• Highest Fit Packing Algorithm

    This algorithm is something I’m very proud of. When I started working on Spritey I didn’t know if I would be able to write a packing algorithm that can compete with other packing tools. But after comparing the results with my favourite Sprite Sheet Packer I was amazed to see that Spritey does not only pack sprites faster but it’s also more efficient with a larger number of sprites. Here are just a few examples of what Spritey can do.

  • Spritey Loses Weight

    I’m happy to say that I’m back on this project and am ready to finish it off. The time I was off has been really good for me. Not only I’ve learnt a new language and framework but also opened up a new perspective on how one should write applications. You have to have a certain mindset or coding style when developing application in Ruby on Rails.

  • Postponed

    Today was a house keeping day for me. My site was broken after Google updated their jQuery library so I had to do a little bit of fixing, which eventually brought me to this blog.

  • Add Sprites - Changed

    As I was working on my next user story I stumbled upon a problem (more like my misjudgement than a problem) that was unsolvable without changing the current implementation of importing sprites too much.

  • Progress Update

    Slowly but surely I’m getting there! Have made a good progress since last week. Some major problems were overcome with workarounds, which need to be fixed later.

  • First Fit Strategy - Screenshots

    Here’re some screenshots of first fit strategy in action.

  • Flow Strategy vs. First Fit Strategy

    In my previous post I talked about researching and implementing the flow strategy as a default strategy for sprite organizer. When I started implementing it I found a better strategy called the First Fit Strategy and decided to abandon the flow strategy all together.

  • Sprite Organiser - Strategy Pattern

    Before I can start on the user story 4144362 I have to spend a little bit of time looking at the story 4144404. In particular this part,

  • Quick Update

    Just a quick update on the progress. Five stories have been closed so far. You can find all open and closed user stories at PivotalTracker.

  • More User Stories

    1. A user can create a deep hierachy of sprites. For example, a user can create a sprite group called “menu” and add another sub-group called “buttons”:
  • First Commit

    Yesterday I imported the Spritey eclipse project into github repository. The project has project-specific configurations enabled to make code more consistent and merging a lot easier.

  • Spritey Project

    After a long discussion with a friend of mine and a new contributor to this project, Alan Morey, I’ve decided to rename this project to Spritey - suggested by Alan. According to Urban Dictionary spritey means very energetic. So, hopefully this project will be as energetic as its name suggests. ;)

  • Requirements Specification

    Before I go on to the design I thought it would be a good idea to document the requirements. It might not be a super important activity to do in a simple solo project like this but sometimes I find myself forgetting some crucial details that later I kick myself wishing I documented them.

  • Tools and Technologies

    I just realized that I forgot to mention the programming language and technologies I’m going to use in this project so here’s a quick update just about that.

  • UI Prototype

    I’ve put together a quick UI prototype using WireframeSketcher developed by Peter Severin. WireframeSketcher is an Eclipse plugin for creating screen mockups. It has a rich library of UI components which lets you create prototypes really fast. It is also very easy to create custom widgets by combining various components together. What I also like about this tool is its clean interface and the fact that it’s part of Eclipse which means no switching between applications and mockups are saved within a project. It might not be a big deal but for me it’s very important to have everything in one place. I would like to thank Peter for kindly giving me a free open-source developer license and I would like to encourage anyone looking for such tool to check it out. This tool is amazing.

  • Sprite Packer - The Big Bang

    I’m so excited to announce that today I’m officially starting my first (and hopefully not last ;)) ever blog for my new project.

subscribe via RSS