History of game passwords for the 8-bit NES video game system console from the 1980’s. Pros and Cons for password systems. Design considerations for a password system. How passwords are generated in Mega Man 2. Method for generating passwords in Metroid. How powerups, boss status, game time, and starting position is converted from bits and bytes into a password. Demonstration of program that provides an API to generating passwords for multiple NES games. A look at characters and spaces for various other NES games. Explanation of combinatorics terms and how those apply to game passwords.

Links

• NES password generator API source code – https://github.com/levidsmith/KnoxGameDesign/tree/master/passwords/nespasswd
• Types of NES passwords – https://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/2015/06/types-of-nes-passwords.html
• NES games that use a password – https://www.thealmightyguru.com/Wiki/index.php?title=List_of_NES_games_which_use_a_password
• NES ID codes – https://www.nesworld.com/nes/files/rarity/nes_master_list.txt
• MegaMan 2 password system – https://retromaggedon.com/index.php/mega-man-2-nes-passwords/
• MegaMan 2 memory map – https://datacrystal.tcrf.net/wiki/Mega_Man_2/ROM_map
• MegaMan 3 password system – https://megaman.fandom.com/wiki/Mega_Man_3_Password_Crack
• Metroid Password Format Guide – https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/nes/519689-metroid/faqs/39232
• Metroid NES Password Generator – https://games.technoplaza.net/mpg/
• Metroid Password Tool – https://www.truepeacein.space/
• Metroid Password Tool source – https://github.com/alexras/truepeacein.space
• FCEUX – https://fceux.com/web/home.html
• FastAPI – https://fastapi.tiangolo.com/
• Deploy FastAPI to shared hosting – https://dev.to/cmanish049/how-to-deploy-fastapi-on-shared-hosting-cpanel-7ch
• Podcast theme music – Ride by Pocketmaster

Knox Game Design

Game Passwords - Knox Game Design, May 2026

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Explanation of how to create a game for N64. Overview of the N64 architecture. Development environment with Pyrite64, MSYS2, libdragon, and Tiny3D. How to install and setup development environment. Creating a new project. Navigating the editor. Adding a simple object and creating a build. Building and running a test project. Creating a model in Blender with Fast3D and exporting to glb format to be imported into development environment. Texture mapping for models. Code for moving and rotating objects. API documentation. Creating multiple instances with Prefabs. Simple collision for objects. Playing your game on real N64 hardware with the Everdrive64 X5 and Evergenesis 64.

Links

• Demo source code – https://github.com/levidsmith/KnoxGameDesign/tree/master/n64dev
• Pyrite 64 source code – https://github.com/HailToDodongo/pyrite64
• Pyrite 64 download – https://sourceforge.net/projects/pyrite64.mirror/
• Pyrite 64 User Manual 3D Models – https://hailtododongo.github.io/pyrite64/docs/manual/assets/model3d.html
• gopher 64 emulator – https://github.com/gopher64/gopher64/releases
• MSYS2 – https://www.msys2.org/
• libdragon – https://github.com/DragonMinded/libdragon
• libdragon controller structures – https://n64squid.com/homebrew/libdragon/controllers/
• tiny3d – https://github.com/HailToDodongo/tiny3d
• Ares emulator – https://ares-emu.net/
• Fast-64 – https://github.com/Fast-64/fast64
• Blender – https://www.blender.org/download/
• Nintendo 64: Architecture and History by M. Carlson – https://matthewc.dev/musings/nintendo-64/
• N64 Brew – https://n64brew.dev/wiki/Main_Page
• Awesome N64 Development – https://n64.dev/
• Nintendo64 Programming Manual – https://ultra64.ca/files/documentation/online-manuals/man/pro-man/start/index.html
• Hack64 – https://hack64.net/wiki/doku.php?id=start
• C++ standard – https://www.open-std.org/jtc1/sc22/wg21/
• Podcast theme music – Ride by Pocketmaster

Knox Game Design

N64 Development - Knox Game Design, March 2026

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Explanation of recreating the classic snake game for QBasic called Nibbles in MonoGame.
Steps: Moving blocks. Add snake body. Limit snake length. Adding collectibles. Adding levels, Game States. Sound Effects. Title Screen, Options, Pause.

Links

• Demo source code – https://github.com/levidsmith/KnoxGameDesign/tree/master/snake_game
• Snake game genre – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake_(video_game_genre)
• Blockade – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZJUoQBb8I8
• Nibbles QBasic – https://archive.org/details/NibblesQbasic
• IBM font – https://int10h.org/oldschool-pc-fonts/fontlist/font?ibm_vga_9x16
• Podcast theme music – Ride by Pocketmaster

Knox Game Design

Snake Game - Knox Game Design, February 2026

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Design and implementation of a turn based real estate game in twelve steps using MonoGame and C#.

• Source code – https://github.com/levidsmith/KnoxGameDesign/tree/master/real_estate
• Podcast theme music – Ride by Pocketmaster

Knox Game Design

Real Estate Game - Knox Game Design, December 2025

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00:00 / 58:25

Demo of using hinge joints in unity for doors and pinball flippers.

Links and Notes

• Source code – https://github.com/levidsmith/KnoxGameDesign/tree/master/hinge_joint
• Joints in Unity – https://docs.unity3d.com/6000.2/Documentation/Manual/Joints.html
• Hinge Joint component in Unity – https://docs.unity3d.com/6000.0/Documentation/Manual/class-HingeJoint.html
• Podcast theme music – Ride by Pocketmaster

Knox Game Design

Hinge Joints - Knox Game Design, November 2025

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18:49

Overview and implementation of a 3×3 puzzle cube game using Blender, Unity, and C# code.

Links and Notes

• Source code – https://github.com/levidsmith/KnoxGameDesign/tree/master/3x3_puzzle_cube/3x3PuzzleCube
• Podcast theme music – Ride by Pocketmaster

Knox Game Design

3x3 Puzzle Cube - Knox Game Design, October 2025

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23:38

Overview of ten special weapons for a 2D platformer game, along with demos in MonoGame with explanation of C# code. The weapons covered are normal (buster), eight way, freeze, wave, boomerang, tornado, charge, orbit shield, roller, exploder.

Links and Notes

• Source code – https://github.com/levidsmith/KnoxGameDesign/tree/master/special_weapons
• Podcast theme music – Ride by Pocketmaster

Knox Game Design

Special Weapons - Knox Game Design, September 2025

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00:00 / 43:23

Examples of the various types of gates used in the design of games.

Links and Notes

• The Level Design Book – https://book.leveldesignbook.com/process/layout/typology/gates
• What Games Are – https://www.whatgamesare.com/gating.html
• Mapcore – https://www.mapcore.org/topic/20013-player-gating-in-level-design/
• Gating in level design – https://shaunspalding.co.uk/gating-in-level-design/
• Technical Game Design – https://technicalgamedesign.blogspot.com/2011/04/gating.html
• Podcast theme music – Ride by Pocketmaster

Knox Game Design

Gating - Knox Game Design, August 2025

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Design and implementation steps for creating a pellet eating maze game in MonoGame with C#.

Source code – https://github.com/levidsmith/KnoxGameDesign/tree/master/pellet_eating

Links and Notes

• MonoGame – https://monogame.net/
• Visual Studio – https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/
• Ghost behaviors – https://pacman.fandom.com/wiki/Maze_Ghost_AI_Behaviors
• Podcast theme music – Ride by Pocketmaster

Knox Game Design

Pellet Eating Maze Game - Knox Game Design, July 2025

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00:00 / 44:59