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• Interfaces, Adapters, exposing business objects via WCF design

  - by Onam

  I know there have been countless discussions about this but I think this question is slightly different and may perhaps prompt a heated discussion (lets keep it friendly). The scene: I am developing a system as a means for me to learn various concepts and I came across a predicament which my brain is conflicting with. That is whether to keep my interfaces in a separate class library or should they live side by side my business objects. I want to expose certain objects via WCF, however refuse to expose them in its entirety. I am sure most will agree exposing properties such as IDs and other properties is not good practice but also I don't want to have my business objects decorated with attributes. The question: Essentially, I'll be having a separate interface for each of my objects that will essentially be exposed to the outside world (could end up being quite a few) so does it make sense to create a separate class library for interfaces? This also brings up the question of whether adapters should live in a separate class library too as ideally I want a mechanism from transferring from one object to the other and vice versa?

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• Decal implementation

  - by dreta

  I had issues finding information about decals, so maybe this question will help others. The implementation is for a forward renderer. Could somebody confirm if i got decal implementation right? You define a cube of any dimension that'll define the projection volume in common space. You check for triangle intersection with the defined cube to recieve triangles that the projection will affect. You clip these triangles and save them. You then use matrix tricks to calculate UV coordinates for the saved triangles that'll reference the texture you're projecting. To do this you take the vectors representing height, width and depth of the cube in common space, so that f.e. the bottom left corner is the origin. You put that in a matrix as the i, j, k unit vectors, set the translation for the cube, then you inverse this matrix. You multiply the vertices of the saved triangles by this matrix, that way you get their coordinates inside of a 0 to 1 size cube that you use as the UV coordinates. This way you have the original triangles you're projecting onto and you have UV coordinates for them (the UV coordinates are referencing the texture you're projecting). Then you rerender the saved triangles onto the scene and they overwrite the area of projection with the projected image. Now the questions that i couldn't find answers for. Is the last point right? I've never done software clipping, but it seems error prone enough, due to limited precision, that the'll be some z fighting occuring for the projected texture. Also is the way of getting UV coordinates correct?

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• TypeError: Cannot call method 'hasOwnProperty' of null, while creating a QMLscene window

  - by tomoqv

  I am trying to make a simple Ubuntu Touch web application with Qt Creator. I have set up a new project according to the tutorial and committed the files to Bazaar. I have set a url instead of the default index.htm in the qml file of the project. Using build-run loads a QML Scene window with the desired webpage, but Qt Creator yields the following output: Starting /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/qt5/bin/qmlscene -I /home/tomas/ubuntu-sdk/SL-planner -I /usr/bin -I /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/qt5/qml /home/tomas/ubuntu-sdk/SL-planner/SL-planner.qml unity::action::ActionManager::ActionManager(QObject*): Could not determine application identifier. HUD will not work properly. Provide your application identifier in $APP_ID environment variable. file:///usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/qt5/qml/Ubuntu/Components/MainView.qml:257: TypeError: Cannot call method 'hasOwnProperty' of null My SL-planner.qml looks like this: import QtQuick 2.0 import Ubuntu.Components 0.1 import QtWebKit 3.0 /*! \brief MainView with a Flickable WebView. */ MainView { // objectName for functional testing purposes (autopilot-qt5) objectName: "mainView" // Note! applicationName needs to match the "name" field of the click manifest applicationName: "com.ubuntu.developer.tomoqv.SL-planner" /* This property enables the application to change orientation when the device is rotated. The default is false. */ automaticOrientation: true width: units.gu(100) height: units.gu(75) Flickable { id: webViewFlickable anchors.fill: parent WebView { id: webView anchors.fill: parent url: "http://mobil.sl.se" } } } What am I missing?

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• Which data structure should I use for dynamically generated platforms?

  - by Joey Green

  I'm creating a platform type of game with various types of platforms. Platforms that move, shake, rotate, etc. Multiple types and multiple of each type can be on the screen at once. The platforms will be procedural generated. I'm trying to figure out which of the following would be a better platform system: Pre-allocate all platforms when the scene loads, storing each platform type into different platform type arrays( i.e. regPlatformArray ), and just getting one when I need one. The other option is to allocate and load what I need when my code needs it. The problem with 1 is keeping up with the indices that are in use on screen and which aren't. The problem with 2 is I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around how I would store these platforms so that I can call the update/draw methods on them and managing that data structure that holds them. The data structure would constantly be growing and shrinking. It seems there could be too much complexity. I'm using the cocos2d iPhone game engine. Anyways, which option would be best or is there a better option?

