Your Personal Micro Blog(s)

Nor do I, but it's bad on this album, ringing ears after listening to one song bad... Shame, I really like some of the songs on this album too.

http://dr.loudness-war.info/album/list?artist=&album=couldn't+have+said+it+better

 

Still working on my clone version of Midtown Madness 2. Physics are working now (they need a lot of tweaking though), among other things.

Summary of work: Code, code, code, and even more code


and UI code

 

Ahh, the memories!

Tried to install it on my Optiplex the other day but the disc was damaged..... :'(

 

Another receiver on the bench a Sansui 2000, this time it was no sound from one channel and low distorted audio with a hum from the other, no sound problem was a bad solder joint around a wire, distorted sound was due to a failed transistor on the driver amp board. There where also a few very poorly done bodge repairs done to this amp in the past which I had to un-bodge.
Previous tech replaced the right channel output transistors and driver transistor without replacing the left channel components so the gain is a little different on both channels (one is louder).
I also replaced any out of spec transistors with new low ESR Panasonic FC capacitors.

 

Last week or the week before went to didney worl for spring break, it was fun for the most part, nothing I haven't seen / been on before.

This past Friday I got into a vehicle accident. Couldn't slow down fast enough to the halted traffic getting on/off the interstate and I hit the back corner of some guy's Lexus, which in turn caused me to pop up on two wheels and tip over. Couldn't prevent the tip over, that was out of my hands. I'm perfectly fine however, thank god I cleaned my car out a few days prior. Car is totaled, I was at cause for the accident, and I have to be at court 3 days before I graduate in May. Other than that I live a boring life.

Post-Pictures:

 

I am trying to hunt down the Freeman a US-model (NTSC/QWERTY) Commodore Amiga A1200. This should be fun.

In other news, EarthBound is dead. I'm starting a new story. Where this journey will lead, I have little clue. Any ideas?

 

Worked on pathfinding and debug drawing code today, as well as particle stuff.

I can now draw boxes, spheres, lines, arrows, and rays in realtime in the game view. The pathfinding stuff still has some way to go, I need to introduce an angle penalty for choosing the next road, so it'll try and get the fastest path, but not neccessarily the shortest

(The green line here is what the pathfinder chose as the ideal route to the bridge)

 

I'm so tired. I may have ate too much sugar this morning (m&s percy pigs are gooood), and am currently crashed.

Dissertation is due in on Thursday, only 2000 more words until I am in the recommended range, need more references. Had to demonstrate my OpenCL software today, that was a little stressful, but went alright. Also need to demonstrate PhysX project on Friday. Then a procedural generation assignment due in next Thursday, then exams, then freedom. Until I get a job, that is.

I really want to faceplant my keyboard right now.

 

Well, I guess this brightened up my day a little bit. Results of my research project seem to be generally significant (essentially: GUI vs Text based level editors, what do people prefer).

And equally nice is that the significance varies enough for me to write a decent amount about. Which is great.

I guess the forms also decided this post was significant enough to not append it to the previous one

 

I'm planning to spend all night up.... Otherwise the only thing we did was buy a BMW X5 and fix it's..... many problems.

 

Wrote a meta class system today, a first for me. Works pretty well too

The meat of it:



My test code:

Code:

    void Start () {
        //register classes (TODO: Use reflection and automate?)
        MetaClassDB.RegisterMetaClass(typeof(Color), typeof(ColorMetaClass));
        MetaClassDB.RegisterMetaClass(typeof(Light), typeof(LightMetaClass));

        //find the Directional Light Unity has by default n the scene
        var lght = FindObjectOfType<Light>();

        //serialize
        var writer = new StreamWriter("DefaultLighting.yaml");
        var yamlSerializer = new YamlMetaClassSerializer(writer);

        var classInst = MetaClassDB.CreateMetaclassInstance(lght);
        classInst.Serialize(yamlSerializer);

        writer.Close();
    }

This is the resulting YAML. Nice, clean, simple, and user friendly. A user may modify this data and load it back into the game. IMO much, much better than JSON for almost any purpose.

