How to download a Real Audio file without installing crapware
After spending the better part of this morning struggling against obsolete file formats (Real Audio), I thought I would catalog and document the finished process for future reference. Feel free to sing along.
In: Uncategorized · Tagged with: audacity, crap audio, crap media, crapware, freeware, lifetips, linux, mp3, mplayer, music, protip, RA, ram, real, real audio, real crap, real media, rm, sound, took me all day, ubuntu, virtualbox
Ghost Town post-mortem
snake snake snake snake snake snake snake
Less than a week ago, I was busy developing a game called “Ghost Town” (see relevant post). This has been, by far, my most productive and successful Ludum Dare for quite a while, perhaps since April 2010. That’s not to say I haven’t gained anything from these other Ludum Dare competitions, but I’ve usually gone into them half-heartedly or with too grandiose a concept. The main reason is probably because I was trying to juggle my Physics degree and work at the same time.
However, I would like to save the motivational analysis for a future post (I have much to say in this regard!), and let’s get down to the technical/artistic breakdown of what happened.
In: Uncategorized · Tagged with: analysis, ghost town, graphics, ld48, ludum dare, post-mortem, postmortem
Ludum Dare 22: “Ghost Town”
Here is my entry for the 22nd Ludum Dare 48-hour game development competition.
All in all, it was a terrific experience (again). Very stressful, but extremely fun at the same time.
Links:
In: Uncategorized · Tagged with: as3, everything, flash, flixel, ghost town, graphics gale, LD, ld48, ludum dare, photoshop, project, speed painting, timelapse, weekend
B.A.D. animation
Simon reminded me how much glitchy animation is fun, so for one of my “daily exercises” I made a jittery guy do some silly animation. Looking at it again about a week later still makes me feel good, so here it is.
B.A.D. Animation (Flash)
Daily Freeforms
As part of an “intuitive drawing” course my wife and I are taking, I decided to spend 15 minutes (or more) each day drawing whatever comes to mind. Here are the results of the experiment after almost two weeks.
Another source of inspiration is David Evans’s daily drawings.
Genetic Creatures
As an elective course taken in order to fulfill requirements to complete my B.Sc., I took the course Introduction to Computational Physics, taught by Professor Karliner at Tel Aviv University. The course was a mash-up of many interesting computational techniques, most of which are used to perform approximations of physical systems.
The course included a short practical project chosen by the student. I decided to use a genetic algorithm to “breed” a kind of simulated life-form. The plan was elaborate, and I considered many complex ideas, but eventually stayed with the simplest creature I could come up with. It took form as a 3D box with four boxy “paddle” appendages. I used the Bullet physics engine, and I made the rest with C++ in Visual Studio.
Videos of the crazy creatures in action after the jump.
In: Uncategorized · Tagged with: algorithm, bullet, computational physics, course, coursework, creatures, genetic algorithm, genetic creatures, pdf, physics, project, report, simulation, university, videos, youtube
Escape Imprisonment at the Satanic Mental Hospital – Ludum Dare 21
Ludum Dare 21: “Escape”
There were tons of features I wanted to add, notably the huge sub-plot where the character is actually a mental patient “escaping” their reality by inventing a punching hero. The game was meant to switch back and forth between these two realities.
In: Uncategorized · Tagged with: browser, escape, flash, game, ld48, ludum dare, play
Entropy, consciousness and sense of time
Like gravity that tells us which way is “up”, entropy is said to tell us which way is “future”. But unlike gravity, which is a nearly-constant acceleration acting upon us, entropy is a property of relatively large systems. So can we “feel” entropy?
In: Uncategorized · Tagged with: cognitive, consciousness, entropy, feelings, hopefully accurate, physics, sense, thought experiment, time
8tracks – Airborne Megastructure Cascade
Thirteen tracks of rocket-powered machinery piloted by a faceless android, sometimes gliding past on hot-air currents.
In: Uncategorized · Tagged with: 8tracks, megastructure, mix, music
Player Non-Player Characters
They stroll the alleyways, sit upon thrones, lurk in dark caves, and ply their wares in every item shop. Non-Player Characters make up a good fraction of the game population. In effect, these representatives are the face of the game world for the player. In contrast to enemies, the main verbs available to these individuals are monologues, dialogs and buying/selling/giving items.
It might be said that NPCs fit into specific typecast roles because that is how they are most useful for the game designer. In a world built out of limited content, there is little room for more than a token representation of “real” individuals, making the generic NPC rather shallow.
NPC - an experiment from January, 2010
Or are they? About a year ago, I made a sketch of a game called “NPC” (you can play it here, if you like – it even has music by Chen and graphics by Daniel!). Taking control of an ordinary peasant child, various adventurers may approach you and ask for a quest in order to gain experience and items. The quest is invariably to find a lost cat.
In: Uncategorized · Tagged with: development, game, game design, ld48, ludum dare, many-worlds interpretation, meta-gaming, metaphysics, non-player characters, npc, npcs, old man, philosophy, player, pnpc, quantum physics, solipsism, zelda