Having got rid of my splitting headache last week, I now have a splitting back ache this week. Looks like I cannot win :( Had our monthly strategy meeting today to re-align where we've been, where we are and where we are going. Made some small adjustments to the release dates and internal plans and are ready for a solid week of work to get a build solid and ready for some close testing.
As I found it more comfortable to stay in my chair, I got extra work done today and knocked quite a few niggles off the task list, leaving the fun stuff for Tuesday, which includes Rockets, Particle Trails and BIG explosions. Not that Monday was without it's interesting moments, specifically the fine tuning of the ragdoll system was pretty good fun.
Perhaps the most interesting was the addition and support of the _I texture map in the entity shader which will allow anyone with illumination texture maps to have them working in the Reloaded HIGHEST entity shader. It's coded so there are plenty channels left in the texture slot so in the future we could do things like reflection cube map references, or something more funky like a oscillating illumination/displacement map, e.t.c.
Also added some new player and pistol sound effects to see if we could raise the bar a little more. Needs a teams ear now to see if we hit the mark or if we need to return to the drawing board.
Also work commences on the character animations for Rocketman, and some small bits work on looking for better ways to render entities in the scene but this is no high priority. The goal for this week will be to create a great game play experience with what we have so far, and if we pull it off, we should have a real PISTOL vs ROCKET fest which should make for an interesting game!
Thứ Hai, 30 tháng 6, 2014
Thứ Sáu, 27 tháng 6, 2014
Through the Google lens: long live football
With more than 1.2 billion searches and counting, World Cup fever continues in Brazil and around the world. This week, we’re taking a special look at the top search trends from throughout the tournament so far. Keep up with all of our insights from search at our World Cup hub.
We know Cristiano Ronaldo can strut his stuff on the football pitch—and in the occasional Armani ad—but he’s taking it to new heights on the search charts. Topping longtime rival Lionel Messi and rising icon Neymar, Ronaldo proves all you need to win in search is serious dribbling skills, a chiseled jawline and a unique haircut (although the reason behind his hairstyle may be pretty heartwarming … if true).
Look ma—no hands!
A World Cup is only as good as its goals—and we’ve seen a couple of doozies this time around. Robin Van Persie’s leaping header made him an overnight Internet sensation, while people were excited to see that Messi got his groove back after scoring his first World Cup goal in eight years. And if you blinked, you might have missed Clint Dempsey’s goal in the U.S.A’s 2-1 victory over Ghana. Clocking in at 32 seconds after the start of the match, Dempsey scored the fastest American goal in World Cup history. That feat, however, couldn’t save the United States as they fell victim to the latest goal in World Cup history off the head of Silvestre Varela.
A pitched battle
Do you take your fish and chips with pasta? Searchers were eager to watch England and Italy’s clash for Group D dominance (spoiler alert: both teams got the boot) while the U.S.A.’s match against Ghana took second place in search. Rounding out the top three, we’re pretty sure Guillermo Ochoa’s stellar performance and totally convincing impression of a wall was what made the Brazil vs. Mexico match a hot one.
Time to bust a move
It was a dance-off on the trends charts as Daniel Sturridge's wave won over the crowd ahead of Neymar’s funky jig. But our personal favorite has to be the Ghanaian national team’s collaborative routine after star striker Asamoah Gyan scored a goal to take the lead in their match against Germany. We just love an ensemble!
Long hair, don’t care
It’s not really about football unless you mention WAGs (“wives and girlfriends” of players). Amongst leading ladies, Colombian singer Shakira steals the search show. And after her partner, Spanish defender Gerard Pique, and his team suffered a World Cup collapse, it just might be a good thing she’s the center of attention.
Gym, tan, football
Look ma—no hands!
A pitched battle
Time to bust a move
Long hair, don’t care
It’s not really about football unless you mention WAGs (“wives and girlfriends” of players). Amongst leading ladies, Colombian singer Shakira steals the search show. And after her partner, Spanish defender Gerard Pique, and his team suffered a World Cup collapse, it just might be a good thing she’s the center of attention.
Ragdoll - Two Days
With the help of some licensed code, I have managed to create the ragdoll feature for the characters in just under two days. I am still compiling the final tweaks but it's gone 7PM and I really want to eat and chill very soon.
I also want to show you the latest art from our Rocket Man collection! Awesome or what! I am hopeful to get this guy in the engine and firing his rockets next week which will be a great week me thinks!
Just to show you a typical day in the life of my inbox, all this appeared within 60 minutes as I was attempting to focus on my ragdoll coding! Now multiply that throughout the day and weeks and you can appreciate the constant battle with distractions and managing the project as a whole.
I still need to do a build and get it uploaded for later, but my brain cannot stop thinking about food so I might eat for an hour then return for an evening shift. My first run of the integrated ragdoll was less than 100% successful. The debug capsule ragdoll fell properly, but the character model just animated a death as usual. A few more tweaks and we will be there!
One issue is that the current models have 'scaled origin matrices' which are ignored during the ragdoll manipulation. This results in head bones expanding and re-creating the teeth ten times larger, funny but undesirable.
More work to do before this Friday is done, but I will get this blog posted now and get some munch! Hopefully I can return recharged to sort out the scattered limbs and put Humpty back together again!
I also want to show you the latest art from our Rocket Man collection! Awesome or what! I am hopeful to get this guy in the engine and firing his rockets next week which will be a great week me thinks!
Just to show you a typical day in the life of my inbox, all this appeared within 60 minutes as I was attempting to focus on my ragdoll coding! Now multiply that throughout the day and weeks and you can appreciate the constant battle with distractions and managing the project as a whole.
I still need to do a build and get it uploaded for later, but my brain cannot stop thinking about food so I might eat for an hour then return for an evening shift. My first run of the integrated ragdoll was less than 100% successful. The debug capsule ragdoll fell properly, but the character model just animated a death as usual. A few more tweaks and we will be there!
One issue is that the current models have 'scaled origin matrices' which are ignored during the ragdoll manipulation. This results in head bones expanding and re-creating the teeth ten times larger, funny but undesirable.
More work to do before this Friday is done, but I will get this blog posted now and get some munch! Hopefully I can return recharged to sort out the scattered limbs and put Humpty back together again!
Thứ Năm, 26 tháng 6, 2014
So Many Emails So Little Time
I finally found the fortitude to ignore my inbox for five minutes and get the Rag-doll coding started. Spent most of the day on it in fact and had a hoot. I had the advantage of an existing ragdoll system powered by Bullet that was kindly licensed to us for this very purpose and I am making good progress. Right now I have my very small prototype loading in the character, turning it into a ragdoll and having it pinned to a distant wall for pure fun.
The next step is to move the Bullet specific code over to my own Bullet wrapper and start an integratable prototype so it links in with the existing physics system and engine data structures. Should take another half day and then I will be able to see ragdoll in the engine itself.
The standalone menu system is also finished for our first version with all the graphics integrated and interface working fine. Nice big images which can be changed if you want menu and buttons of your own. No UI to edit this, just swap in your own files but we will make a title menu maker somewhere down the road when the community vote for it.
In other progresses, we now have some enemy voices in the engine which means when the enemies see you they yell out. It's pretty cool at first, but as Ravey comments on it can get a bit repetitive and annoying, so there is definitely a subtle art when to trigger these audio incidents.
In weapon land, we have just finished the draft of the whole new weapon system and how the FLAK/PROJECTILE stuff fits into it, and today a prototype has been started which turns this from design to code.
While the rocket mechanism is being added, our artist is providing the animation to the meanie that will be firing them in the game. Rick thinks his rocket is too big, what do you think? How big are rocket launchers these days? It's been a while...
The next step is to move the Bullet specific code over to my own Bullet wrapper and start an integratable prototype so it links in with the existing physics system and engine data structures. Should take another half day and then I will be able to see ragdoll in the engine itself.
The standalone menu system is also finished for our first version with all the graphics integrated and interface working fine. Nice big images which can be changed if you want menu and buttons of your own. No UI to edit this, just swap in your own files but we will make a title menu maker somewhere down the road when the community vote for it.
In other progresses, we now have some enemy voices in the engine which means when the enemies see you they yell out. It's pretty cool at first, but as Ravey comments on it can get a bit repetitive and annoying, so there is definitely a subtle art when to trigger these audio incidents.
In weapon land, we have just finished the draft of the whole new weapon system and how the FLAK/PROJECTILE stuff fits into it, and today a prototype has been started which turns this from design to code.
While the rocket mechanism is being added, our artist is providing the animation to the meanie that will be firing them in the game. Rick thinks his rocket is too big, what do you think? How big are rocket launchers these days? It's been a while...
Thứ Tư, 25 tháng 6, 2014
Coming to a screen near you
This morning we welcomed 6,000 developers to our 7th annual Google I/O developer conference. The crowd in San Francisco was joined by millions more watching on the livestream and 597 I/O Extended events, in 90+ countries on six continents.
We’re meeting at an exciting time for Google, and for our developer community. There are now one billion of you around the world who use an Android device. One billion. We estimate that’s more than 20 billion text messages sent every day. 1.5 trillion steps taken with an Android. And more importantly, a roughly estimated 93M selfies.
