Flash

My next project looks to be using Flash and Action Script, so I've been learning that all this week.
Last year I had to teach a bit of this to my 2nd year students.
I had no books, or time for it, so I dished out a couple of tutorials and let them get on with it. It wasn't 100% necessary (i.e. the subject wasn't Flash :) ), it was animation, and it seemed like a good tool.
I never thought I'd be using it again. Figured it was an artists tool.

But, from what I've seen it's actually quite nice. Very easy to program with - the API is very complete, and rather than crash, your program will just run - abnormally.
It's difficult to debug though and sits VERY high level, taking me right away again from the deeper core programming. But it should make for quick development, and quick results.

As it's something I've never done, I'm happy to learn it and think it'll be fun.

Edge Magazine

Remember a couple of months ago I told you about that bloke from Edge magazine came visiting to do an article on PEI, and the games industry here?
Well the article is out in this months Edge magazine. I'm sorry I've been late with this information, however you may still be able to grab a copy in the UK news agents (I think it's April, look for the page shown below if you want to purchase it), but weather you can or cannot purchase it if you want to read the article for free, in which 'Beep' - my boss, and several other major players from the other studios in Charlottetown explain why they chose PEI as a location for basing so many games companies you can read the full article by clicking on the picture below.

This will take you to a website where you'll see links for each page of the 18 page article that you can read through :)
Happy reading, it's quite interesting I thought...

Walkabout - Part 2

Not as hot as yesterday, but we went for a walk around Victoria Park today.

We followed the 'board walk' round the coast line. This is sure to be really nice in the summer, there are greens to the right of the picture above where you can imagine lots of kids playing and people chilling in the sun. It's nice because it's by the sea - but there is no beach, instead you'd be in the park.
Hayden thought that there were sharks in the water below the rocks.

We found the old Prince Edward Battery. A whole row of cannons that overlook the bay - no doubt to blast enemy pirates!

Another Moving Day...

So, JR and Liz have had to find a new place to live and he sent an e-mail out asking for moving help. Been here 2 months and already 2 moves!

This is all good of course because next year when we move, I'll have plenty of people to call upon, as they'll owe me :) Muhahahaha...

Kath went to some Yoga lesson thing today so I had to keep hold of Hayden, it wasn't a problem, he helped out....

My back was hurting, and so when Bob turned up, the two of them took this big one down the stairs...

JR put on 'plenty' of beer and after the main haul was done, gave us all BBQ. He bumped into Kath crossing Sydney St. and drove her back where we met up for grub.

Having lived here for a year, JR, nor none of his buddies, had ever before noticed that the shadows cast from his deck caused 'pixelated' versions of one-self. We all looked like sprites from a computer game...

Geek... for you Jo!! ;)

Full of beer and jolly as a lamb, Hayden was uncontrollable and thought it was hilarious to ram me from behind and send me flying into the dirt...

I tried to escape at one point, but a small girl encouraged his drunken behaviour...

Dream Chronicles

My first game is out.
Dream Chronicles is out on the iPhone/iTouch, available on iTunes App Store for £2.99.

Yay!

It was a port from a PC, as I've mentioned, but we changed it to have zooming in features and touch, plus some heavy changes to the diary and some levels.
Not bad for 8 weeks work, even though the game existed, it was still a tough time frame to complete by.

For those of you who haven't got an iPhone/iPod touch, check out the PC version here.

It's a hidden object game, quite nice. It works well on the iPhone for a lazy game, the sort of thing that draws you in and keeps you exploring.

Not Gears Of War 3 or Quake 2010, but these are the sort of games we do at Other Ocean, and I'm happy to continue doing it. It's still a very tough challenge, technically, but more so from a playability standpoint - it's more difficult than you'd think porting something that people play with a mouse to a touch screen that's only 480x320 pixels.

I mean one of the features is that when you hover your mouse over something, it tells you what that object is... a tool tip, just like you're used to seeing within Windows. But how do you do that on a touch screen - the player would have to drag their finger about on the screen. Their massive fat finger then covers the tool tip! To top that off, when they release the screen, it registers as a click!

