mepis's Recent Forum Activity

  • Do you have this posted online anywhere that we can try through a website? Truthfully, I'm being lazy and my phone isn't within reach right now.

  • PhoenixNightly

    A side note not related to my OP, Microsoft is rumored to release Windows 9 at the end of this year/early next year. It won't be a rush job though. When Balmer did the re-org, part of that was putting the Windows team on a shorter and faster release cycle. So, instead of releasing patches throughout a few years and major updates only every few years, they would add iterative features. Windows 8, or Threshold I believe it's code named, will not be a big update to Windows 8.1, such as Windows 8.1 wasn't a huge update to Windows 8. It's rumored they are adding back a full start menu, not just a start button. They want to move away from the name Windows 8 because of the bad press, hence Windows 9. In reality, it'll be closer to a Windows 8.2ish type of release.

    Personally, I can;t blame them. The market has had a feeding frenzy wanting a full start menu back. Granted, it's taken Microsoft some time, but they listened. I think they tried to push to big of a UI change to quickly. Even the UI change from Windows 3.1 to Windows 95 wasn't this dramatic. The UI change from 9X to Windows XP, then to Vista, and then to 7 was even much less so. They forgot they needed to iterate on the UI a lot slower then they did. But digressing, even if they did bring back the start menu, it would be buried in the bad press of WIndows 8. I think it's a smart move to rename it to Windows 9. At least it will give the general consumer perception a clean start. It's also rumored that the upgrade flow from Windows 8 to Windows 9 will be free so those that bought into Windows 8 won't be screwed.

    Now I digress back to points on my original OP.

    I'll have to investigate the Windows 8 OS requirements to publish to Windows 8. It was my understanding that developers only needed VS 2012 or VS 2013 to develop for Windows 8. This is the first time I'm hearing of that. If it's true, then that's crappy. It;s one of the reasons I haven't bothered to start looking at objective C and the iOS platform yet; I don't have the money for a Mac.

  • I would have to politely disagree. The Metro interface is a good touch interface. The information is easy to see with robust and large icons and the touch targets are large. The charms bar is intuitive after you know it exists. That's the biggest issue with the Metro environment, some things, like the charms bar, are hidden.

    I don't expect Microsoft to market individual games. You are correct in that case; it's the developers job to market the individual game. Microsoft, on the other hand, should be marketing the platform. They do now, but do it poorly. I use the Xbox remote as an example. Very few consumers know that the controller can be plugged into a normal X86 processor driven computer, much less a Windows RT Surface tablet. The ability to use that controller offers a tactile and superior control scheme for many game genres, such as adventure game for example. Combine the use of that controller with the kickstand and the end user has a fantastic mobile gaming experience.

    Now, I only use that as an example. There are other example, such as more intuitive organizational schemes through the Metro interface compared to iOS. I don't see Microsoft touting these kinds of examples in their marketing nor providing training sales reps. That is my primary point.

  • I originally posted this on my blog. I figured I would copy and paste the article here though. I wanted to know what this community though of this. What is everyone's thoughts and feelings about this? Why do the devs here target or not target Windows?

    Windows 8 has a pretty cool interface. I’ll admit it, I’m in that camp. I like the Metro interface. It has some pretty cool uses, like app organization. I can also organize my games. That’s cool. Windows is a great platform for all sorts of games. The Xbox remote just works on it. It’s plug and play. With Windows 8, I get access to all sorts of great games. I can play big triple A games or the small and casual ones from the app store. The leverage of the Windows 8 store and the traditional environment is pretty cool for those sorts of things. I have to ask myself though, why the hell doesn’t Microsoft push this? Why isn’t it marketed.

    Let me lay this out. The Surface has the capabilities to be one of the best mobile gaming experiences, ever. It has a full size USB port. The Xbox remote works on it. The user interface is pretty cool on touch. It has a betterish store than it once had. The Surface also has this really cool built in kick stand. A lot of really nice game making tools exist, like Construct 2 and Unity. Both support the Xbox remote and Windows 8. Both are aren’t that hard to use. Both are really, really cheap (Unity is free to a certain extent and a license for Construct 2 is only $120 USD).

