iestyn.net

Unity3D augmented reality workshop demos – WIP

2012-05-13T18:34:23Z

Here’s a few screengrabs of some of the demos I’ll be showing at my augmented reality workshop at dotBrighton. Characters are animated, so it looks much better in action on the devices.

There will be more, and I’ll show how I put them together. The basic stuff is easy.

The Thrill Electric in Develop Magazine

2012-05-11T09:26:19Z

Look, it’s me, talking about The Thrill Electric. An enhanced comic for web and iOS, built in Unity.

Bonus points for spotting all the spelling mistakes (tut, tut, Develop)!

Look it's me. And spelling mistakes.

Making games and apps for iOS and Android in Unity3D, using Augmented Reality (Vuforia) and gyroscope control.

2012-05-10T12:02:13Z

Hello! I’m doing a workshop / talk / hack session at dotBrighton next week about making games and apps for iOS and Android in Unity3D, using Augmented Reality (Vuforia) and gyroscope control. I’ll also show you why the Unity Asset Store is fantastic for free and paid assets.

The focus will be on iOS, but the principles (and most of the software) remains the same for Android. You can learn how to turn this:

From this..

…into a ringed planet with orbiting moons (should you wish). Or in fact, whatever you want it to be! The basics are remarkably easy, and I’ll show you exactly what you need to do to get started.

...to this!

It’ll be jolly good fun. You should come along. Bring a laptop and start building! I’ll help you where I can. There will be a followup session (TBA) where we can show each other what’s been made. There might even be a prize..

Ta ta!

Murdoor – Additional Information

2012-04-03T07:37:21Z

I threw Murdoor together in a few hours. After choosing the tweet, my thought process went something like this:

What does a door do? It opens and closes. How about if it was a possessed door? A haunted one? Maybe it could scare people? Maybe it could suddenly open and hit people. Perhaps the door could be controlled by a misanthropic artificial intelligence.. Ok, a murderous door! Hmm, a MURderous DOOR.. and so Murdoor was born!

In addition to this, I was hungover from the friday night (thanks @empika - genius idea to meet at the pub), and had started the gamejam on Saturday afternoon, so had little time to throw something together. Obviously I’d use Unity for this, as I’m a huge fanboy. Also it’s incredibly fast to prototype when you get your head round how it works. There’s also a ton of quality free assets on the Asset Store, and as I’m not a 3D artist, I’d have to either grab things from there, or use coder art! Since I’d recently been playing about with coder art after being inspired by @infinitecontinu’s Street Fighter II abstract work, I thought I’d make something quite abstract.

NOT MINECRAFT OK - It's something else I'm working on. Coder art FTW!

So with the basic concept in place, and the art style sorted, I thought I’d make my life difficult and make this with NO CODE. Well, I wouldn’t write a single line of code for this game. Instead I’d use PlayMaker by Hutong Games. I’ve been using PlayMaker for a couple of weeks, and I am a total convert. It’s incredible! It’s hard to explain what it is, so I’ll lift the quote from the Hutong Games website:

It’s hard to sum up PlayMaker in a few words. It’s a tool for artists, designers, and programmers; It can be used by a lone developer or a development team; It can be used for rapid prototypes or full games. But one of our users summed it up best:”It’s a solid FSM. It’s a visual scripting tool. It’s a hierarchical logic framework. It’s a time saver. It’s a code-snippet storer. It’s an inspiration engine.”

All I’ll say is if you’re interested in making ANY content in Unity3D, you MUST CHECK IT OUT IMMEDIATELY. It’s some of the best software I’ve ever used.

So, in a few hours on Saturday, and a few hours on Sunday, I’ve thrown this silly idea together, and used physics, AI, and pathfinding, all with no code I’ve been writing code commercially for 15 years, and coding since I was about 7, so it’s nice to not touch it for a game. Of course, since I built it with Unity3D, not only does it work on web, but it works on iOS too! It’ll also run on Android, when I get round to exporting it.

So far, Murdoor is just an idea with a lot of bugs. But I think it has potential to be something a bit bigger than that, so I’ll tidy it up, fix the bugs, and add a few more levels over the next few weeks.

Me with the prize for "Most Visionary"

Huge thanks to:

@reallyfancy for inspiration and bouncing ideas around.
@toastkid for the terrible pun on the game over screen.
@empika for organising the event.
@profaniti for helping out.
@theskiff for hosting the event.
@littleloud and @relentless_sw for beer and pizza.
@pmolyneux and @petermolydeux – obviously.
@unity3d and @hutonggames for making such incredible software.

Murdoor – A game in Unity3D for Molyjam2012

2012-04-07T18:01:25Z

For Molyjam2012 I was inspired by the tweet:

“I mean, what if, just imagine for a moment that you could actually take CONTROL of a door.”

Introducing MURDOOR!

Physics! Artificial Intelligence! Pathfinding! made in Unity3D with NO CODE*! Runs on web and iOS! Android too when I get round to it.

[Update: When I tried exporting to Android, it just worked. Thanks Unity!]

Murdoor

You are a murderous door

* Uses PlayMaker. See this blog post for more information.

Hilariously, Murdoor won the Most Visionary award at the Brighton Molyjam! This might have been due to my own whooping and cheering, I’m not sure. Anyway, Dungeon Keeper was my prize:

Unity3D test on iPad3, iPad2, and iPhone 4s

2012-03-18T13:53:56Z

I made a quick test to see how Unity3D content runs on iPad3, iPad2, and iPhone 4s.
Quick test from something[1] i’m prototyping in Unity.

Brightness at 100%
Auto-brightness off
Native resolution (2048×1536 / 1024×768 / 960×640)
Runs at a solid 30FPS on each device.

As you can see there’s a noticeable difference in colour.

I’m impressed the iPad3 is pushing four times as many pixels as the iPad2, yet is keeping the same frame rate.

Screenshots. Compare the size of these:
iPad3: www.flickr.com/photos/yezzer/6992823959/sizes/o/in/photos…
iPad2: www.flickr.com/photos/yezzer/6992719949/sizes/o/in/photos…
iPhone 4s: www.flickr.com/photos/yezzer/6846596664/sizes/o/in/photos…

[1] The asset is the Medieval village from the Asset Store

It’s been a busy 18 months..

2011-10-21T16:27:14Z

No updates for a while. I’ve had more important things to do. Recently I’ve been working on some pretty cool projects in Unity3D, which will soon see the light of day.

First of them is The Thrill Electric, written by Leah Moore (comic fans will know this is Alan Moore’s daughter) – an enhanced comic for Hat Trick and Channel 4 with Littleloud. Built in Unity3D, it’s for web and iOS. Art by Windflower. Code by me.

Some more info:
http://www.moorereppion.com/the-thrill-electric-coming-soon/17/01/2011/
http://www.warrenellis.com/?p=12871
http://www.bleedingcool.com/2011/10/20/the-thrill-electric-from-moore-reppion-vieceli-and-windflower-to-launch-next-week/

I’ve also coded a web game for Transformers 3 and an entertainment App for iOS, both using Unity3D. More details on them soon.

Oh, and because I’m a massive nerd and I love new tech, I’ve been working on some really cool experimental apps in Unity3D on iOS with a talented 3D artist. I’ll post details on them at some point too.

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 – Another Unity Game

2012-04-19T18:49:02Z

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).