There are gems in the game to discover, and are very small, even on the PC screen. Even if you can see them on the tiny iPhone screen you fat finger tends to press all other object nearby and you can't click on the thing you want - so we expanded all the touchable regions of objects (this was not in the original code of the game) and added the ability to zoom in by pinching the screen a pan about by flicking, just like other iPhone apps. None of this was coded so we had to implement all of this, whilst keeping it compatible with the existing stuff.

As I said in an earlier post, when you add features like this, it can often break the game in other areas :(

So there are lots of challenges to overcome, from design to implementation and a short time frame to keep us very busy.

We went out to celebrate my first game at a very nice restaurant, 'Sims', that everyone has been telling me is very expensive - for what we got, the quality etc. by British standards it wasn't overly expensive at all and was well worth it, but it will be a place we visit only on special occasions.

We were able to take Hayden in, and Kath really needed to get out - she enjoyed it :)

C++

It isn't as easy as I remember...

Got to do a whole bunch of swatting. I have not done C++ for a while now, but the really difficult thing is that we are all spoilt!.
Java, C#, even C and C++ has so many helpers, things like containers etc. that you forget about the underlying stuff.

I mean I read Bjarne Soustroup's (The creator of C++) book today and even he tells us to use the STL libraries as they are fast and reliable.

I remember at my phone interview, Gordon asked me what I thought of the STL, and what are the advantages, disadvantages. I thought it was a trick question.. I mean, the STL is great - the vector class RoXXors. Why would he ask for disadvantages?
Well it seems I answered correctly, in that it's all good, and very fast - however the main problem is that not all compilers or platforms support it. So it makes it difficult for any sort of cross platform portability. It also may not offer the complexity or flexability that you want.
Of course, guess what? - in the games industry most games you write, you want to be cross platform... so... guess what? Stay away from the STL where possible.

This means that all those lovely containers and libraries that make life and programming easy are out the window and all those issues with pointers and memory management and knowing the underlying complexity returns. 10 years after I've forgotten it!

So, back to basics and get my old C++ book out and write some core classes and fundamental stuff. LOL, I struggled with an Array today... how sad! :)

Star Wars

A lazy day today.
Kath blitzed the house clean after the party on Friday night and I found my rather expensive Technic Lego X-Wing which had been transported over.
Spent the day with Hayden building it back up.
Considering it's age 14+, he didn't do too bad...

And this my friends is the collectible of collectibles. Just released, Kath ordered it a few months back from www.starwars.com, only available in Canada and US and released just this month - would anybody like any... toast?

And yes -that IS Vader's face scorched into the bread :)

More strangers...

Well Kath has been here for nearly two weeks and having got over jet lag and cleaning, changing the house finally started getting out and about and more confident with the place.
I invited a whole bunch of work colleagues and friends over to meet her and she made a massive beef curry and we had some nibbles and beer.
She wanted to meet people so I tried to invite those would bring their wives/girlfriends along to meet and chat to her and hopefully spark up a communication channel for the future.
John and Jess were coming, but our boss 'Beep', called a last minute girls night for the female staff, so John turned up with some cider. Bob and Maggie followed at around 7:45pm.
Conversation was good and Hayden kept everyone entertained with a reenactment of the epic Episode I - The Phantom Menace light sabre battle. I was Qui-Gon he told me, and he was Darth Maul. 'Duel Of The Fates' was playing and at one point he even told me to kneel down and close my eyes at one point, just as Qui-Gon does!
JR turned up followed by the , as always, late Matt.
Plenty of curry to go round, people were loving it an having 3rds!
Then Ryan and Ashley, Chris and Krista and two n00bs, Danny - and I think her name was Michelle turned up.
They brought with them some dodgy local home brew beer they'd bought off of some beggar. It was disgusting!
The night went well and Kath had a good time meeting everyone and laughing at the big gay bloke, Danny, who was not gay apparently.... just very, very camp :)
Hayden went down well and we stayed up until nearly 2am, Kath included.
And she was totally OK with these new strangers walking in uninvited... it's just the way they roll here!

