Written February 28, 2008 and published in Degree Stuff | 1 Comment
I have no idea if you need to have Vizard installed for this to work but I have published my application as an EXE file.
Click here to download and play around with it.
Use the arrow keys to control the ball, press space once to drop the ball, press R to reset everything.
Written February 27, 2008 and published in Degree Stuff | 0 Comments
Finally everything is almost completed for my presentation tomorrow. Actually I have really liked messing around in Vizard the past few days and it seems as though I’m getting the hang of it… all be it in a very clumsy way.
After many IF statements I have finallly managed to get the code to do what I want. Unable to use an ‘if position = x then play this’ line I used collisions and physics to make the ball drop onto the cubes and then use IF statements to change the properties of each cube from white to red and also play a sound.
It works pretty well and I have just about finished the reset function. Turns out I needed to create a function to position all the cubes and turn them white, call it during the script and then call it again when the ‘r’ button is pressed.
Coding was neither a weakness nor a strength but I’m learning, and learning the principles in one can help with aspects in another. So while I have been struggling with my PHP I think it may have inadvertently help me in Vizard.
Anyway, here are some screen shots of the (for lack of a better word) game.
Written February 24, 2008 and published in Degree Stuff | 0 Comments
After not really concentrating on this project for the last month or so since the previous project deadline was set, I have not really progressed as far as I would have liked. There are many things I want to be able to do but I don’t have the time / desire / knowledge to execute them.
So far I have imported my model into Vizard I managed to control of the ball you use to move over the cubes. I followed the move tutorial on the WorldViz but had to change the ‘move’ instruction to ‘translate’ so that it adds a number to its position rather than move it to a specified point each time. So you have free roaming environment.
Next on the list of things to do is get some kind of collision detection going on between cube and ball, then once that has been achieved I can work out how to get the cube to change colour and play a sound.
A few options are available for navigation of this, what I want to do is have a fixed camera position and you control the ball from a bird’s eye position. All I have managed to do so far is create a ‘window’ that looks down on the environment. This is a small updating image located in the top right of the main window.
I wanted to have 3D sound so as you move through the environment playing sounds, they appear to go behind you. Problems with this include no adequate speakers in the 3D projector room and the facet that the control system with the ball would have to change so the camera is a fixed distance behind the ball and translates through the environment accordingly. The sound itself is not complicated as their is a specific tutorial addressing 3D sound.
One more problem I have just realised is that my model of many cubes is interpreted as a single model, so currently I am re-importing a single cube and placing instances of it around the environment.
I may end up just having one cube that does some stuff but not very well… which is not really what I want but lack of anything better may preclude the possibility of a good final presentation.
Written January 28, 2008 and published in Degree Stuff | 0 Comments
I’m really struggling with the Python scripting at the moment. Basically I have no idea where to start, what to do, when or why. The third years said they struggled too but ran out of time so they ended the project and moved on to the next one. I want to do that as I’m not enjoying this project or learning anything from it at the moment. As a new project is starting on Wednesday I fear I will get a VERY low grade for this project.
Written January 17, 2008 and published in Degree Stuff | 0 Comments
Here are some more image renders from 3DS Max including a ball baring to show a character involved in the scene.
Since these images I have been informed that the camera will be the character and moving the camera around will be the only visual interaction with the scene – to the best of my understanding.
A concept I was thinking about incorporating is the ‘Super Monkey Ball’ style of control whereby you move the environment around and the ball moves over it.
Without knowing what is and isn’t possible within the constraints of the programme, its REALLY difficult to come up with viable concepts.
Written January 14, 2008 and published in Degree Stuff | 0 Comments
Get ready for many more pun-laden post titles as a new project begins.
‘Virtual Environments’ sounds like a lot of fun, using the CAVE 3D projector and imagining different ways to use the 3D landscape while trying to incorporate user interaction into the mix too.
I wanted to use sound in my design so I was thinking about ways to make that sound interactive as opposed to just have it louder or quieter depending on where you are within the scene. After a few initial concepts have been discussed, I am going to pursue a cube related theme whereby the user will be in control of a small character who runs and jumps across cubes within a 3D field. When it runs over a surface it lights up and plays a sound.
The options to consider are whether that sound is an instrument, a loop of one instrument or a loop of many. I have also been thinking about using single words so that the user is able to create phrases and sentences or if each surface plays a clip from a speech.
All these things have to be decided on so while I am thinking about those I’m using my new found 3DS Max skills and creating some basic prototypes and visual concepts to help me decided on the scene the cubes will be set / arranged in.
Here are some images of today’s work:
