Other Recent Articles


View Archives

Most Popular Content

Gaming, Technology - Mar 26, 2008 0:19 - 0 Comments

Unified Online Network Gaming Language

The case for a unified online gaming language has been with us for some time, as consoles, codebases, platforms and the networks that these systems run upon evolve, asking the impossible is no longer the impossible, everything now falls within the realms of reality and only take a few genius’s are needed to figure it all out and turn a few well taken truths on their heads.

The general consensus is not that separate platforms cannot exchange data with each other it is the manner in which these exchanges take place, the amount of work and manpower required to code these types of language and the business model behind allowing multiple platforms to play together.

The most recent example of cross platform play was in the case of Shadowrun (a game by FASA studios) which allowed players on both the Microsoft Xbox 360 and a normal household PC to play together in the same network, perhaps not the overwhelming success that it could have been, but they may be down to the fact that Live! For windows is still in it’s infancy and the face that shadowrun was never a FPS (First Person Shooter).

Consoles used to be about franchises, the exclusives, the must haves - nowadays, exclusives are expensive and with the 3 console manufacturers all heading to or surpassing the 10 Million installed base, platform holders no longer have the ‘exclusive’ bartering PR lines of old, with the exception of a few titles - Halo and MGS spring to mind.So the war is now fought, on power, reliability, usability and functionality.

Why can’t we all play together, the simple fact - money. If we all had the ability to choose our platform irrespective of our friends choice or ‘who’ we could play with then perhaps our choice of platform would be different. If we get the politics out of the way what really stops us from playing together.Games are often released on all platforms - take Call of Duty 4, available on PC, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 - all of these platforms are online, they all operate on the same TCP/IP free exchange of information and I would assume that they use the same data for working out online play.At it’s heart online play comes down to a set of data being sent across and network, interpreted and displayed. Player A moves their character 10m forward, their location in terms of X, Y and Z is sent to the cluster and everyone else receives this data so their screen is updating accordingly.
That’s an incredibly basic overview of a single action in an online shooter. But you would have to assume that the data that is sent is similar or near identical across the platforms.So maybe it is the architecture behind the games, behind the technology, the servers. PC’s use their own dedicated servers for online play (player’s can even set up their own servers), 360’s use the Live! architecture provided by Microsoft, and the PS3’s use their own proprietary set of servers (I’m not sure who provides these). I can’t envisage a time when Microsoft will let Sony use their servers and certainly not for free, PC’s players will always want to set up their own clusters for clan play or private matches, the same is true of Sony renting out their infrastructure.

Maybe then it is the players who are unwilling to change, happy with their platforms and respective bragging rights.In the constantly connected world we live in, perpetually online, constantly contactable - is it really to much to ask that we all be allowed to treat our games like we treat or social lives. To be free of the restrictions placed upon us by platform choice and to be able to buy what we want to play on the platform we wish to play it, but more importantly to able to play with whomever owns the game.

More In Blogging


Blogging

Apple Mac - Feb 19, 2008 15:32 - 3 Comments

Outlook Express to Apple Mail (.dbx convert .mbox)

With the release of Mac OS X Tiger, Apple has removed the option to import Outlook Express emails - so that poses me with a problem with our XP transfers.As always the solution is simple if you know where to look.(Note: If you are using Outlook, open Outlook Express and choose File / Import / Messages / Outlook)

  1. Open Outlook Express. Click on Tools / Options / Maintainence / Store Folder and make a note of it. (It’s nearly always C:\Documents and Settings\YOURNAME\Local Settings\Application Data\Identities\NUMBERS\Microsoft\Outlook Express)
  2. You need to convert the .dbx files (that’s the format OE uses for mailboxes) into .mbox files (that’s the format Apple Mail uses for mailboxes). Go and grab dbxconv (download) and dump it into the same directory you noted above.
  3. Run…. 
    dbxconv -mbx -mbxextmbox *.dbx

    ….and wait, will take a while depending on how large your mailboxes are. 1-2Gb should not take more than about 40 minutes.

  4. You should now have a directory full of files with the extension .mbox. Get all of these files to your new mac (FTP / Intranet / CD Burn Etc.) Open mail and enter your account detials (default opening on Tiger). Then click File / Import Mailboxes / Other and then find your .mbox files on your computer (where ever you put them). The .mbox files will be grayed out so click choose and on the next screen click OK to begin the import. This may or may not take awhile depends on the amount of mail!
  5. Easy peasey, lemon squeazy. Your mail now has a new home!

If you can’t run dbxconv for some reason you can always use Entorage (use a trial, installed on all new macs, or download from Microsoft) - Just drag your mail messages out of outlook and into a folder(s) (organised of you wish), move files to the Mac, boot Entourage and drag the messages in (.eml files). Once they are all in you can click Import / Entourage in Apple Mail.

More In Apple Mac


Apple Mac

Graphic Design - May 12, 2008 16:37 - 0 Comments

8 Top Tips for Graphic Design on a Shoestring

Graphic design can be a hard task-master at times but you don’t always need to pay somebody a small fortune to do your dirty work, with just a few simple rules you can create your own masterpieces (unless you have the money, in which case get a pro).

Keep it simple
One of the most common mistakes when you looking at mom and pop art, overly complicated designs confuse the eye and make your observer unsure of where to look - focus the attention somewhere. This goes equally for white space, just because that ad space cost you a fortune, doesn’t mean you have to fill it up - less is quite literally more.

Theme
Often forgotten - what is it that you are advertising? If your selling cute little Duracell bunnies, a gothic grunge font with a background of nails is hardly likely to get the message across! Try to put aside your personal favourite font and go with what’s fits with the theme - you’d be surprised how much of a difference this makes!

Graphics
Steer well clear of clip-art, I don’t care how good you think it is - it’s not. A simple well composed photograph will go a whole lot further than a load of clippings. Try to use just a couple of graphic elements - again, direct the eye to your message.

Typography
You can do an entire degree in typography so be mindful of the amount of fonts you are using and the complexity of type. Good designs have 2 or 3 fonts maximum. Often I’ll choose the title font first and then draft in the body text and fiddle with the font after I have finished the background plate.

Colours
Another very common mistake, keep to a colour theme, choose a base colour and then a subset of that colour - there is rarely a reason to use the rainbow of colours and less is more.

Compostion
This is always going to be a tough one to get your head around, but the more you design and observe others work (not that it will always be good) to more composition will occupy your mind. Being a film guy, I’m used to peering through a view finder and using the ‘Rule of 3rd’s’ for perfect composition - this technique transfers well from the movie frame to the digital canvas - that’s not to say that you can’t go against the general consesus and purposfully distort the frame - just make sure you have a reason for doing it.

Observation
It sounds obvious, but looks at other work by other ‘artists’. Look at how they have composed, typed, colours and edited the advertising space to get their message across. When you wandering down the street, take in the colours and geometry of your surrounding areas, try to visualise your surroundings on the 2d plane.

Bold
Don’t be afraid to be bold (unless your next job depends on it). Some of the most successful designers have taken a well established concept and turned it on its head. Personally I think that alot of work has obvious hallmarks with regard to its quality - one mans rubbish is another mans treasure, but sometimes you have to just wipe the slate and start again.

These are just my own personal views on the subject. Everyone designs differently. Expect to take criticism, but take it well for sometimes we are wrong and what may appeal to a designer might not to the mass populace.

More In Web Design


Web Design