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• Geometry Shader: distortions

  - by Christophe Lionet

  This is a cross-question from Stack Overflow, I thought it would be more appropriate here. There is a lot of code I could be posting. To avoid overloading the page with code, I will post any part of the code if requested. I am working from the ParticleGS DirectX10 sample, to build a geometry shader based particle system in DirectX 11. Using the sample code, and changing it to my liking, I am able to draw a single quad (which is essentially one particle constantly recreating itself). However, I noticed a problem which was similar to one I once had: the rendered shape is distorted. Here is a video showcasing what is happening. http://youtu.be/6NY_hxjMfwY Now, I used to have this issue when using several effects together, when I realised that I needed to explicitely set the geometry shader to null for the other effects. I solved this problem, as you can see in the video, as the rest of the scene is drawing properly. Note that some sides are being culled somehow, although I turned off culling in my main render state. The texturing is fine too, the texture draws with appropriate proportions relative to the quad. I really don't see what I could be doing wrong here... what would cause the geometry shader to behave in such a way? Again, I will post any piece code you will request.

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• Graphics performance of 945GME

  - by l0b0

  Edit: Since setting Appearance - Visual Effects up to a stunning "Normal", I now get ~35 FPS in glxgears right after login, with nothing else running :( I'm getting terrible graphics performance in NeverWinter Nights (native with SoU+HotU+CEP2) on my Eee PC 1005HAB. Even with all graphics settings (including the "advanced" ones) at minimum I get about 2-10 FPS, depending on the scene. Firefox is really sluggish as well - Changing tabs often takes a second, scrolling is laggy, and typing this I notice the delay between pressing keys and seeing the text on screen. The rest of the OS is running OK, although general performance seems to be even worse than my old Eee PC 900. glxgears gives about 60 FPS, which is apparently as it should be (synchronized with the monitor refresh rate). Bugs like Launchpad #252094 and the instructions for Reverting the Jaunty Xorg intel driver to 2.4 are old enough that I'm afraid following the instructions would render the system unusable. Are there any tips for improving graphics performance on this system that are still relevant for 10.10? $ uname -a Linux l0b0eee 2.6.35-28-generic #49-Ubuntu SMP Tue Mar 1 14:40:58 UTC 2011 i686 GNU/Linux $ lspci -nn | grep VGA 00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GME Express Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:27ae] (rev 03) $ glxinfo name of display: :0.0 display: :0 screen: 0 direct rendering: Yes server glx vendor string: SGI server glx version string: 1.4 ...

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• Server side C# MVC with AngularJS

  - by Ryan Langton

  I like using .NET MVC and have used it quite a bit in the past. I have also built SPA's using AngularJS with no page loads other than the initial one. I think I want to use a blend of the two in many cases. Set up the application initially using .NET MVC and set up routing server side. Then set up each page as a mini-SPA. These pages can be quite complex with a lot of client side functionality. My confusion comes in how to handle the model-view binding using both .NET MVC and the AngularJS scope. Do I avoid the use of razor Html helpers? The Html helpers create the markup behind the scene so it could get messy trying to add angularjs tags using the helpers. So how to add ng-model for example to @Html.TextBoxFor(x = x.Name). Also ng-repeat wouldn't work because I'm not loading my model into the scope, right? I'd still want to use a c# foreach loop? Where do I draw the lines of separation? Has anyone gotten .NET MVC and AngularJS to play nicely together and what are your architectural suggestions to do so?

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• How do I scroll to follow my sprite in the physical world?

  - by Esteban Quintero

  I am using andengine to make a game where a sprite (player) is going up across the stage, and I want the camera to stay centred on the sprite the entire time. This is my world so far: final Rectangle ground = new Rectangle(0, CAMERA_HEIGHT - 2, CAMERA_WIDTH, 2, vertexBufferObjectManager); final Rectangle roof = new Rectangle(0, 0, CAMERA_WIDTH, 2, vertexBufferObjectManager); final Rectangle left = new Rectangle(0, 0, 2, CAMERA_HEIGHT, vertexBufferObjectManager); final Rectangle right = new Rectangle(CAMERA_WIDTH - 2, 0, 2, CAMERA_HEIGHT, vertexBufferObjectManager); final FixtureDef wallFixtureDef = PhysicsFactory.createFixtureDef(0, 0.5f, 0.5f); PhysicsFactory.createBoxBody(this.mPhysicsWorld, ground, BodyType.StaticBody, wallFixtureDef); PhysicsFactory.createBoxBody(this.mPhysicsWorld, roof, BodyType.StaticBody, wallFixtureDef); PhysicsFactory.createBoxBody(this.mPhysicsWorld, left, BodyType.StaticBody, wallFixtureDef); PhysicsFactory.createBoxBody(this.mPhysicsWorld, right, BodyType.StaticBody, wallFixtureDef); /* Create two sprits and add it to the scene. */ this.mScene.setBackground(autoParallaxBackground); this.mScene.attachChild(ground); this.mScene.attachChild(roof); this.mScene.attachChild(left); this.mScene.attachChild(right); this.mScene.registerUpdateHandler(this.mPhysicsWorld); The problem is that when the sprite reaches the top wall, it crashes. How can I fix this?

