The Departed

Making iphone game development less painful.

2009-10-19T19:55:00.003-05:00

Alright, I have been developing on games for the IPhone for about a month now. I have been extremely disappointed with both Objective C and the native development environment on the mac Xcode. Objective C is hard to learn as it does not allow you to scan through a classes' methods simply using the "." operator on a class instance as in c++,c# or Java in Visual Studio or Eclipse. Also, Xcode's lack of a tabbed window setup creates desktop clutter beyond belief leaving me much less effective then in a Visual Studio environment. With a month of pain and suffering behind me, here are a few suggestions to get more efficiency out of your development time. I assume here that if your programming games you'll be spending more a significant portion of your time programming c/c++.

1. When in Rome....
Don't always do what the Romans do. You only need to use Xcode for compiling and debugging. To this end, install VMWare Fusion on your mac, then a Windows instance with it. During the Windows install in Fusion, make sure to share the location(with read/write access) of your Xcode project with the virtual machine.

This will give you access to your source code allowing you to program in VS. Finally within your Windows instance, install Visual Studio 2008(VS) and Visual Assist X(not required but highly recommended). Finally, with Windows booted up and VS running, create a solution next to your Xcode project and import the source tree. Now, you'll be coding c++ in arguably the best IDE out there, while still having Xcode at hand to compile and debug.

2. Objective C Syntax Highlighting...kinda
Eventually you may need to access Objective C .mm files which VS does not support highlighting by default. This leaves you looking ugly black text code. Not having found a plugin, a quick and dirty method of making this look a little better is the following.

In VS: Tools > Options > Text Editor > File Extension

Add .mm for the extension and select the editor c++. Restart VS and voila, slightly better objective c in VS.

Question and comments are welcome.

Big Blue Bubble.

2009-04-14T21:25:00.003-05:00

Alright! For the last two weeks, I have been developing games as a profession, a career and as a passion. The Company: Big Blue Bubble.

Job Hunting.

2009-03-02T10:59:00.003-05:00

Thesis is still wound up tight and I have 30 days left in total. This leaves me actively hunting for a job. If you know anyone who is looking for a passionate game developer who is dedicated, experienced with strong communication and team skills. Please pass on my resume. http://tinyurl.com/dgmkab

Chapter 3: Design

2009-02-17T20:57:00.003-05:00

I am currently working on the design of my architecture for my AI NPCs. I have about two more days until its all finalized and the implementation begins. Looks like my best option will be to write a C++ DLL that I can use with the XNA framework(although loosing XBOX functionality). But I gain a little by having the ability to plug it into the Source Engine making my implementation a little more realistic.

Anyway - Moving ahead...April will be here before I blink.

Reading Course.

2009-02-08T19:17:00.005-05:00

Just finished my reading course. Sixty pages on Believable Action Selection in NPCs. Downloadable here.

As an outline, I look at concepts of believability, traditional AI techniques and the use of Psychology and Sociogy in agents for better decisions making. The jist of it is in my M.s.c Proposal here

Msc Thesis Proposal

2009-02-06T13:18:00.004-05:00

Finally my Msc Proposal has been handed in and hopefully if things go well I will be presenting it within a week. Titled "Believable Action Selection For Non Player Characters In Video Games", I present an argument for a 'role based architecture' that incorporates personality, emotion, social knowledge and reasoning about consequence into the goal selection and action selection of NPCs. Anyway, if your so inclined check out it out here. You comments are more then welcome!

Tweet Tweet!

2009-02-04T15:28:00.001-05:00

If your interested, I now have a twitter feed for you to follow! Follow my every thought at http://twitter.com/GavanActon

Update #2! Dig London!

2008-12-02T21:09:00.012-05:00

I attended the DIG London conference last week and it was another one of those small but awesome conferences.

Some of keynotes speakers included the beautiful Jade Redmond(Ubisoft Montreal), the fast and furious David Taylor (EA Vancouver), the Hasseloffvian producer of Dark Sector Sheldon Carter and the "iconoclastic lighting rod of Silicon Knights(via 1up yours)", Dennis Dyack.

As for the programming contest, I did not win any prizes :(
I have never enjoyed losing and was a little disappointed that I did not get to see any of the other entries in action. BUT! I was happy with what I got done in the five days I had to work on it.

Anyway - I am pushing ahead with my thesis and I am working on something that I will be able to show you soon.

Here is a hint.

Update! Dig London!

