity test framework, fixing floating-point precision, and validating the dual-engine architecture.
- blogby MrPhilStellar Throne Devlog #9: Visual Parity and Data Preservation
Fixing star rendering, preserving planet data, restoring entity names, and fleet composition through Zig serialization improvements.
- blogby MrPhilStellar Throne Devlog #7: The Zig Simulation Goes Live
The Zig simulation backend is now live in production. Bidirectional serialization breakthrough enables the 52x performance improvement.
- blogby MrPhilStellar Throne Devlog #6 — Zig Parity and Production Deployment
Comprehensive parity testing, 11 bugs fixed, and the Zig backend reaches production-ready status with 52.7x performance improvement.
- blogby MrPhilStellar Throne Devlog #4 — The Great Migration: GDScript to Zig Complete
All 23 game managers fully ported from GDScript to Zig. 333 tests passing, TOML config migration complete, and simulation system track 2 underway.
- blogby MrPhilStellar Throne Devlog #5 — All 21 Zig Simulation Phases Implemented + Parity Tester Online (52.7x Faster)
All 21 simulation phases complete in Zig with 52.7x speed improvement. TOML config system, rehabilitated test suite, and parity framework built.
- blogby MrPhilGround Combat & Territory Borders Revamped
Ground combat gets strength bars, ownership updates, and battlefield grids. Territory borders redesigned with shaders.
- blogby MrPhilStellar Throne Changelog Week of August 8-15, 2025
Major planetary warfare upgrades with Orbital Bombardment and Ground Invasion systems, redesigned Ground Combat UI, and dozens of bug fixes.
- blogby MrPhilWhen the Bug Breaks Before You Do
A multi-day struggle with a persistent combat timing bug, exhausting every debugging strategy before a final standard approach resolved it.
- blogby MrPhilBugs, Battles, and a Bit of Scroll Sorcery
Combat UI scroll fix in Stellar Throne and ClaudeCraft course structure progress with modules 7-10 complete.
- blogby MrPhilWhy I'm Making ClaudeCraft
Four core reasons for building ClaudeCraft: democratizing game creation, empowering creative communities, learning through teaching, and embracing AI's creative future.
- blogby MrPhilRedesigning the Battlefield: Combat UI Overhaul & ClaudeCraft Takes Shape
Comprehensive combat UI screen infrastructure redesign and launching the ClaudeCraft 10-week program for AI-assisted game development.
- blogby MrPhilPatching Up Combat and Building Better Testing Tools
Refining combat UI, building a Zig-based test harness, and creating specialized Claude agents for development and quality control.
- blogby MrPhilOpus 4.1, GUT Migration, and Combat UI Overhaul
Upgraded to Opus 4.1, migrated to GUT testing framework, and evaluated six combat UI layout designs.
- blogby MrPhilUpgrading to Godot 4.3 (Opus 4.1) and Combat UI Progress
Upgraded to Godot 4.3, performed a full codebase audit, and continued combat UI fleet layout improvements.
- blogby MrPhilCombat Returns (Sort Of)
Chasing elusive bugs to bring combat back online, fixing fleet behavior, engagement triggers, and optimizing loading screens.
- blogby MrPhilRefactoring with AI: Lessons in Trust, Testing, and Prompts
AI-assisted refactoring with Claude requires clear boundaries. Restored build buttons, loading screen, and ship construction timing.
- blogby MrPhilClosing the Parity Gap in Godot
Fog of war restored, star field in place, animated notifications implemented, and CLAUDE.md earns a 9.5/10 audit score.
- blogby MrPhilGodot Port Complete (Mostly!)
The Godot port reaches functional completion with fleet travel, 96 technologies, fog-of-war, and interactive panels all working.
- blogby MrPhilStellar Throne: Porting Progress & Platform Trade-Offs
Huge porting strides across combat, strategic layer, and UI systems. Comparing the Godot and Zig development workflows.
- blogby MrPhilStellar Throne Enters Alpha: Polish, Audio, and the Godot Port Begins
Stellar Throne officially reaches Alpha. The transition to Godot begins with foundational migration, galaxy rendering, and core mechanics ported.
