Bring The Noise

Weird Noise

I’ve recently added configuration options for the background space noise/nebula effect. This allows faster feedback when experimenting with different colours and parameters for the noise. A couple of cool things came out of this experiment - firstly the ability to vary noise over time allowing for animated cloud effects, and second the accidental application of noise twice which resulted in a trippy, blobby noise effect.

There are some things to tweak with it, and I want to apply it to other noise-based textures such as the surface of the planets, but I’m really pleased with the results.

First Space Flight

I’ve added really basic space flight using the control system introduced a couple of weeks ago. Lots to improve on here, but it’s nice to finally be able to move spaceships around the world rather than have them running on fixed animation tracks!

Off The Grid

I’m spending some time refactoring and reorganising the codebase, which was necessary because it was difficult to add gameplay features. That’s coming along nicely, but it has meant there hasn’t been a lot of change graphically. One thing I’ve added is a grid which I’ve done for a couple of reasons: firstly because when adding controls it was really hard to know which way is up and which way is down. I will add a proper navigation system at some point, but in the meantime the grid is useful for orienting yourself. The other reason is because I think it looks cool, especially with the pixelated filter on.

This entry is part of a series on writing a Metal Renderer in Swift Playgrounds.