DMINATORs BLOG

WUI Skinning example 2

noreply@blogger.com (Dmitri Kuznetsov) — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 20:10:00 +0000

I would like to show the latest version of the skinning by WUI:

As you can see right now the whole window is skinned. The resizing also works correctly. I am happy with a result. The buttons are still drawn by Operating System though.

Diablo II patch v 1.13 and ladder reset - Update 3

noreply@blogger.com (Dmitri Kuznetsov) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:12:00 +0000

It was a long time, since I have posted, but it is a bout time.

Finally Blizzard has broken silence about the upcoming patch!

in this post Bashok tells us the reasons why the patch was suspended for some time !

mashed up in one easy-to-read location.

The Story -
Once upon a time our internal legacy development teams wanted to put some much needed love into Diablo II. Diablo II doesn't have tournaments with millions of dollars swirling about them, so it generally took a back seat to the patch development time of our other legacy titles. But one day the planets aligned, and it was finally time to give the old girl a new coat of paint and break a bottle of champagne over her bow with the release of a patch. This went well. Meetings were held, the community was involved and polled, and an extremely long list of ideas and changes was created. That list was then cut down to changes felt to be either necessary changes, or easily implemented to ensure development time was efficient. This also went well.

Not long after, the alarm bells sounded. The patch was progressing quickly, and the release was potentially imminent. Early on it was decided, and somewhat of a no-brainer, that a ladder reset with coincide with the patch release. With the patch progressing well, a potential release of two weeks was estimated, and as always this is the exact amount of forewarning given to players and the community before a ladder reset. An announcement was made quickly and immediately to ensure a full two week notice was given. There are many reasons for this standard two-week notice, not the least of which is that most players don't understand the meaning of ladder and non-ladder, and how a reset affects their characters. Following any reset our support departments are flooded with issues related to the change of their characters, so we attempt to inform beforehand and avoid any unnecessary confusion.

This was all well and good, the community was excited, and the developers were having fun and enjoying being able to work on Diablo II again. Then, as it tends to do, reality struck. (click) Work had to be swiftly and immediately realigned and has and continues to be focused on addressing issues for a different title to resolve a very serious issue.

The Now -
The Warcraft III patch is now on the Public Test Realm (PTR) and testing is progressing. Once that patch is released work can shift back to Diablo II and the 1.13 patch, and we'll be working to getting that patch up on its own PTR as soon as possible. This could be a matter of weeks. Once it's up and in a testing state for all of you, it's then going to be a matter of ensuring the features are good and it's a solid patch. The more people we have testing the patch and providing valid feedback, the better the patch will be, and hopefully the quicker it will be released. So that's my challenge to you. You've been waiting a long time, you want an awesome patch, you want a reset. To get all that, we need good solid testing and feedback, reproduction steps for bugs, detailed descriptions of issues or errors, etc. So once this goes live on the PTR, I expect some crazed-youruinedtheeconomy-testing.

So this is a very good news, that the testing stage has began. This means that the patch is in final stages !

So keep following and hopefuly we would have it soon :)

P.S. I hope they do something about these bots ! They are so nasty this year, the spam is unbelievable !

Working now at Fromdistance

noreply@blogger.com (Dmitri Kuznetsov) — Mon, 18 May 2009 16:56:00 +0000

As I have previously mentioned, I have a new job I am now working for Fromdistance.

Fromdistance is an international software company which specializes in mobile applications for business. The flagship product is Fromdistance MDM which is a comprehensive suite intended for device management for enterprises. Fromdistance also offers a comprehensive mobile journalism tool for professional reporting and citizen journalism, and an express version of Fromdistance MDM.

Fromdistance's products and services are used all over the world in large enterprises, media companies, the public sector, and application development.

I will be working as a programmer, developing products for new platforms.

Wellmade user interface - Skinning example

noreply@blogger.com (Dmitri Kuznetsov) — Thu, 14 May 2009 19:47:00 +0000

I am working in parallel on WUI - Wellmade user interface

It is a Win32 wrapper, designed to create simple to use Object Oriented structure for Windows platform.

