July 1, 2009

Modo 401 has been released, and unlike most 3D software it’s making me want to visit an old model again.  Bertha was originally built for a game pitch that sadly never saw the light of day, so she was never finished.  I own the rights to the model and decided to finish her.  While I’m at it I’ll make some design changes too.  Time to get out the pencils and start noodling.
May 26, 2009

Too busy for blogs.

These blogs are a great idea, but keeping them up to date is time intensive. I have no time so will be brief. I’m working on a set of training materials to teach 3D to college students and am actively seeking a writer for journalistic collaborations. Next iPhone release will not be under my name as to be honest I’ve done bugger all work on it, but a big game is in the early stages. Think Tim Burton on Acid meets an alien race and you’ll be close.

That’s all for now, be good.

May 14, 2009

FingerPuk V1 Now Out!

Head over to the Apple App Store and search for FingerPuk to download (for free) version 1 of this incredibly simple but rather addictive iPhone/iPod Touch game.  I’ll post a direct link when I figure out how. ;)

http://linktoapp.com/FingerPuk <—  Here is a direct download link.

April 29, 2009
A quick look at the graphics.  It&#8217;s worth noting these are not the final paddles, I&#8217;ll upload the final screen capture later.
A quick look at the graphics.  It’s worth noting these are not the final paddles, I’ll upload the final screen capture later.
This is the splash screen for the first iPhone game I&#8217;ve had a hand in making, it was built with my good friend Dan.  From downloading the SDK to having the finished item took us about 12 hours.  True, it&#8217;s the not best game, but it&#8217;s not bad.
This is the splash screen for the first iPhone game I’ve had a hand in making, it was built with my good friend Dan.  From downloading the SDK to having the finished item took us about 12 hours.  True, it’s the not best game, but it’s not bad.
April 27, 2009

Where have I been?

Hello.  Wow, been a few weeks since I posted here last.  A few things have changed, work has changed in that the main OS I was working on has become more of a collection of tools which run on very specific hardware, making it easier to code.  I’ve updated my website (www.andrewlarking.co.uk) and I’m now officially an iPhone developer, woohoo.  The first game should be up in a couple of days, a very simple Pong clone built just to see how Objective-C works and test out the publishing system on the App Store.  The next game is in development now.

I’m getting back into photography again, this time a little more seriously.  I plan to exhibit soon so am working on that, some very exciting stuff to talk about in later posts.  For now though I just wanted to put something up, no matter how small, just to say hello.

March 22, 2009

Initial Findings

After trying the Mix 09 Preview of Blend 3 for 10 minutes (it’s Sunday, that’s all I’m prepared to give it) it looks like a triumphant success for the Blend team. Intellisense is present and correct, the interface is much quicker (could be faster though), the annoying little bugs with trying to select the little arrows has been corrected, and you can import from Illustrator. The annoying tab advance bug has gone too, and you can save animations styles (tweens if you come from Flash), meaning it’ll be easy to build up a library of easy to apply motions such as bounce, quint etc.

So well done to the Blend team.

Expression Blend 3 Preview

The preview version of Blend 3 is now available for download:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=a04aa0ae-87be-4201-a65e-e792859122fc&displaylang=en

The new features list is here:

http://www.microsoft.com/expression/features/Default.aspx?key=blend3preview

Here’s hoping the have fixed the bugs and introduced a decent tweening engine via code (see previous post).

March 21, 2009

gTween and TweenMax combine.

I’ve just heard the announcement that gTween and TweenMax have combined into an all new TweenMax release, version 11. It looks fantastic, and exactly what Microsoft need to bring more people over to WPF and Silverlight. Check out the Green Sock site for details.
March 1, 2009
WPF Transition Helper App

Directly from the site, as they can say it better than I…

“WTF provides easy XAML based access to over 8 most basic and useful transitions including blur, fade, slide, and zoom. WTF is fully compatible with any WPF control - including custom and 3rd party controls. You can use unlimited WTFs in your app - and you get complete controls on the transitions whether they’re timed or triggered. Oh, and WTF is free!!
”