I'm as failed game developer. Game development using SFML lib Part 1

05.01.2025

Freelance, trading, and C++

It all started when I was 20, way back in 2020. I was sitting in a tree (no, seriously) and thinking about what to do. I was thinking about it and decided to try programming. Honestly, I didn't really think about where to start. I knew that C++ was popular, and why not. And so it went.

Of course, the first thing I did was go to YouTube to watch tutorials. To master the syntax of my first programming language. I knew 2 languages, so there were no restrictions in choosing tutorials. I found this wonderful Russian-speaking vlogger and started mastering the syntax.

I was in no hurry; I did everything slowly and measurably. At that time I was doing freelance work. I did everything, starting with link spam (sorry, it's also called link building) and ending with some accounting work.

I also did trading. At least I tried. At first, it even worked. In one day, I raised the investment from $100 to $200. And the next day, $300. But, I must admit, I was rather lucky, and of course, a week later I lost everything. It was very intoxicating, and believe me, it is better to give up this idea.

I managed to earn very little. My most successful month was September 2020. Then I was able to earn $200. The rest were less. That's why I got a job at a furniture factory. The funny thing is that I didn't earn that much there. About $300 a month.

Progress, I tell you. Crap, you'll answer me. But that's how it is.

OS hopping

So, by the beginning of 2021, thank God and my crooked hands, my Windows crashed. I reinstalled it. First it was version 8.1, then Windows 10. I didn't like them, so I decided to try Linux. And it was quite an experience. Everything was very difficult and unfamiliar. But gradually, step by step, I mastered it, I mean Debian.

I approached the choice of the distribution responsibly and set one important condition for them (the distributions), which they had to meet. This condition is stability. Well, Debian is famous for its stability. That's why I chose it.

By the way, if anyone is interested, here is a list of distro(OS) hopping:

ОС	Start - End	A reason
Windows 7	??.??.2014 - ??.10.2020	I deleted something from the registry, restored it, but decided to try something new
Windows 8.1	??.10.2020 - ??.11.2020	I didn't like it, so I decided to try Linux
Debian10	??.11.2020 - 07.02.2021	Created and tested a fork bomb on my system
Debian10	07.02.2021 - 11.07.2021	For some reason, lightdm couldn't load the XFCE environment
Debian10	11.07.2021 - 07.09.2021	New version of Debian
Debian11	07.09.2021 - 27.01.2022	Due to poor disk partitioning, I was unable to install new software into the system.
Gentoo	27.01.2022 - 01.02.2022	Too many compilations. I'm tired of them
Arch	01.02.2022 - 25.03.2022	Due to hard drive damage... by me
Arch	01.04.2022 - 11.07.2022	I thought a complete reinstallation would solve the problems with freezes - no
Arch	12.07.2022 - 08.03.2024	One day the kernel just wouldn't build. I switched to Windows 10
Windows 10	08.03.2024 - ??.??.????	Here, for now

What I'm getting at is that this whole mess with the OS inspired me to learn programming further. Terminal applications alone weren't enough for me. I wanted to see PICTURES, moving and alive o(￣┰￣*)ゞ

And since I already know C++, I should probably find a corresponding library. And that's how I came across SFML. I can't name a specific author on YouTube, there were too many of them, and it was a long time ago. I just don't remember.

My first demos and clones of games

In total, I was able to dig up 4 games from those times. It seems like 4 years ago. Only one of them is finished. It is a clone of the game called Pacman.

MSquers

I wanted to write a 2D platformer from scratch. Implement an animation system, procedural level loading, memory management, etc. But I especially wanted to tell a story, a story of war in a fictional galaxy... Nothing came of it, and I abandoned the project, for sure.

This is a main character

This is all I've found. I've failed to recompile the project ;(

PacManClone

This is the only project from that distant era that is truly finished. As they say, from A to Z. A regular PacMan clone in SFML and C++. Here is the game menu

And this is a screenshot from the game

SpaceShooter

Just a linear, endless 2D shooter, where your task is to destroy asteroids flying at you.

SquersFalling

Just falling cubes where you have to click as many as possible.

DI-Engine, custom game engine

Along with developing small demos and clones of games, I started working on my game engine, as it usually happens. And of course it had to be written in OpenGL and C++. Cherno channel had a noticeable influence on me. I learned a lot about the structure and operation of game engines from him.

I have to say that it was a huge waste of my time and effort. Not only that, but I was almost obsessed with it. I enjoyed its development so much so that in a couple of months of development, I was able to do this:

Loading 3D models, text, textures, UI and some physics. I did it all, wrote it all by myself, but then I decided that all external dependencies should be eliminated. I decided to rewrite the SimpleGUI library. It will be fast, I told myself. I have never been so wrong in my life.

Link to the engine source code: https://timthewebmaster.com/media/tools/di-engine/DI_App.zip

Conclusion

I'll probably finish here. Next I'll tell you what I did next, what DIEngine was all about and why I chose Cocos2dx for game development, and what came out of it. By the way, all the source files of the games and programs can be found here: https://timthewebmaster.com/en/tools/?page=1&type=full&is_recent=true&mode=list&tag=sfml&tag=gamedev