<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0"
	xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
	xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"
	xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
	xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
	xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/"
	xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/"
	xmlns:georss="http://www.georss.org/georss" xmlns:geo="http://www.w3.org/2003/01/geo/wgs84_pos#" xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/"
	>

<channel>
	<title>Taking Initiative</title>
	<atom:link href="http://takinginitiative.net/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://takinginitiative.net</link>
	<description>Bobby Anguelov&#039;s Tech Blog - A day in the life of a game programmer</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Tue, 07 May 2013 21:02:44 +0000</lastBuildDate>
	<language>en</language>
	<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
	<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
	<generator>http://wordpress.com/</generator>
<cloud domain='takinginitiative.net' port='80' path='/?rsscloud=notify' registerProcedure='' protocol='http-post' />
<image>
		<url>http://s2.wp.com/i/buttonw-com.png</url>
		<title>Taking Initiative</title>
		<link>http://takinginitiative.net</link>
	</image>
	<atom:link rel="search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" href="http://takinginitiative.net/osd.xml" title="Taking Initiative" />
	<atom:link rel='hub' href='http://takinginitiative.net/?pushpress=hub'/>
		<item>
		<title>Update report and a bit of an AI rant</title>
		<link>http://takinginitiative.net/2012/06/13/update-report-and-a-bit-of-an-ai-rant/</link>
		<comments>http://takinginitiative.net/2012/06/13/update-report-and-a-bit-of-an-ai-rant/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 13 Jun 2012 19:06:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bobby</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Game AI]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Personal]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://takinginitiative.net/?p=1223</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I have been extremely quiet for the last couple of months and I feel bad that I&#8217;ve neglected this blog (especially since I promised I wouldn&#8217;t). I&#8217;ve been extremely busy with work and my AI prototype and I havent really had too much time to work on anything at home. To be entirely honest, after staring at &#8230; <a href="http://takinginitiative.net/2012/06/13/update-report-and-a-bit-of-an-ai-rant/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#187;</span></a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=takinginitiative.net&#038;blog=1688847&#038;post=1223&#038;subd=takinginitiative&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://takinginitiative.net/2012/06/13/update-report-and-a-bit-of-an-ai-rant/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>6</slash:comments>
	
		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/eee5bef883134a98bec21fc8a18910c5?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F2.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Bobby</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>DirectX 10/11 &#8211; Basic Shader Reflection &#8211; Automatic Input Layout Creation</title>
		<link>http://takinginitiative.net/2011/12/11/directx-1011-basic-shader-reflection-automatic-input-layout-creation/</link>
		<comments>http://takinginitiative.net/2011/12/11/directx-1011-basic-shader-reflection-automatic-input-layout-creation/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 11 Dec 2011 17:34:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bobby</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[DirectX 10]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[DirectX 10 Tutorials]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Graphics Programming]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[HLSL]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://takinginitiative.net/?p=1192</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This is gonna be a very brief post on a pretty simple but powerful tool for any hobby programmers tinkering with Direct3D. One of the most annoying things, at least for me, was always having to manually create input layouts for each different vertex shader I used in my hobby projects. I have now restarted &#8230; <a href="http://takinginitiative.net/2011/12/11/directx-1011-basic-shader-reflection-automatic-input-layout-creation/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#187;</span></a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=takinginitiative.net&#038;blog=1688847&#038;post=1192&#038;subd=takinginitiative&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://takinginitiative.net/2011/12/11/directx-1011-basic-shader-reflection-automatic-input-layout-creation/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
	
		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/eee5bef883134a98bec21fc8a18910c5?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F2.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Bobby</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>A Guide to Higher-Education for Aspiring Game Programmers</title>
		<link>http://takinginitiative.net/2011/10/11/a-guide-to-higher-education-for-aspiring-game-programmers/</link>
		<comments>http://takinginitiative.net/2011/10/11/a-guide-to-higher-education-for-aspiring-game-programmers/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 11 Oct 2011 17:43:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bobby</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Game Development]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gaming & Game Dev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Personal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rant]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://takinginitiative.net/?p=1180</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[DISCLAIMER: I wrote this piece for a South African Game Development Magazine prior to leaving South Africa. It has been some time since I send the piece in for copy-editing and have heard nothing back regarding it so I&#8217;m simply going to post it here. The topic is a matter of some debate and the below article is simply &#8230; <a href="http://takinginitiative.net/2011/10/11/a-guide-to-higher-education-for-aspiring-game-programmers/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#187;</span></a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=takinginitiative.net&#038;blog=1688847&#038;post=1180&#038;subd=takinginitiative&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://takinginitiative.net/2011/10/11/a-guide-to-higher-education-for-aspiring-game-programmers/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>8</slash:comments>
	
