The Wall

Just a quick side note… making a song with Zee. More details later

As for the website? Coming soon…

Well its been almost exact a week solid of staying in my room and editing away. Ive gotten so used to my mac i can now use it better than some of the lifestylers i know.

Im not entirely proud of how ive been li living up to this point, im pretty sure ive deterriorated myself past what im already used to. But i cant stop now. Launch is close by and i must continue on. Please someone send me the strength to continue.

Today has been especially bad for productivity, im just plain old burnt out, so burnt out ove been watching stored episodes of The Simpsons since i woke up this morning. Im ashamed a little yes.. but suck is life.
What im saying is: October cant come soon enough

this just in… its driving me nuts. Its not even that hard! But i cant seem to grasp it! ARG!

just what i feel like right now…

So what have i been doing for the past, oh i dunno, ages?
When I moved I went through an epiphany period, i realized i cant be a coder. I just dont have it in me. I can script, no problem, im pretty comfortable when it comes to scripting (so long as i have a reference book beside me of course, hey, memory lapses happen to everyone). So unfortunately ive dropped the project i was doing with Zee. Not that i really wanted to, i just know id never be able to deliver a product, and instead of trying to convince myself otherwise, ill just have to wait for the appropriate time to do a game project again.

That being said ive been honing in my PHP and MySQL, doing a project for the past month with a friend or two, figuring things out. I cant officially say what the project is, not until official launch which is around OCt 1st ive been told. So ill have to wait to reveal that.
I havent updated because theres been nothing to update with except also for my daily ventures with Apple.

Actually form this point forward im going to blog about that stuff too because it is tecchy, and ive been dying for some sort of stuff to post here…

On the Apple side of things, i got me my iTunes 9, and totally dig the new Genius Mixes, easily my favorite part of it, even on my iPod Touch! It really is like having the best radio station ever, filled with your favorite songs
Speaking of the iTouch, i had to put it in a box and send it to apple recently. The audio jack has been busted since week 1, only one channel worked fully worked, its like when your headphones are starting to go, one channel keeps fuzzing out except in finnicky positions? yeah it was liek that, except with ALL devices.  I should be getting it back in a week or so
I was watching a tonn of Steve Jobs keynotes over the pst week, ive been on a kick where im trying to learn anything and everything i can about Apple, its history, what its been doing, and everything ive missed. Seriously i think i hit a sweet spot coming into the whole thing around Leopard release… lol, seems otherwise its been a little shaky for the past 4-6 years or so.
When i hitup the 2007 Dev Keynote, jobs start talking about the Apple TV, which got me to thinking, now follow along this is a bit of a story:

A couple weeks before i moved i bought a MacMini from a friend in desperate need of some cash, keeping it in storage until i figured out just what i was going to do with it, especially since it looked pretty pre-leopard i didn’t know what it was even compatible with.
My entire plan was eventually to have it as a streaming media server that would send video, pictures, and music to my PS3 and/or Xbox360 to stream onto my hdtv. Ive tried doing this with my iMac with SOME success, but not as seamless as id like it to be. But a wireless media server? Thats mouth watering.
When i was watching the Apple TV upgrade keynote, it got me to thinking… the MacMini, i could just hook that directly into my TV and use iTunes and FrontRow! So i did some research on it, found its an Intel MacMini with Leopard on it (thought its kinda weird..), its got an infrared censor on it for a remote, and a monitor port tht i might be able to take VGA-VGA. When i got to the Mac Store in Abbostsford, not only was i amazed to see there was an affordable cord ($15) that did what i wanted, but an HDMI version for just $35. So MacMini to HDMI? HELL YES. Also picked up a remote for it too. Overall $65 in hardware upgrades.

