Global Game Jam 2015

Global Game Jam 2015

This past weekend I took part the annual Global Game Jam event.

1. "A game jam is a gathering of game developers for the purpose of planning, designing, and creating one or more games within a short span of time, usually ranging between 24 and 72 hours. Gamedevelopers are generally made up of programmers, game designers, artists, and others in game development-related fields."

This years theme was: "What do we do now".

Diversifiers (Optional conditions):

1. Noise Generator: The mechanic of the game is based on players having to stay in constant communication with each other.
2. Folk: The game uses a folk or indigenous art style of your region.
3. NES: Make the game playable on an old school console, either directly or through an emulator.
4. Wrist Watcher: The game is playable on a smart-watch, or uses wearable technology in some way.
5. Clueless Parents: The game helps kids teach something to their parents or other family members.
6. Batch Job: The game is a batch file from any operating system, using command line tools found in an out of the box installation.
7. Chimera: The game is played partly as a digital and partly as a non-digital (board, card, etc.) game. (we did this Diversifier) 
8. Hyper-Local: The game is set in your town/city and contains elements locals can identify, while still being entertaining for a global audience.
9. Can I Try?: Any spectator of the game automatically becomes a player as well.
10. This is How it Feels: The game raises awareness of how hate speech or unfair accusations feel, and what kind of effect they have on their targets.
11. Stephen Hawking Can Play This: In the game everything (including any menus) can be navigated with one button, without any need for quick / precisely timed presses.
12. Eagle Ear: The game is primarily visual, but is also playable by visually impaired  players, either through audio design, or through a screenreader (VoiceOver, Talkback, JAWS etc).
13. Relatively Speaking: A game based on the 100th anniversary of Einstein’s theory of general relativity, which explained that massive objects cause a distortion in space-time, such as light bending around black holes.
14. Public Domain Class of 2015: Make a game based on the works entered to Public Domain on 1st January 2015 - for instance works of Wassily Kandinsky, Edvard Munch, Edith Sitwell, Piet Mondrian, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Felix Nussbaum, Filippo Tommaso Emilio Marinetti, Glenn Miller, Flannery O’Connor, and Ian Fleming (cough, James Bond, cough), depending on your country.
15. Code for Good (Sponsored by Intel): Make a game with the goal of improving literacy, or inspiring interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.

So when this jam started I was like, "I'm not going too code a single line of code. This year I'll be purely art-ing"....I ended up being the only coder in a team of 5.

Anyhow, it was tons of fun, this is what we made.

Augmented reality card game where players play cards to give their beasts weapons and actions. To start the game, each player chooses their character and takes the associated deck. Shuffle the deck and draw three cards each. Each card has an image, description of impact and the energy cost for the card. You cannot play a card if you do not have enough energy to play it. Decide which player will play first and place both creature cards onto the play mat. Player 1 selects one card from his or her hand and plays the card face up on the player mat card slot. The computer will calculate damage and reduce energy. It will then be Player 2's turn to play a card. The game continues until one beast has been reduced to zero health. Note: If a card indicates that you gain or lose defense percentage - this applies for the attack in the very next play of the opposing player. to use AR, ensure you have a decent webcam connect too the system that can see the cards.

GGJ link

The team

Jacques Botha (back middel) - Augmented Reality & Game coder, Project Manager, 3D modelling + rigging + animation, DJ

Ben Geldenhuys (back left) - 2D Art, Creative Metal Direction

Richard Ramsbottom (back right) - 3D modelling & rigging

Megan Hughes (front right) - Card game design

Adam Linder (front middel) - Music

Game screen shots 

Tech demo vid

Augmented tech: Vuforia

All in all it was fun, stressful, hard work and most importantly very very educational (even if we didn't stick to the theme). We as a team are contemplating on maybe continuing developing this game for a few months and see what the results turn out too be.

Senior Scouts Adventure Hike & Christmas project

From the 11th Dec to the 23 Dec I was in the Cederberg....which is here 


This is what I 'had' too wake up to every morning

Terrible right ;P

A panoramic of our site

I was a base Staff on the Senior Scout Adventure Hike (More details on the hike: website). Our base was the Electronics base (The base's website: link). Our goal is/was to introduce the scouts to the wonderful world of electronics and the making there of.

We had 2 activities running at this base, conveniently named Activity A and B. A was compulsory, where B was optional but had a competition (will that too that shortly).

