Wilsk

Creating a REPL for hacking on a firestore backend

Using a node REPL to simplify playing around with a firestore backend.

First impressions: converting a React/Firebase project to GraphQL

I've recently moved a firebase project to GraphQL, here I talk about the my first impressions of migrating to GraphQL.

Connecting Players with Firebase and Unity [Part 2]

Recap In the previous part we looked at getting a firebase database set up and importing the package into Unity. In this part we are actually going to build out the "game&

code

Connecting Players with Firebase and Unity [Part 1]

All your firebases are belong to us? Playing around with a React web app recently I was working through ideas for the app backend, and after weighing up a bunch of different options

tutorials

Making game assets using OpenSCAD

In my day job, I have a task to design some 3D printed parts in a variety of repeating patterns, but with each part being just slightly different. I didn't really want to

game-dev

The Perils of Unity's Execution Order

I came across an interesting problem when I was posting about our Zenobit ECS a while back. In our ECS I had noticed that as when we retrieve a list of Components from

game-dev

Zenobit's Unity ECS [Part 3]

This is the third and final part of my three part series on the Entity Component System we are using at @ZenobitStudios. In the first part, I discussed what an ECS is, and

game-dev

Zenobit's Unity ECS [Part 2]

In the first part, we introduced the ECS architecture and explained a bit about why we chose to avoid Unity's standard architectural approach. We also set up an example, using entities with both

game-dev

Zenobit's Unity ECS [Part 1]

I've recently started a collaboration with Zentropy under the name Zenobit Studios - for now you can find us at @ZenobitStudios on Twitter if you want to know more. Our first project was

game-dev

A year in review (2016 game dev edition)

Looking back, 2016 was a fairly big year for me. I travelled a bit, finished up some major work projects, moved house (to a different hemisphere) and started a PhD! I thought it

game-dev

A very switchy button, LD34 Post-Mortem

Play the game here | View the source code here The Concept I had the idea for Button Simulator, my LD34 entry, while watching a crappy science fiction movie. The characters sat at their

random

Coal powered cars?

How green is your electric car? You often see "zero emissions" plastered over the backs of electric cars, as if the energy to run them is magically pulled from the ether.

game-dev

Ludum Dare 32 Postmortem - Colour Rocket

Game Jamming for LD32 A couple of weekends ago I participated in my first Ludum Dare - LD32. The theme for the event was "an unconventional weapon". If you aren't familiar,

random

Switched to Ghost

I had a look at my website the other day and I realised that the last time I posted anything was March 2014, over a year ago. Prompted by an article on dailyjs

projects

Python Static Site Generator

About The following code is described in this blog post. It is available under the MIT license. You can also see the code as a gist. The Code """ Free to

code

A simple static site generator in Python

What is a static site generator? A static site generator is a bit of code which takes input files, for instance from Markdown files or from another source on the web, and builds

code

Reducing online abuse through sentiment analysis

Cleaning up Twitter Recently the issue of on-line abuse has received a lot of play time in the news. In the UK several prominent female figures were sent death threats through Twitter after

code

Editing Markdown with Ember.js

If you read my rather lengthy beginning ember.js tutorial you may have an inkling that I'm rather taken with the new kid on the block. I recently started thinking of ways that

code

An Ember.js beginners tutorial

Warning This is a pretty long tutorial! If you just want to see the finished product you can browse the source code or have a look at a live demo OTHER WARNING -

reviews

C# 5.0 In a Nutshell

Joseph Albahari & Ben Albahari, O'Reilly Media DISCLAIMER: I received this book for free as part of the O'Reilly blogger review program. I promise this hasn't changed my opinion :) I've been coding a

code

demarcate.js 2 redesign

Demarcate.js 2.0 - a major refresh Background demarcate.js is an "in-place" editor for Markdown that is free and open source. It is designed to be a text editor

random

"Days Ago" Chrome App

Days Ago is a Chrome Application (a new style 'packaged app') which you can install in Chrome and launch from the browser. It lets you type in very simple "todos", for

demarcate.js Markdown Editor

demarcate.js is a new open source project to create an in-line or in-place markdown editor. This allows you to edit an HTML page by clicking on elements and typing in a box

HTML5 Game using easel.js

As an exercise I recently wrote an HTML5 game using Easel.js, which is a relatively cool javascript library that helps when working with canvas objects. Although I did find the easel documents

projects

Gradekeep Coursework Management

I've recently gone back to uni to get an engineering degree. Its hard work... many hours of study, constantly learning new things and challenging my brain in a way that it hasn't been