- blogby MrPhilStellar Throne Devlog — Phase 6 Complete, Diplomacy & Polish Begin
Phase 6 Galaxy Generation finalized. AI systems, diplomacy, and Phase 7 Polish begun. Fleet-splitting UI bug fixed.
- blogby MrPhilRefactoring, Regression Fixes, and the Case Against Unit Tests?
Unit test failures down to one, UI buttons restored, combat bugs squashed, and questioning the ROI on unit tests.
- blogby MrPhilCLAUDE.md Audit Continues, Test Suite Nears Green
Most unit tests passing with only 9 remaining. CLAUDE.md audit yields real architectural benefits through event-based system migration.
- blogby MrPhilTest Breakdown and Recovery Mode
Expanded test runner with pass/fail/skip summary, but memory leaks and broken tests surfaced. Codebase review against CLAUDE.md rules underway.
- blogby MrPhilTest Coverage, CLAUDE Compliance, and a Safer Codebase
Improved unit test coverage, built a test counting verification system, and completed a CLAUDE.md audit pass.
- blogby MrPhilThe Case of the Missing Unit Tests
Discovered that Claude-generated unit tests weren't being added to the test runner, creating a false sense of coverage.
- blogby MrPhilSmarter UI, Safer Fleets, and Combat Sanity
Persistent notifications, top nav buttons, combat visualization fixes, and protecting ships in transit from combat engagement.
- blogby MrPhilRefactors, Bug Fixes, and Sprite Progress
Seven major files refactored for AI tooling compatibility, playtesting bug fixes, and ongoing planet sprite sheet development.
- blogby MrPhilFog of War, First Playthrough, and Prompt Engineering Wins
Fog of war visuals implemented, first complete playthrough completed, fuel system removed, and ChatGPT used as a prompt architect for Claude.
- blogby MrPhilResearch Deepens, Energy Burns, and the Galaxy Pushes Back
Research system enhanced with tiers and gating, energy system adds tactical limitations, and smart notifications surface pending actions.
- blogby MrPhilExplosions, Research, and High-Fidelity Sprites
SpriteSheetMaker upgraded with Mitchell filter, bombardment and ground combat systems operational, save/load UI built, and research framework established.
- blogby MrPhilA Big Systems Push — Colonization, Borders, and Battles
Major systems day: colonization, territory borders, sensors, fleet management, ship components, trade, victory tracking, and battle system implemented.
- blogby MrPhilRestart, Rebuild, Recalibrate
Complete restart of Stellar Throne after snake_case corruption. Rebuilt star map, fleet movement, HUD, and created SpriteSheetMaker tool.
- blogby MrPhilEditor Progress & CLAUDE.md Wrangling
In-game data editor with tree view and inline editing. CLAUDE.md audit reveals Python-driven refactor damage from snake_case replacements.
- blogby MrPhilStellar Throne Devlog — July 15, 2025
CLAUDE.md violation audit completed, new landing page for mrphilgames.com, star map icons generated, and Substack newsletter launched.
- blogby MrPhilStellar Throne Development Log: July 14, 2025
CLAUDE.md finalized at 9/10 quality, sprite sheets generated for all planet and star types, and Jekyll-based mrphilgames.com launched.
- blogby MrPhilWhy CLAUDE.md Exists
CLAUDE.md serves as a specification document giving AI tools essential project context, creating a living contract between human and AI.
- blogby MrPhilStellar Throne Devlog: Ground Combat, Ship Upgrades & First Contact
Major features: planetary invasions, ship retrofit system, first contact diplomacy, orbital bombardment, and trade/supply lines.
- blogby MrPhilStellar Throne: Building a 4X Strategy Game with AI Coding Tools
An overview of Stellar Throne — a turn-based 4X strategy game built with Zig, SDL2, and AI coding tools like Claude Code and ChatGPT.
- blogby MrPhilExploring Agentic and Vibe Coding: My Early Impressions
Early experiences with agentic coding and vibe coding — two emerging AI development paradigms that expand both workflow and creative thinking.
- blogby MrPhilIf Only We Liked Compromise
The problem with Democracy is that no one gets their "Correct" view encoded into law. Everything is a compromise.
- blogby MrPhilSet Phasers to Fun
Live long and prosper. Have fun. Feel good feels. Help others feel good feels.
