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To create a world from scratch …

A dark planet's surface with an overcasting moon. The landscape is rough, with sharp-edged stone formations in dark brown, gray, and black, partially covered by something that looks like snow but is actually ash. Some of those ash flakes are still in the air.

For a while now, I've been building my own fictional, retro-futuristic sci-fi world called Alsafi, also known as Sigma Draconis. Here I tell what it is, why I'm doing it, and what comes next.

Part 3 of 8 → show all

How to test your Lua

Showing a VSCode window in dark mode, a Lua file open with showing test code written with LuaUnit. A sidebar on the left, showing the project files that get built in this part of the series.

Besides quick iterations on the command-line, having a test suite for Lua will be crucial for any serious project. This article will also cover mocking and a continuous integration setup.

Weekly 3D challenge, first results

Image showing three things I created. From left to right: a retro lamp suitable for space travel, yet another sci-fi door, both created via Blender, and a ground mud texture created in Substance Designer.

To really get better at 3D creation, I will challenge myself to create something every week for a year. Six weeks in, I'm positive for what's to come, and this article will show what I've got so far.

TAP — Test Anything Protocol

What is TAP, and why do I love using it? I'll show and tell how to emit and consume it in different setups and languages, like C++, Lua, JavaScript, or even PostgreSQL.

Building awesome internal tools

A screenshot of the start screen one of my internal tools to manage content on my websites. The design is my own retro-pixel UI I love looking at; a dark base with bright blue, red, and green accents.

Internal tools often don't get the love and care they deserve. Here I'll share 13 general guidelines to build better internal tools that have helped me in the past.

Part 2 of 8 → show all

Create, build, and publish modules for Lua

Showing a VSCode window in dark mode, a rockspec file open with a set of configurations, and the sidebar on the left, showing the contained project files that get built in this part of the series.

Using LuaRocks to create and build new packages, to then publish them to the official LuaRocks registry, and how to manage new versions.

Part 1 of 8 → show all

Lua project setup with LuaRocks

Showing a VSCode window in dark mode with an open Lua file and the sidebar on the left showing the contained project files that get built up in the series.

Setting up a project with Lua, running code, installing dependencies, code formatting, and static analysis, as well as the editor setup.

Part 3 of 6 → show all

Rigging and animating a bulkhead door in Blender

A screenshot of Blender, showing a part of the bulkhead door with a selected armature rendered in front of it.

After having the bulkhead door modeled and textured, all I have so far are a few static images. It's time for rigging and animating the door, finally adding life to it.

2022–2023

Looking back at 2022 — projects I did, things I learned, books I've read, and games I loved. Also, looking at a hopefully amazing 2023.

Cassette Futurism

On the left is a Syd Mead drawing, a warm orange interior with beige colors forms a room with hard lines and technical gear in the background. On the right a closeup of the movie Alien, showing fingers typing on a keyboard.

A technological aesthetic reminiscent of late 1960s to early 1980s tech (regardless of the real time setting of the media) as codified by early microcomputers …

—TV Tropes, Cassette Futurism

Feed at its best

Web feeds are awesome — getting the content I like directly from the source. This is how I add a feed to my website, including how to style it with XSLT.

Part 2 of 6 → show all

My journey learning 3D: Materials and Textures

Image shows a close up of my final render of the bulkhead door, looking at a part of the inner barrier door with warning label.

Recreating Ron Cobb's bulkhead door from Alien, it is time to create materials, add textures, and details. But not before I fixed some problems with the mesh.

Website style guide

This post will showcase all available website components, how they are defined with CSS and HTML, and finally how they were used to create this website. Also, a bit about what I thought when creating them.

Goodbye snake, I go to the moon

Showing the Visual Studio Code editor with an open Lua test file in the middle and the project setup with different files on the left.

Being more and more frustrated with Python, Lua became my go-to alternative for scripts, tools, and application extensions. This article will show how I set up and use Lua.

GUI Development with C++, SDL2, and Dear ImGui

The final application that will be built in this post.

Always overwhelmed by creating GUI applications in C++, I finally found a way that works pretty well for me. That opinionated way will be shown in this post.

Basic C++ setup with dependency management in CMake

My biggest problem starting to learn C++ back then was finding a proper setup that was straightforward to use and scaled. Here is my personal attempt at creating this.

Part 1 of 6 → show all

Creating Ron Cobb's bulkhead door in Blender

On the left, the image shows an open bulkhead door from the movie Alien; on the right, Ron Cobb's sketch.

On my way learning 3D with Blender, I try to recreate a bulkhead door from the Alien universe as drawn by the amazing Ron Cobb.

I started learning 3D

Two examples of my Blender studies with light, simple forms and colors.

After going through many tutorials and creating some small experiments on my own, I started learning 3D with Blender, and I'm in love with it.

My blog

What to expect here? Development-related articles and projects, 3D, games, keyboards, or whatever I want to try out next.