Miguel Fernández Arce

Making your own array

Tue, 01 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Just use std::vector.

Which is what I did until a some weeks ago, when I decided enough was enough!

It was about time I made an array type for the needs of my library. In this post, I will go through the design decisions taken while doing so: Creating a custom array container.

Why a custom array?

Until now, I used a wrapper around std::vector, which was okay… No, really. But:

A new approach to ECS APIs

Thu, 10 Feb 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Let’s talk about a different approach to ECS I have been rumbling about lately. Well, specifically, about how we query entities, manage dependencies and access/modify data.

What is ECS you ask?

Fair question! ECS (as Entity-Component-System) is an architectural pattern based on DOD (data-oriented design), where you have three main elements:

Entities: They are just an identifier and don’t hold any data.
Components: Structs of data associated with a single entity (1 entity can have 1 component of each type). They don’t have any code/logic.
Systems: Functions executed operating entities and components.

I could explain ECS in greater detail, but there are plenty of resources online already that will do a better job than me. This talk is a good start, and for more resources, you can also read this.

Implementing a general-use arena

Thu, 03 Feb 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Now that we have learned about arenas and allocators, we can get our hands dirty with an implementation of an arena.

Best Fit Arena

You see, for the last couple of months, I’ve been updating RiftCore with new features. RiftCore is a cross-platform framework I use for C++ projects, and it lacked some memory management.

So the time came to design a general-purpose arena!

This article will describe the design and implementation of a Best Fit Arena. Feel free to come up with a better name though (and put it in the comments below!)

Allocators and arenas

Tue, 30 Mar 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Lately, I have been playing around with the implementation of custom allocators and arenas to replace native allocations on my C++ projects.

Wow! Stop right there, Muit. This line already deserves some introductions! Let’s talk about allocators.

Crash course on allocations

To keep this brief, I will assume that we have some experience with C++ and heap allocation (malloc and new).

An allocation is when we request a pointer to a block of memory of a specified size. When we use malloc or new we are getting this block of memory from the heap.

About

Sun, 28 Mar 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Hi!

I’m Miguel, also known as Muit.
Game programmer & voice actor.

The majority of my work in videogames is centered around the design and implementation of videogame systems and tools in C++. If you like to code, stick around and have a look at my posts!

Many of my projects are open-source and can be found at Piperift. Currently working at CI Games, previously Ubisoft Stockholm, EA DICE & Splash Damage.

Voice Acting

Sun, 28 Mar 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Demos

All demos recorded in one take.
Effects: de-noiser

Spanish

A - Happy, Angry, Sad, Shy . . .
. . . soon

B - Registros, Tonos
. . . soon

English

A - Happy, Angry, Sad, Shy . . .
. . . soon

B - Registers, Tones
. . . soon

Studies

Polford - Curso Integral 2022-2023

Had the chance to learn closely from three legendary voice actors. Luis Posada, Oscar Barberán & Jordi Brau who often voice actors like Robin Williams, Johnny Depp, Jim Carrey, Leonardo DiCaprio and many more in spanish.