Project Summary
I attempted to create a falling sand game using the TGA2D engine. While it didn't go exactly as planned, I worked around challenges to deliver a functional result. I hope to improve on this project in my free time using a better-suited engine.
My Falling Sand Game
Reference: Falling sand game footage from YouTube
Implementation Details
I created a falling sand game utilizing the TGA2D game engine. The architecture included a sand world to govern all aspects, a sand manager to oversee particle behavior, and IMGUI for the user interface. For rendering, I employed a sprite batch technique.
To optimize performance, I implemented a Grid system and threaded the sand manager. The UI at the bottom displays: current sand count, selected sand type, mouse position, sand type buttons with colors, a brush size slider, and a wall collider toggle to contain particles on screen.
I created a brush system supporting various sizes for efficient sand spawning. Additionally, I developed an image-to-sand converter that allows importing images via code or drag-and-drop, converting each pixel to the nearest sand type.
A key lesson: after encountering batch rendering difficulties in week two, I should have reassessed my approach. Instead, I persisted and lost valuable time. In hindsight, building a basic engine myself or choosing a better-documented engine would have been wiser.
Plan vs. What Actually Happened
Original Plan
- Week 1: Research, download TGA2D, set up Perforce, get base game working
- Week 2: Add SandWorld, Sand, Sand Type, SandManager
- Week 3: Add Grid/Chunks, Threading, ObjectPool
- Week 4: 3 days Optimization, 1 day Debugging
- Week 5: 4 days Polish/Debugging
What Actually Happened
- Week 1: Research, download TGA2D, set up Perforce, base game working
- Week 2: Add SandWorld, Sand, Sand Type, SandManager
- Week 3: SpriteBatch, Threading, ObjectPool — batch rendering problems
- Week 4: 1 day Optimization, 3 days Debugging batch rendering
- Week 5: 2 days Polish, 2 days Debugging — crisis management mode
Each Thursday was for debugging, and Friday I stepped back to adjust the plan — this didn't always hold.
Classes Created
- Sand.cpp — Collider, Sprite, Texture, Position, Velocity, Size, Acceleration, Density, Friction, Type, Name, ID, Gravity
- SandManager.cpp — Tracks all sand: spawning, removing, manipulation
- SandType.cpp — Sand parameters: Name, Tooltip, texturePath
- SandWorld.cpp — Centralized game control
- ObjectPool.hpp — Basic object pooling system
- UI.cpp — All UI via IMGUI
- Utilities.hpp — Drag and drop functions
