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Sharing our Coder Privilege | PDF
SHARING OUR CODER PRIVILEGE
CHRIS HEILMANN (@CODEPO8), ØREDEV, SWEDEN,09/11/2016
Christian Heilmann
@codepo8
No university degree
No finished job education
😃 Senior Program Manager at Microsoft
😃 Wrote a few books and hundreds of articles
😃 Worked on some of the biggest web products
out there
😃 Ex-Yahoo, Ex-Mozilla…
😃 Spoke at over 80 conferences in the last few
years
😃 Can afford to live in London
MAN, I WAS
AWESOME!
(I GOT A BIT BETTER)
IT ALL STARTED
WITH A FLOPPY…
I SUCKED AT
PLAYING GAMES -
AND IT WAS
FRUSTRATING.
TCS ➜ RUN ➜
ENDLESS LIVES!
THOSE CRACKERS
MUST BE
SOMETHING
REALLY SPECIAL!
OPEN SESAME!
FREEZE GAME ➜
EDIT SCREEN ➜
FIND LIVES COUNTER ADDRESS
(F.E. $0410) ➜
HUNT MEMORY FOR CE 10 04 (DEC
$0410) ➜
REPLACE WITH EA EA EA (NOP
NOP NOP) ➜
ENDLESS LIVES!
LET’S GO
THE DOOR WAS OPEN, AND I TOOK ONE
STEP AT A TIME AND KEPT EXPLORING!
ENHANCE!
• Level skipper
• Weapons chooser
• Toggle sprite collision
• Learn Assembly language to
write trainer menu
• Find space in memory for said
menu
RELEASE!
• Learn about packers to create
smaller version
• Add intro to boast
• Give to people
UPPING THE
GAME!
• Removing copy protections
• Level crunchers/packers
• Fast loaders
THE HACKER
NEWS OF OLD…
COMPETITION
• First release
• Smallest release
• NTSC/PAL fix
STANDING OUT
FROM THE
COMPETITION
• Jewel versions
• Bug fixing
• Highscore Savers
• Writing Docs
ELITE ACCESS
TOOLING MADE
THE DIFFERENCE
• Packers
• Storage/Transfer tools
• Cross-platform tools
• Creation tools (Assemblers,
Pixel Editors, Sprite tools…)
• BBS/FTP access
GOING LEGIT
• Writing tools
• Writing Games
• Coding Intros/Demos
• Moving on…
ACCIDENTAL
ARCHIVISM
OHAI
CINEMAWARE…
ACCIDENTAL
ARCHIVISM
• Floppies ➜ BBS ➜ FTP
• Original storage media is
unreadable
• Original companies gone
• No official backups
THINGS I
LEARNED
THINGS I
LEARNED
• Nothing can hold you back
when you are good at
analysing and repeating
• Everything you see on screen
came from somewhere - it is
never set in stone
• It is much more fun to explore
and tweak than to get
something handed to you
THINGS I
LEARNED
• Working in a limited/unknown
environment is a wonderful
challenge
• You don’t need to feel limited
by the environment you target -
you can use whatever you
want to create for it
• The more people do this, the
more best practices can be
shared.
160 × 200 PIXELS
(ON A 320 × 200 PIXELS DISPLAY)
16 PREDEFINED COLOURS
1 SCREEN-WIDE
BACKGROUND COLOUR.
3 COLOURS IN EACH
8 × 8 (4 × 2) PIXEL
SQUARE
160 × 200 PIXELS
(ON A 320 × 200 PIXELS DISPLAY)
16 PREDEFINED COLOURS
1 SCREEN-WIDE
BACKGROUND COLOUR.
3 COLOURS IN EACH
8 × 8 (4 × 2) PIXEL
SQUARE
160 × 200 PIXELS
(ON A 320 × 200 PIXELS DISPLAY)
16 PREDEFINED COLOURS
1 SCREEN-WIDE
BACKGROUND COLOUR.
3 COLOURS IN EACH
8 × 8 (4 × 2) PIXEL
SQUARE
160 × 200 PIXELS
(ON A 320 × 200 PIXELS DISPLAY)
16 PREDEFINED COLOURS
1 SCREEN-WIDE
BACKGROUND COLOUR.
