Mykre

Unity 3d Second Assignment - Progressing

Wed, 15 May 2013 22:04:14 GMT

I have been working hard on this second assignment, at the moment it looks to be going well. Still hoping to finish the project On time. At least I will have some time this weekend to get some work done on it.

I wasn’t able to do much last weekend so I have fallen a little behind. Last weekend we had my Wife's 40th as well as mothers day, so that hit big time on my time.

So far I have the base design and technical documentation done as well as the prototype of the game, tonight's work will be a little slower, but I am planning on finishing the documentation then start working on the assets for the game (I have to get them finished and in game by at least Saturday Morning, even if they are still developer graphics).

My Custom Setup for Blender 3D

Wed, 08 May 2013 06:40:48 GMT

With Blender there is a lot of different settings that you can configure for the application.

Interface Settings

Editing Settings

Input Settings

Here I make sure that the “Emulate 3 Button Mouse” is Selected, If I was installing the Application on a Notebook, I would also make sure that the “Emulate Numpad” was enabled.

Addons

Themes

Files

Here I enter my name in the Author field, this will add the author name to any files that are exported, as long as the export type supports it.

System

No remember to Save the Settings before you exit.

Installing Blender 3D 2.67

Wed, 08 May 2013 06:25:04 GMT

With the Assignment I am working on at the moment I have the need to dig out Blender again. So it has been a while and I thought I would post the install screens and process.

Unity 3D–Second Assignment

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 08:28:31 GMT

For the last few weeks I have been doing a short course on Game Design and Development, and this week we got our Second Assignment. For this Assignment we have to design and Build a Complete game, including all supporting material and documentation, for me this is going to be the push to complete a game.

I thought I would start by upgrading all of the software I am using for the project to the latest versions. Currently I am planning to use.

Unity 3D Version 4
Blender 3D
Photoshop
Microsoft Office, and maybe including Project

To help me get the project done I am planning on searching for some of the assets and use what the great game development community has already published, this should help to maintain the timelines for the project.

At present I do not know exactly the type of game mechanics I am going to use, but I am thinking of revisiting an old project I started almost 10 years ago and see if I can finally finish it. This weekend I will be pulling out the old blog posts, code and information I have and seeing what I can do with it. Also the main idea for this week is to get the base documentation up and running and maybe even start the prototype.

All this will have to be done while I enjoy several more hours of Defiance…

Unity 3D GDC 2013 Show Reel

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 23:31:48 GMT

Great demonstration of what can be one with Unity 3d.

Defiance Enemy Intel

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 01:57:23 GMT

Watching some YouTube Videos on Defiance, I came across several Videos that give you some great Enemy Intel on the Various threats in the game.

Defiance the first 14 minutes

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 20:15:42 GMT

I am really looking forward to this game (Defiance Game)when it comes out next week, but what a lot of people don’t know… it is also going to be a TV Show (Defiance TV Show) starting not long after the game release. Here is a sample 14 minutes of the first episode in the series.

http://www.defiance.com/en/

Tuning SQL Server 2012 for SharePoint 2013

Sun, 24 Mar 2013 21:00:19 GMT

I came across this set of presentations on Channel 9 this morning and thought is was worth post. There are 4 presentations in the series each around 50 min.

Tuning SQL Server 2012 for SharePoint 2013

01 – Key SQL Server and SharePoint Server Integration Concepts

This session provides an overview of SQL Server deployment options and database types; understanding SQL Server and SharePoint integration, schema overview, database structure, schema restrictions and SharePoint database descriptions. Learn how to efficiently manage multiple instances on one physical server.

[09:23] - SQL Deployment Options
[14:55] - Database Types
[17:18] - SQL Server/SharePoint Integration
[29:42] - Schema Overview
[34:35] - Database Structure
[47:05] - SharePoint Database Descriptions

02 – Best Practices for SQL Server Database Settings

Get ready to understand model and Tempdb database settings, database file placement, and how to determine the number of content databases. This module goes over how to modify model database to reflect configuration of new databases and configure Tempdb for improved performance, and much more.