In Activity A each scout received a package with all the necessary components to create a project. This year the made a 3 segmented displayed digital thermometer (with indoor and outdoor temps + min/max). Previous years they made a voice modulator, and a GPS. We then thought them the basics about the components they'd be using and how to solder (It's pronounced SOL-DER, not bloody SOD-DER, anyway). We then put them to work and assisted them as they worked. A wise man once say that if you can fart you can solder...apparently not. The amount of de-soldering we had too do was over 9000. Also I've learned than 90% of people just don't read instruction manuals...who knew?

Activity A tent

Andrew (Base staff member) doing the Activity A Presentation

Scouts working hard on their project

Me working hard on either fixing a scouts project we found was faulty during calibration, or me tinning the 3 meter wire that the scouts need for the outdoor thermometer.

Activity B was all about breadboard'ing (prototyping electrical circuits and reading basic electrical circuit diagrams). Again we started of explaining how the components they will be using work and how too read circuit diagrams. They then had too make a basic press button to make LED shine by reading it off a circuit diagram.

Then we took it a step up and had then make a press button to switch LED off (using a transistor) once everyone completed the first circuit.

Now that they have warmed up, we announce for the 3rd and final circuit we are upping the game...it's competition time.They  had to make a fully functional flashing LED with a 555 IC, LED, capacitors and resistors. First one to make a working one won a over-sized t-shirt (might not sound spectacular...but if you have been hiking for a week a clean shirt was amaze-balls)

Activity B tent

One of the scouts hard at work building his circuit on the breadboard 

Our base leader (Robert...guy with the beard on right) vigorously explaining to the scouts what they are doing wrong

2 of our many winners

Some of the base staff got ever excited

A patrol had between 8 and 11 members in it, we had (I believe) just under 40 patrols come through our base (each spending a total of 3 days and 2 nights with us)...safe too say, we where busy.

Somehow I got nominated as the base's designated 1st aid person, which in it self is not a problem. You'd think the worst I'd deal with is blister from walking and maybe someone deciding to pickup a soldering iron on the wrong end...but alas I was not that lucky. Here in the Cederberg temperatures hitting 40°C walking a common occurrence, that also means that while hiking water is something of a scarcity....see the problem here? So more than once I had too strap on my running shoes and run out a hour hike route under 20 min for dehydration cases. Luckily as the event proceeded the scouts where warned too pack in extra water, so our dehydration cases decreased.

Fun times.

Also, while there my drawing hand stared too itch (that, and I didn't have time too buy my brother a Christmas gift...oops) so I decided I was going to make him something.

He has/had this OC of is, a post-apocalyptic sniper wit a gas-mask (think stalker and you are on the right track)

So I stared off with the sketch:

The sketch

I then had a brain fart...I'm sitting on an electronics base with components such as red LED's, 555 IC's, resistors, transistors, capacitors....see what I'm getting at? No? Take a look at this circuit diagram

Faading LED's....FOR HIS EYES!!! I thought this was brilliant, so with some help of other base staff (who has some more experience soldering small components) I ended up with this:

I then cut out the eyes of the character and covered them with 2 pieces of an Energade (an energy drink) bottles matt-plastic to diffuse the light

The final result had the effect as if the character was breathing, the eyes would glow...looked bloddy awesome (especially in dim light)

Totally not Photoshop'ed gif (because...well I dont have it anymore...it's a gift remember)

Anyhow, going to participate on the Global Game Jam 2015, so stay tuned too see what monstrosity comes out that XD

Cheers

Insurgency (Short Review)

Recently I've been spending a lot of time playing Insurgency (a standalone version of the HL2 mod). It was part of a Humble Bundle a while back (even though I bought it before that on Early Access on Steam).

It's a modern FPS shooter...so many of you are probably going "eugh, not another one" right about now. But what I find is a nice change of pace in this is its' approach too the whole 'modern' thing. Sure it's still generic murica' vs taliban isk vibe, but what it lacks in the area of setting originality if makes up for solid mechanics.

"But you said it's a FPS...I mean how hard is it too make solid FPS mechanics?" you might ask, well let me break it down for you.

-It's unforgiving. That's right, unforgiving. Why? Because it takes 1 bullet too the dome or 2 chest shots with practically any weapon.
-The is no HUD (Heads up display) other than where the objective is and mebe your team mates marker (if they are close enough). That also means no ammo counter (only mag count), so be careful
and count them bullets. Also reloading a half full mag doesn't through left over bullets in a bullet pool...that half a mag stays there until you use it again (I've had where I had like 3 half mags mid firefight...not a pleasant experience)
-Heavy emphasis on team work and communication.
-Visually not ground breaking, but very nicely well polished. Also even if in the event of frame drop, the game still feels smooth so you hardly notice it.

Its kinda like half way between Counter Strike and Arma.