2008-11-09T00:41:00.006-05:00

A couple weeks ago I entered into a game programming competition for the Dig London Game conference( www.diglondon.com ). Here is a quick video of my entry that was done using XNA 2.0 and C# in five days. The music in the video is by one my favorite Canadian bands called Metric whose song is titled "Soft Rock Star(Jimmy vs. Joe Mix)" from their 2007 Album "Grow Up and Blow away".

I will make the code available when I get a chance to go back and clean it up. With only five days to research and build the entry, I focused on just getting the job done at all costs! Good practices of software engineering including coupling and commenting were literally thrown out the window :(

As a side note I realized a few weeks ago that my last post from December 2007 is ranked number one for "xbox vs ps3" google searches! I will write up an updated version when I finish my thesis(hopefully soon)!

UPDATE: You can download the game here.
EightMark.zip
This version uses XNA 3.0 and you will need its redistributable which you can find here.

Xbox vs PS3 : December 2007

2007-12-05T11:30:00.000-05:00

Ok - so you have been planning on getting your next gen console and with all the deals around this time of year your itching to buy. As of today, now that the Playstation 3 40G and Xbox 360 20G models are almost evenly priced at around $400, at first glance, you actually have a difficult choice to make. On one hand there is the PS3 Bundle from dell. It comes with the Spyder Man Blue-ray movie, Rachet and Clank: Tools of Destruction game and a 6ft HDMI cable. Your other option is the Pro Holiday Bundle that comes with the games Forza Motorsport 2, Marvel Ultimate Alliance, Halo 3 and a 6ft HDMI. Without doing any research, both systems look fairly comparable. However, if you have done some online searches you will find a unbelievable number of zealots pushing their favorite system or many old arguments from 2006. This makes getting a non-bias and reliable answer to what system is better rather difficult. I wrote this article because when I was looking to buy a system a month ago, I could not find a decent analysis of the current state of both systems. I will say that I am unbiased writer with no alligiances to Sony or Microsoft. Having said that, after spending a lot of time doing research on both systems I did make a purchase.

Now lets try to cut through all the hype and fanboy'ism you may have read and help you figure out what you should buy. This article is broken a few sections. Section 1 discusses the gaming hardware on board and Section 2 is about what the systems can do other then play games. For most people, the most important part is Section 3 titled "Games! Games! Games!" Here I breakdown the current state of gaming on both systems and also take a look at the foreseeable future. And finally I wrap up the article with a conclusion and some final thoughts and suggestions on what to buy given your situation.

Alright.... Section 1: The Gaming System.

So, these little boxes cost about 400$, I know they play games but what is so special?.

Visually, both systems are capable of producing the same high quality graphics. Both the PS3 and 360 output HD signals up to 1080p via HDMI output. This makes everyone with an HDTV happy because your finally using that beautiful technology sitting on on your wall. Not only that but the games look almost lifelike even if they are not using the full 1080p resolution.

Other video output support comes in the form of VGA, SVideo or Component. For Component output you should only be able to produce a 720p/1080i image. However, my 360 let's me produce a 1080p signal through component(? can anyone please tell me how this works).

In the audio department, the PS3 has a slightly better audio system. Instead of a being able to produce a meager 5.1 Channel Dolby Digital Signal, it can produce 7.1 Channel Dolby Digital Signal! For those of you with a 7.1 receiver, you can be sure that the ps3 will take advantage of it. However, while in-game music is extremely important, I am not sure that you will be able to notice a difference between the two systems.

One really nice feature that the 360 has over the PS3 right now is rumble in its wireless controller. When used well, the shaking, vibrating of the controller in your hands adds another level of immersion to the gameplay. For example in Forza 2 car racing game, I have no idea how they developers did it, but the rumble 'shifts' just right. It is fantastic and produces a feeling of acceleration. In what many would argue was a blunder by Sony, the PS3 did not ship with a remote with rumble. Luckily, they have recently announced that a rumble remote is on the way this winter at a cost of $80. While this means you wont have rumble for existing PS3 games, future ones will make good use of this feature.

Both systems can connect to the Internet via wired and wireless access points. The PS3 has built in wireless but the 360 does not. And so, if your like everyone I know whose router is NOT next to your TV, you can purchase a wireless adapter for the 360 for about $100. A perhaps cheaper alternative is to find an old router and turn it into a wireless receiver.

Pound for pound, the hardware war is won by the PS3 with better audio and wireless and rumble on the way. I am ignoring the PS3's Cell Architecture and Blue ray player. Because neither of them have yet to show an improvement difference in the quality of games. (The evidence is in Section 3 ).

Section 2. All the other things these system do!

