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“Bloxx” compiles natively on both Win32 and MacOS (Code::Blocks project file included), provides a Window (thanks SDL), and render-context. It also allows and has example hooks for using post-OpenGL 1.1 extensions (VBO example included) across both platforms. Enjoy! It can be checked out from the repo here on Superluser.net.

I like the nomenclature of “dataporn” but I feel like to use it properly we’ll have to make a very strong case, because “porn” and “data” are such seriously loaded (and potentially mis-understood) concepts. Are we interested in data to generate porn via 3d reconstruction for use in a similar manner to “Poser porn” or Second Life avatars designed for sexual activities, data that is porn generated by legit fucking in front of the Deltasphere, or a data-set that is pornographic in that the result is an obscene ammount of information? I’m not entirely sure the result can engage all of these simultaneously without very careful consideration, just due to the mechanics of each approach. (more…)

Q2DM1 is the name of the first of a series of “deathmatch” environments for the 1996 game Quake2 by id Software. At the time Quake2 was released real-time rendering technology on home computers wasn’t advanced enough to display much environmental detail. As a result, many games chose to simplify the architectural detail of the game environments to maintain a high frame-rate for more responsive player interaction. This was especially true of games where the game-play included direct competition between players. One of the most popular competitive computer game genres was (and continues to be) deathmatch, in which two or more players complete head-to-head or in teams. (more…)

The MMMO MVP library V0.2.5 has been released, it’s available in the repo here.

V0.2.5. includes minor fixes to the MVP library and the addition of a Win32 application example.

The 0.1.0 release includes a stable version of the MVP library only. A working Win32 application example and initial documentation is forthcoming.

The 0.1.0 release is available in the repo here.
The application example under development (adapted from an earlier version of the MVP library) is available in the trunk.

Following the initial Win32 application example, work will commence on a separate library for Distributed Hash Table-based networking.

Trust no oneDeep Throat, The X-Files

“Security” for network communication can basically (at least for our purposes here) be split into two distinct paradigms: Secrecy and verification. Secrecy entails encoding a message for transmission such that if the message were to be intercepted by a third party it would appear to be unreadable; The canonical example is the ROT13 “substitution” cipher. Verification is the process by which the contents of a message can be reliably determined to have not been modified in transmission (for example via a Man-in-the-Middle attack); The most common form of cryptographic verification is the Digital Signature. Digital Signatures are also an example of one type of “Asymmetric Cryptography” in which one of the primary benefits (usually at the expense of speed) is the ability to freely publish one-half of the complete cipher (hence the term “Public Key” cryptography). (more…)

As described here. Now in YouTube form! 2-1.mov (click me!).

Here it is installed at UCSD Open Studios 2009! (click me too!). Here’s the statement that accompanies it:

First in a series of video installations that attempts to break down the narrative style of popular contemporary and classic games. As narrative devices in popular games have moved from story and player-driven narratives toward “open world” designs, it has exposed the current state of artificial life (the computer controlled players, animals, etc) as extremely rudimentary. This was not nearly as obvious in classic games, for instance in Super Mario Bros., as time in these games generally moves forward as the player-avatar (Mario in this case) progresses in space from left-to-right. That is, enemies that are some screens ahead of the player don’t yet exist as the entire world is instantiated by the actions of the player.

As an attempt to explore the notion that the world exists as at the pleasure of the player-avatar, and critique the current state of alife in contemporary games, I have created a narrative that focuses not on Mario, but instead on a lone “Goomba” in world 2-1 of Super Mario Bros. 2-1.avi makes use of a “tool assisted speed run” (a complete play-through of the game assisted by software tools), created by “kimz”, as Mario’s movement through the game world from start to completion in 5:20.

On Wed, Mar 11, 2009 at 10:30 PM, Jeremy Douglass wrote:

You are looking for “tool assisted speedruns” like TASvideos.org. Let me know if that helps. I’m interested to hear what you are doing with the files!

– Jeremy

On Mar 12, 2009, at 10:25, Christopher Head wrote:

I’d like to do a short series of video installations that break down the narrative in popular classic games. I’ve been thinking a lot about story, especially time (that’s why I was so particularly stoked about that iPhone game you showed me!), in the context of player-driven narratives. So in Mario, for instance, time in the game moves forward as Mario progresses in space from left-to-right. That is, enemies that are some screens ahead don’t yet “exist” since the entire world is generated by the actions of the player.

The videos will each be a single screen from a game, somewhere in the middle of the “world”, that is continually active (i.e. Goombas walking back and forth, etc), until the player reaches and passes that point in the game. After the player passes the screen in question, the video will continue, focused on that one particular screen, until the games is over (as is determined by the playback of the game via emulator, so probably the completion of the game). Effectively as a looping video, you will see a single screen for some minutes, Mario rush by, stomp a Goomba, then continual focus on the particular screen while the game finishes outside the frame of the video.

Kinda silly, but maybe fun

chris

I’ve been working, hoping to get a test done for UCSD Open Studios 2009!