[06:16] - Model and Tempdb Database Settings
[13:11] - Shredded Storage Demo
[20:24] - Modifying Model DB Settings
[33:39] - Database File Placement
[37:50] - Determining Number of Content Databases

03 – Server Settings for SQL Server

In this segment you will learn how to modify memory settings to control memory usage by SQL Server, how to change default file locations, how to leave MAXDOP at 1 for SharePoint and how to verify operating system set to 64KB allocation unit size. Get ready for some great demos and rich dialogue.

[05:06] - SQL Server Instance Settings
[15:09] - Modifying SQL Memory Settings
[24:44] - Operating System Settings

04 – SQL Server and SharePoint Availability

This module will show you how to avoid ginormous T-Logs by performing regular T-Log backups, how to have multiple copies of your backups, how to configure AlwaysOn for high availability and verify integrity of SQL Server databases. Lastly the instructors will cover SQL Server for SharePoint best practices.

[03:44] - Avoiding Ginormous T-Log Files
[23:03] - Enable SQL Server AlwaysOn
[30:14] - Verify Integrity of Databases
[34:58] - SQL Server for SharePoint Best Practices

Defiance Beta Weekend

Sun, 24 Mar 2013 10:57:08 GMT

This week end I had the chance to enjoy several hours… ok a lot of hours playing the Defiance Beta. All I can say is this is going to be a fun game. For a while I have tried to stay away from the MMO type of games for the one reason of getting lost in the world. But with the introduction of this game and the soon to be released TV Show I thought I would give it a go.

“Defiance is a science-fiction-themed open world third-person shooter from Trion Worlds. Defiance takes place on a terraformed Earth several decades into the future. It is a tie in to the Syfy show of the same name. The game is set to be released April 2013 for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. It will also come out on Steam.

The game takes place in the San Francisco Bay Area after a massive world-wide terraforming event led to the alteration of the landscape, the fall of plants and animal species and the rise to new species. Several alien species came to Earth to set up a new home, which led to war, further devastating the planet. After the war, both Humans and the aliens, known as Votans, learned to live side by side. Players are enlisted as "Ark Hunters" by Karl Von Bach (CEO of Von Bach Industries) to travel to the Bay Area in search of advanced and expensive alien technology. Players also take part in side missions to earn some cash or challenges where they compete with other Ark Hunters.”, Wikipedia Reference…

The Games begins with s mall cinematic where you are introduced as an Ark Hunter getting ready to land in the Bay area, after the normal arguments between the Military and Private sectors who are both on the ship there is a small incident and the next thing you know you are finding your way to an escape craft getting ready to make landfall.

Once on the ground you start by being found by the locals and are told to make your way to the base camp, but on the way you need to arm up. During this first stage you are introduced to the various game play mechanics that you need for the game.

After that to me the game took on a Very Crackdown type of feel, I remember running around in Crackdown chasing mutants and completing missions and smaller side quests. If you liked that type of game, then this is for you. Although one big change is that instead of the 1 or maybe two players jumping in and trying to help you now could have hundreds.

One of the main events that do happen in the game are Ark falls, when these happen all of the players online seem to mass around these huge crystals. When this does happen.. it is just mayhem, every body shooting at the hundreds of bugs or mutants that seem to also mass around them.

I don’t want to give too much of the game away, but in it you have the ability to drive cars and buggy's as well as collect different weapons for various uses… another link back to Crackdown. While driving you are able to compete in several race through the flag type missions, which again reminded me of Crackdown.

I did like the perk system and the EGO powers, which give you the ability do ramp up different offensive and defensive attacks for short periods of time, but I do feel that the inventory was lacking, I always seemed to run out of spots. Also when selling items if you do have them equipped you weren't able to sell them.

