Weekly dev blog post #2 Rift and iPhone tests
Well, I didn't accomplish anything nearly as amazing as the previous week, but I want to keep up a weekly blog so here's what's new...
I really need to add support for touch controllers... I had a long night trying to get Fraps to capture this video with audio. I ended up using OBS which I love because it generates these tiny files that are easy to copy across my network.
Actually, this was my second attempt to make a video. I decided that it would be a lot better if I recorded commentary while playing to help communicate what is actually going on. I wound up discovering some really interesting bugs. I had never played the game long enough to realize it could get to a state where there was nothing going on. After recording this video I have already fixed all of the bugs except for the twisted necks on the ragdolls.
...As I was typing this blog I had a question: "how the heck do game developers capture gameplay off their mobile devices?" So, I googled it and there's an API called ReplayKit already available in Unity. So I copied and pasted one script and recompiled and it worked! Unfortunately it leaves an over-sized button on the screen and some text, but it's still so much better than the screenshot I was going to post ;)
The biggest change in the game from my previous post is in the accuracy of the animations, from how grounded they are when the character walks around, to the way that they get up after being tossed as a ragdoll. The most important thing I learned was that when I download animations from mixamo I have to make sure that the avatar is set to the correct asset in the import settings in Unity. That made a huge difference!
I also watched an old video from last year's UniteLA conference entitled "How to build a game development studio with Unity"
It's a good listen... It reminds me to think of things like marketing or to focus on one thing at a time.
My favorite video from this week was when John Carmack rambled on for an hour and half at Oculus Connect 4. I had this bookmarked for when I had enough time to watch the whole thing and John did not disappoint! But he got cut off at the end... I imagine he would have gone on for 2 hours easily.
One thing that I think is interesting about this blog post is that in the process of writing it and capturing footage of the game, I've managed to identify and fix a number of bugs and learn a few things about the game itself. By sharing the process and playtesting the game I'm learning so much more than I would have if I had not chosen to blog about it. Looking forward to my next installment...
Scanners game updates:
In my previous update I showed youtube videos that I captured in the Unity Editor on my MacBook Air as well as some videos captured using my iPhone camera held inside of a Gear VR headset. Well, the biggest news is that I compiled my Scanners game for Windows / Oculus Rift / VR, and iPhone as a touch application. There's just something so cool about being able to run your desktop game on your iPhone with only a few extra lines of code.
ScreenCapture of Oculus Rift gameplay with Commentary:
I really need to add support for touch controllers... I had a long night trying to get Fraps to capture this video with audio. I ended up using OBS which I love because it generates these tiny files that are easy to copy across my network.
Actually, this was my second attempt to make a video. I decided that it would be a lot better if I recorded commentary while playing to help communicate what is actually going on. I wound up discovering some really interesting bugs. I had never played the game long enough to realize it could get to a state where there was nothing going on. After recording this video I have already fixed all of the bugs except for the twisted necks on the ragdolls.
ScreenCapture on iPhone 7:
...As I was typing this blog I had a question: "how the heck do game developers capture gameplay off their mobile devices?" So, I googled it and there's an API called ReplayKit already available in Unity. So I copied and pasted one script and recompiled and it worked! Unfortunately it leaves an over-sized button on the screen and some text, but it's still so much better than the screenshot I was going to post ;)
The biggest change in the game from my previous post is in the accuracy of the animations, from how grounded they are when the character walks around, to the way that they get up after being tossed as a ragdoll. The most important thing I learned was that when I download animations from mixamo I have to make sure that the avatar is set to the correct asset in the import settings in Unity. That made a huge difference!
What I'm watching:
I've been watching to a number of tutorials and random videos to keep progressing as a budding developer. The newest tutorial I've acquired is a Udemy course by Dr. Penny De Byl. She's by far my favorite educator for all things related to Unity. She recently released a tutorial about Videogame AIs. In fact, one of her older AI tutorials that I found on youtube inspired my enemy walking script which is a very barebones "AI".I also watched an old video from last year's UniteLA conference entitled "How to build a game development studio with Unity"
It's a good listen... It reminds me to think of things like marketing or to focus on one thing at a time.
My favorite video from this week was when John Carmack rambled on for an hour and half at Oculus Connect 4. I had this bookmarked for when I had enough time to watch the whole thing and John did not disappoint! But he got cut off at the end... I imagine he would have gone on for 2 hours easily.
What I'm playing:
This past week I bought Duck Season by a company called Stress Level Zero. I've been aware of SLZ since the beginning. I had been a fan of BrandonJLa on youtube when I first heard about their game Hover Junkers which I bought as soon as it was available. Now they've just released Duck Season. It's sick and twisted. But you already know that I'm into that I guess ;) I already played through to the end pretty fast but I plan to replay it. I think I can get to a better ending and I also think I can spend hours with mini games and videos. There are literally games within the game. I mean, you're in a living room and there are game cartridges and video cassettes scattered around. In between levels you can pop any video or cartridge in. There's even a retro Hover Junkers game!
What next?
So, I guess I've been busy but I would have liked to have started something different. I'm considering a game involving a laser pointer and a bunch of cats. Well, I have a lot more ridiculous ideas so we'll see...One thing that I think is interesting about this blog post is that in the process of writing it and capturing footage of the game, I've managed to identify and fix a number of bugs and learn a few things about the game itself. By sharing the process and playtesting the game I'm learning so much more than I would have if I had not chosen to blog about it. Looking forward to my next installment...
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