		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/eee5bef883134a98bec21fc8a18910c5?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F2.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Bobby</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>A brief update&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://takinginitiative.net/2011/09/27/a-brief-update/</link>
		<comments>http://takinginitiative.net/2011/09/27/a-brief-update/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 26 Sep 2011 22:02:04 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bobby</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Personal]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://takinginitiative.net/?p=1175</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;ve been rather quiet the last 2 months. It&#8217;s taken a while to sort out a lot of things here and I&#8217;ve been quite busy with work but I will keep this blog going, I promise. I finally managed to get a personal computer around a week ago and by PC I mean the most basic &#8230; <a href="http://takinginitiative.net/2011/09/27/a-brief-update/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#187;</span></a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=takinginitiative.net&#038;blog=1688847&#038;post=1175&#038;subd=takinginitiative&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://takinginitiative.net/2011/09/27/a-brief-update/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	
		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/eee5bef883134a98bec21fc8a18910c5?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F2.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Bobby</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>A wannabe game developer no more</title>
		<link>http://takinginitiative.net/2011/07/23/a-wannabe-game-developer-no-more/</link>
		<comments>http://takinginitiative.net/2011/07/23/a-wannabe-game-developer-no-more/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 23 Jul 2011 13:27:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bobby</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Gaming & Game Dev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Personal]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://takinginitiative.net/?p=1152</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[So after all these years of hard work, I&#8217;ve finally managed to get into the game industry and into a well known AAA studio to boot. I&#8217;ve accepted an offer from IO Interactive (Hitman, Kane &#38; Lynch) who are based in Copenhagen, Denmark. I will be moving to Denmark and starting at IOI in August! This whole thing &#8230; <a href="http://takinginitiative.net/2011/07/23/a-wannabe-game-developer-no-more/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#187;</span></a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=takinginitiative.net&#038;blog=1688847&#038;post=1152&#038;subd=takinginitiative&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://takinginitiative.net/2011/07/23/a-wannabe-game-developer-no-more/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>14</slash:comments>
	
		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/eee5bef883134a98bec21fc8a18910c5?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F2.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Bobby</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://takinginitiative.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/imag0305.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">IMAG0305</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Pathfinding Thesis Complete</title>
		<link>http://takinginitiative.net/2011/06/16/pathfinding-thesis-complete/</link>
		<comments>http://takinginitiative.net/2011/06/16/pathfinding-thesis-complete/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 16 Jun 2011 20:22:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bobby</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Artificial Intelligence]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Game Development]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gaming & Game Dev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pathfinding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Personal]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://takinginitiative.net/?p=1024</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[WOOT! My thesis, the bane of my existence for the last 2 years, is finally done! Its basically a review of the video game pathfinding field as well as presenting a novel grid map search technique: the spatial grid A*. The version linked below is the final draft that is being submitted to my faculty. Thesis: Video &#8230; <a href="http://takinginitiative.net/2011/06/16/pathfinding-thesis-complete/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#187;</span></a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=takinginitiative.net&#038;blog=1688847&#038;post=1024&#038;subd=takinginitiative&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://takinginitiative.net/2011/06/16/pathfinding-thesis-complete/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
	
		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/eee5bef883134a98bec21fc8a18910c5?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F2.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Bobby</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>A Robust Explosion Hit Check Technique</title>
		<link>http://takinginitiative.net/2011/06/10/a-robust-explosion-hit-check-technique/</link>
		<comments>http://takinginitiative.net/2011/06/10/a-robust-explosion-hit-check-technique/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 10 Jun 2011 10:31:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bobby</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Artificial Intelligence]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Game Development]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gaming & Game Dev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://takinginitiative.net/?p=1080</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In a recent technical interview I got asked the following question: &#8220;if an explosion occurs i.e. from a grenade, how would you determine which characters in the game are affected&#8221;. This was a question that I couldnt answer at the time which annoyed the hell out of me and it&#8217;s been sitting in the back of my head &#8230; <a href="http://takinginitiative.net/2011/06/10/a-robust-explosion-hit-check-technique/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#187;</span></a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=takinginitiative.net&#038;blog=1688847&#038;post=1080&#038;subd=takinginitiative&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://takinginitiative.net/2011/06/10/a-robust-explosion-hit-check-technique/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>16</slash:comments>
	
