Sinsoft Entertainment Inc.

Sinsoft Poker

noreply@blogger.com (sinsoft.com) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 21:40:00 +0000

Sinsoft's next game is Sinsoft Poker. First release will be a single player game while possible social/multi-player features are being looked into. Sinsoft Poker is classic Texas Hold 'em.

First there will be a single player online demo, with possible DLC versions in the works that are ad free.

Screenshots:

Tools used: Unity 3.4.2, MonoDevelop 2.4.2, Alchemy 008, Blender 2.60, GIMP 2.6.11, Audacity 1.3.13, Sinsoft Blender Automation Tool (Unity 3)

Unity 3 Automation Plug-in Script For Blender 2.59

noreply@blogger.com (sinsoft.com) — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 19:48:00 +0000

Shown below is a Unity 3 Automation Frontend script for Blender 2.59. The script is for internal use only.

Screenshot (Updated):

Sinan

CryENGINE3 Automation Plug-in Script For Blender 2.59

noreply@blogger.com (sinsoft.com) — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 19:06:00 +0000

Shown below is a CryENGINE3 Automation Frontend script for Blender 2.59 used by Sinsoft to evaluate the engine.

We have decided to evaluate CryENGINE3, and currently we are successful in getting Blender to export to Sandbox. However it involves multiple conversions of the collada .dae file that Blender produces ( --- the conversions are automated).

EDIT: We have found several issues when exporting to Blender (see below).

One is that the SDK doesn't come with sample DAE files in order for Blender users to post process the dae files to fit the engine requirements. For example User Defined Types (or UDP) are needed to specify physics properties. In CryENGINE3 physics properties like box, sphere, capsule, mass, etc have to be set in the DCC app and are specified in UDP types in the collada output. However we have no idea what the format is.

The second issue that arises is that CryENGINE3 requires long names for objects and materials which Blender does not support.

The script is not publicly available as it contains workflow operators specific to Sinsoft's workflow.

Screenshots:

Sinan

UDK Automation Plug-in Script For Blender 2.59

noreply@blogger.com (sinsoft.com) — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 21:19:00 +0000

The following is a UDK Automation Frontend script for Blender.

The script is not publicly available anymore because it contains additional operators specific to Sinsoft's workflow and we simply cannot publicly support the script.

A cool feature about this script is that the start udk game operator can of course be mapped in Input Configuration so that when you press "P" a UDK game is launched.

Screenshot:

Sinan

Edit Blender Text Files using External Text Editor (Plug-in)

noreply@blogger.com (sinsoft.com) — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 19:19:00 +0000

This Blender plug-in will allow you to edit text inside the Blender Text Editor using your favorite External Text Editor. The plug-in gives you two new buttons in the Blender Text Editor: "Edit" and "A drop down to pick a file extension". Each text file in your .blend file will then be associated with a file extension.

It can be best described as an automatic External Text Editor launcher plus automatic updater of Blender internal text. EDIT: This plug-in only works for Windows at the present time (see Known Issues below).

The plug-in is priced at $4.99 (CDN) and can be purchased through PayPal only.

Plug-in Version: 1.0.0

Blender Version: 2.58a and up

Price: $4.99 (CDN)

When you press Edit, a file will be created in a temp directory (assigned in Blender User Preferences) and will contain the extension you picked for that file. You can then edit and save your file as many times as you like using your favorite External Text Editor. Once you close your favorite External Text Editor, you will go back to Blender and your file will be updated in Blender inside the Blender Text Editor.

If you had an external file saved somewhere it will be updated, so all you have to do is press save (alt-s), don't update with red button. If your file was internal, it will stay internal.

Additonal notes:

You can only edit one file at a time. And you must close your External Text Editor for the file to update in Blender
If the file inside Blender already has an extension in the name, no extension is added, otherwise an extension is added to the end of the file being edited externally
Make sure to have temp file directory set in Blender User Preferences
You need to have your operating system associate the text files with your favorite External Text Editor
Your External Text Editor should also know how to highlight the files you're editing (example .py, .lua, etc)
Some file extensions supported by plug-in: .py, .lua, .glsl, .hlsl, .cg, .material, .compositor, .particle, .overlay, .font, .program, .vert, .frag, .c, .cpp, .h, .cc, .txt (see image above for all of them)

To install:

Copy development_external_text_edit.py to Blender plugin directory (..\Blender\2.58\scripts\addons)
Enable plug-in under User Preferences: Development -> Development: Edit text files using External Text Editor

Video Demo:

link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGMFDmbR9U8

Known Issues:

If you have External Editor running within Blender and you try to quit Blender, Blender will not completely close unless you close the External Editor as well
This plug-in failed to work currently on Linux and MacOSX: "permission denied" error when opening /tmp/somefile.extension

Purchase Disclamer:

This purchase is non-refundable. If we create a new update to any plug-ins we write we would simply update the store script and sell at the same price (with a notice of update of course). We have no way of providing an upgrade price to people who already purchased (due to current purchase mechanism and sales volume). Sales are final so please take that into consideration.

License Disclamer:

This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,

but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of

MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Blender 2.5 tips, Updated (April 2011)

noreply@blogger.com (sinsoft.com) — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 20:16:00 +0000

Here are some very small Blender 2.5 tips. They are very important and I hope that others might find them useful.

