Boston Unity Group - BUG
This is a new meet up group organised for the Boston indie dev scene, though anyone who is interested in, or has used Unity were more than welcome to the event.
The group met up in Northeastern University for the first time, a good venue, organised my Elliott Mitchell and Alex Schwartz.
Kicking off the event, Tom Higgins, community manager at Unity Technologies, spoke about Unity, the company, the product and what will come in the future as well as understanding how to get the best out of it with various pricings and features. The afternoon session held an all-day workshop dubbed ‘Unity Day’. This was a series of tutorials on Unity.
Below is, in three parts, a video of the talk given by Tom Higgins.
Part 1:
Part 2:
Part 3:
The next of these bi-monthly Boston Unity Group (game developer meetup) meets will be August 31 @ the Mircosoft N.E.R.D. center in Cambridge, MA. 7 p.m.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
2 Year Baby Check up
So a little while back we had the 2 year health check up on our little one. This trip was much the same as previous ones.
She was weighed, but this time on a proper scale rather than the basket style as she was able to stand still long enough. Her length and circumference of her head were also measured.
The doctor checked her eyes, ears and prodded all her limbs and organs as usual and checked her walking by having her walk along the corridor towards us.
The questions were much the same as usual, how much milk is she drinking, what kind of foods is she eating and liking, how is she doing with her words and how many two or more word sentences can she speak. How well does she feed herself and is she showing signs of using the potty and other gross motor skills.
As for the jabs, she had another Hep A shot and another booster jab because there was a change up in that kind of booster.
All is well and she was booked for another visit in six months and again for her third birthday.
She was weighed, but this time on a proper scale rather than the basket style as she was able to stand still long enough. Her length and circumference of her head were also measured.
The doctor checked her eyes, ears and prodded all her limbs and organs as usual and checked her walking by having her walk along the corridor towards us.
The questions were much the same as usual, how much milk is she drinking, what kind of foods is she eating and liking, how is she doing with her words and how many two or more word sentences can she speak. How well does she feed herself and is she showing signs of using the potty and other gross motor skills.
As for the jabs, she had another Hep A shot and another booster jab because there was a change up in that kind of booster.
All is well and she was booked for another visit in six months and again for her third birthday.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Game Sauce - Free Developer Magazine.
Game Sauce
This is a new game developer magazine, the second edition has recently been sent out and has roughly 20,000 users, mostly developers with a couple thousand journalists. It is a free magazine and with that in mind and the fact that it is new, the thin nature of the magazine can be over looked, certainly for now.
It has a different approach to development, a lot of stories from those involved with development, talk of casual games, projects being cancelled and in depth interviews from people behind some game franchises.
What this magazine doesn't have, tutorials and in depth talks in code base, art work or tools reviews. I don't think that is a problem though because there are plenty of other magazines out there which cover this.
Also unlike some other free magazines, this isn't over loaded with advertisements which is quite refreshing, but that could also be because it has quite a small readership right now.
Either way, it is worth checking out and you aren't losing out as it is free, so check out the signup link up top.
This is a new game developer magazine, the second edition has recently been sent out and has roughly 20,000 users, mostly developers with a couple thousand journalists. It is a free magazine and with that in mind and the fact that it is new, the thin nature of the magazine can be over looked, certainly for now.
It has a different approach to development, a lot of stories from those involved with development, talk of casual games, projects being cancelled and in depth interviews from people behind some game franchises.
What this magazine doesn't have, tutorials and in depth talks in code base, art work or tools reviews. I don't think that is a problem though because there are plenty of other magazines out there which cover this.
Also unlike some other free magazines, this isn't over loaded with advertisements which is quite refreshing, but that could also be because it has quite a small readership right now.
Either way, it is worth checking out and you aren't losing out as it is free, so check out the signup link up top.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Sony Playstation - Move
This is just a little summary of information gained at the last Boston Post Mortem, held 20th May.
So what makes this a good thing to develop on? Hard question to answer with out seeing any killer apps for it, though the tech demo was pretty interesting and does show some potential for tools creation and as a editor for current games.
What Sony are doing to help developers is providing the Live Motion 2, the motion library for free to all licensed Sony devs and they are trying to make a push for people to use this by offering various bundle deals, most including the Eye Toy camera which is need to get this working, which is a good thing as they have only something like 10M Eye Toys out there at the moment.
What doesn't help, certainly devs going for the casual sports and pub type games, there won't be any controller add ons, such that you get with the Wii controller with all those baseball bats, golf clubs etc. This I think is a bit of a short fall as it breaks the illusion of being part of the event, sure this thing is accurate but there is a much larger level of disconnect from the game because of that.
A concern for who will use this is another big issue. For a party accessory, unlike the Wii, this becomes very expensive, having the PS3, the camera, the Move and the navigator, not a cheap toy to bring to a party. Also you need a certain level of light for this to work, and it needs to be consistent light for it to work at its best, so that could rule out anywhere with strobed party lights. A nice tough though, the controller can phase out colours which are similar to the background and lighting so that they won't create problems with the controller and if two or more controllers are using similar colours, it can auto change the colours for you to make game play smoother and easier.
