I made a typing game

I’ve been using Colemak alternative keyboard layout for many years, but still find myself frequently needing to switch back to the standard Qwerty layout. I made a game to help me practice switching between these layouts faster, and I’m sharing it with you. It runs in your browser, and has support for the Colemak, Dvorak, Workman, and Qwerty layouts. It should be easy to add new layouts too, let me know if it’s missing one you need. read more

The one place where visual coding is conspicuously absent

“Why does this have to be so hard?” - it’s a phrase that every web developer has most likely uttered at some point in their career. It seems that after decades of advancement in software development, it still isn’t getting any easier. Maybe this is just the way it has to be? Back in the ‘90s, there was a real trend for tools that enabled software development without “coding” - all-in-one databases like Access, form builders, and rapid application development environments. read more

Why tabs are better than spaces

Before I present my argument for using hard tabs in code, it’s really important that I make another related argument first, so bear with me as you consider the following statement: Aligning code is bad practice, and should be avoided. Only indentation should be used to arrange code horizontally. The problem with aligning code Why would I say this? First, let’s look at a common usage of alignment, along with its indented counterpart: read more

2DRemix Devblog 4: Minimap, rewinding, and area management

1. Minimap New editor feature: added a minimap to the corner of the editor showing an overview of the entire area, and making it easy to jump to a specific part of the map. 2. Rewinding Restored the old behavior of allowing the player to rewind time while playing. I moved this from the “Shift” keyboard key binding to a new “Time machine” item in the item bar, making it more clear to players that this functionality is available. read more

2DRemix Devblog 3: Prefabs, script parameters, and fixed pushing

1. Prefabs 2DRemix has always had a panel containing a “palette” of all the tile images you’ve used in your area, so you can select them and reuse them as needed. With this update, I’ve expanded the items in this palette from being merely images, to also embodying a default color, layer, script, and script parameters, which are all selected when that tile in the palette is selected. This means there can be a bunch of default objects, such as “grass”, “wall”, “crate”, “pusher” that are all ready to go, and can be dropped straight onto the map with a few clicks. read more