Now the plan is to simply have this connected to my TV, and nothing else. (keyboard and mouse will be on backup duty, but nowhere in sight). To rent my movies, I have my iMac setup with Home Sharing and Activated iTunes on the MacMini to share purchases and rentals. So i rent a movie on my iMac or Windows, it starts immediately going for the MacMini, which i can access the content with FrontRow.
why wouldn’t i want to rent directly from the MacMini? It certainly would be just THAT much more convenient, but i dont want the cords and peripherals of a Keyboard and mouse cluttering up my coffee table, and and im pretty positive i cant rent or buy anything out of Front Rows interface, which is a shame, really.

On the Windows side of things, ive been using it alot less lately thanks to my desire to be also fully integrated into the Apple Community. it as my base recording station, i then take the audio files up to the iMac for editing and distribution. honestly im not entirely impressed with the recording methods of Apple, so programs like SoundForge serve me extremely well.
Some might argue “LOGIC!” and i cant get the damn thing to record right, a strange echo whcih only that program produces…
Some might argue “GARAGEBAND!” and yes its an awesome software, but its recording is propriretary to its editing suite, which i honestly cannot stand using.
So the deal is, i record with SoundForge on the PC, and edit with, get this, Soundtrack Pro.
Except for the spontaneous crashing and REALLY long export times, the tools make my mouth water, every single time. Seriously, one fo the best multitrack editors ive ever used in my life! Doubles as a fantastic single track editor for specific files. What more could i ask for?

As you can see, and while i havent provided many examples, im purposly mixing up my workflows between the two platforms to find which tools i love using the most, and getting the most out of both of them.
of course i could just run SoundForge in Parallels or something and i may explore that option in the future, but for now all you need to knwo is, its an ongoing experiement with an ongoing experience.

Well thats a novel and a half, im going to cut it here, and ill update again soon

ciao!~

The problem is, they’re just not properly focused on “what” to upgrade their hardware and software “with”
Or maybe its a blessing to their business?

Over the past year ive been getting myself more and more aquainted with why people adore Apple so much. Ive had such phrases as “its better than …” and “its easier than… ” thrown past me ever since i swore off the entire company around the time of the dome encompassed cotton candy colored iMacs.

I didn’t buy into it, not OSX, not iMacs and G4s, not iPods, not even when people had them. i just couldn’t understand it. The systems just seemed to inadequate compared to the diverse world PC gives you.

ive been a Mac user now since around February or March. Sitting here today, i had an epiphany.

It struck me, i finally understand it just now, its the sense of “i dont have to decide” that catches people and “something better / an upgrade is coming around the corner” that keeps people enthralled.

What do i mean by this? Well think about.

When i say “PC” i literally mean “choices”, this comes in the form of Software and Hardware. You can make a PC uniquely yours and a for a budget you can afford.  All it requires is a little time and knowledge of your products.
And thats exactly what scares people, is the choices, and the idea that they have to know something first.

When you get a Mac, your paying for the company behind it to assemble the machine for you with parts that they know are compatible with their software right out of the box. No worries, and it works. In fact, isn’t that one of Macs mottos? “It Works”?

Lets also not forget the scare tactics that even other PC users instill into other potential PC buyers or those sitting on the fence. all it takes is the mighty V word to sway some opinions. That V word is “Viruses”. Everyone knows that Windows is susceptible to Viruses… if you let them.
Not quite so with a Mac, or Linux ofr that matter. You have to give every application permission to run in the first place. Which, admittedly, works as a great detractor to Viruses. But this raises an interesting question, why are the same people who praise this security feature found in other operating systems, criticizing Microsoft for doing the same with with its UAC Security?
But thats not the point of this post.

But i get it now. I finally get it. The part thats so exciting about being an Apple User, is the anticipation of whats coming next, and what maybe coming next in speculation.
What made this epiphony happen?