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• How do I create a 2.5d parallax effect?

  - by Nikolay Dyankov

  I have a decent background in 3D graphics and programming, but I'm new to game development. I'm currently exploring different possibilities and I really want to make an RPG game. I was thinking about classic 2D isometric view, but I really love how Diablo 2 looks and feels to play. My question is - how can I achieve Diablo 2's parallax effect? Everything looks hand drawn with baked lights and shadows and looks awesome, but when you move around you notice some perspective. For example, let's say that I drew a big hall with columns in Photoshop with an orthographic perspective (classic pixel art style, just parallel lines). How would I give parallax effect to this scene when the character moves around? If I use camera-facing sprites for everything it would probably look OK in the distance, but it would be really fake when a character comes close to a column (cylinder) for example. Any suggestions? How did Blizzard make the parallax effect in Diablo 2? See this screenshot: http://guidesmedia.ign.com/guides/10629/images/act2tombs.jpg

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• How to create a "retro" pixel shader for transformed 2D sprites that maintains pixel fidelity?

  - by David Gouveia

  The image below shows two sprites rendered with point sampling on top of a background: The left skull has no rotation/scaling applied to it, so every pixel matches perfectly with the background. The right skull is rotated/scaled, and this results in larger pixels that are no longer axis aligned. How could I develop a pixel shader that would render the transformed sprite on the right with axis aligned pixels of the same size as the rest of the scene? This might be related to how sprite scaling was implemented in old games such as Monkey Island, because that's the effect I'm trying to achieve, but with rotation added. Edit As per kaoD's suggestions, I tried to address the problem as a post-process. The easiest approach was to render to a separate render target first (downsampled to match the desired pixel size) and then upscale it when rendering a second time. It did address my requirements above. First I tried doing it Linear -> Point and the result was this: There's no distortion but the result looks blurred and it loses most of the highlights colors. In my opinion it breaks the retro look I needed. The second time I tried Point -> Point and the result was this: Despite the distortion, I think that might be good enough for my needs, although it does look better as a still image than in motion. To demonstrate, here's a video of the effect, although YouTube filtered the pixels out of it: http://youtu.be/hqokk58KFmI However, I'll leave the question open for a few more days in case someone comes up with a better sampling solution that maintains the crisp look while decreasing the amount of distortion when moving.

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• How can I move along an angled collision at a constant speed?

  - by Raven Dreamer

  I have, for all intents and purposes, a Triangle class that objects in my scene can collide with (In actuality, the right side of a parallelogram). My collision detection and resolution code works fine for the purposes of preventing a gameobject from entering into the space of the Triangle, instead directing the movement along the edge. The trouble is, the maximum speed along the x and y axis is not equivalent in my game, and moving along the Y axis (up or down) should take twice as long as an equivalent distance along the X axis (left or right). Unfortunately, these speeds apply to the collision resolution too, and movement along the blue path above progresses twice as fast. What can I do in my collision resolution to make sure that the speedlimit for Y axis movement is obeyed in the latter case? Collision Resolution for this case below (vecInput and velocity are the position and velocity vectors of the game object): // y = mx+c lowY = 2*vecInput.x + parag.rightYIntercept ; ... else { // y = mx+c // vecInput.y = 2(x) + RightYIntercept // (vecInput.y - RightYIntercept) / 2 = x; //if velocity.Y (positive) greater than velocity.X (negative) //pushing from bottom, so push right. if(velocity.y > -1*velocity.x) { vecInput = new Vector2((vecInput.y - parag.rightYIntercept)/2, vecInput.y); Debug.Log("adjusted rightwards"); } else { vecInput = new Vector2( vecInput.x, lowY); Debug.Log("adjusted downwards"); } }

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• Unity scaling instantiated GameObject at Start() doesn't "keep"

