h-mark-blog

[h-mark-blog]

Unity3D experiment

I had a lot of free time during Christmas, so I used to look deeper into Unity3D engine with the help of this book. The goal is to create a little game where the player must light a fire on a desert island. Below are some screenshots of the experiment. You can also check out full example here, but you have to install Unity Player.  

[h-mark-blog]

Coursera: Interactive Python

At the end of this year, we can observe the boom of free online education. Many sites have been launched (Coursera, Udacity, edX and more) which are aimed at providing online courses with a wide range of topics from philosophy to computer science. The idea behind that sounds very interesting, so I give it a try. I started browsing actual and upcoming courses and found course with name An Introduction to Interactive Programming in Python. As my year was marked by Python, it was great opportunity to deepen my knowledge. I read course information and register immediately.

Course was focused on building simple computer games in Python which are written in CodeSkulptor. This tool provide conversion from Python to JavaScript programs using HTML5 Canvas. Course is 8 weeks long and each week consist of video lectures, quizzes and mini-projects. For example, goal of last mini-project was to build Asteroid-like game. You can check my result there. Grade of mini-projects was calculated based on a combination of the grade received by course peers. This meant that work on the project consisted of the evaluation of other works. The course is completed by final grade. My final grade was around 98% and the remaining two percents are result of my carelessness because I realized too late that quiz results can be repaired (in my real school it is one time a lot :).

In the beginning, it seemed to be an interesting course but I was disappointed that the difficulty of course was too low throughout the course. It will be better if the name and idea behind the course should be sold as Introduction to Python by Programming Games. Another disappointment is that course result is not provided in any form of certificate or achievement. On the other side, it was nice trial to online education and I will certainly continue in using this free learning services. I have already some marked courses which begins in the spring, so stay tuned.

[h-mark-blog]

Coasterado in open beta

Finally, we managed to get online another web-based game Coasterado. Like in Lula, I was involved in gameplay programming and all the features behind the Flash. Also, there is already facebook fanpage and I'm curious if Coasterado will be so succesful like Lula with actually more than 5000 fans on facebook. So, long live the Coasterado!

[h-mark-blog]

Game theory: Prisonners Dilemma

One or two weeks ago I published solution of N-Queens problem for Evolutionary Algorithms course. Next project in this course is targeted at prisoner`s dilemma game problem which is very popular in game theory sphere. Basic prisonner`s dilemma game is very similar to paper, scissors and rock game. It is played by two players which make decision per turn in order to achieve best possible score  (check score table of game below). In every turn players must pick their answers from two options: to cooperate (C) or to defect (D). Final game score is the sum of scores from all turns.

The goal of project is to analyze strategies distribution in the population by using evolutionary algorithm. The strategy of every individual in population is defined by input and decision strategy. Input strategy determines invariably answers in first N games. Decision strategy determines the behavior of player that is based on history of last N games which was played by opponent. Games are based on round-robin tournament which means that every individual is playing exact number of games with each other. 

In charts below we can see behavior of strategies in the population for three typical runs of evolutionary algorithm. Algorithms ran 500 generations and used mutation, crossing and elitism. Final scores of population strategy is based on occurrence of C and D strategies of each individual in every generation.

The result of measurement is that:

in global no strategy is the best

population has oscillating behavior between C and D strategies

actually best solution is spread rapidly over population

[h-mark-blog]

Gemini Rue: Mysterious scifi

What to say about Gemini Rue... after Black Mirror saga I wanted to fall in another awesome story. When I read some very positive reviews on Gemini Rue it was clearly that this adventure will be great, so I bought it and started to play. After all I do not regret this decision.

Old school graphics with scifi atmosphere like in the Blade Runner. Mysterious story which is absolutely intertwined and surprising. Yes, it is common point-and-click adventure but for me this is not a problem. If you are fan of adventure games then check the screenshots below of my adventure and try the demo on your own.

[h-mark-blog]

Solving N-queens problem with simmulated annealing

A few weeks ago I worked at Evolution Algorithms course on school project which was focused on usage of simmulated annealing algorithm for solving traditional N-queens problem. N-Queens problem is the problem of placing N chess queens on an NxN chessboard so that no two queens attack each other.

This problem can be solved by many ways (e.g. by backtracking) but for the educational purpose we should try to solve it only by simmulated annealing algorithm. It is really nice algorithm because it is inspired by annealing in metallurgy which is based on heating and controlled cooling of a material to obtain certain traits.

My project solution is based on description of the algorithm from work Comparison of Heuristic Algorithms for the N-Queen Problem by Ivica Martinjak and Marin Golub. Algorithm is based on the temperature reduction which as well reduces probability of changing good solutions for worst ones. It may sound confusing but this is core principle. With permission to change better solution for slightly worst solutions we can go deeper in search space and increase our chances of finding solution.