		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/eee5bef883134a98bec21fc8a18910c5?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F2.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Bobby</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://takinginitiative.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/intro.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">intro</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://takinginitiative.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/special-cases.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">special cases</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://takinginitiative.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/drawing1.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Drawing1</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>DirectX10 Tutorial 10: Shadow Mapping Part 2</title>
		<link>http://takinginitiative.net/2011/05/25/directx10-tutorial-10-shadow-mapping-part-2/</link>
		<comments>http://takinginitiative.net/2011/05/25/directx10-tutorial-10-shadow-mapping-part-2/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 25 May 2011 14:32:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bobby</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[DirectX 10]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[DirectX 10 Tutorials]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Graphics Programming]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[HLSL]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://takinginitiative.net/?p=1031</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This is the second part of my shadow mapping tutorial (find part 1 here). I am going to discuss some of the issues of the shadow mapping technique as well as some basic solutions to the problem. I&#8217;m also going to attach a demo application, in which you can play around with some of the &#8230; <a href="http://takinginitiative.net/2011/05/25/directx10-tutorial-10-shadow-mapping-part-2/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#187;</span></a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=takinginitiative.net&#038;blog=1688847&#038;post=1031&#038;subd=takinginitiative&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://takinginitiative.net/2011/05/25/directx10-tutorial-10-shadow-mapping-part-2/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>6</slash:comments>
	
		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/eee5bef883134a98bec21fc8a18910c5?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F2.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Bobby</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://takinginitiative.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/self-shadowing1.png" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">self-shadowing1</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://takinginitiative.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/self-shadowing21.png" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">self-shadowing2</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://takinginitiative.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/zfighting.png" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">zfighting</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://takinginitiative.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/shadowmapculling.png" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">shadowmapculling</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://takinginitiative.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/shadowmapsize.png" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">shadowmapsize</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://takinginitiative.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/pcf-example.png" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">PCF-example</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://takinginitiative.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/pcf.png" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">pcf</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>DirectX10 Tutorial 10: Shadow Mapping Part 1</title>
		<link>http://takinginitiative.net/2011/05/15/directx10-tutorial-10-shadow-mapping/</link>
		<comments>http://takinginitiative.net/2011/05/15/directx10-tutorial-10-shadow-mapping/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 15 May 2011 19:15:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bobby</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[DirectX 10]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[DirectX 10 Tutorials]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Game Development]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gaming & Game Dev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Graphics Programming]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[HLSL]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://takinginitiative.net/?p=996</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;ve had some downtime lately and seeing as I wrote a basic shadow mapping demo, I figured I&#8217;d write a short tutorial on the theory and implementation of shadow mapping. Shadow mapping is one of those topics that tends to get explained in a overly complicated manner when in fact the concept is rather simple. &#8230; <a href="http://takinginitiative.net/2011/05/15/directx10-tutorial-10-shadow-mapping/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#187;</span></a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=takinginitiative.net&#038;blog=1688847&#038;post=996&#038;subd=takinginitiative&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://takinginitiative.net/2011/05/15/directx10-tutorial-10-shadow-mapping/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>19</slash:comments>
	
		<media:thumbnail url="http://takinginitiative.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/scene1.jpg?w=150" />
		<media:content url="http://takinginitiative.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/scene1.jpg?w=150" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">scene1</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/eee5bef883134a98bec21fc8a18910c5?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F2.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Bobby</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://takinginitiative.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/shadow1.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">shadow</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://takinginitiative.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/shadow2.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">shadow2</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://takinginitiative.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/scene1.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">scene1</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://takinginitiative.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/shadowmap1.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">shadowmap1</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://takinginitiative.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/space_conv.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">space_conv</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://takinginitiative.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/shadowmappingfinal.jpg" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">shadowMappingFinal</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Experiences with Interviewing So Far</title>
		<link>http://takinginitiative.net/2011/05/09/experiences-with-interviewing-so-far/</link>
		<comments>http://takinginitiative.net/2011/05/09/experiences-with-interviewing-so-far/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 09 May 2011 15:47:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bobby</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Personal]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://takinginitiative.net/?p=989</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[So I&#8217;m currently looking for a job in the game industry, location and salary are secondary to the work at this point. I kinda just want to get out of South Africa and work on something cool. I&#8217;m still young enough not have to worry about supporting a family, stability or dealing with crunch time, &#8230; <a href="http://takinginitiative.net/2011/05/09/experiences-with-interviewing-so-far/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#187;</span></a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=takinginitiative.net&#038;blog=1688847&#038;post=989&#038;subd=takinginitiative&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://takinginitiative.net/2011/05/09/experiences-with-interviewing-so-far/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
	
		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/eee5bef883134a98bec21fc8a18910c5?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F2.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Bobby</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
	</channel>
</rss>