In other news, I am awaiting a new PC at work so that I can move onto a new project to do with Leapfrog. Yay, no more Mac!
However whilst I've got the Mac I asked Gordon if I could help out with anything, front end stuff or some grind work.
Of all the luck he's allowed me to do some small, and I mean small, bits and bobs on our new tech and game engine.
It's was really nice getting to work on some library stuff, and getting a feel for some tech and decent C++ again, as I'm so rusty.
I decided to add some nice little camera features in, but had trouble with pointers - it's been too long since I worked with this stuff.
I hoe to go in on Monday and finish it before Gordon gets in, I think he'll find it useful and I want to prove that I can work on this level - in the future.
Right now however I am still enjoying the level of programming I am doing, because it's all on the higher end, more game logic and game play - which is the fun part of games programming - exactly what I want to be doing. Of course getting your hands dirty with a little core tech code once in a while won't hurt anything and is great experience.

One notch on the belt...

...only been here working in the games industry for 74 days and I now have a full game to add to my CV.
I've been working on a PC game that needed porting to the iPhone.
We got the original code, and Gordon, Nigel and others had written stuff before to help port and convert much of the existing engine to the iPhone. This is because we've done Diner Dash and Chocolatier for the iPhone, which uses the same engine - called PlayGround. I've been on the project since the beginning - in fact a couple of weeks before the beginning, as my initial project got cancelled, and I've been unable to tell anyone what it was.
It's no major title, so don't get excited, but for me, I've seen the game through from beginning to end.

The trouble with a project like this, is that the dev cycle is only 8 weeks. The game is already created, and you have modify existing code, much of which is sifting through stuff you don't understand because you don't necessarily (as a programmer) think to do it that way. Other people's code is always hard to work with and much of it seems pointless or inefficient.
It's difficult. It's worse when the publisher, the producer or the designer says, 'we want the game to do this...'.
'The game wasn't written to do that!!', you scream!
It's fine when you make the game from the ground up, your code, with all that in mind from the initial design. Even if the initial design was flawed, or didn't cater for it, you at least have a good knowledge of the code, the structure and the flexibility to make the changes. But when the game was never designed to do that, some things, actually are impossible. Matt (a designer) said - 'nothing is impossible to code', however, he was at least able to follow that up with 'but some things are - given the time frame'.
With just 8 weeks, some changes would require huge sections of code to be re-written, the knock on effect would probably break the rest of the game resulting in loads of bug fixing and band aids!

I haven't blogged for a while because I stayed at work late on Monday night and Tuesday night, because JR super ninja fingers 'Numpty' Cantin, kept finding dumb hardcore bugs by doing inhuman things to the iPhone!
We had to stay and fix the bugs, then wait while they tested some more. At midnight on Tuesday we decided to play some Left 4 Dead whilst we waited for the testers to play through the game with the latest build. JR wanted to play - we told him where to go and to get back to testing. In a schoolboy rage he frantically went to work trying to break the game. We got about 20 minutes of game time before he cackled gleefully and presented his latest bug.
We quit L4D, went and fixed it, then they went off to test again.
At 3:00am I was amazed at how JR came bounding back in, pleased that he'd just broken the game again.
Fix, test - lather, rinse, repeat.
4:00am and the last bug...
I take one look at it, and tell the guys to go play the PC version, as something like that must exist there. Lo and behold the final bug, actually exists in the PC code we were given for a 4 year old game!!!!.
Do we fix it? Hell no!
Does it cause major problems for us.. kind of.. it locks up the iPhone - badly! Meaning people will be really pissed off!
We had until 5:00am, as the guy in Ireland would be getting to work (9:00am in the UK) and expecting the Gold Master copy to download.
James, the producer has a discussion, and we decide that there's no way we can fix it without a few hours research + we should get the publisher's help as it's their original bug, not ours. The e-mail is sent - we go home.
In those lucid moments between sleep and waking is when I do my best thinking, when it comes to code problems, and at about 5:30am, just as I was drifting off to sleep I realised how to fix it - good times :)
Hayden was awake at 6:30am - bad times :(.
Back to work for 10:00am. I get in, make a cup of tea and log on. I write one line of code and then test it. Build to the device and test it. Called over a couple of the guys and test it. Bam! Fixed!.
Back it goes to the testers - of course this 'band aid' caused another bug, thankfully easily fixed as my line of code was just placed in 'logically' the incorrect position.
3 hours later the testers, including JR - who didn't get in until midday (Git!), come walking back in, tails between their legs, defeated. The programmers had won - hurrah!.
ZERO bugs left in the database.
Jr could not even break it by performing a Hadukan maneuver with 2 hands on the iPhone screen, whilst simultaneously hitting the sleep button, playing music and receiving a call, standing on one leg with his tongue out!