- blogby MrPhilCrimson Crisis: Where We've Been and Where We're Going
A couple months ago I started game development again. Which begs the question: What am I going to do about Crimson Crisis?
- blogby MrPhilGame design through animation?
I'm experimenting with using animation as a design tool. Trying to get my ideas organized and out of my head. Tiktok seems like a good place for these sort o...
- blogby MrPhilJai close to Beta!
Last night, Abner announced on his Twitch stream that Jai is close to beta release with a list of items that need to be completed.
- blogby MrPhilDay 1
Today is a special day for me. It is Day 1 of my Indie adventure! I’m pretty excited and a bit scared!I'll be blogging about my experien...
- blogby MrPhilThe Road Not Taken
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it be...
- blogby MrPhilLudum Dare 41: First Time with Godot
I'll be participating in Ludum Dare 41! Pretty excited to use Godot for the first time!
- blogby MrPhilLudum Dare 41
I'll be participating in Ludum Dare 41! Pretty excited to use Godot for the first time! I might make some posts over on ldjam.com : MrP...
- blogby MrPhilTower Defence: Ludum Dare 40 Warmup Game
Ludum Dare is coming soon, Dec 1 and occasionally I like to use new techs during the jam. So, I’ve decided to try Gamemaker 2 this time...
- blogby MrPhilUnite Austin 2017
I attended Unity’s Conference, Unite, in Austin this year. There are a lot of interesting improvements coming down the pipeline but not...
- blogby MrPhilWeird Fractal Thing
It isn't a game, but I made this interesting looking thing, a sort of moving fractal. I know my Grandpa would have thought it was cool...
- blogby MrPhilUnity Subscriptions, What You Need to Know
Update: Unity has announced some changes here: http://blogs.unity3d.com/2016/06/16/evolution-of-our-products-and-pricing/ I've made ed...
- blogby MrPhilSeamless Texture Generator (Update)
A follow-up post about the Seamless Texture Generator with a link to learn more.
- blogby MrPhilNotes on Jiro Dreams of Sushi
I watch Jiro Dreams of Sushi on Jonathan Blow's recommendation, he calls it an example of "Deep Work." Jiro Ono makes sushi, and has be...
- blogby MrPhilWhat Unity Games are on Steam?
Updated 2014-01-16This is a question I hear a lot and here's what I've learned: 2013 Race the Sun [source] ittle Dew [source] ...
- blogby MrPhilLet's Play: Horse Lords of Bolighar
I decided to do an experiment this month and make some Let's Play YouTube videos. I'm playing Crusader Kingdoms 2 with the Horse Lords...
- blogby MrPhilI voted in the IGDA 2015 Board of Directors Election! Have you? #IGDAElection
I voted in the IGDA 2015 Board of Directors Election!
- blogby MrPhilNotes on How To Design Deep Games with Jonathan Blow
I watched Jonathan Blow's talk How To Design Deep Games with Jonathan Blow which is actually kind of a misleading title because the tal...
- blogby MrPhilNAND To Rule Them All
Just a little something I've been messing with. #LogicGates #NANDToRuleThemAll pic.twitter.com/iIx7zaOUxl— MrPhil (@xMrPhil) January 2...
- blogby MrPhilText Adventure gamejam from afar with IGDA DC
The DC chapter of IGDA is doing a Text Adventure gamejam this weekend at the Westwood college:http://sjklevine.com/igda_dc/textjam/I n...
- blogby MrPhilTech Demo: Voronoi Algorithm
Here's a small tech demo I've been working on. It's the application of the Voronoi Algorithm to a map's political boundaries as two pla...
- blogby MrPhilNotes on Jonathan Blow's Reddit Ask Me Anything
Jonathan Blow did an Ask Me Anything on Reddit Friday: I am Jonathan Blow, game development person; ask me stuff.I was specifically int...
- blogby MrPhilGame A Week Resources (and Level A Week)
The idea: - Make Many Games: Learn Many Things and Game A Week: Getting Experienced At FailureGame A Week: Facebook Group, subRedditLev...
- blogby MrPhilGame A Week 2
Week 2Idea: Strategy game about screening army/infantry movements using Calvary (like Napoleon did.)What went right: Nothing really.Wha...