    Let’s not forget the Microsoft dev suits either. They’re pretty awesome. After playing with Visual Studio, Eclipse, Netbeans, DrJava, JetBrains, and some of the JS stuff built around eclipse, Visual Studio is by far my favorite. It’s clean, organized, and really comfortable to use. The only IDE I’ve played with that comes close is Construct 2 (which is a really, really close second).

    Let’s combine this with the fact that there are a lot of indie game devs out there. There are those that are looking to make a name for themselves. Others want a piece of the pie. Some devs just want to make games because they like to. The market to attract these people is huge. The barrier to entry on Windows is also insanely low. Anyone person with a PC can do it.

    I have to ask myself then, why isn’t Microsoft pushing this? I don’t see any reps putting these pieces together on the forums. I don’t see commercials for this. Most people I know don’t even know the Xbox remote can be used on a surface, much less a PC. This is such a huge competitive advantage and Microsoft is like, “Nope, ain’t gonna open my mouth.”

    Why?

  • Try Construct 3

    Develop games in your browser. Powerful, performant & highly capable.

    Try Now Construct 3 users don't see these ads
  • Understandable. When I received your reply, I understood the task at hand. I've assembled piece meal websites for other. I've been around the block with it. Migrating database information between two pieces of software, and getting everything to work properly, is no easy task. It looks like there is a pretty solid foundation now. It can only get better.

  • I wanted to say thank you!

    I joined the Scirra community a while ago. I mentioned in multiple threads and emailed the team regarding the lack of basic important collaboration features in the forums. I was informed that they were working on it, though it might take some time.

    I have been logging in less frequently because conversations were hard to track. I logged in today to see the forum software has been changed. Though, there may still be wrinkles to iron out, I am ecstatic to see the team working in this direction!

    I wanted to openly thank the Scirra team for actively working on, not only the Construct software, but the support software as well. I commend you guys and I am happy to finally use the forums in a proper fashion.

  • RamPackWobble

    TBO, I think it'll be months out at best. They're talking about using all new software altogether. Setting up new forum software, like PHPBB, and configuring it is really simple. The tricky stuff is transferring the database information. The currently use something by Whiz something or other. It's the first I've even heard of it. The aren't using something more popular. I doubt there is an easy way to transfer the data base information over.

    I imagine moving user names, passwords, accounts, and posts will take a bit of work but is manageable. Moving over the point system and things like that might be so much of a nightmare it may not be worthwhile.

  • RamPackWobble

    I spoke with the guys from Scirra briefly via email. They stated at some point the forum software will be updated and will include better support features. It's coming at some point.

    Until then, I've adopted another forum member's idea and placed a line in my signature asking people to reply to me directly to grab my attention. It's not the best, but it has worked thus far. It might be worth adding a blurb in your signature to do the same. Though this only works when you are participating in a conversation and not just watching it.

  • On a very quick Google search I find this link from WineHQ. Might prove interesting for you.

    https://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=version&iId=19444

  • I'm sure you've thought of this by now, but Wine might be a solution. I can't say I've tried it. C2 doesn't seem to be running anything that Wine couldn't handle. I could see have to run it via the Steam app an issue though. Worst comes to worse, it would only take a few minutes to try it and find out. I think a quick Google search regarding running Steam in Wine would be your best bet. I think it would boil down to that.

    With that said, and as you've mentioned, if all else fails then run it in a VM. It would take a bit longer. Setting up Virtual Box with a copy of Windows 7 is a breeze though and that should run it great.

    I think the biggest issue would come down to previewing the game. You might end up having to export the game every time and run it naively in Linux to get the best performance to test your product. I could see potential issues with Wine with that. Also using preview in a VM should work but it would be slower than native (Web GL stuff and all).

  • Anywho, I was trying to warn in my topic line that I am posting Java Syntax and not a CapX file.