Once connected to a router, both systems show significant differences. Both systems can connect to multiplayer games and download additional games and content but only the Xbox can download HD movies(720p/1080i), TV shows via XBox Live(XBL). The PS3 will introducing HD movie download in Japan sometime next year. So for those waiting on this service to hit North America(if it ever comes), at least you can busy yourself with the PS3's Internet browser.

A nice feature of both systems is to act as a home theater system. They can display pictures, play music and videos. One very nice feature of the Xbox is that all of these can be directly streamed from your home computer. This means that all your files on your computer will be accessible to the xbox. On the PS3 you will need to carry the data over on a USB drive or use third party software.

Of course, a major difference between the PS3 and the 360 is its ability to play read Bluy-ray Discs. Technically, this translates to the ability of having more information on a single disc. Excluding a few exceptions, the capacity of traditional DVDs has not been a significant factor affecting the game development. But!!! You can play High Definition movies out of the box. The PS3 has a Blue-ray player built in making it very cheap HD player. And although you can get your 360 to play the comparable HD-DVD's you'll need to pay $170 to buy an attachable player. On the bright side of the, you will get 5 Free HD-DVD's with the purchase.

One great feature for all the techies out there is the ability for the PS3 to run the Linux OS. This means you can have a computer directly attached to your TV. For those of you who venture to the darkside, recent advances in the understanding of the PS3's graphic card would point to 3D roms from the N64 and later 3D systems being emulated soon. This could mean you will have access to all of your favorite classic games on the PS3.

And so, the conclusion here is that both systems have fantastic capabilities in the home to act as more then just gaming systems. Each system has advantages over the other in different area's but it is a tough choice. The PS3 definitely wins points with its Blue-Ray player but the Xbox has a strong performance with its ability to download HD movies, and connect to all your home computers to access pictures and movies. And so, make sure you read the next section about games before you buy the system. You did plan on playing games right?

Section 3: Games! Games! Games!

In this section I look at the main issues with games for the PS3 and the 360. I examine current state of games on both systems and how game exclusivity affects your choice.

This section should be fairly cut and dry. I pulled a ton of information of metacritic.com and did some analysis looking at the number of games on each console and how they did. However, before I show these numbers I really need to discuss about the importance of exclusive and non exclusive titles. (For those of who dont care skip here ). Exclusivity is relevant as games generally are system sellers( if you want to play a specific game, you have to buy the console that plays it). As a result, companies like Microsoft and Sony try to make sure that there are games made that will only play on their respective systems. They attract publishers/developers to sign the exclusivity of the title by offering them a greater cut of the profits made through the sales. This exclusivity option is a double edge sword for the consumer because a number of reasons.

On the bright side of exclusivity, the developers are able to focus their development on the one console and produce a higher quality product. Of course, exclusivity hurts the consumer(you) as they(you) have to purchase the system that plays the games they(...) want.

The main drawbacks of non-exclusive titles is that developers are often forced via the economics and difficulty of game development to first develop the product on the weakest of the target system and port it to the stronger. Last generation, the ps2 was much weaker then the original xbox and this result in the xbox's power often being under utilized. While we are still early in this generation, the 360 is currently the stronger of the systems. And even though the PS3 has been used to break records in the Guinness books for computation power, game development on the PS3 has continually underperformed in comparison to the 360. PS3 games have often shipped weeks and months later then their 360 counterparts and a result there has been an associated increased in cost and risk of PS3 game development. This may in turn have an effect on publishers who are looking to minimize their risk. In the future, we will either see less PS3 titles or a changed development process where most of the game development occurred on the Playstation and Xbox functionality was added later. This should result in non-exclusive titles being essentially the same on both consoles. In this case you win as you get the same gaming experience regardless of the platform.

The impact of this whole mess of exclusive vs non-exclusive titles on your choice to buy a system is that your only need to look at the exclusives games on both system to make up your mind. After all, these are the games you cant get on both systems! And if you could buy both systems, you obviously wouldn't be reading this article. With exclusivity in mind, lets look at the stats on the games on both the 360 and PS3.

Now for the numbers.
In the following graphs below I outline some statistics I pulled from a database I created from existing sources(www.metacritic.com, www.gamespy.com). I then did some sql queries to extract the following information. *note that these queries where done mid November with exception for the exceptional category that I did in early December.

Here is 360 Vs PS3 Total Current Titles. I am looking at the number of games currently available for both system. I also include a count of the number of exclusives for each system.