- blogby MrPhilGame A Week 1
Adriel Wallick's wonderful post-mortem about her Game A Week experiment inspired me to try it out.Week 1Idea: How many games of pong ca...
- blogby MrPhilSustainable Creativity
Here's a wonderful webcomic about sustainable creativity by Stephen McCraine. It has some great insight and perspective on procrastinat...
- blogby MrPhilPosttraumatic Growth
We often hear of Posttraumatic stress disorder or PTSD, especially associated with combat veterans and difficulties they face returnin...
- blogby MrPhilJAI Language
Jonathan Blow of Braid fame gave interesting talks about making a new language to replace C/C++ specifically for making games.
- blogby MrPhilThe New Yorker's THE OPEN-OFFICE TRAP
An extremely interesting article has been published in The New Yorker this week: THE OPEN-OFFICE TRAP I think this is a very important ...
- blogby MrPhilIron Roads has a Greenlight Page!
I'm happy to report that the Greenlight page for Iron Roads went live last night! Please, show your support by Voting for the project!T...
- blogby MrPhilPAX East!
- blogby MrPhilSeamless Texture Generator
Exciting news! I've become the owner of Seamless Texture Generator which is a great tool for making tile textures for games (and other s...
- blogby MrPhilGDC 2013
This was my best GDC yet. I had some great business cards, my resume and something to talk about: founding and running the Washington...
- blogby MrPhilPAX East!
I went to PAX East! My first PAX. It was overwhelming and I had a great time. I was so busy going to panels and meeting people I di...
- blogby MrPhilGlobal Game Jam 2013
I participated in the Global Game Jam this year. It was my second appearence, the first time being in 2010 on Space Exodus.Here are my...
- blogby MrPhilDev Log 1/11/2013
This evening I worked on basic boiler plate stuff. I put some stuff up on github including Futile QuickStart I even made a pull reques...
- blogby MrPhilRecommended Game Development Reading, Watching and Playing
Updated 8/08/2013 Where to Start? Tips on your "First Game" Indie Game Design Do-s and Don't-s: A Manifesto Indie Resources @ Pix...
- blogby MrPhilFutile Quick Start
Futile is a framework that allows you to control rendering within Unity programmatically. This is a boon to anyone interested in 2D games and finds, like mys...
- blogby MrPhilGames Need Juice
I highly recommend watching this video about adding "juiciness" to game design:
- blogby MrPhilLudum Dare 24 - Post Mortem
- **Date:** August 24th-27th 2012 - **Theme:** Evolution - **Duration:** 48 hours to create a game from scratch
- blogby MrPhilInspiration: Small Worlds by David Shute
I first played "Small Worlds" by David Shute in 2009, and it won CGDC #6. This game has stuck in my mind for three key reasons:
- blogby MrPhilKickstarter: The Last Sleeper
I added The Last Sleeper to my list of Kickstart projects today. I really think the music by Erik Aadahl is well done. The latest upd...
- blogby MrPhilKickstarter Projects Worthy of Your Support
Here's another batch of interesting game project I've supporting on Kickstarter. They a look they need more support: UFHO2 - A Turn-ba...
- blogby MrPhilSeeds Of Destruction
I've just finished Ludum Dare 23. The theme was Tiny World, so I made a game about Seed warfare. It came out pretty good. You can pla...
- blogby MrPhilIron Roads Goes to New Orleans
- Figured out how to drawn lines using sprites, Thank you to XNA wiki - Rail links between cities drawn - Added a bunch of cities: Spr...
- blogby MrPhilWAUUG is born!
One my achomplishments of the holidays was the sucessful launch of WAUUG or the Washington (DC) Area Unity3D Users Group.http://capitalg...
- blogby MrPhilXNA SpriteFonts
While working on Iron Roads today, I tried to use the custom font Radius (a free font from Urban Fonts.) I like how the letters look...
- blogby MrPhilUnity3D #pragma strict Gotch
I was working with some code in a book today and could not figure out why a variable was giving me problems.
- blogby MrPhilVenus Patrol – Kickstarter
I've added Venus Patrol to my stable of Kickstarter projects. It's basically rebooting Offworld for Boing Boing.
- blogby MrPhilAmericana Dawn: The Long Goodbye
An interesting freeware project with an early America setting, funded on 8-Bit Funding.