Here is the most recent thing I have finished working on - Skinning support.
Right now only window skinning is supported. With double buffering the skin size is
changed flawlessly without any flickering:

Diablo II patch v 1.13 and ladder reset - Update 2

noreply@blogger.com (Dmitri Kuznetsov) — Wed, 13 May 2009 17:46:00 +0000

Another little update was posted today by Bashiok at Blizzard forums:

It's coming along. We're still in the process of refining and testing the changes going into the patch. Work is progressing, we haven't stopped working on it or anything like that.

As far as information of what's being changed in the patch, almost anything we're working on now could be removed. Testing could deem any change unworkable and we'd have to remove it. By releasing any information on possible changes we'd be raising expectations that the change is guaranteed to make it in, no matter how many disclaimers we place on it. That said, one change we're planning is to increase the stash size to 12x10. As I said it is in no way a guaranteed change. Any number of reasons could mean it will not make it into the final patch. But enjoy the breadcrumb maybe?

The increased stash size sounds great. Offcourse it may not happen, but I hope it will :)

Update 3

Goodbye Softronic Baltic

noreply@blogger.com (Dmitri Kuznetsov) — Wed, 06 May 2009 17:10:00 +0000

I have to say that I am leaving Softronic Baltic AS.

I have worked for Softronic for about 3 years, and it was a long, but interesting period of my life. I have learned allot and found many new friends along the way.

It is a little bit sad to leave, but I must move on.

If there is one thing to remember from my work at Softronic, it is my co-workers. I have a great respect for you guys, that have worked by my side. Many talented, friendly and skilled people, shared their experience, and I guess we all got better after all.

As for me, there is a new set of challenges waiting ahead, and I am eager to confront them any time now :)

Diablo II patch v 1.13 and ladder reset - Update

noreply@blogger.com (Dmitri Kuznetsov) — Sat, 02 May 2009 10:01:00 +0000

A little update for Diablo II Patch 1.13

"Bashiok" - the Blizzard comunity spokeperson has responded with information regarding Diablo II patch 1.13 release date and more information here:

So yeah, we're still working on the patch. It's coming along really well. We're getting there. I can't give an estimate or date, we're expecting there to be a good amount of testing required due to the types of changes being made. We want to take our time and put out a solid patch, and that means we don't have a release date right now.

Some exciting news - and it also may be some comfort - due to the types of changes we're making we will be offering the Diablo II 1.13 patch for testing and feedback on a test realm before its release. We'll have more information about how you'll be able to help test it in the coming weeks.

Still there is no release date. However I can speculate that when he say that "we're expecting there to be a good amount of testing required due to the types of changes being made." it probably means that are many core changes that affect gameplay signfically and require allot of testing.

Maybe we can expect some really exciting things to come out from this patch.

Update 2

Update 3

Sugar on CD

noreply@blogger.com (Dmitri Kuznetsov) — Fri, 01 May 2009 18:53:00 +0000

Here is one interesting experiment that I did with my super macro lens.

My dad suggested taking few pictures of a sugar crystal under high magnifications. It didn't turned out that interesting, so I decided to add some additional effects, and put sugar on a CD disc.

If flash heads are positioned correctly, it is possible to achieve a very interesting gradient color.

Here are results, that I got:

Diablo II patch v 1.13 and ladder reset

noreply@blogger.com (Dmitri Kuznetsov) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 17:20:00 +0000

A few weeks ago Blizzard representative asked Diablo II players for the #1 feature they would like to see in a new patch:

We’re in the process of working on Diablo II content patch 1.13, and we want to try to include the Diablo community’s most important changes in our production schedule. To achieve this we’re asking for your input on what you’d like to see in this patch. However, we’re making it a bit stricter than a full-blown wish list.

If you were to get an advance look at the patch notes for Diablo II 1.13, what is the one patch note you would want to see?

Our goal is to get an overall sense of the single most important request from every member of the community. We want as many posts as we can get for the largest cross section, so if you have friends who used to play Diablo II or just don’t frequent the forums as much as you do, let them know this is here so we can get their "#1 patch note" too.

Please be mindful that we’re not going to be able to make every change mentioned, but hopefully with your feedback we can prioritize and do our best to cover as much as possible.