Today, developers got a preview of our most ambitious Android release yet. With more than 5,000 new APIs (for non-techies, that stands for application programming interfaces) and a new, consistent design approach called material design, we’re continuing to evolve the Android platform so developers can bring to life even more beautiful, engaging mobile experiences.
But, beyond the mobile phone, many of us are increasingly surrounded by a range of screens throughout the day--at home, at work, in the car, or even on our wrist. So, we got to thinking: how do we invest more in our two popular, open platforms—Android and Chrome—to make it easier for you to easily and intuitively move from your phone, tablet, laptop to your TV, car or even your watch?
That question was answered for the I/O crowd today. Here are some highlights:
On the go: Android Wear and Android Auto
Most people check their phones more than 150 times a day. Often, it’s to read a text, look at a notification, or get some other simple piece of information. That’s a lot of time spent unlocking, swiping and entering passwords, when your hands could easily be free handling more important things.
Enter Android Wear, which extends Android, and its ecosystem of apps, to that most familiar spot for a “wearable,” your wrist. You get the information you need, quickly at a glance—just like you’re used to doing with your watch. Just say “Ok Google” to ask questions or to get stuff done. Get alerted when it's time to leave for dinner. Call a cab to take you there. See the traffic on the way. Text a friend once you're seated. It’s all right there, on your wrist, easy to see, right when you want it. Today we announced that two Android wearables, the LG G Watch and Samsung Gear Live, are available to order today on Google Play, and the Moto 360 from Motorola will be available in the coming months. Your thumbs will thank you.
It’s one thing to be able to simply check your wrist for what you need when you’re on the go. But what about when you’re in your car? Many of us want to stay connected even while driving. Getting directions, traffic updates, finding just the right music playlist. But using our phones while at the wheel is simply unsafe.
Android Auto, which we showed to developers today, takes care of that for you. Just connect your Android phone to a car with Android Auto, and you’ll have what you need at your fingertips such as turn-by-turn navigation from Google Maps, your curated playlists and radio stations through Play Music, simple-to-use voice search, and reminders from Google Now. This is accessible through your car’s controls, and more importantly, is far safer than fumbling around with your phone. You’ll start to see Android Auto in cars later this year.
In the living room: Chromecast and Android TV
So, you get out of your car, and now you’re home, after a long day, in front of the TV. Last summer, we launched Chromecast, a small, affordable device that lets you cast online video, music and anything from the web to your TV. It’s getting an update to make it even more powerful, and convenient to use, with new features like the ability to allow others to cast to your TV without needing to be on the same WiFi network, a customizable homescreen with personal photos or beautiful art, and casting exactly what is on your Android phone or tablet screen directly to the TV.
Now, in addition to Chromecast, Android TV brings all that you love about Android apps and games to your living room. Android is baked directly into your TV-watching experience, through a set-top box or as part of your TV. You can use voice search to find a live TV show, a good flick from Google Play, or a music video on YouTube. Plus, because it’s Android, you’ll be able to play your favorite Android games, reimagined for TV and with a gamepad. Android TV, which, like Chromecast, supports Google Cast technology, will ship with products from a range of consumer electronics companies later this year.
For the next billion: Android One
All these amazing multi-screen experiences are built around a smartphone and basic internet connectivity. However, there are many people—billions of people, in fact—who still don’t have access to a smartphone. We want to change that; so today we announced an important initiative called Android One.
We’re working with partners on a comprehensive solution—which includes hardware reference platforms—to address the mobile computing needs of those in emerging markets. Android One will provide smartphones that are high quality, affordable and come with reasonable data plans. Our partners will launch an initial range of sub-$100 Android One smartphones starting in India this Fall, with more countries to follow. We’ve long wondered what potential could be unleashed if people everywhere had access to the latest technology and the world's information. It's time to find out.
Design, Develop, Distribute
All in all, Android and Chrome are the platforms that make these experiences possible, but the products developers build upon them are what make it all come alive. Google I/O allows us to show them what we’re up to—whether it’s a new approach to design, new developer tools, or new ways to reach the next billion people who come online.
For all you developers out there, thanks for everything you do. We can’t wait to see what you build next.
Posted by Sundar Pichai, SVP, Android, Chrome & Apps
We’re meeting at an exciting time for Google, and for our developer community. There are now one billion of you around the world who use an Android device. One billion. We estimate that’s more than 20 billion text messages sent every day. 1.5 trillion steps taken with an Android. And more importantly, a roughly estimated 93M selfies.
Today, developers got a preview of our most ambitious Android release yet. With more than 5,000 new APIs (for non-techies, that stands for application programming interfaces) and a new, consistent design approach called material design, we’re continuing to evolve the Android platform so developers can bring to life even more beautiful, engaging mobile experiences.
But, beyond the mobile phone, many of us are increasingly surrounded by a range of screens throughout the day--at home, at work, in the car, or even on our wrist. So, we got to thinking: how do we invest more in our two popular, open platforms—Android and Chrome—to make it easier for you to easily and intuitively move from your phone, tablet, laptop to your TV, car or even your watch?
That question was answered for the I/O crowd today. Here are some highlights:
Most people check their phones more than 150 times a day. Often, it’s to read a text, look at a notification, or get some other simple piece of information. That’s a lot of time spent unlocking, swiping and entering passwords, when your hands could easily be free handling more important things.
Enter Android Wear, which extends Android, and its ecosystem of apps, to that most familiar spot for a “wearable,” your wrist. You get the information you need, quickly at a glance—just like you’re used to doing with your watch. Just say “Ok Google” to ask questions or to get stuff done. Get alerted when it's time to leave for dinner. Call a cab to take you there. See the traffic on the way. Text a friend once you're seated. It’s all right there, on your wrist, easy to see, right when you want it. Today we announced that two Android wearables, the LG G Watch and Samsung Gear Live, are available to order today on Google Play, and the Moto 360 from Motorola will be available in the coming months. Your thumbs will thank you.
It’s one thing to be able to simply check your wrist for what you need when you’re on the go. But what about when you’re in your car? Many of us want to stay connected even while driving. Getting directions, traffic updates, finding just the right music playlist. But using our phones while at the wheel is simply unsafe.
Android Auto, which we showed to developers today, takes care of that for you. Just connect your Android phone to a car with Android Auto, and you’ll have what you need at your fingertips such as turn-by-turn navigation from Google Maps, your curated playlists and radio stations through Play Music, simple-to-use voice search, and reminders from Google Now. This is accessible through your car’s controls, and more importantly, is far safer than fumbling around with your phone. You’ll start to see Android Auto in cars later this year.
In the living room: Chromecast and Android TV
So, you get out of your car, and now you’re home, after a long day, in front of the TV. Last summer, we launched Chromecast, a small, affordable device that lets you cast online video, music and anything from the web to your TV. It’s getting an update to make it even more powerful, and convenient to use, with new features like the ability to allow others to cast to your TV without needing to be on the same WiFi network, a customizable homescreen with personal photos or beautiful art, and casting exactly what is on your Android phone or tablet screen directly to the TV.
Now, in addition to Chromecast, Android TV brings all that you love about Android apps and games to your living room. Android is baked directly into your TV-watching experience, through a set-top box or as part of your TV. You can use voice search to find a live TV show, a good flick from Google Play, or a music video on YouTube. Plus, because it’s Android, you’ll be able to play your favorite Android games, reimagined for TV and with a gamepad. Android TV, which, like Chromecast, supports Google Cast technology, will ship with products from a range of consumer electronics companies later this year.
All these amazing multi-screen experiences are built around a smartphone and basic internet connectivity. However, there are many people—billions of people, in fact—who still don’t have access to a smartphone. We want to change that; so today we announced an important initiative called Android One.
We’re working with partners on a comprehensive solution—which includes hardware reference platforms—to address the mobile computing needs of those in emerging markets. Android One will provide smartphones that are high quality, affordable and come with reasonable data plans. Our partners will launch an initial range of sub-$100 Android One smartphones starting in India this Fall, with more countries to follow. We’ve long wondered what potential could be unleashed if people everywhere had access to the latest technology and the world's information. It's time to find out.
Design, Develop, Distribute
All in all, Android and Chrome are the platforms that make these experiences possible, but the products developers build upon them are what make it all come alive. Google I/O allows us to show them what we’re up to—whether it’s a new approach to design, new developer tools, or new ways to reach the next billion people who come online.
For all you developers out there, thanks for everything you do. We can’t wait to see what you build next.
Posted by Sundar Pichai, SVP, Android, Chrome & Apps
Lighting Tweaks
My plan today WAS to get started with ragdoll but have been beset with visual and in-game tweak requests, so spent the whole day chasing those little errands. So much so that by the end of a seven hour stint, I have a pile of tweaks under my belt but a list even bigger than it was this morning with more 'little tweaks'. Believe me, little tweaks add up!
Last night I just finished one such visual tweak to create a nice contrasting scene for a lighting test:
This morning I went into the shader and rock texture to see what else I could do to improve things and create some more pop:
You will maybe be pleased to see not much bloom hiding the issues, and forcing me to think more about colour balance and contrasts. Our conclusion is that we need some more assets, specifically rocks that have deeper veins to create dark shadows as the current ones are too uniform and pockmarked. I attempted to create some detail as you can see above, but it resulted in lowering the resolution to get the details large enough. We really need an artist to create a HIGH resolution normal map and supporting geometry that exhibits super deep cracks.