3 COLOURS IN EACH
8 × 8 (4 × 2) PIXEL
SQUARE
• MUCH BETTER TOOLING
• EXPERIENCE
• SHARED TRICKERY AND
KNOWLEDGE
• LOVE FOR THE PLATFORM
HELLO, WEB
HELLO VIEW
SOURCE
• A big part of my success on
the web was using view
source and reverse
engineering
• We all did, don’t let people tell
you otherwise
• The lack of distance between
creation and consumption was
really down my alley…
HELLO, TOOLS…
• Crawlers, Link checkers
• HTML Validators
• Web Development toolbars
• HTTP proxies, sniffers
• Venkman, Frontpage Express
JS Debugger…
VIEW SOURCE+5/
[H]/100%/JEWEL
VIEW SOURCE+5/
[H]/100%/JEWEL
• These days, developer tools
have replaced view source
• We have incredible insight into
what our code does in the
browser
• Of course, not everybody is
ready for this…
Open sesame!WELCOME TO CYBER SPACE, HELP THE CYBER POLICE!
HERE IS WHERE
WE COME IN.
• We are at the forefront of online
media
• We are creators and makers -
not consumers
• We have the privilege of open
tools, an open platform and
openly available
documentation.
GETTING STARTED
HAS NEVER BEEN
EASIER…
• Using GitHub, you can host
your code, collaborate,
execute your projects, write
collaborative documentation
and books…
• Using social media we can
promote these products, share
knowledge and invite people
to learn…
YOU’RE BUILDING
ON EXISTING
SOLUTIONS…
• You don’t need to start from
scratch - you can contribute to
thousands of existing projects -
many aimed to teach people
how to become a web maker.
• You don’t even need to code.
You can help with UX, or
document, or herd
communities.
ONE MAIN THING I
LEARNED IN MY
WHOLE CAREER…
• You learn best by teaching
• Sharing and making people
grow with you is the best
feeling ever
• If you feel down and “not
good enough”, create
something - anything!
USE YOUR
FRUSTRATION,
YOUR ANGER AND
YOUR
DEVIOUSNESS
FOR GOOD…
• What we need more than
ever right now is education
• Traditional education is
encumbered by privilege and
costs
• We’ve been lucky - it is time
we give back
THE WEB IS THE
MOST VERSATILE
AND NON-ELITE
PLATFORM.
GO AND MAKE
YOUR MARK!
Chris Heilmann
christianheilmann.com
@codepo8
Thanks!
https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/
microsoft-edge/
developer.mozilla.org

Sharing our Coder Privilege

  • 1.
    SHARING OUR CODERPRIVILEGE CHRIS HEILMANN (@CODEPO8), ØREDEV, SWEDEN,09/11/2016
  • 2.
    Christian Heilmann @codepo8 No universitydegree No finished job education 😃 Senior Program Manager at Microsoft 😃 Wrote a few books and hundreds of articles 😃 Worked on some of the biggest web products out there 😃 Ex-Yahoo, Ex-Mozilla… 😃 Spoke at over 80 conferences in the last few years 😃 Can afford to live in London
  • 5.
    MAN, I WAS AWESOME! (IGOT A BIT BETTER)
  • 6.
  • 7.
    I SUCKED AT PLAYINGGAMES - AND IT WAS FRUSTRATING.
  • 8.
    TCS ➜ RUN➜ ENDLESS LIVES!
  • 9.
  • 10.
  • 11.
    FREEZE GAME ➜ EDITSCREEN ➜ FIND LIVES COUNTER ADDRESS (F.E. $0410) ➜ HUNT MEMORY FOR CE 10 04 (DEC $0410) ➜ REPLACE WITH EA EA EA (NOP NOP NOP) ➜ ENDLESS LIVES!
  • 12.
    LET’S GO THE DOORWAS OPEN, AND I TOOK ONE STEP AT A TIME AND KEPT EXPLORING!
  • 13.
    ENHANCE! • Level skipper •Weapons chooser • Toggle sprite collision • Learn Assembly language to write trainer menu • Find space in memory for said menu
  • 14.
    RELEASE! • Learn aboutpackers to create smaller version • Add intro to boast • Give to people
  • 15.
    UPPING THE GAME! • Removingcopy protections • Level crunchers/packers • Fast loaders
  • 16.
  • 17.
    COMPETITION • First release •Smallest release • NTSC/PAL fix
  • 18.
    STANDING OUT FROM THE COMPETITION •Jewel versions • Bug fixing • Highscore Savers • Writing Docs
  • 19.