Now the game is almost 9 years old, and Blizzard is still working on new patches, amazing. A few days ago they also have posted an early warning of a possible Ladder reset:

We’re preparing for a Diablo II ladder reset to coincide with the release of the 1.13 patch that’s currently in development. We don’t have a final release date for the patch yet, but we’re providing early warning as a reset could occur as early as the end of April. We’ll be providing updates with more certain dates once the patch is closer to release.

Please be aware that with a ladder reset all ladder characters are moved to non-ladder. This means that your characters will still be accessible but will no longer have access to ladder-only features and games. In order to play in the new ladder season after the reset you will need to make new ladder characters.

This thread will be updated with more information as it becomes available.

I have played Diablo II quite allot. Last year for example I played after new Patch came which didn't require to have CD all the time, I have got to level 93 on hell difficulty until I got bored.

I am eagerly waiting for the things that they are planning to add, and hope it is something cool :)

Update 1

Update 2

Update 3

THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK : ASSAULT ON DARK ATHENA released in Europe

noreply@blogger.com (Dmitri Kuznetsov) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 19:10:00 +0000

Today Starbreeze Studios developers of a well known game "The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay" have released a sequel "The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena".

Personally I really liked the Escape from Butcher Bay, this is really interesting FPS game, and I am a big fan of FPS style games. I liked the movie also.

There is one more thing that I was a bit surpised and greately dissapointed, in that the game includes a copy protection system DRM (Digital Rights Management) or how it is more accuratelly called (Digital Restrictions Management).

I completelly understand the idea behind restricting users who have pirated the game version, however the system has one big flaw, it is that it requires online servers for "figuring" out if the user has a valid license or not. This means that if the servers are down or no internet connection is available you aren't allowed to play a game that you have paid for !

Usually I don't buy games right away when they are available, because the prices are very high, I wait a few years until prices drop below 20$. I bought most of my games under this price including "Escape from Butcher Bay".

I am not however buying any games that require online authentication including this one, until then I am saving my money for something else, good job Atari !

I recommend everyone to visit Defective by design website and learn about DRM and restrictions that it applies to honest users

5D Mark II video - small bug part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Dmitri Kuznetsov) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 17:24:00 +0000

This is the last video from 5D Mark II series, that I would like to show.

This is the same bug, but from a different viewing position:

5D Mark II video - small bug

noreply@blogger.com (Dmitri Kuznetsov) — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 21:28:00 +0000

Here is another video of the super macro series.

This time I would like to show a very small bug under 5x magnification. The actual size of this bug is smaller than needles head !

As always the quality is poor, and the aperture isn't possible to change when filming video with 5D Mark II (with conventional methods)

5D Mark II video - super macro

noreply@blogger.com (Dmitri Kuznetsov) — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 19:50:00 +0000

Here is one interesting video.

It was made with my friends 5D Mark II camera, using my Canon MP E-65 lens at 5x magnification.

The lighting conditions are really bad, we have only used a small LED that was glued to the lens cover to lighten up scene, so noise levels are huge.

This video shows small leaf under 5x magnification. Enjoy :)

Material Manager Prototype - Material triggering and merging

noreply@blogger.com (Dmitri Kuznetsov) — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 19:49:00 +0000

Here is another example of new Material Manager functionality.

This video shows Material Triggering and merging in action. When the user click 'T' button, the material is triggered and slowly merges from one material stage into another.

This is visible very well, if you look at the vertex deformation.

By the way, this is the first video I have uploaded in HD format. So you can really see it in every detail, well just click HD button.

Opera - lighting fast browser even faster !

noreply@blogger.com (Dmitri Kuznetsov) — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 19:59:00 +0000

Just a small update.

I am a long time user of Opera browser, for as long as I have been on the web.

I was always impressed with a speed and very low system requirements of this browser. I am even more surprised today because the newest version of the Opera is even faster.

So go ahead and try it here.

Another picture from super macro world

noreply@blogger.com (Dmitri Kuznetsov) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 21:04:00 +0000

I haven't added a new photo for some time.

Here is one taken with Canon MPE-65 with magnification 5x.

Can you guess what it is?

GE2 MaterialManager Prototype Vertex modifiers

noreply@blogger.com (Dmitri Kuznetsov) — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 18:43:00 +0000

Here is another example of the work I am doing on the new Material Manager system.