In order to play with lighting, I also added a new slider which some users might enjoy:
As you can see, you can now adjust the sun position in real-time, to make your scene light at the right angles and so forth. It's not 100% as the shadows do not move with the sun, but it's something that will get sorted for the next major build.
Anyhoo, once I have rid myself of these flees (small tweaks) I can get back to the major strokes of this next version which is ragdoll, explosions, smoke and particles. Darn gnats!!
Last night I just finished one such visual tweak to create a nice contrasting scene for a lighting test:
This morning I went into the shader and rock texture to see what else I could do to improve things and create some more pop:
You will maybe be pleased to see not much bloom hiding the issues, and forcing me to think more about colour balance and contrasts. Our conclusion is that we need some more assets, specifically rocks that have deeper veins to create dark shadows as the current ones are too uniform and pockmarked. I attempted to create some detail as you can see above, but it resulted in lowering the resolution to get the details large enough. We really need an artist to create a HIGH resolution normal map and supporting geometry that exhibits super deep cracks.
In order to play with lighting, I also added a new slider which some users might enjoy:
As you can see, you can now adjust the sun position in real-time, to make your scene light at the right angles and so forth. It's not 100% as the shadows do not move with the sun, but it's something that will get sorted for the next major build.
Anyhoo, once I have rid myself of these flees (small tweaks) I can get back to the major strokes of this next version which is ragdoll, explosions, smoke and particles. Darn gnats!!
Thứ Ba, 24 tháng 6, 2014
Celebrating Pride, Google Style
This June and throughout 2014, Google is thrilled to be celebrating Pride with the world in 35+ offices globally. With the ever increasing international focus on the LGBT community (searches for LGBT-related terms on Google have increased 41% since 2004 and started really picking up steam in March 2010) it has become even more evident that despite the marriage equality gains made in the United States, much more work needs to be done to ensure the safety and rights of the LGBT community everywhere. The challenges will continue, but so will the celebrations -- here are the top 5 ways we’re celebrating Pride Google-style.
In February, Gayglers (LGBT Googlers and Allies) marched for the fourth year in Sydney’s Mardi Gras Celebration to show our support for marriage equality.
In April, we participated in the Tokyo Rainbow Week Pride Parade.
In May, we danced through the streets of Sao Paulo.
We embellished the Google signs at our Mountain View Headquarters and the New York City office with rainbow “O’s”.
Off the heels of our Google Doodle on the opening day of the Winter Olympics, we continued to show our support of a world where every athlete can be Proud to Play through #ProudToPlay on YouTube.
We’ve got 10 more Pride celebrations after June and are looking forward to thousands of Proud Googlers walking in the San Francisco and New York Pride parades on Sunday, June 29th.
Google’s Pride is spreading: We are now the first-ever corporate sponsor and contingent in the Seoul Pride Parade, and a Gaygler contingent is marching for the first time in Mexico City. And, thanks to the valiant planning efforts of a Gaygler ally, Google will be represented at WorldPride in Toronto this year - we’ll be the ones with a double decker bus handing out Google Pride stickers, wearing Google Pride t-shirts!
1. #Pridecast on Google+ and YouTube
This year, you can enjoy Pride from anywhere - whether your town has a march or not. On June 29, The NYC Pride March will be home base for #Pridecast, a live, online Pride celebration on Google+ and YouTube. Along with NYC Pride, we’ll be streaming the best moments from the march, and bringing in well-known LGBT advocates -- like Laverne Cox of Orange is the New Black, Jonathan Groff of Glee and Frozen, activist Rea Carey, and Scandal’s Dan Bucatinsky -- in person and from around the world via Hangouts On Air.
Celebrate with us - and tune in on Google+ and YouTube at 12:30pm ET on Sunday, June 29.
These are just a few ways Google is celebrating Pride Month. We encourage everyone to continue to celebrate well beyond this month--to keep marching, to keep speaking up--until gay rights are fully recognized for what they are: basic human rights.
Happy Pride, everybody!
5. We started the celebration earlier this year
In February, Gayglers (LGBT Googlers and Allies) marched for the fourth year in Sydney’s Mardi Gras Celebration to show our support for marriage equality.
4. We showed our Pride
3. We’re celebrating throughout June … and the rest of 2014
2. Pride “firsts”
1. #Pridecast on Google+ and YouTube
This year, you can enjoy Pride from anywhere - whether your town has a march or not. On June 29, The NYC Pride March will be home base for #Pridecast, a live, online Pride celebration on Google+ and YouTube. Along with NYC Pride, we’ll be streaming the best moments from the march, and bringing in well-known LGBT advocates -- like Laverne Cox of Orange is the New Black, Jonathan Groff of Glee and Frozen, activist Rea Carey, and Scandal’s Dan Bucatinsky -- in person and from around the world via Hangouts On Air.
Celebrate with us - and tune in on Google+ and YouTube at 12:30pm ET on Sunday, June 29.
These are just a few ways Google is celebrating Pride Month. We encourage everyone to continue to celebrate well beyond this month--to keep marching, to keep speaking up--until gay rights are fully recognized for what they are: basic human rights.
Happy Pride, everybody!
You've Been Zombified
Had some fun today lining up the Rocket Launcher to the cool Rocket Man character that will soon be firing flaming missiles at anything that moves. Took a few attempts but he can retrieve his launcher like a trooper now. He is not connected to the rest of his animations, or the rest of the animations he will need to perform all the actions required for a Rocket Man, nor is he connected up to a special script, but the project is certainly rolling along nicely and it should not be too long before you see some action.
I also found time to add some more character variants to the default asset library in anticipation of the level demo we are working on.
In addition to a special Ops character we have zombified the soldiers as well in case you wanted a little undead flavor to your scenes. The reasons why these variations where created will be revealed in forthcoming blogs so stay tuned!
We've also made some headway with the standalone title system (proper integrated graphics) and encryption to ensure your models and textures cannot be stolen from the executables produced with FPSC Reloaded. For those concerned that we're spending too much time on standalone and not enough on core engine tech, I can assure you that there is as much happening inside the engine as in the final deployment.
We've also decided to re-design the FLAK system and bring it up to modern day standards, and taking the opportunity to ensure the system can cater for the many uses we will need it for including grenades, projectiles, mines, C4 explosive charges and pretty much anything else that moves or goes BOOM!
Also, some good news, my headache has gone. Phew! Just in time for a Hangout Interview at 6PM GMT today, and I hope to be able to share a link of the video once it has been recorded and edited. It will be a brief talk about FPSC Reloaded and our ambitions for the product, and hopefully not too much rambling from me! Speaking of which, time for me to sign off...
I also found time to add some more character variants to the default asset library in anticipation of the level demo we are working on.
In addition to a special Ops character we have zombified the soldiers as well in case you wanted a little undead flavor to your scenes. The reasons why these variations where created will be revealed in forthcoming blogs so stay tuned!
We've also made some headway with the standalone title system (proper integrated graphics) and encryption to ensure your models and textures cannot be stolen from the executables produced with FPSC Reloaded. For those concerned that we're spending too much time on standalone and not enough on core engine tech, I can assure you that there is as much happening inside the engine as in the final deployment.
We've also decided to re-design the FLAK system and bring it up to modern day standards, and taking the opportunity to ensure the system can cater for the many uses we will need it for including grenades, projectiles, mines, C4 explosive charges and pretty much anything else that moves or goes BOOM!
Also, some good news, my headache has gone. Phew! Just in time for a Hangout Interview at 6PM GMT today, and I hope to be able to share a link of the video once it has been recorded and edited. It will be a brief talk about FPSC Reloaded and our ambitions for the product, and hopefully not too much rambling from me! Speaking of which, time for me to sign off...
Thứ Hai, 23 tháng 6, 2014
Oh The Pain - The Pain!
Thanks to my two days in the sun over the weekend I seem to be rewarded with a screaming headache on Monday. It has pretty much gone from bad to worse in the last few hours and now my mind is a dull thud of eye strain and throbbing cranium. With my excuse in place, this blog will be short.
Finished the title page mechanism today so you can now move from title to loading, to options menu and game won page, and back again, and over and over, from the standalone executables produced. Just needs real art in there now, and probably some fine tuning for visual effect, but it's done.
Also got the characters to point their guns at you much better, with less smoothing code and more brute force player angle detection. Works okay from my end but needs the litmus test of giving it to the internal team now.
Also started getting a new shader written called effect_basic which will allow static entities to have their textures animate for things like standing fire and smoke effects.
Also started the WEIGHT and FRICTION coupling code so that entities can be affected properly by the physics system when you tweak the values from the default mass=volume calculation. My first attempt was less than perfect with the crate I was experimenting on started rolling end over end off into the distance. Not the best of starts, but shows 'something' is happening ;)
Ravey conducted some key repairs to the AI obstacle system which will prevent characters 'trying' to run through solid objects, but the bulk of his day has been on the encryption system so that standalone executable media cannot be exploited by a third party.
Jumped about the forum to do some catch-up replies and a number of small tasks not specifically related to the task list, but all for the greater good. Now I'm going to switch off the PC and see if I cannot quiet my mind with a J.D & Coke and something to eat.
