Week 6. A slow week.

This week most of my work for this session is done. All that's left for me at this time is making sure that the HUD is fully complete for the presentation. Which mostly involves small touch ups. I may also add in small details that would make the simulation better, but they will not likely be added this session.

Week 5. My main work begins.

This week is big on the HUD. I have to make sue that the code behind the pallet button works with the code the map has set up now. I also have to build new clipboard icons because the clipboard with objective we are using for some reason was done with pictures rather than movie clips and dynamic text. Quite an odd way to build the program seeing as how it is very inefficient. After new clipboard icons are done I also have to add in new buttons to deal with making a new icon for getting an empty box.

The final step after getting all the icons and the quick reference change fixed is adding the new code for the program. The code needs to be set up three different times for the three different difficulties. But because we have the difficulties planned, it shouldn't be that bad.

Week 4. Starting work on the UI.

This week I've started looking into new images for the UI. We need to have a pallet image for the new section we are adding. I'll also need to modify the image so that it has a transparent background and uses the same effects as the other UI buttons.

The flash UI has a different code method than I use normally. It mostly seems like its coded with movie clips instead of buttons and has all its code on the frames. The code on the frame makes the clips act like buttons. Its an interesting way to do it when buttons are one of the types you can pick over a movie clip. Perhaps they found something more effective in coding it this way.

It also seems that kismet shouldn't be much of a problem with integration because kismet has fscommands, which is something that is used a lot in the flash code and is very easy to combine.

Week 3. A new program and a simple solution.

This week we started using a new program called TortoiseSVN. I have never used this program, but it will be used to work together as a group on building the project. It seems like it might be similar to Dropbox with how it syncs files and folders. That would definitely make the group work better with each other. So long as files don't get replaced by one another during edit.

Another thing that was brought up this week was the projects manager and his dialog. While I wasn't at class this week, it would seem one of the things added to our list was to get the manager to not tell people how to play when they are in advanced modes. This turns out quite simple because it can be disabled in kismet.

Toggle Cinematic Mode just has to send out past opening the dialog swf and past the Close GFx Movie part. What that does is skips the basic intro. Because this code is the same on all map difficulties, this works just fine. The next swf it goes to is the talking to the manager to get your first task.

Week 2. starting up unreal again.

This week starts some of the work that has to be done. We each have our part and we will be working on it. I have to edit the UI with flash, which i have recently been working with. Then I have to import and work with it in Unreal. Being that it's been a while since I've used Unreal, I'll have to brush up on some small things. Luckily, Unreal and flash get along fairly well. So it shouldn't be to much trouble to get working together.

For now though, the UI isn't the biggest thing for the project. With that, I'll be mostly looking up assets and working on figuring out what I might have to do. From there I can get to work later on.

Week 1. The start of a final project.

This week I'm starting my senior class. We have to work on a project that was not finished for a client. So far, what seems to be left is adding another feature and some small patches to the old program to make it look and feel better.

The project has for the moment been split up into separate sections and the new feature has the most stuff to do. For now it seems I'll be taking up the UI and working with some kismet. This should go fairly well seeing as how my last project was all Flash, which the UI will need. The only part that could be hard to work with is getting the UI into Unreal. Mostly because it can be difficult from time to time to understand Unreal's kismet and other tools.

Week 1. Some Future Research.

During my research on recent Smartphones, I found that there is a handful of new OSs that are out there. The list of the OSs I've heard of are: Linux, Tizen, Firefox, IOS, Android, and Windows. I didn't even know that Firefox and Linux were making Smartphones. This means that in the field of working on apps for these phones, it is important to have a good knowledge of the different languages and interfaces. That way your app can be used on all of the phones that are connected to the app store. This would be very important if the app store allows different OSs to use it.
http://www.wired.com/insights/2013/01/do-we-really-need-another-smartphone-os/

During my research on 3D TV, I found that 3D TV might be something we all will have in the future. With 3D movies in theaters, it's no wonder why it is picking up more speed. The problem with 3D TV is that there aren't a lot of 3D videos out there, Samsung is thinking about that however. One of the new TV's they advertised was called 9000-series. This TV is a third of an inch thick, 3D with a feature to turn 2D to 3D, and has a touch screen remote that allows you to watch TV on it and has apps. This really fits in with the future because 3D is good until we come up with virtual reality, thin is a big future thing, and the remote is basically like a tablet.
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/01/samsungs-impossibly-thin-3d-tv-tempts-hollywood-producer/

During my research on configurable games, I found that Sims 3 and Spore are games that are big on creativity. Sims has always been about having a character and leading them through life to be the best they can be. This included giving them items that would make them happy and help them to advance towards that ultimate goal. These items, as well as the people and their outfits, can be customized to be what you want it to be. If you are not all that creative there's an online storage of modified items. As for Spore it was designed with a lot of customization. You could make custom buildings, people, vehicles, and planets. The problem with these games to me was they had very simple game play. I find it unfortunate when a game with such creative power can be dulled by the interactions. With spore there aren't a lot of advanced interactions until you get to the space age. With Sims it doesn't really change and can be boring at times. One thing I've always questioned is why there are no mini games that would make you feel like you were actually doing something.
http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2009/04/hands-on-sims-3/
http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2008/09/spore-review/