I watched the Apple Presentation on the iTunes and iPods the other day, you know the one where Steve Jobs made his return. And specifically in the presentation they brought to attention the new generation of iPod Nano, with the built in Camera (not a still camera, just video). I sat there the rest of the presentation, eagarly awaiting to see the iPod Touch get the same upgrade.
Heres a hint: nothing showed.
In fact nothing new was really annoucned for iPod Touch, just Genius Mixes integration, which beleive me is pretty goddamn good and worth the upgrade to 3.1 itself.  But still, i couldn’t help but wonder to myself “Ya the iPod Nano Camera, its, cool i guess, but wouldnt it make more sense on the iTouch?” … of course it would.
A bigger question still is “Whos in the market anymore for a Nano?” the answer is “A tiny percentage left of the population” and beleive me, a camera isn’t going to make me drop my iTouch or for it, nor is it going to sway the opinion of Zune users or Crative Zen users. In fact its a pretty useless upgrade.

You know what makes more sense to me?
Build a mini WiFi into it, just a small very specific WiFi, and include a Nano “Remote” app that allows you to submit requests to any iTunes DJ playing on the network.
LOTS of my friends have Nanos and only a select couple have iPhones or iTouches, and even then the Remote App isn’t standard, you have to find and download it.

Lets say for instance im throwing a party, and i setup my iMac or Mac Mini to a speaker set that rings through the house and/or outside area. Wouldn’t it be badass to say to everyone with a Nano OR iPhone OR iTouch that they can request songs out of the library like a portable Jukebox?

So heres my request Apple, heres me two cents.

In the next iPhone update, make “Remote” a standard app that comes with the software.
Allow your iTunes to say “Accept all Remote Devices for Requests” so no one has to be “authenticated” so long as thats on.
In the new generation of Nanos give it a small WiFi module focused entirely on an integrated “Remote” like feature for it, that can browse and request songs to be played on iTunes DJ

This technology that ALREADY exists is the cornerstone of a new generation of partying for the young to old, you already have my mother with an iPod, youve already got my brother with an iTouch, youve already got the majority of people using iTunes for their music purchases, and youve already got the technology sorted out to communicate between these systems.
I Cant think of a better time to do this than NOW before, say, Zune does it first.

Its your cards Apple, and i gotta say, i cant wait to see what you guys do with these things next. But please, dont stuff useless crap into existing products, think practically here.

Thanks.

I would LOVE to show you guys progress, holy crap would i EVER love to show or even REPORT some progress.

What happened? The weekend happened thats what. But thats not all, my busy-ness extended from Thursday after work actually, and ended Friday night.
once the weekend hit we were hit with one hell of a heat spell with +30*C weather.
I dont have an AC in my room, i cant afford one either. Leaving the doors and windows open lead to letting more heat in as well as crickets and moths (grrr). I have but one dinky fan that all it does is push hot air at me more, and staying in one spot in what appears to be shade fries me like bacon.

So no i havent been working on anything, and in fact im calling it here, weekends are my REAL days off. No more working on projects over the weekend, i can do my stuff during the weekdays after work and still have a break. Itd be good for me i think. Im still stoked about this project with Zee and Culando, of course i am, but baking in front of a hot computer does NOT help concentration or patience.

TTFN.

So its begun..

Ill be the first to admit im pretty new to this OpenGL business so getting this pyramid on screen is a huge leap forward. Though i have attempted totabkle openGL before with C++, i got up to a flat triangle that rotates and gave up from there

So where to from now: Theres a few things that need to be tackled congruently here (read: preferably in one sitting)

1. Frame management. This sexy pyramid isn’t rotating on its own, not by input. It jsut stays there so i got to figure out what loop i need to write in order to get it to rotate in real time. I remember this very aspect being easy in C++, but not here.

2. Model Loading: Josh has kindly allowed me to use his propriretary simple model format for use with this game, so i dont have to screw around with OBJ/ASE/MD*/Collada etc finding an acceptable format. Plus having the person who made the format teach me how to use it, well, i cant think of a better situation.