Quite clearly, the 360 has the advantage with almost 200 more titles. Not surprisingly, the number of exclusive on the Xbox outnumber those on the PS3.

Now I dug a little further and looked only at the quality games. Those with reviews above 75%. It is safe to assume that these games are enjoyable and if your a fan of the genre you most likely worth buying.

The 360 wins with around 40 more games with 75% above ratings. And looking at the exclusive, the three times more decent exclusives for you to play.

Finally. The show stopper. Here is a graph of the number of exceptional(90%+) games for both consoles. These games are the best gaming experiences that either of the systems have to offer. You will want to own these games.

The 360 has four times the amount of exceptional games. Ouch for the PS3 owners! The nail in the coffin is the exclusive count on both systems. Looking at the graph you think I had forgot to add some data. I didn't - the PS3 has zero exclusive titles in games rated above 90% +. The highest PS3 exclusive title is Rachet and Clank: Tools of Destruction at 89 followed by Drake's Fortune with 88. Lucky you have that blue-ray player to watch movies huh. ;0 Perhaps I am being a little hard on the PS3 here as there a lots of games in the 80-90% section but they are not ranked among the best out there.

The current situation places the 360 with a much stronger lineup. What about the future? To get a feel for what the next few years may look like I pulled all the future release dates till 2010 from gamespy.com and looked at total games and exclusivity.

Any guesses?

So here we see that their will be no shortfall of games on either systems. You will however have more selection on the 360 and you will see almost as many exclusive on the 360 as there will be on PS3 total.

Closing this section, if you are buying a console to play games and want to play the best there is to offer on the next gen system then as of right now, the clear choice the 360. The argument comes down to quality and quantity. The 360 simply has more higher quality games and it has more games... period. The PS3 will have a strong line-up in 2008 with exclusives coming from very successful lineage on the PS2(Metal Gear Solid, ect), however we can only they do better the Rachet and Clank! After all.

Section Conclusion.

If your a gamer and want to play games, then the 360 is the way to go. It has the best gaming experiences and strongest lineups of the two systems and features a decent entertainment for watching movies and pictures. More then that the Pro holiday Bundle already gives you two exceptional games(90%+) being Halo 3 and Forza 2. If you want to play some games but need to watch blue-ray movies then go with the PS3. Enjoy your new system.

I hope you enjoyed the article and look forward to hearing your comments.

**all pictures and trademarks belong to their respective owners.

Assasin's Creed and Reinforced Character Skills.

2007-12-03T09:39:00.000-05:00

I have been enjoying playing Ubisoft's new blockbuster title.
I like many of the the gameplay dynamics - buttons use is fairly intuitive and easy to use. But,like many others, I have noticed that the controls are often times too easy! This was explicitly done by the developers to attempt to create a more intuitive interface and I understand their motivations.

1) They want to allow a broad spectrum of players to enjoy their game! And,
2) they dont want the difficulty of a task to get in the way of the pacing(story telling) of the game.

However, I often feel cheated by my character's skills and this left wondering ways to keep the simple intuitive interface but at the same time allow players to feel a sense of accomplishment when they do things that would be difficult in real life. One solution would be to use reinforced learning.

Before we start let me be clear about three definitions.

The player: is the user - the person holding the controller(you).
The character: the in-game person, object whatever that you control.
Reinforced learning: the ability to perform a task better with practice. This makes hard tasks easier the more you do it.

Now, let me outline a situation and explain how this could work.
During on of the early missions of Assasin's Creed, your character 'Altair' has to walk along beams to cross a river. The mechanics of the crossing is to line up your character with the beam and press forward. For those of you who have played Zelda: Twilight Princess, it is the exact same. The problem with this mechanic is that it is insanely easy. You begin to dread crossing beams because as long as you keep pressing forward, you never fall. I can't remember how many times I have said "Damn F****** crossings. what a waste of time." To me anyway, this "task" has no redeeming features to the gameplay or to the story of your character.

How do we fix this?
Here is one option that come to my mind.

Give the character trainable skills. In this case balance.
Crossing beams will still require very little skill at first but the player is required to do a little of the balance work. As the player successfully completes crossings, we use reinforced learning on the characters skill so that character now guides itself and needs less input from the player. So minimally, a simple crossing can be done by anyone at any skill level but at least you feel like you have learned the skill. To keep things interesting we allow the player to attempt faster crossings that still requires input. This should keep players engaged and challenged but more importantly, it is your choice as the user to learn/perfect your skills. If you really care about moving across beams quickly then you will spend the time trying to perfect the skill. But, the important aspect is you don't need the advance skills to progress through the game. This allows the game developer to be assured that any player with any skill level will be able to enjoy their time and move forward in the storyline. Just as important, when the player is faced with important tasks, they may take a little more care in their movements as to not frustrate themselves with the negative consequence of falling from a beam. One way to look at this is as automatic RPG skill selection without the annoying and overwhelming selection screens.