You can have up to four Move controllers on any one system which is good, but there was no mention if that included the navigator controller or not and they would take up a joypad spot, so limiting how much of a mix and match you can have.
Allowing older games to function with these, should be easy apparently, though this is a little more in the programmer sphere than I understand, it did sound relatively simple because the units used very little system resources with a 13m/s latency per SPU for each controller. I think I got that right.
What was very nice, the face detection, this could add quite a bit of fun to game design because it could track relative age, eye movement, head movement, if you had glasses and whether you were smiling or not. It could also consider your height, if you were sitting or standing. This was a nice mechanic for game show puzzle type games because it could indicate various facial factors.
Gestures, which was also quite nice, but very glitchy. It allowed you to create a rough skeleton of your height and build, so you could control yourself and using the buttons on the controller to add fine hand control, something they pointed out that Natal didn't have. It was nice to see, but it didn't work that great though.
Big issue was the line of sight, the light on the Move controller had to see the camera and getting in the way either because you were moving around, someone passing through, or you swinging the controller back behind for something like a baseball swing broke the controller, left you hanging in the air as it were. It was quite quick to pick you back up, but it still broke the illusion.
So what makes this a good thing to develop on? Hard question to answer with out seeing any killer apps for it, though the tech demo was pretty interesting and does show some potential for tools creation and as a editor for current games.
What Sony are doing to help developers is providing the Live Motion 2, the motion library for free to all licensed Sony devs and they are trying to make a push for people to use this by offering various bundle deals, most including the Eye Toy camera which is need to get this working, which is a good thing as they have only something like 10M Eye Toys out there at the moment.
What doesn't help, certainly devs going for the casual sports and pub type games, there won't be any controller add ons, such that you get with the Wii controller with all those baseball bats, golf clubs etc. This I think is a bit of a short fall as it breaks the illusion of being part of the event, sure this thing is accurate but there is a much larger level of disconnect from the game because of that.
A concern for who will use this is another big issue. For a party accessory, unlike the Wii, this becomes very expensive, having the PS3, the camera, the Move and the navigator, not a cheap toy to bring to a party. Also you need a certain level of light for this to work, and it needs to be consistent light for it to work at its best, so that could rule out anywhere with strobed party lights. A nice tough though, the controller can phase out colours which are similar to the background and lighting so that they won't create problems with the controller and if two or more controllers are using similar colours, it can auto change the colours for you to make game play smoother and easier.
You can have up to four Move controllers on any one system which is good, but there was no mention if that included the navigator controller or not and they would take up a joypad spot, so limiting how much of a mix and match you can have.
Allowing older games to function with these, should be easy apparently, though this is a little more in the programmer sphere than I understand, it did sound relatively simple because the units used very little system resources with a 13m/s latency per SPU for each controller. I think I got that right.
What was very nice, the face detection, this could add quite a bit of fun to game design because it could track relative age, eye movement, head movement, if you had glasses and whether you were smiling or not. It could also consider your height, if you were sitting or standing. This was a nice mechanic for game show puzzle type games because it could indicate various facial factors.
Gestures, which was also quite nice, but very glitchy. It allowed you to create a rough skeleton of your height and build, so you could control yourself and using the buttons on the controller to add fine hand control, something they pointed out that Natal didn't have. It was nice to see, but it didn't work that great though.
Big issue was the line of sight, the light on the Move controller had to see the camera and getting in the way either because you were moving around, someone passing through, or you swinging the controller back behind for something like a baseball swing broke the controller, left you hanging in the air as it were. It was quite quick to pick you back up, but it still broke the illusion.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Eating Out at The Cheese Cake Factory
Seems like the Cheese Cake Factory at least locally has changed a little to become a lot more child friendly.
Recently they have added more high seats for little kids, which is great, but there still seems to be a lack or limited amount of booster seats.
Family with little kids are also places in booths or tables with a lot more room now, which is nice, that certainly wasn't the case before, where you would be kept on tables with very little room.
The menu, they also now have a proper kids menu, which also has had some revisions to the meals on offer, not exactly the cheapest kids meals, but quite a good selection and the food does seem to be freshly made such as the macaroni and cheese, which unlike many other places at least doesn't come out of a Kraft box.
Not being able to make reservations though and having long wait times in the evening can be a bit of a chore, as does no crayons or anything on offer for little kids.
Recently they have added more high seats for little kids, which is great, but there still seems to be a lack or limited amount of booster seats.
Family with little kids are also places in booths or tables with a lot more room now, which is nice, that certainly wasn't the case before, where you would be kept on tables with very little room.
