Archive for April, 2006
April 27, 2006 at 8:51 pm· Filed under Flash, Play, Portfolio, Novel Ideas
So I’ve decided to show off the 3D engine that I programmed late last year. It was quite an effort as support for this sort of project in Flash is still quite thin.
The engine is still (and will probably forever remain) in alpha release - though I guess it has served its purpose as I’ve already used techniques learned from this exercise in other programs.
The engine has a few modes. The mode being demonstrated here shows how it supports both built-in objects and sprites.
Features
- Supports use of Sprites, wireframe objects and filled objects
- Inbuilt library of common objects
- External XML library support
- Totally object orientated. Potential for unlimited players, each with unlimited cameras and weapons.
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April 23, 2006 at 12:41 am· Filed under Flash, Play, Portfolio
After a little feedback and a screenshot to guide me (see the kirupa forum post) - I’ve had another go at the exercise mentioned in the previous post.
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April 22, 2006 at 12:08 am· Filed under Flash, Play, Portfolio
“Bobocop” over at kirupa.com started this thread asking for assistance:
I have a few blocks on stage (26) and they are all the same size and are Movie Clips, each block represents a letter. I want to be able to drag the blocks up/down left/right in order to make a word, But I don’t want them to overlap as I’m dragging them. So I would need to move one out of the way to get the other in that place.
Whilst I’m pretty sure that I haven’t done exactly what he was after - here’s my contribution to the cause…
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April 20, 2006 at 12:24 am· Filed under Flash, Play, Portfolio
I finally got around to having a play with the BitmapData Class. For those that aren’t in the know, this class enables Flash developers to create and manipulate bitmaps at the pixel level.
I’ve seen some inspiring examples of what others have done with this new capability and I’ll be bringing you more experiments in the coming weeks. For now, have a play with my paint program…
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April 18, 2006 at 5:09 pm· Filed under Flash, Play, Portfolio, Novel Ideas, Automata
Finally! I’ve been wanting to have a go at this for a long time and this morning I got that familiar Flash urge… (otherwise known as thesis procrastination) and I had to have a go.
The experiment shows a number of randomly generated boxes that interact in a variety of ways - click the buttons on the lower left of the screen to see the difference.
FYI - “Automata” is defined on Dictionary.com as:
- A self-operating machine or mechanism, especially a robot.
- One that behaves or responds in a mechanical way.
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April 16, 2006 at 4:25 pm· Filed under Misc, Play, Novel Ideas
If you’re anything like me, you enjoy using MSN messenger but you absolutely hate the advertisement at the bottom of the main window. I work with two monitors and that annoying little ad keeps flickering in the corner of my eye.
I’ve tried a bunch of different strategies to minimise the annoyance. Moving the window so the ad is off the bottom of the screen only works for so long before the cunning MSN programmers make the window pop up again! I’ve used third party ‘crack’ type programs that strip all of the ads out. Whilst they’re good, I’ve recently upgraded to the beta version of MSN 8… so there’s nothing out yet.
I’ve met their challenge with a rather feeble solution - but it works!
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April 16, 2006 at 1:12 pm· Filed under Misc, Play, Tech News
For those of you out there that spend countless hours developing a character in a MMORPG, get a load of this!
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April 13, 2006 at 12:16 am· Filed under Flash, Play, Portfolio, Novel Ideas
This evening I found a tutorial on simulating snow and decided that I needed to have a go.
So I’ve played with the script slightly and given depth effect so that the particles closer to the camera fall faster than those in the distance. I’ve also tweaked the particles so they rotate with respect to their path.
I’m positive that the oscillation code will come in handy in the future.
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April 10, 2006 at 10:46 pm· Filed under Flash, Play, Portfolio, Novel Ideas
My mate, Tim, recently showed me a Flash effect he’d been playing around with: a fisheye-esque technique that he was going to use as an interface for a media player. Good idea, huh.
So I had a go at it and came up a few simple effects - perhaps I’ll use them in scene transitions in the future?!
Anyway… it’s been on my todo list for a little while now… so here’s a first attempt at some fisheye frivolity:
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April 9, 2006 at 8:56 pm· Filed under Misc, Play, Novel Ideas
Generally, I’m not a big fan of online quizzes. I came across this one after reading how accurate others felt it was and I’ve got to say… I like the results - although I’m not sure if I’m comfortable with the label!
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April 6, 2006 at 8:18 pm· Filed under Flash, Play, Portfolio, Novel Ideas
Hello All,
Just a quick entry to show off the ticker I made today…
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April 2, 2006 at 11:11 am· Filed under Flash, Design Stimulus, Play, Novel Ideas
I’ve just come across a site dedicated to Flash 8 experiements… and not just any expertiments; these would make any maths guru proud.
I especially enjoyed setting myself on fire (you need a webcam to check this out).
Also, the enthusiast should check out his blog: http://www.gskinner.com/blog/
Link: Gallery Incomplet: Flash Experiments by Grant S
April 1, 2006 at 6:10 pm· Filed under Play, Novel Ideas, Tech News
Here’s something new. I’ve just stumbled across this site and seems to offer an application to help track how users interact with your site.
Using a ‘Heatmap’, you can quickly see where your site’s hotspots are and make sure people are clicking on the important content.
I’ll keep an eye on this one, for sure.
Link: Crazy Egg