Fitness (solution value) is calculated by collision number of queens. I was forced to use special binary representation of queens permutation. This representation could create stagnant iteration that slows down computation. Finally, implemented algorithm was successful in finding solutions for 8 to 15-queens problem under 60000 iterations. Graphs below shows mean number of iterations and best fitness per 50 tests.

Source (python)

[h-mark-blog]

Limbo: Atmospheric journey

After few months I have finally found time for the game Limbo that I bought on Steam in 2011. My expectations were high because I heard only praise for Limbo. After 7 hours of ultimate atmospheric ride which contains original puzzles, awesome sounds and unique world I must say that I do not regret the time spent. Below are screenshots of my journey. Take a look!

If you like puzzles or adventure-like games you should download the demo right now. I promise that you will not regret.

[h-mark-blog]

Python: First meeting

In the work I am actually doing automatic building script focused on version handling of flash files under Subversion. I started digging out possibilities for FlashDevelop and finally found some solutions. Unfortunately, they were all useless and also written in ugly batch files. This was unacceptable to me, so I decided that I will do it in on my own but with one condition. I will try to learn new scripting language. But… which?

After, reading some relevant articles  my choices were limited to Perl, PHP, Python and Ruby (if you are interested check this brief summary). Before starting I created list of important points that should be met:

high future potential

platform independence

steep learning curve

server-side scripting support

clear docs

usable tutorials

I finally chose Python because as the only one met all my conditions. This does not mean that it is better than other languages but it seems that Python is exactly what I am looking for now.

My learning started with this online book which ignores all sauces and focuses on what matters most - practice coding. After few examples I was able to write first scripts and few hours later I finished my build script which includes:

file input/output

external command calls

filesystem traverse

string parsing

That`s nice, isn`t it?

[h-mark-blog]

Mindomo

Finally I found tool that I needed for very long time. Mindomo is simple mind mapping software with many options. After a few day of using I want to share my observations. 

I use it now as brainstorming tool, todo list and notepad in one. Mindomo has many features that differs him from competitive tools which I have been using previously. So, in short I try to summarize the essentials:

Easy map and objects interaction

Video/audio/images embedding

Clear design and purpose

Offline mode with server synchronization

Handy shortcuts

Collaborative work

Online map sharing and exporting

Presentation mode

... and all this is created on AIR platform (where are you haters? :)

If you still don`t know what is going on check examples on the official site, you will have a better idea. Or you can also try it yourself because it is free of charge for up to 3 maps.

[h-mark-blog]

Flint Particles samples

For a long time I wanted to try create some particles animations. And today I met with awesome AS3 library Flint Particles. The library has nice features (e.g. 3D engines integration, zoning), many examples and detailed docs. If you follow these steps you should be able to create something like samples below in few hours.

Source

Source

[h-mark-blog]

Lula in open beta

After several months of full development in GamesDistillery we finally entered the open beta stage with our first web-based title LulaOnline. As a front-end flash developer I was mainly involved in developing gameplay features and cooperating on low-level design. Since it is my first major project to which I have put many hours of life I am proud to be a member of Distillers team which is hiding behind Lula. So, long live the Lula and congratulations to everyone working on the project.

[h-mark-blog]

Cassovia winter trip 2012

I spent this weekend far in the east slovak with my girlfriend in her birthplace Cassovia. Travelling from manageable -13°C to -31°C windchill was inconvenient change but my summer shoes with four layers of socks handles it easily. With our friends (thanks and greetings to the Cassovia!) we visited some nice places such as monumental St.Elisabeth Cathedral, the Golem brewery with really good and unique beer Golem, underground clubs Colloseum and Khoi-khoi and last but not least "good tearoom" Dobra Cajovna with unsurprisingly good tea. I am glad that I was there but for next winter trip I am not leaving without ski goggles because north wind plus blizzard is equal to big visibility problem.

[h-mark-blog]

AS3-signals

Three days ago I first met with actionscript3 library as3-signals which is based on signal-slot concept for handling event-based systems (e.g. GUI, asynchronous I/O). I know this concept from C++ framework Qt in the old days and already liked it there. I have to say that whole event system in the Actionscript should be replaced by signals because they are easier to implement and support more readable code. So, my advice is that you should find proper libraries for your programming language and check possibilities of using signals in your projects as in my case. You will not regret.

[h-mark-blog]

Bartle test of gamer psychology

Reading this Gamasutra article about gamer psychology I stumbled upon the Bartle test on gamerDNA. So, I did not hesitate and try it immediately. The result is balanced but fairly accurate.

I really like cooperative and competitive modes in multiplayer games which offer many epic moments. Exploring and picking appropriate strategies that will win the game that is exactly what draws me to games. Nor the result nor the reward only the game possibilities itself. It is because if the game is enriching me in some way and my gaming passions are filled then the result does not bother me.

And what is yours gamer identity? What do you expect from games?

[h-mark-blog]

Cry in the dark

After some failed attempts of blogging this one have great potential because there wont be any goals, rules and proclamations to fulfill. Only my experiences, ideas and words which i want to share in the best name of microblogging and minimal content.

So, let the game begin.