    ELITE ACCESS TOOLING MADE THEDIFFERENCE • Packers • Storage/Transfer tools • Cross-platform tools • Creation tools (Assemblers, Pixel Editors, Sprite tools…) • BBS/FTP access
  • 20.
    GOING LEGIT • Writingtools • Writing Games • Coding Intros/Demos • Moving on…
  • 21.
  • 22.
  • 23.
    ACCIDENTAL ARCHIVISM • Floppies ➜BBS ➜ FTP • Original storage media is unreadable • Original companies gone • No official backups
  • 24.
  • 25.
    THINGS I LEARNED • Nothingcan hold you back when you are good at analysing and repeating • Everything you see on screen came from somewhere - it is never set in stone • It is much more fun to explore and tweak than to get something handed to you
  • 26.
    THINGS I LEARNED • Workingin a limited/unknown environment is a wonderful challenge • You don’t need to feel limited by the environment you target - you can use whatever you want to create for it • The more people do this, the more best practices can be shared.
  • 27.
    160 × 200PIXELS (ON A 320 × 200 PIXELS DISPLAY) 16 PREDEFINED COLOURS 1 SCREEN-WIDE BACKGROUND COLOUR. 3 COLOURS IN EACH 8 × 8 (4 × 2) PIXEL SQUARE
  • 28.
    160 × 200PIXELS (ON A 320 × 200 PIXELS DISPLAY) 16 PREDEFINED COLOURS 1 SCREEN-WIDE BACKGROUND COLOUR. 3 COLOURS IN EACH 8 × 8 (4 × 2) PIXEL SQUARE
  • 29.
    160 × 200PIXELS (ON A 320 × 200 PIXELS DISPLAY) 16 PREDEFINED COLOURS 1 SCREEN-WIDE BACKGROUND COLOUR. 3 COLOURS IN EACH 8 × 8 (4 × 2) PIXEL SQUARE
  • 30.
    160 × 200PIXELS (ON A 320 × 200 PIXELS DISPLAY) 16 PREDEFINED COLOURS 1 SCREEN-WIDE BACKGROUND COLOUR. 3 COLOURS IN EACH 8 × 8 (4 × 2) PIXEL SQUARE • MUCH BETTER TOOLING • EXPERIENCE • SHARED TRICKERY AND KNOWLEDGE • LOVE FOR THE PLATFORM
  • 31.
  • 32.
    HELLO VIEW SOURCE • Abig part of my success on the web was using view source and reverse engineering • We all did, don’t let people tell you otherwise • The lack of distance between creation and consumption was really down my alley…
  • 33.
    HELLO, TOOLS… • Crawlers,Link checkers • HTML Validators • Web Development toolbars • HTTP proxies, sniffers • Venkman, Frontpage Express JS Debugger…
  • 34.
  • 35.
    VIEW SOURCE+5/ [H]/100%/JEWEL • Thesedays, developer tools have replaced view source • We have incredible insight into what our code does in the browser • Of course, not everybody is ready for this…
  • 36.
    Open sesame!WELCOME TOCYBER SPACE, HELP THE CYBER POLICE!
  • 37.
    HERE IS WHERE WECOME IN. • We are at the forefront of online media • We are creators and makers - not consumers • We have the privilege of open tools, an open platform and openly available documentation.
  • 38.
    GETTING STARTED HAS NEVERBEEN EASIER… • Using GitHub, you can host your code, collaborate, execute your projects, write collaborative documentation and books… • Using social media we can promote these products, share knowledge and invite people to learn…
  • 39.
    YOU’RE BUILDING ON EXISTING SOLUTIONS… •You don’t need to start from scratch - you can contribute to thousands of existing projects - many aimed to teach people how to become a web maker. • You don’t even need to code. You can help with UX, or document, or herd communities.
  • 40.
    ONE MAIN THINGI LEARNED IN MY WHOLE CAREER… • You learn best by teaching • Sharing and making people grow with you is the best feeling ever • If you feel down and “not good enough”, create something - anything!
  • 41.
    USE YOUR FRUSTRATION, YOUR ANGERAND YOUR DEVIOUSNESS FOR GOOD… • What we need more than ever right now is education • Traditional education is encumbered by privilege and costs • We’ve been lucky - it is time we give back
  • 43.
    THE WEB ISTHE MOST VERSATILE AND NON-ELITE PLATFORM. GO AND MAKE YOUR MARK!
  • 44.