- blogby MrPhilFree RPG tileset for indie game developers
I came across an interesting Kickstarter project today called Free RPG tileset for indie game developers.
- blogby MrPhilHurricane Irene
If you want to help the victims of Irene start here: Network For Good: Hurricane Irene Hurricane Irene is causing a lot of stir. Game...
- blogby MrPhilArt Requires Influence
These are some thought provoking videos about the origin of art and creativity. I recommend you watch them:
- blogby MrPhilLudum Dare 21 - Update 2
Sick of fighting with Unity. Switching to XNA. And, I have a party to goto now, so I don't expect too much of a game done by Sunday night. That's the way Lud...
- blogby MrPhilLudum Dare 21
I'm about half way through this weekend's Ludum Dare 21 (although the traffic level is really bad right now.) The theme is _Escape_.
- blogby MrPhilSfxr + ActionScript = bfxr
Someone took Dr. Petter's awesome sound effects wizard Sfxr and rewrote in ActionScript. Not only that, but they made it open source and added the ability to...
- blogby MrPhilLudum Dare 21 - Conclusion
I didn't finish. I just didn't have my weekend clear. You really need a clear weekend to finish Ludum Dare. The tech change in the midd...
- blogby MrPhilLudum Dare 21 - Update 3
The XNA version of my game now surpasses the Unity version. What's working: Player display Player movement Player collision with i...
- blogby MrPhilLudum Dare 20
*Ludum Dare 20 game page. The original was playable in-browser using Silverlight, which is no longer supported by modern browsers.*
- blogby MrPhilLudum Dare 20 Has Begun
It's going to be a hard Ludum Dare, because the theme is It's Dangerous to go Alone! Take this!
- blogby MrPhilLudum Dare Career
Ludum Dare 19 is right around the corner, so let's take a moment to review my Ludum Dare Career.LD #6 - Light and Darkness, 2005 Puzzle...
- blogby MrPhilMinecraft: The Story of Mojang
The film makers behind the Penny Arcade series are making a documentary about Minecraft (you've heard of Minecraft right!?!) They are...
- blogby MrPhilShoppe is back up
The Mr. Phil Games Shoppe's database crashed horrible this weekend. I tried several different ways to get it back in operations, but w...
- blogby MrPhilLudum Dare 19 – UNSS Pasteur
What is Ludum Dare?: You have 48 hours to make a game from scratch meeting a theme announced at the start of the contest. Learn more ab...
- blogby MrPhilLudum Dare 19 – UNSS Pasteur
*Ludum Dare 19 game page. The original was playable in-browser using Silverlight, which is no longer supported by modern browsers.*
- blogby MrPhilLudum Dare 19 Coming Soon
I'll be participating in Ludum Dare 19 - December 17th-20th, 2010, you can follow my dev diary of the event at Ludum Dare's site. I'm a...
- blogby MrPhilLudum Dare 12 – Stacker
*Stacker game page. The original was playable in-browser but the technology is no longer supported by modern browsers.*
- blogby MrPhilPretty Target
I created a nice visual target, literally, to aim for. It took me a little bit of time to figure out how to visually display the target separate from the col...
- blogby MrPhilSeptember 11th
Today marks the anniversary of September 11th. I want to take a moment to remember Teresa Martin, a Civilian Employee confirmed dead at the Pentagon on Septe...
- blogby MrPhilLudum Dare 18
*Ludum Dare 18 game entry. The original was playable in-browser using Flash, which is no longer supported by modern browsers.*
- blogby MrPhilGames are Art, here's my example
Roger Ebert has softened his stance on video games as art. While he isn't convinced that some game, somewhere might be art, he at least leaves that it is pos...
- blogby MrPhilLD17
*Ludum Dare 17 game entry. The original was playable in-browser using Unity Web Player, which is no longer supported by modern browsers.*
- blogby MrPhilGoodbye Shoppe
I knew when Amazon.com bought Reflexive that my game shoppee’s days where numbered. It is a big reason why I left Vermont and found a “real” job. Today, my ...
- blogby MrPhilSteamBirds
SteamBirds, planes and dog fights! Imagine if someone updated that old Atari combat game.