  - by Shivan Dragon

  I have a very simple scenario: A box-like Prefab which is imported from Blender automatically (I have the .blend file in the Assets folder). A script that has two public GameObject fields. In one I place the above prefab, and in the other I place a terrain object (which I've created in Unity's graphical view): public Collider terrain; public GameObject aStarCellHighlightPrefab; This script is attached to the camera. The idea is to have the Blender prefab instantiated, have the terrain set as its parent, and then scale said prefab instance up. I first did it like this, in the Start() method: void Start () { cursorPositionOnTerrain = new RaycastHit(); aStarCellHighlight = (GameObject)Instantiate(aStarCellHighlightPrefab, new Vector3(300,300,300), terrain.transform.rotation); aStarCellHighlight.name = "cellHighlight"; aStarCellHighlight.transform.parent = terrain.transform; aStarCellHighlight.transform.localScale = new Vector3(100,100,100); } and first thought it didn't work. However later I noticed that it did in fact work, in the sense where the scale was applied right at the start, but then right after the prefab instance came back to its initial scale. Putting the scale code in the Update() methods fixes it in the sense where now it stays scaled all the time: void Update () { aStarCellHighlight.transform.localScale = new Vector3(100,100,100); //... } However I've noticed that when I run this code, the object is first displayed without the scale being applied, and it takes about 5-10 seconds for the scale to happen. During this time everything works fine (like input and logging, etc). The scene is very simple, it's not like it has a lot of stuff to load or anything (there's a Ray cast from the camera on to the terrain, but that seems to happen without such delays). My (2 part) question is: Why doesn't it take the scale transform when I do it at the beginning in the Start() method. Why do I have to keep scaling it in the Update() method? Why does it take so long for the scale to "apply/show up".

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• Orthographic Projection Issue

  - by Nick

  I have a problem with my Ortho Matrix. The engine uses the perspective projection fine but for some reason the Ortho matrix is messed up. (See screenshots below). Can anyone understand what is happening here? At the min I am taking the Projection matrix * Transform (Translate, rotate, scale) and passing to the Vertex shader to multiply the Vertices by it. VIDEO Shows the same scene, rotating on the Y axis. http://youtu.be/2feiZAIM9Y0 void Matrix4f::InitOrthoProjTransform(float left, float right, float top, float bottom, float zNear, float zFar) { m[0][0] = 2 / (right - left); m[0][1] = 0; m[0][2] = 0; m[0][3] = 0; m[1][0] = 0; m[1][1] = 2 / (top - bottom); m[1][2] = 0; m[1][3] = 0; m[2][0] = 0; m[2][1] = 0; m[2][2] = -1 / (zFar - zNear); m[2][3] = 0; m[3][0] = -(right + left) / (right - left); m[3][1] = -(top + bottom) / (top - bottom); m[3][2] = -zNear / (zFar - zNear); m[3][3] = 1; } This is what happens with Ortho Matrix: This is the Perspective Matrix:

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• Hidden web standards behind Google "custom searchEngines"?

  - by Hoàng Long

  Today while playing with Google Chrome Omnibox, I notice a strange behavior. I guess there's some "hidden" web standard behind it, but can't figure it out. Here's how to reproduce: Go to http://edition.cnn.com/ Use the search function at the higher right corner, Search a random keyword, for example: "abc" Close the tabs. Open a new tab, type until Chrome reminds you about http://edition.cnn.com/, then press "Tab" The Omnibox now shows "Search CNN.com"! And when you type "abc" and press Enter, it uses the CNN search function to do the job, not Google! I also tried it for several different sites. To some it won't work. But to some sites, like CNN, vnexpress.net, it works after I use the search function of that site once. I also learnt about chrome://settings/searchEngines (type it in your chrome box and you will see), and learnt about you can add custom search engine in chrome. But the question is, why Chrome can realize the search URL automatically to some pages, and not others? It's not because some site subscribe to Google service, because I can do the same method for my site (http://ledohoanglong.wordpress.com), and I'm sure that there's no subscription. So I guess there's a method to "expose" the search function of a site, so that Google Chrome can catch it (after I call the search function of that site once, of courses). Does anyone know about how it works behind the scene?

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• Google Glasses–A new world in front of your eyes

  - by Gopinath

  Google is getting into a whole new business that would help us to see the world in a new dimension and free us from all gadgets we carry we today. Google Glasses is a wearable tiny computer that brings information in front of your eyes and lets you interact with it using voice commands. It’s a kind of glasses(spectacles) that you can wear to see and interact with the world in a new way.  With Google Glasses, for example you can look at a beautiful location and through voice you can instruct it to capture a photograph and share it to your friends. You don’t need a camera to capture the beautiful scene, you don’t need an App to upload and share it.  All you need is just Google Glasses By the way these glasses are not heavy head mountable stuff, they are very tiny one and look beautiful too. Check out the embedded video demo released by Google to see them in action and for sure you are going to be amazed.   Last year December 9 to 5 Google posted details about this secret project and NY Times says that these glasses would be available to everyone at affordable cost, anywhere between $250 and $600. It is powered by Android OS and the contains a GPS, motion sensor, camera, voice input & output devices. Check out Project Glass for more details.

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• Using gluLookAt to move camera in 2D iPhone game ?