Over all the weekend gaming was a lot of fun.. this is a game that I will be picking up, the choice though is PC or Xbox, but following the Twitter stream and forum posts I saw a lot of complaints about the Xbox servers (Not that I played them), but I had no issues with the PC Servers and didn’t see any lag what's so ever. A lot of people were also talking about a logon error, I played for over 10 hours this weekend and didn’t have an issue.

Link to the Official Website. http://www.defiance.com/

Follow on Twitter. https://twitter.com/DefianceGame

Book Review - Building your First Mobile Game Using XNA 4.0

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 02:29:00 GMT

A little over a week ago I was contacted by Packt Publishing to review the Following Book “Building your First Mobile Game Using XNA 4.0”.

The book is a small book that goes through the creation of a Simple 3D game from start to finish, while going through the game you start with 2D and end up with the complete 3D game. Below is a small list of what is covered.

2D Graphics
3D Graphics
Input
Sound and Audio
Basic Game Frameworks
Building and Releasing a Game

The book is based on XNA 4.0 and the Windows Phone System and by reading the book you get a good idea of what it takes to develop a game and take it from development all the way through to publishing the title.

As always he beginning of the book starts with the installation of the tools and registering your phone and tools. Next it jumps straight into the development process, those out there that have no idea about programming, I would not be starting with this book. Although the book is targeted at the low experience developer, you will need to have an idea of what development and the development process is. The other thing that you will find with the book is that all of the art work has been done for you, so if you are looking for information on how to create assets… this is not for you.

But all in all the book is well worth it and for those who do decide to pick it up you will get a lot out of it.

Windows Phone 8 Error code 80048888

Thu, 07 Mar 2013 20:56:59 GMT

Last night I was cleaning up some of my networking on a Small Business Server which included cleaning up and renewing the certificates. During the process the Certificate for the remote email was updated, and by the looks of it doing this has broken the connection from my Windows Phone 8 device to my Exchange Server.

So early this morning I was up trying to get it running again, while checking all other systems that used the same certificate was working, except my phone… I was getting Error Code 80048888 problems with the certificate.

I thought that maybe the cert needed to be refreshed on the phone, I did this.. and nothing. I even went through restarting the complete system, Phone and Servers.. and still nothing.

In the end I found that the simple solution was to remove the Exchange account on the Phone and re add the Account… After a few minutes everything started to sync.

Unity 3D Tutorial - Car Driving

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 04:12:21 GMT

Going through some of the latest YouTube videos I came across this great tutorial for Unity 3D, It takes you through the process of putting together a really simple car driving game.

This is one I might try for the Kids… Could be something really simple for them to play with.

Extending the divert to Telstra MessageBank

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 01:43:00 GMT

Today I had the need to extend the delay between an incoming call and the diversion to MessageBank on my wife's Telstra Service. Now we are both using a Windows Phone 8 device (Lumina 920), but after searching around for a bit we couldn’t find a setting to change..

Time to hit Google, or in my case Bing…

After a really quick search I found the following link on the Telstra Site. (http://exchange.telstra.com.au/?p=14633)

By Following the instructions I was able to extend the time from 15 seconds to 30 seconds by dialling a simple number. In our case we had to Dial.. **61*101**30# and press Dial.

Low Poly Modelling of a Chest in Maya 2013

Sat, 23 Feb 2013 09:48:35 GMT

Spent some time today following this great tutorial, great way to get your feet wet with Autodesk's Maya.

Installing Autodesk Maya 2013

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 06:10:22 GMT

For a while now I have been a 3d Studio, Blender 3D person but with the class I am currently taking I had the opportunity to get my hands dirty with Autodesk's Maya 2013. After downloading the Trial and organising my registration details, starting the install was easy.

Once the install was finished, you are asked to view any alerts that are displayed. With my Install I was only given one.

But this is normal, With most applications now the help and documentation is all remote, but you do have an option to install a local copy.

Now I think I have some work this weekend, trying to get my skills up to scratch in this application… or at least have the ability to get some basic models done (Even if they are Developer Graphics)

Using PowerShell to remove old SQL Server Backup Files

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 04:08:19 GMT

Today I had a need to clear a lot of old Backup and Transaction Log Files, so….. I dug into some more PowerShell.