The menu, they also now have a proper kids menu, which also has had some revisions to the meals on offer, not exactly the cheapest kids meals, but quite a good selection and the food does seem to be freshly made such as the macaroni and cheese, which unlike many other places at least doesn't come out of a Kraft box.
Not being able to make reservations though and having long wait times in the evening can be a bit of a chore, as does no crayons or anything on offer for little kids.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Next Boston Post Mortem
The next IGDA local Boston meet up is going to be the 20th August.
It's going to be at the usual venue, the Skellig, in Waltham.
Sony Move team are sponsoring the event, not much in way of details out yet, but they will be doing a talk and demo on the device.
It's going to be at the usual venue, the Skellig, in Waltham.
Sony Move team are sponsoring the event, not much in way of details out yet, but they will be doing a talk and demo on the device.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Boston Post Mortem - Animation Panel
The BPM meet up was last night and the topic was about Animation, information about the event is here.
The panellists consisted of Ron Friedman (panelist, Tencent Boston), John Lindemuth (panelist, Turbine Inc.), Andy Welihozkiy (panelist, Rockstar New England).
I'm only going to summarise what they covered, which included what they looked for in a animation reel, how best to present your work and what to look out for in doing good work.
The reel, they all agreed that the time should be around 1 min to 1:30 in length, starting out with your best piece but also ending with something strong and memorable, but you should also include your name and contact details at the start and end of the reel for convenience.
One tip they suggested for people who don't have a lot of samples in their reel is to break down the animation into segments, show off a particular part of a animation, break to another area and show that and then showing the whole sequence as a whole.
Using sound got a split response, couple of them would watch without sound just to get a sense of weight and style of animation, while one panellist liked seeing how you timed and edited your animation to the music/dialogue to see if you understood how your animation might be used. They all agreed to stay away from "funky" music though and if you don't have a reel that is well timed to the music to not have any.
Weight is a big part of animation, so they liked to see a whole character, don't zoom that character in on a particular motion, such as a hand shake, they want to see how the character stands and leans around as a whole, not just the particular motion of the hand shake, even if you add some silly jitters and coughs or what have you to bring the sequence to life.
More about weight, they often could tell if someone acted out their animation or used reference video because it added a more natural rhythm to the animation which is what they want to see, you using the best resources out there to make the best animation, so don't be afraid to look in a mirror and be goofy acting out the sequences, don't be afraid to use your webcam to record your motions. All good studios should have some sort of set up or space to do this.
Don't be afraid to include the bouncing ball in your reel if you can show good weight and life to the ball bouncing, they want to see you understand how things move, not necessarily have the most sexy looking models, but it is how you used them that impress and they appreciate seeing the basics. They want to see these basics because it shows you understand how a walk cycle works, how a ball moves around. If you understand that and also show a good little sequence you'll be in a good position because a cool sequence doesn't show that you understand all the fundamentals, just that you had a lot of time to tweak a certain animation, plus it gives you more content to show.
The panellists consisted of Ron Friedman (panelist, Tencent Boston), John Lindemuth (panelist, Turbine Inc.), Andy Welihozkiy (panelist, Rockstar New England).
I'm only going to summarise what they covered, which included what they looked for in a animation reel, how best to present your work and what to look out for in doing good work.
The reel, they all agreed that the time should be around 1 min to 1:30 in length, starting out with your best piece but also ending with something strong and memorable, but you should also include your name and contact details at the start and end of the reel for convenience.
One tip they suggested for people who don't have a lot of samples in their reel is to break down the animation into segments, show off a particular part of a animation, break to another area and show that and then showing the whole sequence as a whole.
Using sound got a split response, couple of them would watch without sound just to get a sense of weight and style of animation, while one panellist liked seeing how you timed and edited your animation to the music/dialogue to see if you understood how your animation might be used. They all agreed to stay away from "funky" music though and if you don't have a reel that is well timed to the music to not have any.
Weight is a big part of animation, so they liked to see a whole character, don't zoom that character in on a particular motion, such as a hand shake, they want to see how the character stands and leans around as a whole, not just the particular motion of the hand shake, even if you add some silly jitters and coughs or what have you to bring the sequence to life.
More about weight, they often could tell if someone acted out their animation or used reference video because it added a more natural rhythm to the animation which is what they want to see, you using the best resources out there to make the best animation, so don't be afraid to look in a mirror and be goofy acting out the sequences, don't be afraid to use your webcam to record your motions. All good studios should have some sort of set up or space to do this.
Don't be afraid to include the bouncing ball in your reel if you can show good weight and life to the ball bouncing, they want to see you understand how things move, not necessarily have the most sexy looking models, but it is how you used them that impress and they appreciate seeing the basics. They want to see these basics because it shows you understand how a walk cycle works, how a ball moves around. If you understand that and also show a good little sequence you'll be in a good position because a cool sequence doesn't show that you understand all the fundamentals, just that you had a lot of time to tweak a certain animation, plus it gives you more content to show.
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