  - by Mr.Gando

  Hey guys, I'm trying to use gluLookAt to move the camera in my iPhone game, but every time I've tried to use gluLookAt my screen just goes "blank" ( grey in this case ) I'm trying to render a simple triangle and to move the camera, this is my code: to setup my scene I do: glViewport(0, 0, backingWidth, backingHeight); glMatrixMode(GL_PROJECTION); glLoadIdentity(); glRotatef(-90.0, 0.0, 0.0, 1.0); //using iPhone in horizontal mode glOrthof(-240, 240, -160, 160, -1, 1); glMatrixMode(GL_MODELVIEW); then my "triangle rendering" code looks like: GLfloat triangle[] = {0, 100, 100, 0, -100, 0,}; glClearColor(0.7, 0.7, 0.7, 1.0); glClear(GL_COLOR_BUFFER_BIT | GL_DEPTH_BUFFER_BIT); glEnableClientState(GL_VERTEX_ARRAY); glColor4f(1.0, 0.0, 0.0, 1.0); glVertexPointer(2, GL_FLOAT, 0, &triangle); glDrawArrays(GL_TRIANGLES, 0, 6); glDisableClientState(GL_VERTEX_ARRAY); This draws a red triangle in the middle of the screen, when I try to apply gluLookAt ( I got the implementation of the function from Cocos2D so I asume it's correct ), i do: glMatrixMode(GL_MODELVIEW); glLoadIdentity(); gluLookAt(0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,1); // try to move the camera a bit ? GLfloat triangle[] = {0, 100, 100, 0, -100, 0,}; glClearColor(0.7, 0.7, 0.7, 1.0); glClear(GL_COLOR_BUFFER_BIT | GL_DEPTH_BUFFER_BIT); glEnableClientState(GL_VERTEX_ARRAY); glColor4f(1.0, 0.0, 0.0, 1.0); glVertexPointer(2, GL_FLOAT, 0, &triangle); glDrawArrays(GL_TRIANGLES, 0, 6); glDisableClientState(GL_VERTEX_ARRAY); This leads me to grey screen (glClearColor is grey), I've tried all sort of things and read what I've found about gluLookAt on the net, but no luck :(, if someone could explain me or show me how to move to move the camera in a top-down fashion ( zelda, etc ), I would really appreciate it. Thanks!

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• 3D Camera Problem

  - by Chris

  I allow the user to look around the scene by holding down the left mouse button and moving the mouse. The problem that I have is I can be facing one direction, I move the mouse up and the view tilts up, I move down and the view titles down. If I spin around 180 my left and right still works fine, but when I move the mouse up the view tilts down, and when I move the mouse down the view titles up. This is the code I am using, can anyone see what the problem with the logic is? var viewDir = g_math.subVector(target, g_eye); var rotatedViewDir = []; rotatedViewDir[0] = (Math.cos(g_mouseXDelta * g_rotationDelta) * viewDir[0]) - (Math.sin(g_mouseXDelta * g_rotationDelta) * viewDir[2]); rotatedViewDir[1] = viewDir[1]; rotatedViewDir[2] = (Math.cos(g_mouseXDelta * g_rotationDelta) * viewDir[2]) + (Math.sin(g_mouseXDelta * g_rotationDelta) * viewDir[0]); viewDir = rotatedViewDir; rotatedViewDir[0] = viewDir[0]; rotatedViewDir[1] = (Math.cos(g_mouseYDelta * g_rotationDelta * -1) * viewDir[1]) - (Math.sin(g_mouseYDelta * g_rotationDelta * -1) * viewDir[2]); rotatedViewDir[2] = (Math.cos(g_mouseYDelta * g_rotationDelta * -1) * viewDir[2]) + (Math.sin(g_mouseYDelta * g_rotationDelta * -1) * viewDir[1]); g_lookingDir = rotatedViewDir; var newtarget = g_math.addVector(rotatedViewDir, g_eye);

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• How do I make my rain effect look more like rain and less like snowfall?

  - by Nikhil Lamba

  I am making a game in that game I want a rain effect. I am little bit far from this right now. I am creating the rain effect like below: particleSystem.addParticleInitializer(new ColorInitializer(1, 1, 1)); particleSystem.addParticleInitializer(new AlphaInitializer(0)); particleSystem.setBlendFunction(GL10.GL_SRC_ALPHA, GL10.GL_ONE); particleSystem.addParticleInitializer(new VelocityInitializer(2, 2, 20, 10)); particleSystem.addParticleInitializer(new RotationInitializer(0.0f, 30.0f)); particleSystem.addParticleModifier(new ScaleModifier(1.0f, 2.0f, 0, 150)); particleSystem.addParticleModifier(new ColorModifier(1, 1, 1, 1f, 1, 1, 1, 3)); particleSystem.addParticleModifier(new ColorModifier(1, 1, 1f, 1, 1, 1, 1, 6)); particleSystem.addParticleModifier(new AlphaModifier(0, 1, 0, 3)); particleSystem.addParticleModifier(new AlphaModifier(1, 0, 1, 125)); particleSystem.addParticleModifier(new ExpireModifier(50, 50)); scene.attachChild(particleSystem); But it looks like snowfall! What changes can I do for it to look more like rain? EDIT Here is a screenshot:

