Jeremy Johnson's Blog

Creating Seamless 3D Animation Assets: A Technical Approach to Digital Art Production Creating Seamless 3D Animation Assets: A Technical Approach to Digital Art Production The Challenge of Pseudo-3D Game Assets Creating compelling visual assets for mobile games requires balancing artistic quality with technical constraints. This post examines the systematic approach to developing animated fan assets that simulate three-dimensional depth while maintaining the performance characteristics necessary for real-time gameplay. The challenge involved creating rotating fan animations that appear naturally three-dimensional despite being rendered as 2D sprites. The primary technical requirement was to generate seamless rotation animations that would not exhibit visual artifacts or inconsistencies when displayed at 30 frames per second in a physics-based game environment. Initial Approach and Technical Limitations 2D to 3D Transformation Methodology The initial strategy invo...

Designing a Scalable Backend Architecture for Phone Games Designing a Scalable Backend Architecture for Mobile Game Multiplayer Features Strategic Requirements Analysis When expanding a single-player mobile game to include multiplayer and social features, the backend architecture must balance cost efficiency, scalability, and user experience. This post examines the architectural decisions and trade-offs involved in designing a cloud-based backend system for an iOS physics puzzle game, focusing on competitive leaderboards, community-generated content, and user engagement features. The primary challenge lies in creating a system that remains cost-effective during low-usage periods while providing the scalability necessary for potential growth, all while maintaining responsive user experiences across geographically distributed players. User Experience Requirements The backend system must support three core user engagement patterns: Competitive Leaderboards Players ...

Lessons from Building a Fan System Implementing Complex Interactive Game Objects: Lessons from Building a Fan System The Challenge of Multi-Component Game Systems In physics-based game development, implementing interactive objects that affect gameplay requires careful coordination between visual elements, user interface components, and physics systems. This post examines the technical challenges encountered while developing a fan system for an iOS physics puzzle game, highlighting the complexities of AI-assisted development when building interconnected game components. The fan system represents a continuous force generator that influences ball trajectories within a defined zone. Unlike simple collision-based interactions, this system required real-time physics calculations, dynamic visual feedback, and precise spatial coordination across multiple subsystems. System Architecture Overview The fan implementation consists of four distinct components that must operate i...