I wonder how well you can do by having a pseudo-random kernel walk and then mirroring it.
https://tinyurl.com/creagen-invader (best on desktop)
Sorry for using an url minifier the original url is too long. I'm using a custom web editor I built for generating this. Still working on shorter urls for it.
This and including muffinmans solution was part of a coding challenge for Creative Coding Amsterdam, for anyone interested and in the area definitely check it out https://cca.codes
I was thinking about using walkers, but after some doodling decided to go with vector shapes. I think the combination of the two could also produce some cool results.
As lyr said, these are part of CCA's code challenge and we'll create a page to present all of the generators on one place.
edit: typo
Checks
Oh my god. 11/10.
For example:
Looking at a commented disassembly (https://www.computerarcheology.com/Arcade/SpaceInvaders/), there's so little time available that each frame redraws nothing more than the player, their shot, one of the 55 aliens, and one of the three alien shots. Four things. When every moving object has to be manually erased and redrawn within the space of one frame, you kinda have to stagger the movement.
After 25 years of writing random space invaders clones - I finally achieved perfection after reading the Computer Archeology site, then I made my last clone and IMHO I'm finally happy to put this obsession down.
At this point (actually before even writing the comment) If your blog had a RSS feed I'd have subscribed to it... but (at least according to my RSS plugin) it doesn't, so I fear I will miss out on your next inspiring writeups. Consider adding one, if you feel like it :-)
https://muffinman.io/invaders/#/size:15/main-seed:began-ever... is a favorite so far
If you end up using something similar in your game, I would love to see it!
edit: It seems that I need to make the RSS link more prominent :)
Ironically, this is much like saving the planet by creating invaders… the hacker way, without using brute force AI.
You deserve your upvote.
They just hate coding.
Much better than you'd expect from the article.
Also, TIL about [oklch](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/color_value...).
As for OKLCH, it is a big upgrade. Working with color from code is hard, and it really makes things easier. I also like HSLuv [1], but unfortunately it is not supported natively in browsers.
live version: https://abetusk.github.io/iao/vadfad_1gen/
source: https://github.com/abetusk/iao/tree/main/vadfad_1gen
Inspired by Jared Tarbell (linked from another comment here from levitated.net).
I found it surprisingly easy to get good results. The major components are the eyes, bilateral symmetry and otherwise random pixels within a small rectangle, if I remember correctly.
Such a huge part of my early dabbling with computers. A jewel of the early internet, along with the later http://complexification.net, though sadly most of the examples don't run any more due to both Flash (Levitated) and Java (Complexification) dying off.
At least for Complexification, you can copy-paste the Processing .pde source to https://hello.processing.org/editor/#editor and see it run.
One thing that came to mind while reading this, was: isn't this just a human digital manifestation of Mother Nature's desire to just evolve everything into a crab shape?
Think about the symmetry and function of various appendages of the space invader, and how - eventually, all space invaders just look like crabs.
Are we seeing some sort of confluence in the Matrix here?
Top-notch work, all around!
Clicking through to the rope page, it is a really good strategy for web pages.
Suggestion for extension --
During batch or sequential generation of multiple characters:
Mathematically constrain different characters to be dissimilar from each other.
This avoids different invaders from looking the same / indistinguishable / confusing to a human, by pure chance.
joemasilotti•5mo ago
Perz1val•5mo ago