- blogby MrPhilPAX BRITANNICA
- blogby MrPhilMini Ludum Dare #16: Constraints
I'll be participating this weekend in the Mini Ludum Dare #16, whose theme is Constraints.
- blogby MrPhilWhitney Hess
[](https://whitneyhess.com/blog/)I discovered http://whitneyhess.com/blog/ thanks to http://www.gaminghorror.net/ today and watched her presentation Evangelizing Y...
- blogby MrPhilGame Legend is now in open beta
 I’ve opened the door to my new website Game Legend It is a...
- blogby MrPhilIron Roads Retargeted to SilverLight 3.0
The big news today is that Silverlight 3.0 has been released. This is means a change for Iron Roads. I've been working with Silverlight...
- blogby MrPhilCan I choose in which screen corner Steam notifications show up?
This was moved here from GameLegend.com after StackExchange took the site down. As long as I can remember, Steam notifications always popped up in the bottom...
- blogby MrPhilCity Builder Game DRM Burned
The city builder game Dawn of Discovery was released at the end of June and I’ve heard a lot of good buzz about it. It even got a Metascore of 84. It seems l...
- blogby MrPhilNo Progress on Iron Roads
It has been a while since I'm made any posts because I've been so busy with the move. On April 1st (no fooling) I drove a U-Haul with...
- blogby MrPhilMore wiggly coasts
The top image is an older screen shot so you can better see my progress and the second one I took today. You have to look hard to see...
- blogby MrPhilBANNED! Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble!
Big Fish Games has banned "Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble" from their service. Despite having a Teen rating from TIGRS, the game was removed due to "...
- blogby MrPhilDangerous High School Girls in Trouble!
Congratulations to Mousechief! Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble! has been nominated by the Writer's Guild of America as a 2009 Video Game Writing Award...
- blogby MrPhilNew Project: Iron Roads
The holidays have kept me so busy I haven't talked any about my new project. Another Ludum Dare 48 Hour game development contest occurred the weekend of Dece...
- blogby MrPhilLudum Dare 12
*Ludum Dare 12 game entry. The original was playable in-browser using Flash, which is no longer supported by modern browsers.*
- blogby MrPhilLudum Dare 13: Iron Roads
I went on a old hard drive adventure this evening. My quest was to recover my code and executable from Ludum Dare 13 - Roads, from way b...
- blogby MrPhilSilverLight DevCamp Nugget #4
I'm running into some technical challenges with Visual Studio 2005 and SilverLight XAML files. The validation and Intellisense aren't working correctly for X...
- blogby MrPhilI've moved my blog
It's official, I've folded my blog, MrPhil Makes Games, into Mr. Phil Games. I'll be adding all new content there. For now, all my old posts here will rema...
- blogby MrPhilThe 10 reasons you will never finish your game
The 10 pitfalls of independent game development.
- blogby MrPhilSurprise in my stocking from Garage Games
I’m sure you heard that Microsoft released XNA Game Studio Express yesterday. What you might not have heard was Garage Games also released an open beta for T...
- blogby MrPhilXNA Magic
Frank Savage will amaze you by compiling a game on his PC and then deploying it to his XBOX 360 using XNA magic!
- blogby MrPhilDay of Infamy
December 7, 1941 - Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese naval force consisting of 6 aircraft carriers, 2 battleships, 2 heavy cruisers, 1 light cruiser,...
- blogby MrPhilWill Wright on the Colbert Report
Will Wright appeared on the Colbert Report last night. A kind netizen has posted the segment on Google Video. Mr. Wright does a great job and even managed to...
- blogby MrPhilTom Miller's render loop, a revision
Tom Miller, Managed DirectX's father figure, has made several posts on the game loop or render loop for the managed environment. His lastest post on the subj...
- blogby MrPhilMr. Phil Games Update
My download games website: Mr. Phil Games com got an update on Friday. It is a little less than I was aiming for but the "Featured" game section isn't quite ...
- blogby MrPhilGameProducer.NET
Today, I joined a very new forum belonging to GameProducer.Net. You probably recognized the name because author Juuso Hietalahti has had several very popula...
- blogby MrPhilDOH!, Pause = Thread.Sleep(42)
So I’ve been working with .Net for years and today I put something together that made me feel foolish for not already realizing. Especially since I’ve used T...