Proper Shading

Newer people to Blender will wonder why objects don't render nicely when you create some test object to test drive Blender. To fix this, use the Edge Split Modifier. You will see a lot of improvements in how your objects are rendered! And of course don't forget to set the shading for the object to smooth (vs flat shading which is default).

EDIT: Make sure to set smooth shading on for an object to see Edge Split Modifier in action.

Painting

When in paint mode, if you press tab to go to edit mode, select some faces, exit out of edit more, and then press M your painting will be constrained to the selected faces only.

Proportional Editing

Various DCC apps let you control the amount of influence a proportional editing tool has. In Blender you can do this with the scroll wheel. So while dragging the translate tool with proportional editing on for example, simply use the scroll wheel on a mouse (or circular wheel on tablet or alt '+'/alt '-') to increase or decrease the strength of the proportional tool. There is a hint anyways that this is possible because of the circle that appears when proportional editing is on (i.e. it hints that strength could be changed). Also note that the shortcut for proportional editing in Blender is 'O'.

Modifiers

Blender lets you use a vertex group to mask the affect a modifier has on a mesh. For example, say you have a plane subdivided to 10x10 and you want to bend that plane say inception style. A simple Blender deformer will bend the plane forming a "U" shape. However you can create a vertex group that contains only half of the plane, and then specify it in the Bend Modifier in Blender, this will let you Bend only half of that plane. Of course with vertex groups you can get even more interesting effects.

Parenting in the Outliner

Currently there is no "drag and drop" parenting in the outliner. The best way to do this with Blender 2.5 beta is to shift click the child objects, shift click the parent you want to parent to, then hit space, type "make p", and choose "Make Parent". This works "fast enough" for me when I want to orginize my scene - your search value is saved next time you press 'space'.

Manipulators

When you press G to translate, R to rotate, and S to scale, the manipulator is not shown like in other DCC apps. Some people like to work with a manipulator sometimes rather than shortcuts. Although the shortcuts are useful and essential.

What you can do in Blender is shift click "on the manipulator boxes" (left of layer panels) in 3d view to select all of them. Then use "Ctrl space" shortcut to show and hide the manupilator. The manupilator now is a *universal* translate, rotate, and scale manupilator that you can use when you edit meshes/objects. You can setup the manupilator in the preferences to work the way you want (i.e. hotspots, size of manupilators, etc and make that default). Remember also that "alt space" is a shortcut for moving the manipulator along global, normal, etc.

Parent compensation

If you have an Object with say 20 children objects, and you want to translate the parent only without transforming the children, there is currently no way of doing that in Blender. This should be addressed. The best way is to duplicate the parent "Empty" object that everything is parented to. Move the duplicate to the new position. Select old parent, "Shift G" and select "Children" to select child objects. Then press Alt-P to unparent (select "Clear Parent"). With children still selected, select the new parent "Empty" object and Ctrl-P to parent. Delete the old parent object, and rename the new parent object to the same name as the old object.

Speeding animation preview

In the time line, if you switch from "No Sync" to "Frame Dropping" and then switch back to "No Sync", the animation preview speeds up.

The cursor

I have seen people complain about the cursor in Blender. What people have to realize is that the cursor is very essential in Blender. It has many purposes. It is used to specify and change pivots, changing object centers, snapping objects to vertices, edges, etc. In a sense the cursor is a "shortcut" way of doing these tasks, because Blender is all about shortcuts and fast workflow. Should you have the ability to hide the cursor? Sure. But that's a design decision. Currently the only way I know of is to press N for right toolbox and go to display and choose "Only Render". This hides everything that cannot be rendered.

Sinan

Pinball Game Cancelled

noreply@blogger.com (sinsoft.com) — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 17:20:00 +0000

Sinsoft is no longer working on Sinsoft Pinball.

UPDATE: however we do not rule out the possibility that a future game might contain "pinball aspects" in it.

An online demo of the game can be found here [sinsoft.net] (Unity 3 Web Player needed).

Screenshots of the game (10% complete).

Sinan

RSS feed changed

noreply@blogger.com (sinsoft.com) — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 00:58:00 +0000

sinsoft.com RSS feed has changed. You need to resubscribe to get new feeds. Scroll to the bottom of this page for the new RSS/Atom feed link. Or click on the icon in the right hand side of your browsers URL address bar (if supported).

Radial Engine Demo

noreply@blogger.com (sinsoft.com) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 17:11:00 +0000

A demo of the Radial Game Engine is no longer available for download. Radial Game Engine used OGRE for rendering, PhysX for physics, and OpenAL for audio.

Donate/Sponsor

noreply@blogger.com (sinsoft.com) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 16:00:00 +0000

Payment cancelled.

noreply@blogger.com (sinsoft.com) — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 16:00:00 +0000

Donation payment successful.

noreply@blogger.com (sinsoft.com) — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 16:00:00 +0000

Donation cancelled.

noreply@blogger.com (sinsoft.com) — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 16:00:00 +0000

ICON

noreply@blogger.com (sinsoft.com) — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 16:00:00 +0000