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• Applying effects to an existing program that uses BasicEffect

  - by Fibericon

  Using the finished product from the tutorial here. Is it possible to apply the grayscale effect from here: Making entire scene fade to grayscale Or would you basically have to rewrite everything? EDIT: It's doing something now, but the whole grayscale seems extremely blue. It's like I'm looking at it through dark blue sunglasses. Here's my draw function: protected override void Draw(GameTime gameTime) { device.SetRenderTarget(renderTarget); graphics.GraphicsDevice.Clear(Color.CornflowerBlue); //Drawing models, bullets, etc. device.SetRenderTarget(null); spriteBatch.Begin(0, BlendState.Additive, SamplerState.PointWrap, DepthStencilState.Default, RasterizerState.CullNone, grayScale); Texture2D temp = (Texture2D)renderTarget; grayScale.Parameters["coloredTexture"].SetValue(temp); grayScale.CurrentTechnique = grayScale.Techniques["Grayscale"]; foreach (EffectPass pass in grayScale.CurrentTechnique.Passes) { pass.Apply(); } spriteBatch.Draw(temp, new Vector2(GraphicsDevice.PresentationParameters.BackBufferWidth/2, GraphicsDevice.PresentationParameters.BackBufferHeight/2), null, Color.White, 0f, new Vector2(renderTarget.Width/2, renderTarget.Height/2), 1.0f, SpriteEffects.None, 0f); spriteBatch.End(); base.Draw(gameTime); } Another edit: figured out what I was doing wrong. I have Blendstate.Additive in the spriteBatch.Draw() call. It should be Blendstate.Opaque, or it literally tries to add the blank blue image to the grayscale image.

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• Expectations + Rewards = Innovation

