December 2nd, 2008
I vaguely remember trying out something a long time ago with an old SDK and an old educational version of Visual Studio (obtained from university in the first year). There was a sample visualisation in C++ that could be immediately tested out in Windows Media Player.
But this was a long time ago and the files have been lost under several OS reinstalls and the voluminous expansion of accumulated stuff. Instead I would have to start anew with recent SDKs and the new Visual Studio 2008 for my Programming for Digital Media module. But because this wasn’t straightforward, and the number of circles I’ve had to run in will prove tedious to recount, I’ve decided to simply post what you DO need to do to get this to work.
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November 29th, 2008
Friday saw possibly the first final deadline for a piece of work, the Design for Entertainment Systems game critique.
The critique is available online here.
November 22nd, 2008
Here is a diagram to demonstrate my final year Project concept as an interactive process between the user and a virtual space:
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November 19th, 2008
When I work on vector icons I am usually viewing them very magnified so it is a shock when I zoom out to see the final product. As ever this was the case with my three Project icons, so I decided to save them at 400% before using smaller versions in the upcoming Project Model deadline.
The ear and headphone:
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November 13th, 2008
It was suggested that before I go about planning and building a PCB to take biofeedback readings from a person to push as a stream of analogue data into a computer, I should see how easily I can get such information into C++, DirectX and of course eventually media player.
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November 10th, 2008
So imagine this situation:
Player One has already been blocked by Player Two and there is one route to the finish line remaining. Player Two is attempting to make it as difficult as possible for Player One to complete the level by playing competatively, so makes a dash to block off the remaining route. But in doing so, the world responds by changing both the player’s routes to allow passage to Player One and disadvantage Player 2.
In seeing the consequences of playing competatively will the players then develop more advanced strategies of playing, either by adapting their behaviour to act neutrally within the world or even come full circle and achieve levels by cooperative gameplay.
In fact what comes next is figuring out a way to make allowing the other player to win be mutually or even more beneficial for yourself.
November 7th, 2008
While searching for ways to apply a gradient mask to an image I came across basically the best demonstration of how to create a decent reflection using actionscript:
http://pixelfumes.blogspot.com/2005/09/flash-8-bitmapdata-image-reflection.html
November 2nd, 2008
I downloaded the example Games Module critques and immediately realised that one of them was about a game that has been produced using an interface quite similar to what I want to produce as part of my final Project. The game in question is called Journey to the Wild Divine, and it turns out they use what they call a biofeedback device - which of course opens a new keyword for me to search for.
I’ve already been looking into Galvanic Skin Response and how to produce a PCB that will allow me to take continuous readings from a number of points and feed them into a computer, most likely via USB.
I have already been considering building some form of GSR mouse input device, because it has the advantage of being familiar and one of the most commonly used input devices that people use. On the other hand, the only time people are likely to sit with their hand on a mouse all the time is during a pretty mouse intensive activity, like a 3D first person game and not listening to music.
Links
Journey to the Wild Divine uses a ‘biofeedback device’ to measure how calm the user is:
http://openeeg.sourceforge.net/doc/links-biopsy.html
The flash actionscript behind this is flexible enough to allow for any size
puzzle to be created and jumbled as many times as I like. In addition to this,
the difficulty of rotating pieces is also a feature.