Using C# delegates in Unity3D scripts
Posted by Dimitri | Feb 23rd, 2011 | Filed under Programming
When Unity3D 3.0 came out, it not only fixed a lot of bugs and added features, but it also upgraded the Mono version being used, including C# language features like namespace support, linq and delegates. This post is going to be about the latter, explaining what is a delegate and what benefits it could bring when using it to develop games on Unity3D.
Basically, in C#, a delegate is a reference to a method or to a group of methods that have the same signature (returns the same type and has the same parameters). A better explanation can be found at Microsoft’s MSDN C# documentation: Continue reading: “Using C# delegates in Unity3D scripts”
Game Programming Basics: Creating a FPS counter
Posted by Dimitri | Feb 18th, 2011 | Filed under Programming
Sometimes, while creating a game, a programmer realizes that he/she needs to make sure if some part of the code is running fast enough, before adding more things that could cause the game to slowdown. To properly measure a game’s performance, there is the need to program a FPS (frames per second) counter. As the name suggests, it will count the number of frames that where rendered at the period of one second.
This is an essential information when creating games, as it will serve as a strong indicator to measure the performance impact of a recently added element to the game.
Continue reading: “Game Programming Basics: Creating a FPS counter”
Android: Loading and playing videos from different sources
Posted by Dimitri | Feb 15th, 2011 | Filed under Featured, Programming
This is the 41st post on the website! It explains how to load images from a variety of locations, such as the ‘Resources’ folder, the SD card and from a remote server. As usual, the source code is available for download at the end of the post.
Let’s start with the basics: video formats. At the time this is being written, Android supports .3gp and .mp4 video files encoded as H.263,H.264 and MPEG-4 SP file formats. For an updated list, visit this link.
Continue reading: “Android: Loading and playing videos from different sources”
Retro Review: Vectorman (Genesis)
Posted by Dimitri | Feb 11th, 2011 | Filed under Featured, Retro Games
Vectorman was released back in 1995 for the Sega Genesis. Right from the start, the game shows that it is going to offer a different experience to the player.
Even before the game starts, it is possible to control Vectorman at the “Sega” logo screen, where you can find some of the game’s Easter eggs and input cheat codes. Continue reading: “Retro Review: Vectorman (Genesis)”
New Project: ‘Interactive Squares’
Posted by Dimitri | Feb 8th, 2011 | Filed under Projects
Finally, a new project! It’s been a while since a post was published in this section of the website.
This is a project I’ve being developing, and will be called ‘Interactive Squares’ for now. It’s basically a interactive piece that is being created using the openFrameworks toolkit.
I have started this project using ActionScript, but thought it could be much more interesting if the user used a webcam for the input.
The application consists of a group of gray squares that are repelled each time the element that is controlled with the mouse collides with one of them. A gray square only returns to its original position after the black one is at a certain distance from it.
So, here’s a working prototype made with Flash: Continue reading: “New Project: ‘Interactive Squares’”