Okay, so maybe my blog was not as short as my 'throbbing brain' might have liked. Also, as a tip, try not to drink four pints of milk and a pint of orange juice that's 12 months out of date while toiling for 10 hours in the baking sun. It might quench your thirst at the time, but illness is sure to follow!
Finished the title page mechanism today so you can now move from title to loading, to options menu and game won page, and back again, and over and over, from the standalone executables produced. Just needs real art in there now, and probably some fine tuning for visual effect, but it's done.
Also got the characters to point their guns at you much better, with less smoothing code and more brute force player angle detection. Works okay from my end but needs the litmus test of giving it to the internal team now.
Also started getting a new shader written called effect_basic which will allow static entities to have their textures animate for things like standing fire and smoke effects.
Also started the WEIGHT and FRICTION coupling code so that entities can be affected properly by the physics system when you tweak the values from the default mass=volume calculation. My first attempt was less than perfect with the crate I was experimenting on started rolling end over end off into the distance. Not the best of starts, but shows 'something' is happening ;)
Ravey conducted some key repairs to the AI obstacle system which will prevent characters 'trying' to run through solid objects, but the bulk of his day has been on the encryption system so that standalone executable media cannot be exploited by a third party.
Jumped about the forum to do some catch-up replies and a number of small tasks not specifically related to the task list, but all for the greater good. Now I'm going to switch off the PC and see if I cannot quiet my mind with a J.D & Coke and something to eat.
Okay, so maybe my blog was not as short as my 'throbbing brain' might have liked. Also, as a tip, try not to drink four pints of milk and a pint of orange juice that's 12 months out of date while toiling for 10 hours in the baking sun. It might quench your thirst at the time, but illness is sure to follow!
Thứ Sáu, 20 tháng 6, 2014
Through the Google lens: search trends Jun 13-19
The World Cup is well underway and people are searching for every match highlight and replay. Read on to learn what was trending on Google this past week.
There’s football … and then there’s everything else
The Internet is still gobbling up every last bit of the World Cup as searches for the sport reached near ravenous levels (who knew we were so starved of the beautiful game?) John Brooks, a previously obscure member of the USMNT, was on the top of the Internet’s head after using his own to score the game-winning goal against Ghana for the United States. From [england vs italy] to [brazil vs mexico] no match was left untouched, or unsearched.
But the [world cup] wasn’t the only sport that mattered this week (even though it might have seemed like it). The Stanley Cup winner LA Kings and recently crowned NBA champions San Antonio Spurs topped the charts just for one day. In more serious news, people checked in on Michael Schumacher, the Formula 1 driver who was put into a coma after a skiing accident, and mourned the loss of baseball player Tony Gwynn to cancer.
Lifestyles of the rich and famous
When he’s 72 … Paul McCartney found himself on the trending list as he celebrated his 72nd birthday in style and surrounded by music royalty. Speaking of royalty, little Prince George walked his way to the trends charts, as people were eager to find photos and videos of his first steps, making Prince William a proud papa during his first Father’s Day.
Searching my way way back to you ...
Clint Eastwood’s latest movie, the film adaptation of the acclaimed musical Jersey Boys, is hitting a theater near you this week, and searchers are looking for showtimes and reviews before they head to the theater. We’ll have to wait and see if the movie proves to be as successful as 22 Jump Street, which is still trending from last week. While films battle it out for box office supremacy, rumors are swirling that Khal Drogo (sometimes known as Jason Momoa) could be playing Aquaman in the upcoming Batman vs. Superman flick … we won’t hold our breath on that one.
Tip of the week
Have you noticed our World Cup doodles? Throughout the tournament we’re drawing them in real time to reflect amazing moments that happen on the pitch. Got an idea for a doodle? Give us a shout with #GoogleDoodles, we’re always looking for inspiration.
There’s football … and then there’s everything else
The Internet is still gobbling up every last bit of the World Cup as searches for the sport reached near ravenous levels (who knew we were so starved of the beautiful game?) John Brooks, a previously obscure member of the USMNT, was on the top of the Internet’s head after using his own to score the game-winning goal against Ghana for the United States. From [england vs italy] to [brazil vs mexico] no match was left untouched, or unsearched.
But the [world cup] wasn’t the only sport that mattered this week (even though it might have seemed like it). The Stanley Cup winner LA Kings and recently crowned NBA champions San Antonio Spurs topped the charts just for one day. In more serious news, people checked in on Michael Schumacher, the Formula 1 driver who was put into a coma after a skiing accident, and mourned the loss of baseball player Tony Gwynn to cancer.
Lifestyles of the rich and famous
When he’s 72 … Paul McCartney found himself on the trending list as he celebrated his 72nd birthday in style and surrounded by music royalty. Speaking of royalty, little Prince George walked his way to the trends charts, as people were eager to find photos and videos of his first steps, making Prince William a proud papa during his first Father’s Day.
Searching my way way back to you ...
Clint Eastwood’s latest movie, the film adaptation of the acclaimed musical Jersey Boys, is hitting a theater near you this week, and searchers are looking for showtimes and reviews before they head to the theater. We’ll have to wait and see if the movie proves to be as successful as 22 Jump Street, which is still trending from last week. While films battle it out for box office supremacy, rumors are swirling that Khal Drogo (sometimes known as Jason Momoa) could be playing Aquaman in the upcoming Batman vs. Superman flick … we won’t hold our breath on that one.
Tip of the week
Have you noticed our World Cup doodles? Throughout the tournament we’re drawing them in real time to reflect amazing moments that happen on the pitch. Got an idea for a doodle? Give us a shout with #GoogleDoodles, we’re always looking for inspiration.
Another Packed Week
Plenty of stuff done this week, with great work done on cover AI making the enemies look very smart, that is, they hide behind stuff so they don't get shot. Ravey has been confined to continue this AI work until we are beyond the goal post for making a great game play experience.
For myself I have been knocking a few things off the list, and putting more focus on general game logic tweaks and improvements. We have a new marker called Cover Zone which you can place behind any object in the game, and the AI will use these as clues as to the best places to hide when attacking the player. The automated AI system also calculates the best cover positions from the overall geometry too so you get the best of both world.
Also got a cool email from our Character artist with a sneak peek at a new official character, and after using the same Solider for months and months, I am sure you will be tugging at the leash for this one.
As you can imagine, our newly named Rocket Man Character will be wielding a huge rocket launcher as his preferred weapon, which means rockets, explosions, explosion forces, debris, smoke particles and fire. As you might imagine I am looking forward to starting this work!!
Aside from some tinkering at the weekend, my work for Monday will be finishing off the title pages system to wrap standalones with the required title, loading, end pages, options menus and the various screens you need to make a game rounded and feel complete.
Until then however, I am putting my tools away and walking into the baking sun to see what the outside world looks like...
For myself I have been knocking a few things off the list, and putting more focus on general game logic tweaks and improvements. We have a new marker called Cover Zone which you can place behind any object in the game, and the AI will use these as clues as to the best places to hide when attacking the player. The automated AI system also calculates the best cover positions from the overall geometry too so you get the best of both world.
Also got a cool email from our Character artist with a sneak peek at a new official character, and after using the same Solider for months and months, I am sure you will be tugging at the leash for this one.
As you can imagine, our newly named Rocket Man Character will be wielding a huge rocket launcher as his preferred weapon, which means rockets, explosions, explosion forces, debris, smoke particles and fire. As you might imagine I am looking forward to starting this work!!
Aside from some tinkering at the weekend, my work for Monday will be finishing off the title pages system to wrap standalones with the required title, loading, end pages, options menus and the various screens you need to make a game rounded and feel complete.
Until then however, I am putting my tools away and walking into the baking sun to see what the outside world looks like...
Thứ Năm, 19 tháng 6, 2014
Characters Now Spawn
The cool news from today's coding is that characters can now be spawned at will from automated and custom scripts. That is, you can place a character in your level but set it's property 'Spawn At Start' to NO. You can then rename the entity to something memorable such as 'bob' and then proceed to place a few of them around the scene. You can then create a second entity such as a zone, gate or key, and add 'bob' to the field called IF USED. As soon as you collect the key, open the door or walk over the trigger zone and the entity specified will be activated, in this case 'bob'. An automated benefit of activating an entity is that if the entity has not yet spawned, spawn it. With the above logic in place you can now hide the majority of your characters until you want them too leap out at the player. A typical scenario used in many FPS games is to place two characters at either end of a tunnel and place a trigger zone in the middle of the corridor which spawns the characters at the psychological moment, scaring the stuffing out of the unwitting player.
Also improved the terrain painter and save/load system so that you no longer get I call 'terrain slide', the result of the colour pixels not exactly going back where they were painted from the previous level load. I have now done away with the baggage that tried to get top performance and now relying on a slightly slower but much more reliable image data manipulation approach which to totally preserves the previous pixel colour data.
In the A.I camp, Ravey has been making sterling progress with the new character cover system, which is designed to allow soldiers to move from one cover position to another, getting ever closer to the player but not exposing themselves to a direct shot. Early demos look good and hopefully I will have something playable and solid by the end of Friday.
Once more the sun is shining in Wales and I have hole digging and dog walking duties to perform. I was hanging around for some last minute check-in stuff, but it's now 17:36PM and the deadline has passed. Will return later tonight when I am fed, watered and slightly sun bleached ;)
Also improved the terrain painter and save/load system so that you no longer get I call 'terrain slide', the result of the colour pixels not exactly going back where they were painted from the previous level load. I have now done away with the baggage that tried to get top performance and now relying on a slightly slower but much more reliable image data manipulation approach which to totally preserves the previous pixel colour data.