All in all a very pleasant experience. I'd give it an 8.5/10.
(Recommended for those who prefer some tactile game-play, without having to remap 4 keyboards just too move around, above the run and gun COD games)


If you like this kind of review and like too see more let me know. Also If you'd like too comment on where I can improve, by all means let me know, I'd be very grateful..

Exams done...now what?

So, my exams are finally done. So i now have a 3 month vacation (SCHWEET XD ).

So this is what I've been doing in my off time till thus far.

- Finished the Tavor repaint

Notes: Had too simplify the design as the paint kept running (even if i masked it off correctly). But happy with the overall result. Next up the fire control system. Here is the painting process: link

- Worked on some weapons for an up and coming project:

Anyhow, any new projects and events I'll keep you posted.

Wut? An update?

Yes I know I said no updates till exams are done...but I REALLY need to share this, so I'm gonna keep this short.

So for the past day or so, this has been 'trending' the interwebs.

KickStarter: Hendo Hoverboards


Jip...you guessed it. IT'S A BLOODY HOVERBOARD.

Nerd-gasms aside, I haven't looked into this product much to I'm going to keep my excitement down to the level of holy $%^&*. As always I'm slightly skeptical, but hey this might be just push in the right direction needed.

Anyhow, your thoughts? Leave a comment down below.

Cheers

Small update: Airsoft related

Found this recently, IMHO it's SUPER useful.
DIY air-smithing (like gun smithing...but with air ^^, jokes. Airsoft rifle mods).
Things like AOE, shimming, mosfets, etc.
Airsoftct: Air smithing-guide

This guys youtube'z is also super interesting if not very helpful
Airsoftology: Reviews, tips, tricks, gear, etc.

so, ya.
Small update, but I find these SUPER useful.

Also, in a few weeks I'll be unveiling a new project...can't say much (mainly because it's still being conjured by a bunch of lvl 23 wizard scrubs...that and teasing about something before unveiling seems to be the in thing makes it sound more exiting)

But first, I'm writing exams...so all current projects are put on hold (ie the tavor repaint)

Cheers

Lightpack: Ambient Lighting system

I can haz a new toy.

This my friends is something I've been looking at for a while. Hell, I even started learning basics of electronics to try and DIY this...well, Lightpack kinda made that unnecessary.

"What is it", you might ask, simple my dear Watson. It's is a Ambient Lighting system.

Ambient Lighting system? Jip. What this does is detect the colours at the edges of your screen and then projects these colours onto the wall with very bright RGB LED's (I've set mine to 25 ms between updates), essentially extending your screens effective display area(well...not completely, more of a colour bleed). This reduces the sudden change in contrast between the screen and, well, everything else behind it. This in turn makes it less straining on your eyes to work/play on the screen. Not only that but it makes things feel more "immersive" and just looks bloody cool.


Now that class session is done, lets get to the juicy part...THE UN-BOXING!!!

Package all the way from China. (had to wait for a month for this, because my country's postal services are currently having a fun little strike)

All neatly packed, with some writing on the back of the box (In 5 languages, English, German, Spanish, Chinese and Russian)

The black box opens up from the center revealing all the components and an user manual. Parts include: Base station, 10 led light strip wire thingies, USB connector cable, power brick with 3 interchangeable prongs(so this should work no matter which country you live in) some organizing things + cable ties and extra double sided tape.

User manual, "Quick" Install guide

Ooooh, pretty diagrams

Pretty much the only reason why I bothered to look at the manual...I mean, just look at that thing  o_O

The LED Wire/Strip thingy. It's quite long, so this SHOULD work for most screen sizes.

Stuck everything to the back of my 21' (laying everything out just like the manual said).

The "Cleanup" block I was talking about

Nice and "organized"

Once done you can't even see that it has this thing attached to it.

So after I downloaded, installed and ran the setup or the driver/program, I gave it a go.
I tested it with video and games, and worked pretty well with both. Note, if you are planning to play games with this make sure your run it in border-less mode, full screen doesn't seem to work, also know that the higher you put up the refresh rate the more of a performance knock you'll experience (as it does a screen grab every set amount of ms).

A test on my system (a video, mirrors edge and bf4).

Sorry about a) no sound, only had headphone so phone couldn't hear it b) Image quality and stability...it's hard to play and record a video with your phone c)me being bad at Mirrors Edge

Interestingly enough, the Lightpack system can run tandem with more than one...so I you are fortunate enough to have a monster sized screen , you can do something like the following (using 2 Lightpack's)

All in all, I'm very pleased with this purchase. I think it's bloody awesome...probably my best bought item 2014

More details about the Lightpack can be found on their website: http://lightpack.tv/

Any question, suggestions or general smack talk is always welcome.