3. Keyboard and Mouse Interaction Model: im going to leave the advanced keyboard configuration and maths of input to Culando, i just need to know the basics here so i can use what i would have at this very point, to create a model viewer for the format, a nice little extra tool that would be useful for spotting any strange bugs with models.

Otherwise, all quiet on the western front, now ive got some more crap to figure out!

TTFN

Right now im in discussion with Josh about the old Edge-DM mod…

While the possibility is slim, im going to model a couple weapons using my limited feedble knowledge of modeling.
And well see how that takes us.

Adding: Shotgun, Rocket Launcher, and Grenade Launcher to my TODO list.

So there i was working on figuring out the taoframework when Zee IMs me telling me we have a complication.
It appears an old associate of his “suddenly” gained interest in doing the shooter project with us, and hes a C# programmer.

Fantastic right?
I wish…

My reasons for doing this project are both personal and professional.
- A shooter is a basic idea, a 2.5D shooter is the perfect stepping stone thatll kick my ass into C# game programming
- I made a promise to myself id make my old flash game, Rain of Destruction, into a real game. While this isn’t RoD, itll fullfill my promise just fine.
- Itll spearhead my engine development for Tournament of the Claw
- I help Zee with this, he helps me with 3D modeling for ToC

Tones of benefits from this project.

How detrimental could it be to have another programmer on board who actually knows the language im still trying to grasp? The project may get done “faster” but how much of it would i actually contribute? What happens when im shoved aside and the associate jsut kinda “takes over” simply because he can? What happens when we have a design disagreement and i get shove dto the left because he knows how to execute it himself?
Im not going to continue.

The simple fact of the matter is, Zee didn’t want to/couldn’t say no to his friends request. His associate (nameless till its all cool) to him, is like Josh to me. Worked on many projects in the past, but nothing truely got done.
Im an Animator trying to do some hardcore coding rather than tool development for a dying company.

*sigh* Theres only one good outcome… at the end of a long path of shitty outcomes with this one, i hope Zee knows what hes doing…

yay Day 2 and already Drama!

On another note, the TaoFramework kicks ass so fr. I ahvent done much of anything with it, but by looking at the dlcumentation, it looks pretty damn easy to grasp, and the Tao even comes with stuff like SDL, OpenAL, LUA, ODE, the whole shebang.
So im stoked to learn me a little Tao.

That being said, im outty, peace!

(to the associate if you read this, i mean no offense by this at all dude, ive just seen this very scenario play out a hundred times, ive got a bad feeling about it, but i do hope it works out, id like nothing more)

I was posting over at DeviantArt, which if you didn’t notice, this address pointed to for a little while, my progress so far on learning C#. Buut i dont think thats the crowd for that… no offense to anyone from DA. But i felt like i was speaking Spanish most of the time.

Anyways,
It hasn’t gotten very far (as i just started this week) but i have exactly 3 game projects lined up.

- Untitled Project with Zee
- Tournament of the Claw (working title)
- CourtEngine2

the title with Zee is a Shooter, thats all were saying right now (im sure i wasn’t even supposed to say that) but it will be the project i tackle first.
Tournament of the Claw is a 2.5D Fighter featuring Furries of various creation and friends.

Both will be powered by my own “feral|Engine”, an OpenGL 2.5D game engine im programming from as scratch as C# allows me to go. It’ll be using the TaoWrapper and my own proprietary tools.

CourtEngine2 is the successor to my incomplete fanfic playback engine for Phoenix Wright. If i time my cards right here, i should start getting back into the Court-Records community around the time of the new Edgeworth game.
It wont use the feral|Engine and its going to require quite a bit different interaction model and based entirely around a scripting system, but it may use the feral|Renderer for speed sakes.

This blog will now be a big part of my life (again) as i document my progress, learning notes, snippets of interest, and my slow descent into madness (or fast, depending on how things go).

For all other things, like my daily life and toils, will be found separately over at my DeviantArt Journals page (where i have 6 years of entries haha)