iestyn.net

Flash settings manager is blank or doesn’t load: A fix

2010-05-18T11:08:16Z

I needed to alter a setting in the Flash Settings Manager, so I Googled for flash settings manager (or perhaps flash settings panel) and clicked a link. It was blank.

A quick Google led me to this post on the Adobe forums. The fix? make sure there’s a www. before the URL.

Ridiculous. Adobe, can’t you fix this?

Whiplash Slash and Burn – My Second Unity Game

2010-05-06T13:37:20Z

My second Unity game has now been launched: Whiplash Slash and Burn. You play the part of Whiplash, destroying cars on a circuit. This is a promotional game for Paramount,

My thoughts on the iPad, iPhone, and Flash.. in Welsh

2010-04-04T09:56:39Z

Iestyn Lloyd (a different one! @iestynx) interviewed me over email on my thoughts on the iPad, iPhone and Flash for a Welsh speaking tech blog.

You can have a read here if you’re interested (and speak Welsh).

From Flash to Unity: My first Unity game – Iron Man Upgraded

2010-04-02T10:23:31Z

Unity has been on my radar for a few years now, but it was only when it was released for PC that I started to get involved. Over the past few months I’ve been working on a number of prototype games, and this is the first game that’s now live. So here we go! It’s called Iron Man Upgraded, and it was produced for Marvel by BAFTA-winning Brighton studio Littleloud.

Play it in your browser now!

Moving from Flash to Unity has been a fantastic experience, and the one thing that sticks out the most is that it’s so much fun! There’s also a huge wealth of Unity resources on the web, and the community is incredibly helpful. With the choice between JavaScript, C#, and Boo, it’s not difficult to move from making Flash content in ActionScript 3 to producing exciting projects in Unity. Did I mention there’s a free version of Unity? Go and get it. Now!

Unity has to be the hottest technology out there. With version 3 – out in summer – you’ll be able to export for PC, Mac, web, iPhone, iPad, Android, PS3, Wii, 360.. it’s stunning, and it’s a far cry from anything that could be produced in Papervision / Away3D.

I have a session in a few weeks at FlashBrighton called ‘An Introduction to Unity’, if you’re local it would be great to see you there! I’ll answer any questions I can.

I’ll also be posting tutorials on Unity, on here and www.unitybrighton.com – so stay tuned!

Wildlife Near You

2010-01-13T21:55:19Z

Where’s the nearest Rainbow Trout to London? How about the nearest cow to Malaysia? or Everything near Brighton? www.wildlifenearyou.com is a site that allows you to track where you’ve seen wildlife all over the planet, allowing correct classification of the animals, and indexing the locations where they were found. It’s a great example of building a useful service on top of several APIs (inlcuding Flickr and Google Maps) and utilising social tagging to glue the data together.

Simon tells me there will be an API for WLNY soon, so you can write an app to find out, for instance, where the nearest Komodo Dragon to Basingstoke is, or perhaps you just want to go somewhere interesting at the weekend and find out what you can see and where. I could definitely see myself using the site for that.

Check out my profile – several of my favourite photos are linked from there. For now, here’s a photo of a European Robin from Pulborough Brooks:

Replacing a blown IC

2010-01-11T13:52:22Z

This is an update to my previous post on my beloved Z5500 surround sound suddenly dying.

I really wish I’d taken the time to challenge Insight UK and /or Logitech over the sale of goods act, but the fact that the replacement part was only £8.90 from Farnell won me over. After it arrived, a Google for PCB repairs in Sussex found R and G Technology in Worthing. A quick email and a phone call later, and I went round the same day to have the part replaced. I gave the board and the replacement IC to David, and waited for 10 minutes while he removed the blown IC and put the new one in, all for £25. I’d definitely recommend them if you’re in a similar situation.

After taking it home and connecting the control pod it works perfectly. That cost me £35 compared to buying a new surround sound system. Yey for taking things apart!

This is not an entirely happy story though, as literally as soon as my 5.1 system started working again, my big TV died. But that’s another rant..

Logitech Z5500 suddenly dying – blown IC

2010-01-11T13:53:36Z

A few years ago, Rachel bought me a fantastic Christmas present; a Logitech Z5500 5.1 surround sound system from Insight UK. It was great for gaming, films, and music. Earlier this year it suddenly died on me – everything seemed to be functioning correctly on the display, except there was no sound.

Fast-forward several months, and I opened up the control pod to take a look inside, and the cause of the malfunction was immediately obvious; the Cirrus Logic CS42526-CQZ had blown – DOH!

A quick search on Google shows I’m not the only person with the Z5500 suddenly dying (for various reasons), and here’s someone with exactly the same problem as me.

I wonder if Logitech is aware of this problem? Additionally, perhaps it might be possible to get it repaired under the Sale of Goods Act: “the key time span is six years. That’s how long goods may be covered by the Sale of Goods Act.”

I’ll contact both Logitech and Insight to see what they say, and report back here.

Finally, the IC itself costs less than £10, so of the above fails, perhaps I can find a friend with the tools and skill necessary to replace surface-mount components.

[Update: It's fixed!]

Snow in Sussex

2009-12-19T10:29:14Z

Sussex is currently lying under a blanket of snow, with the councils thoughtfully neglecting to grit the footpaths, which have now become dangerous sheets of ice. Brilliant.

As I’ve recently moved closer to the South Downs, this snowfall was a great opportunity to wander over the downs with a thermos flask of freshly ground Monmouth Coffee beans from Coffee@33, and to take some photos of this rather picturesque area.

Here’s a photo of the area before the snow:

Here’s one with several inches of snow:

At the top of the downs there were drifts everywhere, some of which were several feet deep. You can see the surface snow being blown around in this video:

Of course, not all drivers know how to drive in this weather, such as the refuse truck driver who thought it was a great idea to speed along a one-track icy road, almost hitting me and another car. The driver than managed to get the truck stuck, and blocked the road for several hours:

Another driver thought it would be a good idea to speed along the road too, and unsurprisingly ended up in the ditch:

Anyway, nobody was hurt, and I thoroughly enjoyed exploring the area. The rest of my photos can be found on Flickr, or have a look at the slideshow here (hit the button in the bottom-right for full-screen):

Flash game mentioned in Edge Magazine

2009-12-18T18:02:35Z

This is rather nice; a game I worked on earlier this year is favourably mentioned in Edge magazine (yes, Edge): “…while Littleloud Studios’ Minutemen, a Watchmen tie-in, was arguably far smarter and more elegant than the official videogame”

Introducing UnityBrighton

2009-10-30T12:37:50Z

I’ve been watching Unity for several years now (thanks to James from Futurlab), but the fact that it was Mac-only was an instant turn-off. Earlier this year they released a PC version, which piqued my interest again, but I was unable to devote enough of my time to the free trial to actually learn anything. However, as of October 28, 2009, they’ve scrapped the Indie version of Unity and released a free version!

This is great news for anyone who’s been interested in creating content in Unity. Not only is the plugin just over 3MB, but it’s an almost seamless install in all the browsers I’ve tried it in.

What’s so great about Unity? Excellent 3D support, and you can use either JavaScript or C# for development, which makes transition from programming Flash games quite attractive.

Check out the island demo over on lab.iestyn.net

So, this leads me to UnityBrighton.com. Back in March I registered the domain, but did nothing with it. I’m guessing there will be renewed interest in Unity, so I’ve finally got round to setting it up. For now it’s a basic Wordpress blog and a Google groups mailing list. If you’re interested in Unity, please join and say hello!