Bob Thulfram's Forum Posts

  • I just opened up my latest subscription copy of .NET Magazine, and noticed they had article on HTML5 Audio. Oh, good, I thought. And then as I began reading, I noticed a big plug for Scirra, the "Flash-free" web game software. I go to the end of the article and see a picture of Ashley, and he's the author of the article!

    In case you don't know, .NET Magazine is the best magazine for Web designers and developers and one of my favorite magazines. Most of the article is about the Audio Web API and covers such topics as why MP3 is evil, and why IE and Safari should support .ogg files.

    Definitely a great plug for Scirra and double-definitely a big boost for Ashley, who has his picture twice in the magazine.

    One of the things that I like about Scirra is that the creators can write and explain things well. Most developers can't write or explain their way out of a paper bag.

    .NET Magazine, by the way, has nothing to do with the quickly-dying Microsoft .NET technology, and is a British magazine that is part of the Future chain of ultra cool magazines. I can't live without my monthly fix of Linux Format, Computer Arts, and Computer Music, and Future Music.

    So definitely congratulations, Ashley! Run out and buy issue 227, which should be in the better bookstores pretty soon.

    Here's a link to the current issue's contents: http://www.netmagazine.com/shop/magazines/may-2012-227

  • The picture below is a link to our Kickstarter, which has a link to the current free beta. Please link everyone you know, and every gamedev site you can think of. We'll be eternally grateful!

    I recently purchased Spriter Pro. How does this Kickstarter Project relate to what I purchased? Should I pledge more money? Spriter really sounds cool.

  • They use instancing for the game world. If one instance has ~60'ish players in it, a new instance is opened. If you hover over the population number, it shows you how many people are playing at the time across all instances. (I experienced some ghosting, where characters were either invisible or bled through from another instance.)

    As for sounds, I just looked through the files and I didn't see any audio files, so this is probably a future feature. :)

    I've noticed that the numbers are close to 70 every time I log in. You can watch the rise and fall on their dashboard at http://browserquest.mozilla.org/status/.

    It sounds like early reviewers heard music and sounds, but maybe the easiest way to cut the sound was to yank the files so they couldn't play. Maybe they'll bring 'em back. <img src="smileys/smiley1.gif" border="0" align="middle">

  • I tried to see if this would run in IE10 on Windows 8 Consumer Preview, but I couldn't even enter a name on the loading screen. This is a bit puzzling because IE10 does support Web Workers, Web Sockets, Canvas, etc.

    I fiddled with the F12 Developer Tools and got this message:

    <img src="http://thulfram.coffeecup.com/HBGames/Random/IE10.PNG" border="0" />

    In keeping with the spirit of the game, they should have displayed this:

    <img src="http://thulfram.coffeecup.com/HBGames/Random/mario.jpg" border="0" />

  • And in a related development, Adobe announced that they're going to charge developers who use Flash 9% of their app revenue if their app sells more than $50,000.

    http://www.technewsworld.com/story/74741.html

    Flash really is dead! <img src="smileys/smiley4.gif" border="0" align="middle">

  • Yeah, the demo's short but very promising. Mivo, i was using Chrome and i couldn't hear the sound either, then i tried it using Firefox 11, same result. I guess the sound is temporarily not available for this game huh!?

    Maybe they turned the sound off to avoid massive lagging. So far I've been able to get on, but there's never more than 70 people online at a time.

    So far I've tested this in Chrome, Firefox, and Safari on Windows and Firefox on Android. It sound like HTML5 runs everywhere.

    Well, almost. It doesn't run on IE9 because Web Sockets wasn't implemented. I'm going to check IE10 in a few minutes. It works in Opera, but you have to turn on Web Sockets.

    Definitely cool stuff.

  • See here, too: scirra.com/forum/browserquest-a-massively-multiplayer-html5_topic50600.html

    Do sounds actually work for you guys? On my system, and with Firefox 11, the game's muted. I did finish it, though, and it's very well done. Love all the pop culture references! :)

    Oddly enough, I couldn't get sound out of any of the combinations of browser and platform. There's a sound on/off button at the lower right, but it doesn't seem to work either way.

    Anyone having any luck with sound?

    I'm fascinated that Mozilla's giving away the source code for this as well!

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  • HTML5 just got a big boost with Mozilla releasing BrowserQuest, which is a massively multiplayer game written in HTML5.

    http://browserquest.mozilla.org/

    What HTML5 does it use?