Here I have outlined only one skill. We can really have skills affect a number of different gameplay elements. Auto Targeting, leaping, climbing....

The best part of this approach is that algorithmically from a programmers point of view, this type of learning is very easy to program.

Anyway, let me know what you think.

Gav

How to be the Perfect Girlfriend. (Must See)

2007-08-29T23:04:00.000-05:00

Enjoy.

New Google Maps.

2007-08-09T08:25:00.001-05:00

I was just using Google maps to figure out how far my ride to work was when I realized that the ppl at Google have silently been adding useful tools. On feature is the ability to change your route by adding/changing the streets you go down by clicking and dragging where you want to go. This makes planning your paper route all the easier :)

Very cool.

Anyway - here is my ride to work.

SQL Injections and Cross Site Scripting.

2007-06-06T15:56:00.001-05:00

Two of the most common and dangerous attack vectors used on websites to extract information and gain access to servers are SQL injections and Cross Site Scripting(XSS). Anyone coding web apps should be aware of these security issues.

More more info - check out

SQL INJECTIONS:
Podcast: Security Now ep 87 // you can skip the first 15 or so minutes of this.
Java Examples // how to :P

XSS:
Podcast: Security Now ep 85 // part 1 - injection and xss
Podcast: Security Now ep 86 // part 2 - xss
More java fun // how to

Awesome ANTI-DRM Shirts. Please Copy.

2007-06-05T17:03:00.000-05:00

http://torrentfreak.com/anti-drm-t-shirt-designs-vote-now/

Hack Hack Hacking with Adam Laurie

2007-06-05T15:51:00.000-05:00

I have recently been listening to podcasts dealing with security issues(ie Hacking) and I recently came across a fantastic episode of Sploitcast with the infamous Adam Laurie(guy who hacked just about every device from cell phones to the UK Passport). This guy is amazing.

http://media.libsyn.com/media/sploitcast/sploitcast_020.mp3

The episode covers everything from hacking RFID, bluetooth, infared, underground nuclear bunkers and even the politics of Hacking vs Cracking.

More Episodes can be found through http://www.sploitcast.com/
or through itunes.

Log2n Wars

2007-06-01T09:30:00.001-05:00

Ever Played Geometry Wars? Great Game to blow off a little steam. Here is the modded version we fixed up for fun while at Dare.

Enjoy the Log2n Wars

Log2n Wars

2007-06-01T09:30:00.000-05:00

Ever Played Geometry Wars? Here is our modded version. Destroy Log2n Members by shooting Stella bottles at them and watch them explode into beer caps.

Beware of Spencer, he is damn nasty!

Enjoy the Log2n Wars

Log2n Prologue

2007-05-31T08:57:00.000-05:00

Having a little nostalgia over my trip to Scotland last summer for Dare to be Digital(daretobedigital.com). Feel free to watch our prologue to Dare which is the team going from the Sault to Dundee over a couple days. Wild.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYUjZMmP_5s
http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=-8491908566883202412

Enjoy

Daft Punk Live:

2007-04-15T00:32:00.000-05:00

Their live shit is amazing. Here is a clip of Robot Rock from a 2006 concert in the states. There are a few really good bootleg discs you can download. Check out live at Belfort, Coachella, or Paris @ the Rex.

Google Maps: Sault to London UK : Funny.

2007-04-14T20:19:00.000-05:00

Here is one way to get there!?

Check out Item 37.

Anyone for a multi touch monitor the size of a wall

2007-03-20T08:48:00.000-05:00

So dam sweet.

http://studio.vpod.tv/#player:135867

http://www.battlestargalactica.com/ HACKED!! CHECK IT

2007-03-18T20:14:00.000-05:00

Check out http://www.battlestargalactica.com/

If admins finally fixed the site, here is what the site looked like at 9:16 ;-)

click to get bigger version.

LOL

Reality TV - Cheaters Busted....

2007-03-16T12:18:00.000-05:00

haha - Reality TV rocks.

Watch this video...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsHunqdRVcE

How the Super Bowl got Hacked....

2007-03-15T16:41:00.000-05:00

dam sweet prank.

http://www.zug.com/pranks/super/?digg=dugg

Enjoy.