In the A.I camp, Ravey has been making sterling progress with the new character cover system, which is designed to allow soldiers to move from one cover position to another, getting ever closer to the player but not exposing themselves to a direct shot. Early demos look good and hopefully I will have something playable and solid by the end of Friday.
Once more the sun is shining in Wales and I have hole digging and dog walking duties to perform. I was hanging around for some last minute check-in stuff, but it's now 17:36PM and the deadline has passed. Will return later tonight when I am fed, watered and slightly sun bleached ;)
Things you love are Made with Code
Miral is a hip hop dancer and choreographer who lights up stages across the country. Danielle is a cinematographer at Pixar, helping to bring beloved characters like Nemo and Merida to life. Erica is a humanitarian fighting malaria around the world.
These are all women with cool, amazing jobs. But, more important, they’re all women who use computer science, and an ability to code, to do those cool, amazing jobs. They couldn’t do what they do without having learned not just to use technology, but to build it themselves. Unfortunately, there are far too few women like them and far too few young girls following their paths. In fact, fewer than one percent of high school girls express interest in majoring in computer science.
This is an issue that hits home for me. My school-age daughter instinctively knows how to play games, watch videos and chat with friends online. She understands technology. And she likes using technology. But, she never expressed any interest in creating it herself.
So, I decided to launch a campaign at home — connecting my daughter to coding resources, increasing my encouragement and introducing her to other girls interested in computer science. It wasn’t always easy, but it’s already showing results. She recently started learning basic computer languages and using code to do projects at home.
Today, we’re attempting to solve this issue on a much larger scale. Along with Chelsea Clinton, Girls Inc., Girl Scouts of the USA, Mindy Kaling, MIT Media Lab, National Center for Women & Information Technology, SevenTeen, TechCrunch and more, Google is launching Made with Code, an initiative to inspire girls to code. The program includes:
We’ve also posted videos about women who are using code in their dream jobs, like Miral, Danielle, Erica and other inspirational girl coders — like Brittany Wenger, who is using code to fight cancer. And, we’ve developed a few steps parents can take at home to get their daughters excited about computer science. Read more about the initiative here.
Nowadays, coding isn’t just a skill useful for working at a tech company; engineering isn’t just for engineers. Interior design. Medicine. Architecture. Music. No matter what a girl dreams of doing, learning how to code will help her get there. Their future — our future — is made with code. Let’s do what we can to make sure that future is as bright as possible.
These are all women with cool, amazing jobs. But, more important, they’re all women who use computer science, and an ability to code, to do those cool, amazing jobs. They couldn’t do what they do without having learned not just to use technology, but to build it themselves. Unfortunately, there are far too few women like them and far too few young girls following their paths. In fact, fewer than one percent of high school girls express interest in majoring in computer science.
This is an issue that hits home for me. My school-age daughter instinctively knows how to play games, watch videos and chat with friends online. She understands technology. And she likes using technology. But, she never expressed any interest in creating it herself.
So, I decided to launch a campaign at home — connecting my daughter to coding resources, increasing my encouragement and introducing her to other girls interested in computer science. It wasn’t always easy, but it’s already showing results. She recently started learning basic computer languages and using code to do projects at home.
Today, we’re attempting to solve this issue on a much larger scale. Along with Chelsea Clinton, Girls Inc., Girl Scouts of the USA, Mindy Kaling, MIT Media Lab, National Center for Women & Information Technology, SevenTeen, TechCrunch and more, Google is launching Made with Code, an initiative to inspire girls to code. The program includes:
- Cool introductory Blockly-based coding projects, like designing a bracelet 3D-printed by Shapeways, learning to create animated GIFs and building beats for a music track.
- Collaborations with organizations like Girl Scouts of the USA and Girls, Inc. to introduce Made with Code to girls in their networks, encouraging them to complete their first coding experience.
- A commitment of $50 million to support programs that can help get more females into computer science, like rewarding teachers who support girls who take CS courses on Codecademy or Khan Academy.
We’ve also posted videos about women who are using code in their dream jobs, like Miral, Danielle, Erica and other inspirational girl coders — like Brittany Wenger, who is using code to fight cancer. And, we’ve developed a few steps parents can take at home to get their daughters excited about computer science. Read more about the initiative here.
Nowadays, coding isn’t just a skill useful for working at a tech company; engineering isn’t just for engineers. Interior design. Medicine. Architecture. Music. No matter what a girl dreams of doing, learning how to code will help her get there. Their future — our future — is made with code. Let’s do what we can to make sure that future is as bright as possible.
Thứ Ba, 17 tháng 6, 2014
Blog With Video
If you are offended or upset by inferior tech videos, please do not read this blog post today. It is reserved for those readers who appreciate some low-level tech gubbins in their soup. Although most of the day was given over to solving some pretty gnarly tweaks, the one I am pleased about is the one that will allow all the competition entries AI system to work. Seems that any level that was based on an island (land surrounded completely by water) would create HUGE obstacles and prevent the character waypoint and movement system from working. I thus resurrected my water obstacle calculation prototype and got it to work in chunks rather than as a whole which solved the problem. I also created a video showing the 'chunking' in action.
Impressive I know! This process happens at the back end each time you press Test Level but much MUCH faster than what you see in the video which has to visually represent what is happening for debugging and video purposes.
I was also on the verge of figuring out the fix to ensure that when you save and load about 50 times, the lower right corner of the terrain does not shift it's paint markings. As it's ten minutes to six and my walk is in ten minutes time, I just had enough time to write this blog and ensure when I resume Thursday I know where I left off.
No blog post on Wednesday as I will be away from the office doing non-PC type things, but will be back with a vengeance on Thursday to finish what I did today and start on footfall audio and smoke particles ;)
Impressive I know! This process happens at the back end each time you press Test Level but much MUCH faster than what you see in the video which has to visually represent what is happening for debugging and video purposes.
I was also on the verge of figuring out the fix to ensure that when you save and load about 50 times, the lower right corner of the terrain does not shift it's paint markings. As it's ten minutes to six and my walk is in ten minutes time, I just had enough time to write this blog and ensure when I resume Thursday I know where I left off.
No blog post on Wednesday as I will be away from the office doing non-PC type things, but will be back with a vengeance on Thursday to finish what I did today and start on footfall audio and smoke particles ;)
Thứ Hai, 16 tháng 6, 2014
Plenty Play Day
Spent the day fixing collision, gun floating and other battle related issue today, which is pretty difficult as each time you have to battle for a bit before you get a sense of whether you have fixed it or not. Had the opportunity to play the A.I during this reproduce step and it's looking good to me. Still ways to go of course, but very difficult to breeze through the level these days!
I can't recall how many times I died to fix my bugs, but the engine now controls the guns in the hands of the enemy better, they no longer collide and disappear, enemies can now see and shoot you through things like chain link fencing, the enemies look at you quicker when running/shooting though I think this needs testing some more. Also created a draft document for our future plans for multiplayer game creation which will be prototyped by a non-Lee entity in the initial stages so will not detract from my pursuit of a better single player games engine.
I am currently waiting on some Ragdoll code which will allow me to solve the issue of characters falling through the terrain when they fall over and create a number of realistic responses. In other news the Importer has moved on a pace and we're almost ready to start some internal testing of the early pre-V1 version, but it can already create super-fast collision sub-boxes for buildings which is vital for improved performance of future levels so all going well there.
My plan while waiting for ragdoll will be to add more of the material system so you can have different footfall sounds based on where you walk, and also look at smoke & fire! Exciting eye candy ahead, so watch this space!
I can't recall how many times I died to fix my bugs, but the engine now controls the guns in the hands of the enemy better, they no longer collide and disappear, enemies can now see and shoot you through things like chain link fencing, the enemies look at you quicker when running/shooting though I think this needs testing some more. Also created a draft document for our future plans for multiplayer game creation which will be prototyped by a non-Lee entity in the initial stages so will not detract from my pursuit of a better single player games engine.
I am currently waiting on some Ragdoll code which will allow me to solve the issue of characters falling through the terrain when they fall over and create a number of realistic responses. In other news the Importer has moved on a pace and we're almost ready to start some internal testing of the early pre-V1 version, but it can already create super-fast collision sub-boxes for buildings which is vital for improved performance of future levels so all going well there.
My plan while waiting for ragdoll will be to add more of the material system so you can have different footfall sounds based on where you walk, and also look at smoke & fire! Exciting eye candy ahead, so watch this space!
Thứ Sáu, 13 tháng 6, 2014
Through the Google lens: search trends June 6-12
All eyes were on Brazil this week, and searches were not far behind. Here’s a look at what’s trending on Google, from the football pitch to the political battlefield.
Football fever
The World Cup kicked off yesterday, and it’s safe to say that it’s on pretty much everyone’s minds. Even in the U.S., searches for the tournament beat searches for the NBA Finals and the Stanley Cup Playoff combined. In addition to more general searches like [world cup schedule] and [world cup 2014], people searched for information on top players like Cristiano Ronaldo—who left the field limping during a practice session this week—and Ronaldinho, who won’t be on Brazil’s squad this year but still has star power. If you want more news from Brazil, be sure to check out google.com/worldcup, where we’ll be sharing trends about every match for all 32 countries.