  - by D'Arcy Lussier

  “Innovation” is a heavy word. We regard those that embrace it as “Innovators”. We describe organizations as being “Innovative”. We hold those associated with the word in high regard, even though its dictionary definition is very simple: Introducing something new. What our culture has done is wrapped Innovation in white robes and a gold crown. Innovation is rarely just introducing something new. Innovations and innovators are typically associated with other terms: groundbreaking, genius, industry-changing, creative, leading. Being a true innovator and creating innovations are a big deal, and something companies try to strive for…or at least say they strive for. There’s huge value in being recognized as an innovator in an industry, since the idea is that innovation equates to increased profitability. IBM ran an ad a few years back that showed what their view of innovation is: “The point of innovation is to make actual money.” If the money aspect makes you feel uneasy, consider it another way: the point of innovation is to <insert payoff here>. Companies that innovate will be more successful. Non-profits that innovate can better serve their target clients. Governments that innovate can better provide services to their citizens. True innovation is not easy to come by though. As with anything in business, how well an organization will innovate is reliant on the employees it retains, the expectations placed on those employees, and the rewards available to them. In a previous blog post I talked about one formula: Right Employees + Happy Employees = Productive Employees I want to introduce a new one, that builds upon the previous one: Expectations + Rewards = Innovation  The level of innovation your organization will realize is directly associated with the expectations you place on your staff and the rewards you make available to them. Expectations We may feel uncomfortable with the idea of placing expectations on our staff, mainly because expectation has somewhat of a negative or cold connotation to it: “I expect you to act this way or else!” The problem is in the or-else part…we focus on the negative aspects of failing to meet expectations instead of looking at the positive side. “I expect you to act this way because it will produce <insert benefit here>”. Expectations should not be set to punish but instead be set to ensure quality. At a recent conference I spoke with some Microsoft employees who told me that you have five years from starting with the company to reach a “Senior” level. If you don’t, then you’re let go. The expectation Microsoft placed on their staff is that they should be working towards improving themselves, taking more responsibility, and thus ensure that there is a constant level of quality in the workforce. Rewards Let me be clear: a paycheck is not a reward. A paycheck is simply the employer’s responsibility in the employee/employer relationship. A paycheck will never be the key motivator to drive innovation. Offering employees something over and above their required compensation can spur them to greater performance and achievement. Working in the food service industry, this tactic was used again and again: whoever has the highest sales over lunch will receive a free lunch/gift certificate/entry into a draw/etc. There was something to strive for, to try beyond the baseline of what our serving jobs were. It was through this that innovative sales techniques would be tried and honed, with key servers being top sellers time and time again. At a code camp I spoke at, I was amazed to see that all the employees from one company receive $100 Visa gift cards as a thank you for taking time to speak. Again, offering something over and above that can give that extra push for employees. Rewards work. But what about the fairness angle? In the restaurant example I gave, there were servers that would never win the competition. They just weren’t good enough at selling and never seemed to get better. So should those that did work at performing better and produce more sales for the restaurant not get rewarded because those who weren’t working at performing better might get upset? Of course not! Organizations succeed because of their top performers and those that strive to join their ranks. The Expectation/Reward Graph While the Expectations + Rewards = Innovation formula may seem like a simple mathematics formula, there’s much more going under the hood. In fact there are three different outcomes that could occur based on what you put in as values for Expectations and Rewards. Consider the graph below and the descriptions that follow: Disgruntled – High Expectation, Low Reward I worked at a company where the mantra was “Company First, Because We Pay You”. Even today I still hear stories of how this sentiment continues to be perpetuated: They provide you a paycheck and a means to live, therefore you should always put them as your top priority. Of course, this is a huge imbalance in the expectation/reward equation. Why would anyone willingly meet high expectations of availability, workload, deadlines, etc. when there is no reward other than a paycheck to show for it? Remember: paychecks are not rewards! Instead, you see employees be disgruntled which not only affects the level of production but also the level of quality within an organization. It also means that you see higher turnover. Complacent – Low Expectation, Low Reward Complacency is a systemic problem that typically exists throughout all levels of an organization. With no real expectations or rewards, nobody needs to excel. In fact, those that do try to innovate, improve, or introduce new things into the organization might be shunned or pushed out by the rest of the staff who are just doing things the same way they’ve always done it. The bigger issue for the organization with low/low values is that at best they’ll never grow beyond their current size (and may shrink actually), and at worst will cease to exist. Entitled – Low Expectation, High Reward It’s one thing to say you have the best people and reward them as such, but its another thing to actually have the best people and reward them as such. Organizations with Entitled employees are the former: their organization provides them with all types of comforts, benefits, and perks. But there’s no requirement before the rewards are dolled out, and there’s no short-list of who receives the rewards. Everyone in the company is treated the same and is given equal share of the spoils. Entitlement is actually almost identical with Complacency with one notable difference: just try to introduce higher expectations into an entitled organization! Entitled employees have been spoiled for so long that they can’t fathom having rewards taken from them, or having to achieve specific levels of performance before attaining them. Those running the organization also buy in to the Entitled sentiment, feeling that they must persist the same level of comforts to appease their staff…even though the quality of the employee pool may be suspect. Innovative – High Expectation, High Reward Finally we have the Innovative organization which places high expectations but also provides high rewards. This organization gets it: if you truly want the best employees you need to apply equal doses of pressure and praise. Realize that I’m not suggesting crazy overtime or un-realistic working conditions. I do not agree with the “Glengary-Glenross” method of encouragement. But as anyone who follows sports can tell you, the teams that win are the ones where the coaches push their players to be their best; to achieve new levels of performance that they didn’t know they could receive. And the result for the players is more money, fame, and opportunity. It’s in this environment that organizations can focus on innovation – true innovation that builds the business and allows everyone involved to truly benefit. In Closing Organizations love to use the word “Innovation” and its derivatives, but very few actually do innovate. For many, the term has just become another marketing buzzword to lump in with all the other business terms that get overused. But for those organizations that truly get the value of innovation, they will be the ones surging forward while other companies simply fade into the background. And they will be the organizations that expect more from their employees, and give them their just rewards.

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• Updating physics for animated models

  - by Mathias Hölzl

  For a new game we have do set up a scene with a minimum of 30 bone animated models.(shooter) The problem is that the update process for the animated models takes too long. Thats what I do: Each character has ~30 bones and for every update tick the animation gets calculated and every bone fires a event with the new matrix. The physics receives the event with the new matrix and updates the collision shape for that bone. The time that it takes to build the animation isn't that bad (0.2ms for 30 Bones - 6ms for 30 models). But the main problem is that the physic engine (Bullet) uses a diffrent matrix for transformation and so its necessary to convert it. Code for matrix conversion: (~0.005ms) btTransform CLEAR_PHYSICS_API Mat_to_btTransform( Mat mat ) { btMatrix3x3 bulletRotation; btVector3 bulletPosition; XMFLOAT4X4 matData = mat.GetStorage(); // copy rotation matrix for ( int row=0; row<3; ++row ) for ( int column=0; column<3; ++column ) bulletRotation[row][column] = matData.m[column][row]; for ( int column=0; column<3; ++column ) bulletPosition[column] = matData.m[3][column]; return btTransform( bulletRotation, bulletPosition ); } The function for updating the transform(Physic): void CLEAR_PHYSICS_API BulletPhysics::VKinematicMove(Mat mat, ActorId aid) { if ( btRigidBody * const body = FindActorBody( aid ) ) { btTransform tmp = Mat_to_btTransform( mat ); body->setWorldTransform( tmp ); } } The real problem is the function FindActorBody(id): ActorIDToBulletActorMap::const_iterator found = m_actorBodies.find( id ); if ( found != m_actorBodies.end() ) return found->second; All physic actors are stored in m_actorBodies and thats why the updating process takes to long. But I have no idea how I could avoid this. Friendly greedings, Mathias

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• Suitable SDK to develop quick game?

