StackOverflow's picky about this, but I'm not sure about game dev. Basically I'd like to ask a series of questions related to basic rendering ... e.g., "Android: What's the best way to draw a static background and place a few game pieces with out threading, then have a thread kick off when user touches a piece?" Of course, I'd search thoroughly first and usually include my findings as links in the question. My questions should be of use to others doing related methods.
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4\$\begingroup\$ Personally, I think algorithm questions that don't have code often work better, since when code is involved, it's usually more of a "Why isn't my implementation of this algorithm working?" type question. However, be careful with "What's the best way..." type questions, see here about those. \$\endgroup\$– House ModCommented Aug 29, 2013 at 21:00
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2\$\begingroup\$ Apologies to the moderators here - I thought I was posting this in meta.gamedev --- must of been on the gamedev site by mistake ! Thx for moving it... \$\endgroup\$– Howard PautzCommented Aug 30, 2013 at 0:52
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\$\begingroup\$ @Byte56 -excellent reference link ! Well worth spending the time working through its links. \$\endgroup\$– Howard PautzCommented Aug 30, 2013 at 0:56
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2 Answers
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Can I ask an algorithm question on the game main site
Yes. Algo questions are awesome. I want to see more of them
Can I ask "What's the best way to draw a static background and place a few game pieces with out threading, then have a thread kick off when user touches a piece?"
No. This is a really broad question that would be tutorial-length in scope. It would belong on a tutorial wiki or on a blog. More focussed questions on individual topics such as "How to I spin off threads in Android" or "How do I find game objects based on a touch event" would be the level of detail best suited for stackexchange.
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\$\begingroup\$ Pseudo code Algo's can be informative for many since they're language neutral. RE 2nd item: Understood about too general. What would do you think the reaction would be if the question was posed more like: " Option 1: onDraw a background, inValdate() once, then let looper wait for onTouch event, launch thread, once it's done it does callback to GUI, then GUI does onDraw. OR Option 2: Launch thread, draw background via thread, thread sleep, thread waits for touch notify etc... " Doing so would then be asking an either-or question. Answers would be in the form of 'option 1 better because ...' ? \$\endgroup\$ Commented Aug 30, 2013 at 1:08
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1\$\begingroup\$ I can't speak for everyone, but that seems like a directly answerable question to me, so yes. \$\endgroup\$– JimmyCommented Aug 30, 2013 at 2:14
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The help section has plenty of detail on this: https://gamedev.stackexchange.com/help/on-topic https://gamedev.stackexchange.com/help/dont-ask
Questions which don't involve code are fine.
You may need to be a bit careful to avoid your questions getting flagged as "what technology to use" or "how to get started" questions which aren't on topic here.
Asking for the "best way to do something" to me instantly makes the question subjective. Do you really need the best way, or will some other way also be good enough?
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\$\begingroup\$ Ah, I should have "asked the Duck" first :)) - my question would have been less vague ! Luckily I'm past picking tech and am down the road a ways. Indeed many roads to Rome - brute force is usually good enough. Ultimately, my real question is " How do I make my games eat less battery ? " Thinking about writing a new one called The Electron Pig (tm :) - guaranteed flop on both iTunes and Play. LOL Of course, as Jimmy mentions above, _ Game Saving Juice _ would be a whole book. thx 4 pointers and links all ! \$\endgroup\$ Commented Aug 30, 2013 at 1:20