Code:

---
Type: Directional
Mode: Realtime
Color:
    R: 1
    G: 0.9568627
    B: 0.8392157
    A: 1
Intensity: 1
IndirectMultiplier: 1
Range: 10
RenderMode: Auto
CookieSize: 10
CullingMask: -1
ShadowMode: Soft
ShadowStrength: 1
ShadowBias: 0.05
ShadowNormalBias: 0.4
ShadowNearPlane: 0.2
ShadowResolution: -1

 

Just submitted my Dissertation. 12223 words total. I once again, feel a little ill, can't concentrate any more, and want a holiday

I am tempted to keep up the academic convention of double spaces after a full stop. It seems like it could improve readability, but I imagine with some fonts and styles it could look a little weird. Not being able to talk in first person for 95% of that time is also an interesting one.

Interestingly, this forum deletes any double spaces when you hit post. So no gain here I guess.

 

Finally got my 360 controller working, I sure am glad I didn't have to do anything except plug it in.....

Thank you windows 10!
Now I don't have to get by with a keyboard....

 

Had my last day of University lectures today.

All that is left is a viva, and two exams. Also have a project showcase to attend. On the one hand, its super nice to have all assignments out of the way and related stress, on the other it's weird to know that uni life is coming to an end. Gonna have to make the most of the (likely) last few months in this city before I move to a new area of the country, since its possible that I could end up anywhere in the UK.

 

I think it's crazy to hear that:
Going from teenager to adult seems like such a far step... I still have a bit of time until I even get to the age where I'm eligible for a university (or college), I'm still sat here waiting.

 

To be a little on topic, did a little work on the R60 this afternoon. Added number plates, some of the rear badging, and improved bonnet deformation. Tried to figure out why the electric versions don't work properly in the most recent update, I have no idea.

I'm not sure such a step ever happens
There is no morning where I wake up and think "I'm an adult now" (other than when I have cake for breakfast), regardless of what age someone is, they are still the same person at heart. One would hope that such person would gain experience as they grow older, this will adjust personality somewhat, but still the same at the core. A quote that I think was from Extra Credits comes to mind (paraphrasing) "Kids are just less experienced adults".

I guess the biggest difference I feel is the pressure to be productive. For me, when I was younger there was no pressure to be productive, if I wanted to spend my time doing something I had all the time in the world to do it. Now that I am 21, if I reach the end of the day with no productive work to show for it, it feels like I have wasted the day, which isn't a pleasant experience imo.

Time is super weird. With assignments I would spend a fair chunk of time thinking about how nice it will be when I have finished them, then a huge amount of time passes while doing them etc, but once they are done, it all seems so small and distant. The irony being that after submitting an assignment I don't know what to do with my time anyway, which is a form of stress by itself. It is so easy to waste an entire week when you don't have any set work to do. Seems to me that the concept of "life being easy after 'x' is done" is a lie, regardless of how busy I am, there is always something else to stress over. So best to be happy in the present with whatever it is that I am doing.

 

What I meant is I'm looking into the future... Like reversal vibes....
10 years ago I was a young child who didn't know anything and was just riding along the donkey of life until those years arrived.
Now I'm an average teenager who spends a day on the PC.
In 10 years I find it abysmal that I'll be a grown adult, to me, 10 years seems like an extremely short time.
Let me elaborate:
5 years ago I minded my business and didn't care about anything...
3 years ago I skipped into those years and myself rapidly changed.
That kind of stuff.
On the actual note I'm the complete opposite of you, I'm absolutely terrified of overworking..
OT:
Had a barbecue today.... Except the barbecue wouldn't light, so we used the oven instead lmao

 

Does anyone have any advice at how to shade better? It looks rather 2-D from a distance.

 

Had a quick little play around with the image to see if I could figure anything out:

(I made the image 5x smaller so I could work on pixel scale)

Things done above that may help?

• Limiting the use of super bright tones (especially if in your game levels it isn't always logical for bright lighting to come from the top left of screen)
• Lighting things a little differently. In the original image its as if someone is shining a torch directly from the side, which means the player can't see the depth of the curve of the left side of the suit
  
• Shadowing? The camera left armpit seems quite bright on the original, when in reality it would be in shadow

You might also be able to get away with adding some extra detail like creases into the suit (if appropriate?). If you are going retro, perhaps some turquoise or/and yellow accents could work (if appropriate?).

If its an image composition you are trying to put together, perhaps adding other game characters to either side might be cool?


Its a cool image you have put together. The background and colour palette are dope

 

Much appreciated! Still working on the sprite - I have taken your advice into consideration. The palettes are actually derived from various images I dug up from around my PC.

Bonus:

View attachment 412347

I do all this in Paint.NET - are there better tools?