    Web Workers - initializing the world without you knowing it.

    Web Sockets - fast communication between client and server.

    Canvas - simple 2D graphics.

    HTML5 Audio - sound effects are necessary for a game.

    Local Storage - better than .ini files or cookies

    CSS3 Media Queries - resizing and adapt to different devices

    If anyone doubted HTML5, this is a better proof than any I've seen, even Angry Birds!

    Quiz: which of these technologies does Construct 2? Which will be coming down the pike? <img src="smileys/smiley2.gif" border="0" align="middle">

  • Yeah, events are numbered, there should be a little number to the left of every event...Now I see it. The type is so faint. Same with the number of events at the bottom.

    If events are numbered, is there anything I can do with that number?

  • There is a small number in the statusbar at the bottom right... next to the aprox. filesize

    If u haven't found it, plz ask for a screenshot :p

    I see it, I see it!

    Approx. size: 1.3 mb 18 events Active layer: Layer 1 Mouse Zoom 100%

    I've entered a contest where I can't have more than 100 events.

    What does "Mouse" mean? I don't use any mouse events.

  • Is there a way to programatically tell me the number of events in a game? Are the events numbered? Can I track events for debugging? Thanks!

  • Gents

    those who use C2 for iOS development - have you noticed the tiny 15-20% performance increase after iOS 5.1 install?

    Firstly I thought C2 v.84 did the FPS improvement, but then checked my previous already created .ipa builds and there's really obvious speed up.

    On that note (as I'm not a programmer) but very carefully optimizing my games for iOS in C2...has anybody experienced with WEB WORKERS or is there a plan of C2 creators of some implementation, or even do you think it's worth of digging in it to get some improvement?

    Thanks

    Web Workers are very cool and part of the HTML5 specification, but they don't support most DOM things. Does Construct have Web Workers running in the background? Web Workers and Web Sockets are two lesser known part of HTML5 that should be helping games to be faster.

  • > I would say C2 & Phonegap =)

    So you think that is more easy to do? I saw a movie of Multimedia Fusion 2+iOS exporter and I think that the process of export is very easy. Phonegap it's very easy too?

    Multimedia Fusion 2 + iOS exporter won't put anything in the Android store. It's just for Apple. And you might want to know that the iOS exporter is an extra 99 euros on top of the 99 euro price for MF. And you have to have an Apple computer and the Apple SDK.

    I believe Phonegap is free and pretty well known. But the real issue is you're comparing Construct to Multimedia Fusion and I feel that for making games, Construct is much better anyway, and more game-oriented. The best answer is to decide what kind of game you want to make and then see demo games made with each product and then get into the conversion issues.

  • I added a sound in my project. A moo from a cow, if it makes any difference. Yes, my game has a cow, and it moos. Every epic app in the universe, to be truly epic, must have a cow. And it should moo.

    With that out of the way, coll stuff yeah, it moos in .ogg. In IE9?

    Wasn't IE9 supposed to dislike .ogg like a Cristian should hate the devil and devilish things?

    Simply not possible. IE9 and IE10 do not support .ogg, and aren't likely to.

    Firefox, Opera, and Chrome support .ogg, but IE9 (and IE10) and Safari do not. There is some speculation that Firefox and Opera may allow .mp3 and/or .m4a, but that's just speculation.

    What audio file(s) did you load in. Construct 2 will convert a .wav file into .m4a and .ogg. Can you post a .capx of your game?

    Yes, there aren't enough games with cows in them. <img src="smileys/smiley1.gif" border="0" align="middle" />

  • It's possible to support consoles, but not likely for a few years. One of two things have to happen:

    ... snip ...

    Or there's option C...

    - consoles are killed off by phones and tablets so it doesn't matter any more!

    Many reliable sources are saying that's already happening. On one hand, Steam is revitalizing the indie PC market, and on the other, phones and tablets (as you say) are booming. And on the third hand, HTML5 seems to be catching on very fast. Chrome, Firefox, Metro are coming fast.

    Nintendo had the first big loss they've had in quite a while. I don't like XBOX anyway, and I use my PS3 to play Blu-ray disks.

    Like, do I pay $30 for a game I'll play a few hours, or do I play $3 for one that might be almost as fun? In today's economy, I don't have $30 anyway. <img src="smileys/smiley6.gif" border="0" align="middle" />

    3DS has a browser, so does PSP. Can you serve HTML5 games to them?