And that was that!
The game was approved by the publishers and is now off to Apple. Any changes now will simply be Apple requirements and standards, if any, so it should be up on the App Store in a few days.

Once it is, I'll tell you all about it and it's title - for now, I must still keep it under wraps.

Life So Far...

To the boy, it's time to wake up, and play at 7:00am.
Weather he goes to bed at 8:00pm or 1:00am, he'll still get up, dead on time. This is the way of things.
The other night he went to bed at 2:30am, and got up promptly at 7:00am.
The trouble is, that he's forgotten one vital component here... called... timezones.
7:00am, is actually 3:00am here in Canada.

Imagine my joy at having been reunited with my family. Now imagine my pain, as the pair of them get up to start play, shower, play, general chit chat, play, breakfast, play and what they consider 'loves' and 'huggles with Daddy'... all taking place in the timezone that is GMT.

I do love them... I think :)

However my first project is in it's final week. I already took a day off this week, and it's Good Friday tomorrow. I have been woken at 'stupid O'Clock' now for the past 2 nights and am more knackered than when I was behaving as a dirty stop out!

Knackered!

Neither Kath nor Hayden are adjusting well to the timezone. Strangely I suffered no jet lag at all, although I do remember having it bad on the last trip I made to Canada back in 2001, to Toronto. They are now, both crashed out and 'soundo' upstairs again at just 10:00pm.

Kath couldn't even make it through Lost.

Hayden's doing better, I'm keeping him up late so that he will start to sleep in a bit later. Today he managed to stay until 6:00am our time, which is better than a kick in the Nads.

Hopefully it'll be similar tonight, hopefully a bit later, and then he'll be back into his 7:00am routine (but at least at GMT-4).

Kath has landed and in just two days changed most of the house (for the better), and found space where I thought there was none. It's taken me weeks to try to get it in any sort of order, and just two days is better than what I managed - all hail The Wife!

Well we'll get some picture up this weekend as we're going walkabout, and next week we may rent a car and go for a jolly around the island.

Swimming tomorrow.

Monday I'm back at work and Tuesday is our final deadline for the current project. It's called Gold Master, and is when our project should be ready to go up on the App Store for the iTouch and iPhone. So it'll be pretty intense I think on Monday.

AT LAST!!

Now my adventure in this land with this new job can begin proper.
This house now has atmosphere, a presence.
This is because of course it's April 6th... and that is Canada Day... well it is for me and my family as we have finally reunited after all this time.
I'm telling you, if you're thinking of emigrating and starting a new job - BRING YOUR WIFE AND KIDS WITH YOU!!!
Never again will I leave them, I don't care about the finances and contracts and doing the right thing, they go when I go and vice-versa.
I met another guy from the UK working for Bight games the other day, been here about a week less than me, and he's not even willing yet to let his wife quit work and sell the house in the UK until he's sure that his position is safe!
I know how he feels it was the one major risk and fear factor I had to go through, I made the decision to say sod it - but finances and job commitment meant that Kath had to stay on to work her notice.
I don't know how he can manage - he told me all the same things I've been feeling - been doing many of the same things as I... but he's still got 2-3 months left of it!
I pity him, I don't think I could take much more without them here, but here they are at last, and.... 'OWWW I feel good..... I knew that I would....'