- blogby MrPhilOur Strange Lingo
When the English tongue we speak. Why is break not rhymed with freak? Will you tell me why it’s true We say sew but likewise few? And the maker of the verse,...
- blogby MrPhilRe-Mission - a game saving children's lives
A scientific study showed that young people who played Re-Mission were more likely to stick to their medication regimens.
- blogby MrPhilNew word from the Gulf Coast
My family lives on the Gulf Coast. They survived hurricane Katrina, but not much of their stuff did. I recently noticed they have begun using an interesti...
- blogby MrPhilVideo Games Help Kids
I read this fascinating article on News.com: Video game therapy--a new frontier. It is about how video games are being used to help children with brain damag...
- blogby MrPhilPoliticians like to ignore reality
The politicians are at it again, trying to use the game industry to score points, all the while ignoring reality. I’m always suspicious when politicians want...
- blogby MrPhilI'm addicted to Grow
Truly, I'm addicted to these cool Grow games. The maker should put together a game where each one is a level. I'd definitely buy it.
- blogby MrPhilVideogame market set to double by 2011
"According to the study, the videogame market will expand from $32.6 billion in 2005 to $65.9 billion in 2011. Online and mobile gaming will be the primary s...
- blogby MrPhilIt'll ship when it is ready
GameDailyBIZ is reporting, "Sony will not be releasing the PlayStation 3 until the company is completely prepared." (Link) They didn’t have any quotes that I...
- blogby MrPhilDirectX 10 SDK updated (Feb 2006)
The DirectX10 preview has a new update available. Highlights include the cross-platform audio tool XACT, more samples, tutorials and improved multithreaded ...
- blogby MrPhilGamer's brains work better, but I still wouldn't want my kids to play them.
Studies show that gamer's brains work better and are more resilient to aging.
- blogby MrPhilSource Code Search Engine
A search engine for source code called Krugle launching in March!
- blogby MrPhilDevil is in the details, right?
I recently got my hands on **Game Architecture and Design**. So far I've been impressed with it and I'm going to try and follow it chapter by chapter and app...
- blogby MrPhilT2D release Alpha 4!
Garage Games has release Alpha 4 of T2D 1.1 and it is a more complete release than the previous alphas.
- blogby MrPhilESA: Sales, demographics and usage data
The ESA (Entertainment Software Association) has released 2005 ESSENTIAL FACTS ABOUT THE COMPUTER AND VIDEO GAME INDUSTRY.
- blogby MrPhilTa Da! Make It Big In Games
Jeff Tunnell of Garage Games has launched a new blog site call Make It Big In Games.
- blogby MrPhilBand albums sales take off because of... a game!?!
Chicago band Fall Out Boy sold 70,000 copies of their new album in one week after the music was featured on "Tony Hawk's American Wasteland," a skateboarding...
- blogby MrPhilCall for essays on advanced rendering techniques
Wolfgang Engel of the Shader...
- blogby MrPhilTexas proposes 100% Game Tax
 Gamespot has a disturbing ...
- blogby MrPhilBBC's Gamers in the UK
Wonderland has gotten a hold of the BBC's Gamers in the UK. It is a great collection and explanation of research on gamer's habits.
- blogby MrPhilDo the little things now
I have a procrastination problem (as some of you may have noticed.) One of the ‘reason’ behind this is I tend to over engineer things and make mountains out ...
- blogby MrPhilMoving to subversion
 I've recently decided to move my source control from my local visual SourceSafe setup to a subversion hosting co...
- blogby MrPhilMessed about a little today with Torque’s networking code
I messed about a little today with Torque's networking code. I was looking to see if they used bit packing.
- blogby MrPhilVerizon and Allegheny Power halts Christmas Lights
The Washington Post has a story about how Verizon and Allegheny Power put the brake on a Christmas tradition going back over sixty years. The city of Lonacon...
- blogby MrPhilBug Me Not
Hate having to always register with sites to view the useful information? Have trouble remebering what you user name was? This is the prefect solution. Bug M...
- blogby MrPhilReal Arcade Top Ten History
James C. Smith of Reflexive Entertainment fame, makers of Ricochet has started an interesting website collecting information about the Top Ten Games on Real ...