  - by gRnt

  I'm currently undertaking a personal project at home that I need to turn around inside the next few months (which working full time and still learning programming makes it a tad difficult). I'm looking for suggestions on SDK's or tools (preferably free or that come with games, similar to steam tools) that I can use to develop a "game". I'm OK with coding but have no 3D development skills at all. I've very little experience with mod tools or SDK's at all but I'm hoping someone can point me in the direction of one that does the following: A decent library of prefab 3D models to build scenes. Ability to add scripting to the scene I've used Unity before and would prefer to continue to do so however I really have the worst 3D skills imaginable and can't waste time learning them. I'd be looking for pre-fab items that are both industrial and possibly more lush environments (trees etc). If it makes any difference (due to licencing and what-not) I WILL NOT be selling this game or marketing it in any way and I am a University Student if any places do educations licences. Another alternative would be to source free 3d models elsewhere but again while I'm still learning I have no idea where to look if someone could point me in the right direction I'll do the rest of the digging. Thanks

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• Z Order in 2D with orthographic projection and texture atlas

  - by Carbon Crystal

  I am working with a 2D game in OpenGL ES and have a question about z-order together with a texture atlas. I am using an orthographic projection because I want pixel-perfect rendering of 2D sprites, however from what I can determine the draw order is really the only thing that will determine which textures (sprites) appear above or below their neighbors. That is, the "z-index" is a function of the order in which the textures are drawn as opposed to the z coordinate on the vertex array being drawn. So.. I have a texture atlas to save binding multiple textures for each draw call but this immediately creates a problem if there is more than one atlas in play. If I need to draw textures from more than one atlas (typically the case if I have too many sprites to fit in a single atlas of a reasonable size), then I can't maintain a "draw order" across atlases unless I want to bind/unbind the atlas textures more than once.. which kinda defeats the purpose. Does anyone have any clues as to what the best approach is here? Currently I'm running under an assumption that I will have to declare different fixed "depths" (e.g foreground, background etc) in my 2D scene and assume that the z-order for sprites at a given depth is the same. Then I can have as many atlases as I need at each depth and simply draw the depths in order (along with their associated atlases) I'd love to hear what other people are doing.

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• SQL SERVER – SELECT INTO with FileGroup or Partitionis Not Possible

  - by Pinal Dave

  The other day, I received an email from user and after a long time before I answer the question, I had to check the answer online. Here is the question - I want to create a new table based from old table, but when I execute following script it gives me an error. Is there anything I am missing in my syntax? SELECT *  INTO NewTableName ON MyFileGroup FROM MyOldTableName I faintly remember that this was not possible in earlier version of SQL Server but I was not sure if this feature was added in the recent versions or not. I quickly tried few syntaxes and referred online documentation and learned that it is still not possible in the latest version of SQL Server. The alternative is to just go ahead and change the default filegroup of any new table with following script. Though, I do not like change the default filegroup for new tables. It is possible that when I have changed the default filegroup some other code executes behind the scene by automated system or my colleague, it will be also created on new filegroup. ALTER DATABASE DatabaseName MODIFY FILEGROUP NameofFileGroup DEFAULT The reason this feature is not supported is that SELCT INTO is minimally logged operation. I seriously hope that some day in the future this feature get added in. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com)Filed under: SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL Tagged: Filegroup

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• MAAS/JuJu Clarifications

  - by ectoskeleton

  I really love the concept of MAAS underlying an OpenStack implementation, but there are a few questions about MAAS that I am not entirely clear on. Should all hosts be set to network boot at all times or after they have been registered and allocated as a service, should they boot to disk? After juju bootstrap is executed, I turn on the machine that has been allocated (note WoL isn't working, I suspect it's being blocked on the network), the machine boot's up and then juju status executes correct, agent running and all that good stuff. If I 'reboot' the machine (testing power failure/problem whatever), juju status comes back but the agent-state is no longer in running state, and so far I have to destroy the environment and restart. In all cases I have never been able to deploy any services to any of the other nodes. I deploy the service with juju, note which node it was assigned, and then start the system. The system just boots up into a basic node. If I SSH to it I have to enter password, so it's not setting up the ssh key or anything. This is on Ubuntu 12.04.1 LTS systems and HP GL360G7 hosts. The MAAS management server is running as a VM but all on the same network. At this point I am not sure if I am doing something wrong or if there is a problem somewhere else. Is the idea that anytime a host is rebooted it should be rebuilt from the ground up, or is something else going on behind the scene to tell it to boot the local image. If the latter, why doesn't the agent start on a system that has been successfully setup before (juju bootstrapped system)?

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