So the plane was a little late (only 10 minutes) and I was able to get right up to the door. In Charlottetown there's no passport control or anything as I mentioned previous, I got quite nervous when I saw the plane taxiing into the terminal... strange...

Kath couldn't see me, but I could see her excitement as she ran with Hayden towards the entrance.

Hayden looked very stunned to see me :)

But he soon got over that, throwing his coat to the floor and screaming and dancing with joy - showing off his new Clone Wars T-Shirt from Uncie Nohj or Uncie Nutter, or some uncie... I didn't quite catch it ;)

Kath looked exhausted, not good being pregnant and have to fly, let alone manage the stuff, the cat and the boy - who has suddenly, in the last 2 months become an Olympic athlete. Apparently he'd been running around so much all day, and at Halifax came out of the toilet to tell a crowd of people that...

'It was a great poo'

LOL, that's my boy!

I told you about that cow at the airport didn't I?....

Well, we stopped off for the drive thru KFC, which I walked into....

spent 5 minutes waiting to be told there was only 3 pieces of chicken and it would be 20 minutes for some more. Having already spent $1-2 whilst the cab waited (they go to drive thru's, but charge $1 for every minute over 5) we got a MacDonald's instead.

Hayden could not wait to see his new 'pink' house, and kept telling us all about the shark that was attacking the roof of the taxi cab..?!?

Well in order to get them acclimatised to the time zone I endeavoured to keep them up for as long as possible. Kath managed a shower, and fell asleep on my lap. Ahhh...

Hayden on the other hand managed at least a further 30 minutes. He'd been up since about 5am and had not slept all day. To him it was 2:30am before he finally crashed out.

I put him in his new room, which is full of his toys. I could tell that he was scared and apprehensive of the place and the room, but he wouldn't let on. He may be only 2years 8 months, but he knows things.

He knows that he's got to enjoy his room, and be comfortable there so he pushed through the fear and let him self sleep.

I'm glad, he wanted of course to sleep with us, and as much as that would be nice on his first night, it's also nicer that he feels comfortable straight away, otherwise it'll only prolong the angst for days to come.

So here he is, all asleep and happy.

Kobi is keeping watch over him. It seems they've developed a close relationship since I've been gone, Kobi seemed very protective and is guarding the doorway to Hayden's bedroom :)

I sit now with a glass of red, and decided to update the blog. I'm not accustomed to going to bed at 11pm, and would normally be down at Dooly's until close, but I'm going to finish this blog, run a spell check on it and head off to kip.

Because, I feel good :)

T Minus 33 Hours And Counting...

Just 1 day left and Kath and Hayden will finally be here to enjoy this place!

I went out yesterday to buy last minute stuff for the cat and for them - Hayden must have Weetabix - and it was boiling hot out. People were walking about in just tshirts and shorts. The shopping was way too heavy, I took a walk to Sobeys which is only about 15-20 minutes away by foot, but getting back was hard going as I bought too much heavy stuff.

My arms are aching today, but it's clean up time.
I'm going to clean this place and mop the floor so it's all good for when they arrive tomorrow evening.

I have booked Tuesday off of work, and Beep (the big boss lady) said I can take it as moving time, so it won't affect my holiday which is good.
Slight worry that I'll get called in though as next Tuesday is our final milestone where we have to have it ready for shipping to the App Store on iTunes \o/
Let's hope I can fix a ton of bugs tomorrow as I REALLY want Tuesday off!!

It's The Final Countdown..

Do do do dooooo, duh du du du daaaaa, de de deeee de... da da dum dum dum dum daaa, didi da didi dum dum dum dum daaa da daaaaaaa, didi didi daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.... it's the final countdown!!!!!

Awesome tune!!!

4 Days until the 6th!!

T minus 104 hours and counting!!!!.........