New cinema classics?
This week in entertainment, it seems to be all about the sequels. Harry, Lloyd and the Mutt Cutts van are back in Dumb and Dumber To, which premiered its trailer on the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon this week. As Harry says in the original movie, “Just when I thought you couldn't possibly be any dumber, you go and do something like this... and totally redeem yourself!” (Well, we’ll see, at least.) Meanwhile, cop comedy 22 Jump Street debuts in theaters today and searches are spiking for the film as well as for one of its (newer) stars—actress Amber Stevens.
Surprises at the polls
Americans got a major surprise this week in Virginia when U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor lost the primary election to the relatively unknown David Brat. People turned to the web to learn more about the upset, though searches for Cantor still dominate over those for Brat overall.
Celebrity causes… of a kind
Mila Kunis, who is pregnant with her first child, went on Jimmy Kimmel this week to make an important public service announcement to men who say “we are pregnant”: Just. don’t. do it. And Blue Ivy, the daughter of Beyoncé and Jay-Z, has landed on the trending search list after an online petition was created urging Blue Ivy’s parents to “comb her hair.” The petition ignited a debate about natural hair and standards of beauty.
Tip of the week
If you’re in the U.S. and can’t skip work to watch soccer all day, you can still catch all the highlights from Brazil with a simple search. We've teamed up with ESPN to bring you closer to all the stunning goals, beautiful passes, iffy red cards, tense penalty kicks and much more. Try a search for [brazil world cup] or [mexico vs. cameroon] during or after a match to get video highlights from ESPNFC.com.
Football fever
The World Cup kicked off yesterday, and it’s safe to say that it’s on pretty much everyone’s minds. Even in the U.S., searches for the tournament beat searches for the NBA Finals and the Stanley Cup Playoff combined. In addition to more general searches like [world cup schedule] and [world cup 2014], people searched for information on top players like Cristiano Ronaldo—who left the field limping during a practice session this week—and Ronaldinho, who won’t be on Brazil’s squad this year but still has star power. If you want more news from Brazil, be sure to check out google.com/worldcup, where we’ll be sharing trends about every match for all 32 countries.
This week in entertainment, it seems to be all about the sequels. Harry, Lloyd and the Mutt Cutts van are back in Dumb and Dumber To, which premiered its trailer on the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon this week. As Harry says in the original movie, “Just when I thought you couldn't possibly be any dumber, you go and do something like this... and totally redeem yourself!” (Well, we’ll see, at least.) Meanwhile, cop comedy 22 Jump Street debuts in theaters today and searches are spiking for the film as well as for one of its (newer) stars—actress Amber Stevens.
Surprises at the polls
Americans got a major surprise this week in Virginia when U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor lost the primary election to the relatively unknown David Brat. People turned to the web to learn more about the upset, though searches for Cantor still dominate over those for Brat overall.
Celebrity causes… of a kind
Mila Kunis, who is pregnant with her first child, went on Jimmy Kimmel this week to make an important public service announcement to men who say “we are pregnant”: Just. don’t. do it. And Blue Ivy, the daughter of Beyoncé and Jay-Z, has landed on the trending search list after an online petition was created urging Blue Ivy’s parents to “comb her hair.” The petition ignited a debate about natural hair and standards of beauty.
Tip of the week
If you’re in the U.S. and can’t skip work to watch soccer all day, you can still catch all the highlights from Brazil with a simple search. We've teamed up with ESPN to bring you closer to all the stunning goals, beautiful passes, iffy red cards, tense penalty kicks and much more. Try a search for [brazil world cup] or [mexico vs. cameroon] during or after a match to get video highlights from ESPNFC.com.
Thứ Năm, 12 tháng 6, 2014
Last Day Of My Week
Setting off early on Friday to do some more dreaded decorating. Only one more thrust and then it will be done (for a good while) so my weekend is pre-booked with 'normal life' stuff. I've just finished making a build for an internal test and it's looking good with the new music sub-system in place and the characters and faux-characters ability to push dynamic objects out of the way and walk ON them instead of THROUGH them. This is especially important for characters who want to walk on roads, floors, pallets, e.t.c. I am sure there are plenty of collision tweaks as a result of this major addition, and I also hope performance has not suffered. It did not appear so when I ran the two compounds level with the new character physics handling stuff.
In other news, my AMD card from eBay arrived today, and here is a picture of the box, which looks rather snazzy and very Reloaded themed:
Have no time to install it, but this Sapphire card will show me the performance metrics of an AMD vs NVIDIA, if any. I have had several reports that this card might not show any performance improvements based on the shader work I have been doing. We will see!
Finally, I want to give a big shout to a new Kickstarter for something called Console OS.
I am a big fan of the bleeding edge in technology, and you don't get sharper than what is by far the FASTEST Android platform on the planet! Here it is for your delectation, and I invite you to support this great OS:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mmv/console-os-dual-boot-android-remastered-for-the-pc
My own interest relates to what Console OS can do for AGK in the months to come, as we add our top-end 3D and shader commands set to the language at which point there will be no such thing as too fast!
In other news, my AMD card from eBay arrived today, and here is a picture of the box, which looks rather snazzy and very Reloaded themed:
Have no time to install it, but this Sapphire card will show me the performance metrics of an AMD vs NVIDIA, if any. I have had several reports that this card might not show any performance improvements based on the shader work I have been doing. We will see!
Finally, I want to give a big shout to a new Kickstarter for something called Console OS.
I am a big fan of the bleeding edge in technology, and you don't get sharper than what is by far the FASTEST Android platform on the planet! Here it is for your delectation, and I invite you to support this great OS:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mmv/console-os-dual-boot-android-remastered-for-the-pc
My own interest relates to what Console OS can do for AGK in the months to come, as we add our top-end 3D and shader commands set to the language at which point there will be no such thing as too fast!
Thứ Tư, 11 tháng 6, 2014
The Day Of The Zombie
Spent some time working on the Zombie situation, and getting custom characters to do a little more in the process. By days's end the little fellows can not only track and follow the player, but animate all their animations and obey collision which means sliding around tables, and not walking through each other.
Here is a video I knocked up last night before I went to bed. I did not release it last night as the blog was already written and the last time I released a video on my blog I was told off. This time I sought permission before inflicting it on you, but I made it to very quickly show something running. I can assure you the walking has been improved since this was made, and the Zombie sub-system is almost finished now.
The remaining work involves getting the other Zombies in and working, and make sure they all pass the quality test. The scripts need to work well together with other Zombie scripts and they should be able to be dropped into a level as part of a larger game design.
The biggest news today for me is the prototyping of a new music system for FPSC Reloaded, which is what we used to call dynamic music. That is, a series of music chunks that intelligently link together and can be switched back and forth as the mood of the game changes. Only when you hear it do you realize just how powerful intelligent audio is to the feel of a game, and we're very proud to be able to have this early test running in Reloaded. Would like to share a video of this proto, but too many videos in one blog might be too much to bear :) We also have basic music transitions working as well, so you can fade into a completely different music score if you wish. It is anticipated that music composers will be able to produce dynamic music scores and upload them to the store to give your game levels real emotion and raise your creation to a new level. Kudos to Simon who is the mastermind behind this new feature, and we will be showing it off in the not too distant future!!
Here is a video I knocked up last night before I went to bed. I did not release it last night as the blog was already written and the last time I released a video on my blog I was told off. This time I sought permission before inflicting it on you, but I made it to very quickly show something running. I can assure you the walking has been improved since this was made, and the Zombie sub-system is almost finished now.
The remaining work involves getting the other Zombies in and working, and make sure they all pass the quality test. The scripts need to work well together with other Zombie scripts and they should be able to be dropped into a level as part of a larger game design.
The biggest news today for me is the prototyping of a new music system for FPSC Reloaded, which is what we used to call dynamic music. That is, a series of music chunks that intelligently link together and can be switched back and forth as the mood of the game changes. Only when you hear it do you realize just how powerful intelligent audio is to the feel of a game, and we're very proud to be able to have this early test running in Reloaded. Would like to share a video of this proto, but too many videos in one blog might be too much to bear :) We also have basic music transitions working as well, so you can fade into a completely different music score if you wish. It is anticipated that music composers will be able to produce dynamic music scores and upload them to the store to give your game levels real emotion and raise your creation to a new level. Kudos to Simon who is the mastermind behind this new feature, and we will be showing it off in the not too distant future!!
From kickoff to the final goal, Google is your guide to the beautiful game
From the last minute U.S. goal against Algeria in ‘10 to the headbutt watched ‘round the world in ‘06, every four years the beautiful game captures the imagination of billions of people. This year, wherever you are, Google is bringing you closer to the action than ever before.
Don’t miss a minute
For the first time, a simple search for [world cup] or [world cup usa] will give you team lineups before the match, live scores, and even up to the minute information about goals and player stats.
You can also stay updated on your favorite teams with Google Now—you don’t even have to search. Learn more on Inside Search.
What does the world want to know during the tournament?
Google Trends is your real-time guide to the players, teams and moments that are capturing the world’s attention. At google.com/worldcup you can explore these moments throughout the tournament, whether it’s insight on how a country is feeling ahead of a big match, or where fans stand on a controversial game-winning call.