I would like to show another example video where vertex deformation modifier is applied to the mesh, this modifier can also be specified in the material properties.

Looks like some jelly to me :)

GE2 MaterialManager Prototype Texture modifiers

noreply@blogger.com (Dmitri Kuznetsov) — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 20:31:00 +0000

The Material Manager prototype is progressing well enough.

This time I would like to show new texture rendering mode. It is similar to the old one, and allows texture to be modified dynamically.

In this video I am showing how texture can be rotated and stretched at the same time. The modifiers can be stacked any number of times:

wellmade user interface

noreply@blogger.com (Dmitri Kuznetsov) — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 21:00:00 +0000

Wellmade User Interface or WUI

This is the new project, that I am working on separatelly. It is a wrapper library built on top of Win 32 API.

The goal of the library is to create a wrapper that would be easy to use for the developer and to intuitively support window skinning support. Right now the library is in the pre-alpha stage, so some features aren't yet available, but the basic concept is working well.

I would post some more detailes once more features are added.

GE2 MaterialManager Prototype Multipass rendering example

noreply@blogger.com (Dmitri Kuznetsov) — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 20:22:00 +0000

Another little update.

This time I would like to show new multipass rendering.

The object that is rendered, consists of 2 states. One is GE2 logo another is just opaque texture. By rendering them with certain properties it is possible to achieve this effect:

GE2 MaterialManager Prototype first example

noreply@blogger.com (Dmitri Kuznetsov) — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 20:55:00 +0000

I am still working on the new Material Manager. And to show the progress I am making, here is a video with the most simple example.

Not much for now, but parsing from a file and caching rendering data is working:

Life on Mars

noreply@blogger.com (Dmitri Kuznetsov) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 20:15:00 +0000

Her is an interesting picture taken with 5x magnification.
This is how life on Mars can look like, well let's imagine for a second :)

A little update

noreply@blogger.com (Dmitri Kuznetsov) — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 22:05:00 +0000

Been working on new material system for some time.

Allot of work, but there is a progress. Today I have finished a parsing part of material manager. I had to add some new functionality into other parts of the engine (including TypeConstructor previously mentioned).

One of the new additions is the parsing of string arrays by ConfigReader.

For example in a config file you have :

<animated>
name = "test.png"
textures = { "text1.png", "text2.png" }
</animated>

The textures array can be parsed by calling:

DynamicArray<gestring> textures = block.GetArray("textures");

That's it, you have an array of strings:

textures[0] == "text1.png"
textures[1] == "text2.png"

Exactly the same code is used by AnimatedTexture loading code. Yes you can now load texture dynamically from a config file. The only exception is a customTexture. I haven't figured out how to implement it, so loading from a config is not supported for this texture type.

I am now Microsoft Certified Professional

noreply@blogger.com (Dmitri Kuznetsov) — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 18:02:00 +0000

I have posted a few months ago about the application I have made that allows taking Microsoft Certification Exams on mobile phone here.

The reason for this was, that I have been studying towards obtaining my Microsoft certification and this program was just a tryout of my skills that I have learned during this process. It was also fun and interesting piece of work.

Well I did it, a few months ago. In November I took my first exam 70-536 and in December I took 70-526 exam.

The first exam gave me MCP (Microsoft Certified Professional ) status. Which is what everyone gets after they pass atleast one exam:

The last one actually gave me MCTS (Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist) .Net Framework Windows Applications certification:

Currently I am studying to get my next MCPD (Microsoft Certified Professional Developer) status, however I have so little time, I just don't know when I would be able to do that.

EnglishRussia.com

noreply@blogger.com (Dmitri Kuznetsov) — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 22:43:00 +0000

I have been visiting site EnglishRussia.com for some time. I recommend everyone to visit it also if you want to get a laugh :)

This site shows the absurd of Russian life, and how Russians are living. Its worth checking out, so go ahead.

Here are some interesting posts, I have found:

Russian Flying Fortresses

What if?

Someone is selling Large Hadron Collider

Russian ice cream :)

and many many other things :)

Images are property of their authors or Copyright © 2009 English Russia