    I have this idea for a game. I needed a maze generation algorithm. I was trying to prototype one in Java because I'm more comfortable in that language and can work through the logic. I was trying to do something that didn't require recursion or a lot of loops and variable to make it easier to transfer to C2. That proved harder than I thought it would. I kind of stood stumped at the screen for a while.

    I came up with the code below. It completely sucks for good maze generation but it seems to create the effect I was actually after. It was a happy mistake. I wanted to create a maze-like top down view environment but include larger rooms or caverns. This seemed to actually randomly create it rather well. I ran the algorithm a crap ton of times and leveled off the choke point in the loop to where it seems to always create a path through at any dimension.

    I have to design a checking algorithm yet that will ensure there is a path through, and a lot of other stuff for the game, but I wanted opinions of the algorithm itself before I put it together in C2. I'll have a couple of small extra steps in C2 to make a really rough prototype.

    Let me know what you think.

    I threw the code up on my blog quick essentially echoing what I said here. Anyway, here's a link to the article because it has syntax highlighting so it'll be easier to read. The same code is copied below to. Link

    Here's the code:

    import java.util.Random;

    public class Main {

         //These variables define the size of the maze.

         //Change only these to change the size of the maze

         private static final int ROWSIZE = 40;

         private static final int COLUMNSIZE = 40;

         

         public static void main(String[] args) {

              

              //variable declarations

              int[][] maze;

              int randX = 0;

              int randY = 0;

              int choke = 0;

              int checkSurroundings = 0;

              Random rand = new Random();

              maze = new int[ROWSIZE][COLUMNSIZE];

              

              //Initialize maze array to all zeros (make every space a non-moveable area)

              for (int x = 0;x < ROWSIZE; x++){

                   for (int y = 0; y < COLUMNSIZE; y++){

                        maze[x][y] = 0;

                   }

              }

              

              //Define outside walls

              //Construct 2 specific:

              //We will use the number two to define all outside walls of maze so the game engine

              //knows where to put these special tiles

              for (int x = 0; x < ROWSIZE; x++){

                   maze[x][0] = 2;

                   maze[x][COLUMNSIZE - 1] = 2;

              }

              for (int x = 0; x < COLUMNSIZE; x++){

                   maze[0][x] = 2;

                   maze[ROWSIZE - 1][x] = 2;

              }

              

              //Maze Generation

              randX = rand.nextInt(ROWSIZE - 10) + 5;

              maze[randX][0] = 1; //Mark beginning

              maze[randX][1] = 1;

              randX = rand.nextInt(ROWSIZE - 10) + 5;

              maze[randX][COLUMNSIZE - 1] = 1; //Mark ending

              maze[randX][COLUMNSIZE - 2] = 1;

              do {

                   randX = rand.nextInt(ROWSIZE - 2) + 1;

                   randY = rand.nextInt(COLUMNSIZE - 2) + 1;

                   checkSurroundings = maze[randX - 1][randY] + maze[randX + 1][randY] + maze[randX][randY - 1] + maze[randX][randY + 1];          

                   if (checkSurroundings < 4){

                        maze[randX][randY] = 1;

                        choke = 0;

                   } else {

                        choke ++;

                   }

                   

                   

              } while (choke < 4);

              

              //Print results of the maze array

              System.out.printf("\n");

              for (int x = 0; x < ROWSIZE; x++){

                   for (int y = 0; y < COLUMNSIZE; y++){

                        if (maze[x][y] == 0 || maze[x][y] == 2)

                             System.out.printf("%d ", maze[x][y]);

                        if (maze[x][y] == 1)

                             System.out.printf("# ");

                   }

                   System.out.print("\n");

              }

         }

    }

  • BluePhaze Yup, I saw that immediately after I posted that. I read the original post but some how the dates eluded me. I got a small stint of foot in mouth syndrome.

    As I said though, for $9.99, it's a pretty good deal. I wouldn't discourage anyone from buying it. TBH, I'll probably pick it up on Friday and take a quick glance through it.

mepis's avatar

mepis

Member since 17 Oct, 2013

None one is following mepis yet!

Connect with mepis

Trophy Case

  • 11-Year Club
  • Email Verified

Progress

12/44
How to earn trophies