- blogby MrPhilThe Digital Boneyard
Wondering what to do with the great art and tools created for a game that never saw the light of day? Put them up for adoption at the The Digital Boneyard!
- blogby MrPhil325,902 Xbox 360 sold in November
More at http://www.gameinformer.com/NR/exeres/2A7C6498-633B-4EE2-A453-BA241BB736D6.htm
- blogby MrPhilTaperwire
"These products could be the solution to many a geeks problems. Imagine all your cat5 and speaker wires disappearing into the walls with out having to acutal...
- blogby MrPhilMy excuse for procrastinating Christmas shopping this weekend
I've found the perfect excuse to procrastinate Christmas shopping for the entire weekend! The Ludum Dare starts tonight at midnight! What Ludum Dare? It is a...
- blogby MrPhilThings I learned at Torque Boot Camp Day 3
Notes from Day 3 of Torque Boot Camp. Variable naming conventions, memory management, and more.
- blogby MrPhilThings I learned at Torque Boot Camp Day 2
Notes from Day 2 of Torque Boot Camp. Successful people fiddle with Torque before trying to make a game.
- blogby MrPhilThings I learned at Torque Boot Camp Day 1
Notes from Day 1 of Torque Boot Camp. Doxygen, ShowTool Pro, DTS vs DIF shapes, and more.
- blogby MrPhilThings I learned at IGC Day 3
Notes from Day 3 of the Indie Games Conference. Attach rate vs conversion rate, Apple's third party sales, and Ghetto Linux.
- blogby MrPhilThings I learned at IGC Day 2
Notes from Day 2 of the Indie Games Conference. Business cards are a must, even if you are just a hobbyist.
- blogby MrPhilThings I learned at IGC Day 1
Notes from Day 1 of the Indie Games Conference. TDN is in beta, drink tickets, and the universal urge to build game engines from scratch.
- blogby MrPhilHello, welcome to Mr.Phil's group therapy session.
Hello, welcome to Mr.Phil's group therapy session.
- blogby MrPhilEditors Note
Editor note: this first appeared at garagegames.com. A deep dive into choosing a Torque Script editor.
- blogby MrPhilTorque 2D Stealth Launch
The big news last week was the stealth release of Torque 2D, more affectionately know as T2D. I've already started a parallel version of my game using it an...
- blogby MrPhilThey can't eat you
I found this very interseting article today and instead of just tucking it away in my files I decided it'd be fun to share with everyone. Plus I'll know exac...
- blogby MrPhilA new direction
I've decided to be more open about my game development process. I am creating a 4X strategy game, and I want to share my journey with you.
- blogby MrPhilWhy I'm back and what I've learned
I want to share my struggles with procrastination and finding motivation in game development, along with two key insights I've learned:
- blogby MrPhilStrategy Pattern
The Strategy Pattern allows flexibility in object behavior for game development. Here's a C# example that demonstrates how to encapsulate different behaviors...
- blogby MrPhilObject Cloning Using Reflection
Today on Alastair Patrick’s blog he shared a way to use reflection to clone objects which I found really interesting. I took the liberty of expanding the exa...
- blogby MrPhilEngine Code Reorganized
Feeling pretty sick today, but I finished the code reorganizing I started yesterday.
- blogby MrPhilPortal Code Organized
Got the portal code all organized today and into the Vault, thanks SourceGear.
- blogby MrPhilSite Overhaul
I switched the website to the ASP.Net platform today using the www.asp.net portal starter kit.
- blogby MrPhilA blog day
Lately I've found myself reading blogs because I'll come across them while hunting for a coding solution on the web.
- blogby MrPhilInteresting Fail States and more
I spent my first day at the Game Developer Conference this year in the Play Testing Strategies Tutorial.
- blogby MrPhilDid you say, "Make a game with C#?"
Been doing a lot of research and work lately! I found some resources and technology I'm really excited about.
- blogby MrPhilBootstraps Vs Tall Shoulders
Should I use a game engine or not? Initially my gut reaction is to resist. I don't want to use someone else's work.
- blogby MrPhil(INSERT BIG BANG SOUND)
And so Mr. Phil makes his first blog entry. The purpose of this blog is to create a record of my struggle against procrastination and other ghastly inner demons.