Summary of Tomorrow Corporation Tech Demo

00:00:00 - 00:10:00

In the "Tomorrow Corporation Tech Demo" YouTube video, Alan Blomquist showcases Tomorrow Corporation's internal tools for programming, debugging , and profiling. They have developed their own programming language, compiler, editor, debugger, build system, and game engine over the past decade. Alan discusses their use of time stamps and a profiler for debugging purposes, explaining how time stamps can be used to tag function activations and inspect specific events in a game. This feature is not a silver bullet but can be particularly helpful in certain situations. The system saves a session file with the timeline every time the game is run, which is integrated with version control. Additionally, the demo highlights the small amount of data required to save and replay timelines, making debugging more efficient and accessible to everyone on the team. This feature allows designers to send session files for debugging, even if they have local changes or are on different revisions in source control, reducing the risk of losing work. The speaker demonstrates how to use this system to identify and debug a memory stomp bug.

• 00:00:00 In this section of the YouTube video titled "Tomorrow Corporation Tech Demo," Alan Blomquist, the engine and low-level programmer at indie game developer Tomorrow Corporation, demonstrates their internal tools for programming and debugging. They have been developing their own programming language, compiler, front-end editor, debugger, build system, and game engine for over a decade. Alan was inspired by Naughty Dog's goal, a custom programming toolchain for their PS2 games, and has since made it his passion project at Tomorrow Corporation. The demo focuses on a port of their game Human Resource Machine, which is about programming but emphasizes their development environment. Alan starts by hot loading a texture asset and then moves on to hot loading code, showcasing their incremental compiler that builds native code quickly. He also demonstrates debugging features, such as setting breakpoints and stepping through code, as well as debugging backwards from an assert or crash. Additionally, he showcases their in-game profiler, which can be enabled to collect call graph instrumentation and identify performance issues.
• 00:05:00 In this section of the "Tomorrow Corporation Tech Demo" YouTube video, the presenter discusses the use of a profiler and time stamps for debugging purposes in their programming language. They explain how the profiler can tag function activations with time stamps, which can be useful for identifying performance issues and debugging. The presenter also mentions that this feature is not a silver bullet but can be particularly helpful in certain situations. They demonstrate how time stamps can be used to tag and inspect specific events in a game, such as the creation of objects or player actions. The time stamps are cheap to generate and can be used to tag almost anything, providing valuable information for debugging and understanding the program's state. The presenter concludes by mentioning that the system saves a session file with the timeline every time the game is run, which is integrated with version control.
• 00:10:00 In this section of the YouTube video titled "Tomorrow Corporation Tech Demo," the speaker discusses the small amount of data required to save and replay timelines in their game development process. This feature is not limited to programmers but is accessible to everyone on the team. Designers can send session files to others for debugging, even if they have local changes or are on different revisions in source control. The system integrates this feature with their build system, allowing it to get all the necessary data to play back the session without touching any local files, reducing the risk of losing work. The speaker demonstrates how to use this system to identify and debug a memory stomp bug, which is a common issue in game development. Overall, this system makes debugging run-of-the-mill logic errors in gameplay code more efficient and easier.