The Script is based of one I downloaded a long time ago, but have now changed it to fit my needs today.

# Number of Days to Retain on the Local Storage
$NumberofDaysRetention = 5

# Location of the Backup Files
$path = "C:\MSSQLBackup\"

$CutOfDate = (Get-Date).AddDays(-$NumberofDaysRetention)

# Search and Remove Full Backup Files
if ((Test-Path $path) -eq "True")
{
    $count = (Get-ChildItem $path -include *.bak -recurse | ?{$_.LastWriteTime -lt $CutOfDate -and !$_.PSIsContainer}).Count

    if ($count -eq $null)
    {
        $count = 0
    }

    Get-ChildItem $path -include *.bak -recurse | ?{$_.LastWriteTime -lt $CutOfDate -and !$_.PSIsContainer} | Remove-Item
    Write-Host "There were" $count "Full Backup files deleted"
}
else
{
    Write-Host "There are no Full Backup files to be deleted"
}

# Search and Remove Transaction Log Files
if ((Test-Path $path) -eq "True")
{
    $count = (Get-ChildItem $path -include *.trn -recurse | ?{$_.LastWriteTime -lt $CutOfDate -and !$_.PSIsContainer}).Count

    if ($count -eq $null)
    {
        $count = 0
    }

    Get-ChildItem $path -include *.trn -recurse | ?{$_.LastWriteTime -lt $CutOfDate -and !$_.PSIsContainer} | Remove-Item
    Write-Host "There were" $count "Transaction Log files deleted"
}
else
{
    Write-Host "There are no Transaction Log files to be deleted"
}

Simple Game in Unity 3D in about 30 minutes

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 00:26:46 GMT

Found a great video that goes through developing a simple 3D game inside the Unity 3D system. Great way to get started.

Build a game in unity 3d or 4 start to finish focused on code. It uses mono development. The game is simply click on the cubes to gain points within a certain time frame.
Full unity 3d package is at this link: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/85668112/beg...

Unity 3D Building Boom Bears Game Time-Lapse

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 21:21:04 GMT

Going through the Unity 3D forums this morning I found a post showing a Time-Lapse video of building Boom Bears, a 2D Unity Game. The Game was developed in 48 hours for the Toronto Global Game Jam.

This is a great example showing the tools and processes used in the project.

Here are the links to the Developers site.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/garden_knight
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GardenKnight...
Website: http://www.gardenknightgames.com

Unity 3D Shuriken Particle System AutoDestruct

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 02:03:53 GMT

For the last few days I have been getting my feet wet by playing around with the Unity 3D system and following some of the many tutorials online. One thing I have found is that as the Particle system has changed in the latest versions, the options in the old tutorials do not match what is in the new.

The one that had me looking this morning was the “AutoDestruct” option. With this option you can configure your particle system to run once and then destroy it’s self out of the hierarchy, this is handy when using prefabs and calling them from inside of another game object.

In my case I was putting together an explosion prefab for the game I am working on (Using the tutorials on 3dbzz.com). After getting it running as a prefab, I found that it was not getting cleared or cleaned up. Doing a quick search on Unity Answers I found the solution.

1. Create a script with a matching name as the prefab.

2. Add the following code to the Update function (I am using C# for my scripts)

if (!particleSystem.IsAlive())
{
Destroy(this.gameObject);
}

3. Now back inside the editor Attach the script to the Prefab

Now when running the game, the particles are now removed from the hierarchy and all is good.

Installing Unity 3D 4

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 03:51:34 GMT

I have the need to install Unity 4.0 for the course I am just starting, So as with most of the applications I use I like to post the Install screens here for future reference as well as assist others with the install process.

Download the application from the Unity 3D Site.

Running Unity 3D 4 for the first time,

As the course requires uses the pro version features later in the course I have chosen to activate the free 30 day trial at that point. For now I am just registering the free version.

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