Take in the stadiums and streets with Street View
With Street View in Google Maps, you can explore the sights and culture of this year’s tournament, from the 12 stadiums to the iconic painted streets, one of Brazil’s tournament traditions.
As the world unites under a common love for a single sport, there's sure to be a lot of action. From dramatic tumbles to magisterial strikes, and from contested headers to flops and flags, we'll be there to help you discover and connect with the moments that matter most.
Don’t miss a minute
For the first time, a simple search for [world cup] or [world cup usa] will give you team lineups before the match, live scores, and even up to the minute information about goals and player stats.
You can also stay updated on your favorite teams with Google Now—you don’t even have to search. Learn more on Inside Search.
What does the world want to know during the tournament?
Google Trends is your real-time guide to the players, teams and moments that are capturing the world’s attention. At google.com/worldcup you can explore these moments throughout the tournament, whether it’s insight on how a country is feeling ahead of a big match, or where fans stand on a controversial game-winning call.
Take in the stadiums and streets with Street View
With Street View in Google Maps, you can explore the sights and culture of this year’s tournament, from the 12 stadiums to the iconic painted streets, one of Brazil’s tournament traditions.
As the world unites under a common love for a single sport, there's sure to be a lot of action. From dramatic tumbles to magisterial strikes, and from contested headers to flops and flags, we'll be there to help you discover and connect with the moments that matter most.
Thứ Ba, 10 tháng 6, 2014
Successful Launch Of V1.0071
All in all, pretty pleased with the early feedback of the official release of V1.0071 HOT FIX. Performance improvements reported, and improvements in a range of areas. Far from the final version still, but a step in the correct direction to be sure. Also put out a live poll today to see if the community would accept a radical re-imagining of the HIGH and HIGHEST settings of the terrain shader. Here is the comparison screen from the forum post:
And here is what I want to turn HIGH and HIGHEST into, removing the detail map which was a throwback from an early version to defeat tiling at extreme heights.
And finally, here is the POLL site which shows the current score.
http://poll.pollcode.com/18933616_result?v
As you can see, an overwhelming support for the new cleaner look. Now the question remainsm is it fair on the four pledgers who don't want it changed? We'll watch as this subject develops!
The rest of my day was spent in Zombieland, teaching them to walk, talk, eat brains and the usual drill of tests to ensure they acquit themselves well in the combat arena. Just waiting on some death animations and then they will be ready for roll out, that is, to get the variations in and tested. I have used a mixed zombie moan sound and a modified melee strike for close quarters combat but time will tell if these audio sounds remain.
Crazy day today, with great sun then showers, then more sun, e.t.c. Going to snatch my chance in the next 30 minutes to walk the doggy and remove a carb from a 50 HP outboard. Apparently no self respecting marine engineer will touch my 35 year old engine - I will leave you to draw parallels on that ;)
And here is what I want to turn HIGH and HIGHEST into, removing the detail map which was a throwback from an early version to defeat tiling at extreme heights.
And finally, here is the POLL site which shows the current score.
http://poll.pollcode.com/18933616_result?v
As you can see, an overwhelming support for the new cleaner look. Now the question remainsm is it fair on the four pledgers who don't want it changed? We'll watch as this subject develops!
The rest of my day was spent in Zombieland, teaching them to walk, talk, eat brains and the usual drill of tests to ensure they acquit themselves well in the combat arena. Just waiting on some death animations and then they will be ready for roll out, that is, to get the variations in and tested. I have used a mixed zombie moan sound and a modified melee strike for close quarters combat but time will tell if these audio sounds remain.
Crazy day today, with great sun then showers, then more sun, e.t.c. Going to snatch my chance in the next 30 minutes to walk the doggy and remove a carb from a 50 HP outboard. Apparently no self respecting marine engineer will touch my 35 year old engine - I will leave you to draw parallels on that ;)
The world is a canvas: introducing the street art project
Here today, gone tomorrow. The transient nature of street art means it can be at risk of being scrubbed out and lost forever to its legions of fans. But long after the paint has faded from the walls, technology can help preserve street art, so people can discover it wherever and whenever they like. In a new project launching today, we’ve partnered with street art experts to bring you 5,000+ images and around 100 exhibitions in the Google Art Project—telling a story of street art around the world.
Starting today, you can immerse yourself in a world of prowling foxes on lonely walls, supernatural symbolism, murals on a grand scale, tiny hard-to-spot icons, or trompe l’oeil techniques that use physical details of the wall itself to trick the eye.
Some of this work was created as a means of expression and activism, like the Chilean open-sky museums of La Pincoya and San Miguel, which were born as community projects to transform poverty-stricken neighborhoods, or to make a political statement like in London and Atlanta.
It’s not just about spraypaint either—other exhibits demonstrate the signature style of the artist, like JR’s large-scale and evocative photo-portraits, Roa’s animals, Vhils’ etching or Os Gemeos surrealism.
Using Street View, you can also explore buildings with street art that are closed to the public, or that have already been demolished—such as the famed Paris 13 tower:
In a series of fascinating exhibitions by our partners, you can also learn about origins of the street art movement or see how Street Art is being used in Poland to revitalize its cities. Take a tour through the origins of New York’s original graffiti movement of the 90’s, or see top highlights from the city’s 5 Pointz project. Compare the global nature of the Street Art produced in Mexico, which has a long and vibrant history of muralism, to the scene in the Philippines, which is just developing.
Street art may be temporary on our walls and sidewalks, but its beauty and vibrancy live on, on the web. Take a look— you’re sure to be bowled over by the variety of the urban canvas.
Starting today, you can immerse yourself in a world of prowling foxes on lonely walls, supernatural symbolism, murals on a grand scale, tiny hard-to-spot icons, or trompe l’oeil techniques that use physical details of the wall itself to trick the eye.
Some of this work was created as a means of expression and activism, like the Chilean open-sky museums of La Pincoya and San Miguel, which were born as community projects to transform poverty-stricken neighborhoods, or to make a political statement like in London and Atlanta.
It’s not just about spraypaint either—other exhibits demonstrate the signature style of the artist, like JR’s large-scale and evocative photo-portraits, Roa’s animals, Vhils’ etching or Os Gemeos surrealism.
Regg and Violant, Centro Comercial Alegro, Setúbal, Galeria de Arte Urbana
Vhils using the texture of the wall as a canvas
Using Street View, you can also explore buildings with street art that are closed to the public, or that have already been demolished—such as the famed Paris 13 tower:
Explore all nine floors and 450 square meters of painted ceilings and walls of the now-demolished Tour Paris 13 building with Street View.
In a series of fascinating exhibitions by our partners, you can also learn about origins of the street art movement or see how Street Art is being used in Poland to revitalize its cities. Take a tour through the origins of New York’s original graffiti movement of the 90’s, or see top highlights from the city’s 5 Pointz project. Compare the global nature of the Street Art produced in Mexico, which has a long and vibrant history of muralism, to the scene in the Philippines, which is just developing.
Street art may be temporary on our walls and sidewalks, but its beauty and vibrancy live on, on the web. Take a look— you’re sure to be bowled over by the variety of the urban canvas.
Hangout Bridges: Bringing together young Jews and Arabs
The fortressed city of Acre lies on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in northern Israel. An important Middle Eastern city in ancient times, it’s now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. With its fortified walls, citadel, mosques, synagogues, khans, baths and Crusader structures, Acre has always been a meeting place for East and West, new and old. Today, it’s a mixed Jewish-Arab city, but people from the two communities interact all too rarely. Mistrust, and sometimes outright hostility, keep the two communities apart.
We wanted to see if the Internet could help break down some of these barriers. So last September, a group of 40 students from the separate Arab and Jewish schools in the city, together with 200 Arab, Jewish, Druze and Bedouin students from other communities in Israel, took part in “Hangout Bridges: Bridges to Peace.” A partnership with ORT, Israel’s largest educational network of schools and colleges, and the Peres Center for Peace, the program uses Hangouts to help create understanding—and friendship—between these communities.
Grouped together by their teachers into multi-cultural Google+ circles, the students got to know each other online and started working on joint projects. Each circle met on average 10 times on Hangouts, then in a series of face-to-face meetings.
Last week, we hosted the finale event of the program at Campus Tel Aviv, a tech hub for developers and entrepreneurs at our Tel Aviv office. The students and their teachers enjoyed a creative session with System Ali, a multicultural rap group, and an inspirational talk with the leaders of MEET, an educational initiative that brings together young Israeli and Palestinian leaders. The students then presented the projects they've been working on for the last eight months, including a walking tour of Acre using Google Maps that seeks to uncover the rich Jewish-Arab history of this ancient city; educational Hebrew-Arabic websites that address racism and prejudice in sports, provide information on relevant legislation and offer quizzes on the topic; and an original song performed in Hebrew, Arabic and English, emphasizing coexistence and mutual respect.
This is the second year we’ve run “Hangout Bridges” in Israel. For our next course, starting this coming fall, we’re doubling the number of participants. We hope we can expand to other countries and help—in a small way—build bridges of mutual understanding around the world. As participant Wasim Jass put it: “I learned that we can cast off the hatred and plant love in its place.”
We wanted to see if the Internet could help break down some of these barriers. So last September, a group of 40 students from the separate Arab and Jewish schools in the city, together with 200 Arab, Jewish, Druze and Bedouin students from other communities in Israel, took part in “Hangout Bridges: Bridges to Peace.” A partnership with ORT, Israel’s largest educational network of schools and colleges, and the Peres Center for Peace, the program uses Hangouts to help create understanding—and friendship—between these communities.
Grouped together by their teachers into multi-cultural Google+ circles, the students got to know each other online and started working on joint projects. Each circle met on average 10 times on Hangouts, then in a series of face-to-face meetings.
Last week, we hosted the finale event of the program at Campus Tel Aviv, a tech hub for developers and entrepreneurs at our Tel Aviv office. The students and their teachers enjoyed a creative session with System Ali, a multicultural rap group, and an inspirational talk with the leaders of MEET, an educational initiative that brings together young Israeli and Palestinian leaders. The students then presented the projects they've been working on for the last eight months, including a walking tour of Acre using Google Maps that seeks to uncover the rich Jewish-Arab history of this ancient city; educational Hebrew-Arabic websites that address racism and prejudice in sports, provide information on relevant legislation and offer quizzes on the topic; and an original song performed in Hebrew, Arabic and English, emphasizing coexistence and mutual respect.
This is the second year we’ve run “Hangout Bridges” in Israel. For our next course, starting this coming fall, we’re doubling the number of participants. We hope we can expand to other countries and help—in a small way—build bridges of mutual understanding around the world. As participant Wasim Jass put it: “I learned that we can cast off the hatred and plant love in its place.”
Thứ Hai, 9 tháng 6, 2014
Almost Ready To Release the HOT FIX
Getting good vibes from the internal alpha testers, so it looks like a public release is imminent. Have been making small tweaks (carefully) and also working on the new Zombie system which primarily will allow us to release the Zombie Pack at some future point but also to help support the idea of customizable characters.
Right now the Zombie menace just stand idle, respond when you get close, lurch very slowly towards you, swipe and deal player damage if they hit you and continue to hound you until you run out of range. They do not respond to being shot and cannot die, nor do they control their animation speed as much as they need to, but more animations are on the way and the work begins on completing the Zombie system bit by bit.
Performance is up, final testing is underway and expect a V1.0071 HOT FIX very soon! I've been to the forums and made some posts, wrote this blog and made it live so now is the time for me to make a nice cup of Budweiser and sit in the sun for an hour before my ritual walk.
Right now the Zombie menace just stand idle, respond when you get close, lurch very slowly towards you, swipe and deal player damage if they hit you and continue to hound you until you run out of range. They do not respond to being shot and cannot die, nor do they control their animation speed as much as they need to, but more animations are on the way and the work begins on completing the Zombie system bit by bit.
Performance is up, final testing is underway and expect a V1.0071 HOT FIX very soon! I've been to the forums and made some posts, wrote this blog and made it live so now is the time for me to make a nice cup of Budweiser and sit in the sun for an hour before my ritual walk.
Doodle 4 Google 2014: An inventive doodle for clean water
On google.com today, you may have noticed an intricately drawn version of our logo showing an unusual water purifier, surrounded by a variety of fantastical creatures. This doodle is the result of our seventh annual Doodle 4 Google competition, where we asked kids, grades K-12, to tell us what they’d invent to help make the world a better place. Today, out of more than 100,000 submissions, 250 state finalists, 50 state winners, and five national age group winners, we’re excited to present the 2014 U.S. Doodle 4 Google winner—11-year old Audrey Zhang of New York!
In the spirit of our theme around inventiveness, we asked Audrey to spend a day with the doodlers following our awards ceremony to help animate her illustration. In her new role as animator and film director, the ever detail-oriented Audrey made sure that each light would flicker and that the water was clean enough to (virtually) drink in. She was especially passionate about the illustration’s dragons—about whom (oh, by the way) she is also writing a novel.
In addition to seeing her finished work on our homepage today, Audrey received a $30,000 college scholarship and $50,000 Google for Education technology grant for her school. And to help make Audrey’s vision of water purification a reality, we donated $20,000 in her name to charity:water, a charity that brings clean water to developing nations, to provide clean water to schools in Bangladesh.
Audrey’s doodle was one of many amazing contributions to Doodle 4 Google this year. We encourage you to take a look at the outstanding national grade group winners, who we announced at an event with all 50 state winners at the Googleplex back in May.
Every year we do this, and every year we’re amazed. The thousands of young Doodlers who enter the contest are annual reminders of that special combination of curiosity and imagination that seems to come only from young people. Their ideas—like Audrey's—inspire us to do more and be better. Congratulations to all our Doodle 4 Google winners!
In the spirit of our theme around inventiveness, we asked Audrey to spend a day with the doodlers following our awards ceremony to help animate her illustration. In her new role as animator and film director, the ever detail-oriented Audrey made sure that each light would flicker and that the water was clean enough to (virtually) drink in. She was especially passionate about the illustration’s dragons—about whom (oh, by the way) she is also writing a novel.
"To make the world a better place, I invented a transformative water purifier. It takes in dirty and polluted water from rivers, lakes, and even oceans, then massively transforms the water into clean, safe and sanitary water, when humans and animals drink this water, they will live a healthier life." - Audrey Zhang, 11
Audrey’s doodle was one of many amazing contributions to Doodle 4 Google this year. We encourage you to take a look at the outstanding national grade group winners, who we announced at an event with all 50 state winners at the Googleplex back in May.
Thứ Sáu, 6 tháng 6, 2014
Through the Google lens: search trends May 30-Jun 5
It’s been a busy week for entertainment junkies, with the return of [oitnb] and a (yet another) huge episode of [game of thrones]. But people searched for more serious subjects, including the anniversary of [d-day] and a changing of the guard in Spain.
“Stars,” shows and sad goodbyes
Anticipation was high this week for the film adaptation of John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars, which comes out today. It’s the top topic on Hot Trends as I write this, and people are looking for related topics such as [ed sheeran], who contributed a song to the movie, and [theo james], who is rumored to be dating the film’s star Shailene Woodley. And searches for [orange is the new black] skyrocketed as the fan favorite returns for its much-awaited second season on Netflix.
People searched for [gwendoline christie], the Game of Thrones actress, after it was confirmed she’d be a cast member in the upcoming Star Wars 7 film. The Lady of Tarth had some company in search this week from [oberyn martell]—but we won’t get too into that in case anyone still has last week’s episode awaiting them on DVR.
And finally, on a sad note, Ann B. Davis—best known as housekeeper Alice on The Brady Bunch—passed away this week at the age of 88. Many were searching for information on her life and famous Alice moments.
Marking a moment in history
Today marks the 70th anniversary of D-Day, and veterans and world leaders gathered to commemorate the storming of the beaches of Normandy that turned the tides in World War II. [D-Day] was a top topic on Google, as people searched for [d-day anniversary] and [d-day facts] to learn more about this moment in history. If you’re interested in a more in-depth look at the Normandy Landings, this week we also added a new collection of 470 documents and images showing different perspectives on D-Day to the Google Cultural Institute.
Searching for knowledge
After 40 years on the throne, this week it was announced that King Juan Carlos I would step down in favor of his son Crown Prince Felipe. People turned to Google to understand the term [abdicate]. And as the summer break approaches, math games like [brainpop], [mymathlab] and [scratch] are trending in search—a good sign that parents and students are looking to stay sharp over vacation!
Tip of the week
Ready to cry? Just ask Google Search (on iOS and Android) to “show me movie times for The Fault In Our Stars.” You’ll see nearby theaters and showtimes, and can click on the time you like to buy a ticket online. “Ok Google, remind me to bring tissues!”
“Stars,” shows and sad goodbyes
Anticipation was high this week for the film adaptation of John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars, which comes out today. It’s the top topic on Hot Trends as I write this, and people are looking for related topics such as [ed sheeran], who contributed a song to the movie, and [theo james], who is rumored to be dating the film’s star Shailene Woodley. And searches for [orange is the new black] skyrocketed as the fan favorite returns for its much-awaited second season on Netflix.
And finally, on a sad note, Ann B. Davis—best known as housekeeper Alice on The Brady Bunch—passed away this week at the age of 88. Many were searching for information on her life and famous Alice moments.
Marking a moment in history
Today marks the 70th anniversary of D-Day, and veterans and world leaders gathered to commemorate the storming of the beaches of Normandy that turned the tides in World War II. [D-Day] was a top topic on Google, as people searched for [d-day anniversary] and [d-day facts] to learn more about this moment in history. If you’re interested in a more in-depth look at the Normandy Landings, this week we also added a new collection of 470 documents and images showing different perspectives on D-Day to the Google Cultural Institute.
Searching for knowledge
After 40 years on the throne, this week it was announced that King Juan Carlos I would step down in favor of his son Crown Prince Felipe. People turned to Google to understand the term [abdicate]. And as the summer break approaches, math games like [brainpop], [mymathlab] and [scratch] are trending in search—a good sign that parents and students are looking to stay sharp over vacation!
Tip of the week
Ready to cry? Just ask Google Search (on iOS and Android) to “show me movie times for The Fault In Our Stars.” You’ll see nearby theaters and showtimes, and can click on the time you like to buy a ticket online. “Ok Google, remind me to bring tissues!”
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