Monthly Archives: September 2014

Plasmation

Plasmation update 2

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Progress

Straight into it. So far, I’ve managed to get a web server up and running and set up an environment to view the particle simulation.

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So far, so good.

Some things to take note here is that this is heavily based off the Cornstar framework. However, I’ve done some modifications to the framework to make it more modular like moving classes into different files and separating Plasmation-specific functions into their own set of files. The folder structure can be seen here in PHPStorm:

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The benefit of this is that I could use this framework in other project, simply by keeping it in its own repository. If I need up update any of the framework, I can submit it to the database and pull changes straight from that into other projects.

To see the difference, see the Cornstar blog entries and compare.

Milestones

Week Date Assignment item Milestone
1 6 August – –
2 13 August – –
3 20 August – –
4 27 August Submit implementation plan –
5 3 September – 1. Website Foundation completed
6 10 September – –
7 17 September – 2. Demo of workspace completed
8 24 September – –
9 1 October Design documentation due 3. Exporter completed
10 8 October Report due 4. Particle system and graphics finalized
11 15 October – 5. First version launched
12 22 October Test plan / QA documentation due 6. First round of user testing complete
13 29 October – 7. Second version launched
14 5 November – 8. Testing and testing documentation complete
15 12 November Assignment submission date  9. All documentation complete
16 19 November – –
17 25 November – –

 

Changes to specs

After all this I found that my time management was a bit off when the reality was: I’ll be creating a full-on 3D Navier Stokes formulated  particle simulation. This was a bit silly as the final result was going to be 2D anyway, and the initial plan had changed to not include a camera in a 3D world any more. This means I may as well just do a 2D Navier stokes simulation using code from multiple places on the net. 

Finding code for the simulation

After deciding that it’d be easier to do 2D fluid simulations, I went back and looked at some of the simulations that use webGL:

http://haxiomic.github.io/GPU-Fluid-Experiments/html5/

 http://29a.ch/sandbox/2012/fluidwebgl/

http://www.ibiblio.org/e-notes/webgl/gpu/droplet.htm

http://www.cake23.de/traveling-wavefronts-lit-up.html

http://www.ibiblio.org/e-notes/webgl/gpu/fluid.htm

I’ll be looking at these in detail and determine which is best to use for my situation. Most of them were mentioned in my research journal, but only as examples. 

2014 Class Work

I am a professional at Development Methodologies

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Today I plan on planning to do a plan. Well, I’m actually doing the plan.

This will be the milestones for my development methodology report, where I must talk about multiple project management development methodologies before creating an argument about which one to use in a small game company or personal project.

For the project I plan on doing the development methodology for my Software Development 4 project (Echo of Heroes) which will be done by myself, so this will be taken into consideration. The idea will be to choose a good methodology for this project, which should be based off things like avoiding a lot of unnecessary things like time spent documenting that other people would otherwise be looking at in a large team.

Here’s the milestones:

WEEK DATE ASSIGNMENT ITEM MILESTONE
4 28 August – Find research.
5 4 September – Intro, template and fill text.
6 11 September – Waterfall, template, abstract (intro sections).
7 18 September – Spiral, Scrum, comparison sections.
8 25 September – TDD, RAD, comparison sections..
9 2 October – Incremental funding method, Feature driven development, comparison sections.
10 9 October Initial report due Conclusion, comparison sections, and clean up. Hand in.
11 16 October – Intro and plan for chosen development methodology.
12 23 October – 1/3rd of case study sections.
13 30 October – 2/3rd of case study sections.
14 6 November – 3/3rd of case study sections. 
15 13 November – Conclusion and abstract. Finalise.
16 20 November Final report due Proof read and hand in. Buffer.

 

As these are based off what looks like a draft of the development methodology assignment outcomes, I can’t say they are the actual assignment due dated. But There’s no hurt having them earlier than usual.

2014 Class Work, Echo of Heroes

New Myo project

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Greetings. When you last saw me, I was playing with the MYO gesture control device in an old C++ project. It seemed pretty responsive and because I have the device and haven’t done much with it, I’m going to be using it in another project this year.

An audio game

For this project, I will be attempting to make a game where you can play on your mobile device with audio feedback only (maybe MYO vibrations too). Basically, no visuals.

The idea of the project is to create a prototype and write a report about the findings of creating the game and whether the MYO can be used to engage the user without visual feedback.

Measuring engagement

The hard part of this project would be to measure the engagement of the users. After some research, there are many ways that this can be done, and there are many people that study this type of thing. I believe after enough research, I can figure out a good method of achieving engagement in the game users.

Other motion capturing hardware

In the report I will be comparing different human motion capturing devices such as the Nintendo Wii, Xbox Kinekt, Razer Hydra, and an upcoming product called the Perception Neuron. However, most of these don’t have the required specificatios needed for a game like the one proposed. The Perception Neuron, for example, uses wifi to connect to a PC that does the game simulation, rather than bluetooth which is what the MYO uses.

Other audio games

There are a couiple of audio-only games that spring to mind. One in particular is Papa Sandgre and Papa Sangre II by game company “Somethin’ Else“, where you play a game without visuals to hear the direction you are facing and various enemies. Another audio game is “Zombies: Run!” and “Zombies 5k”. These both engage the audience using a story told through audio, plus getting the player to do certain activities like leg raises or sprinting from a group of zombies. In Zombies, Run!, they also include a base that you can build up by adding resources they they collected during the jog.

Schedule

As always, I want to make due dates for certain sections of this project. Below is a matrix of milestones.

Week Date Assignment item Milestone
1 6 August – –
2 13 August – –
3 20 August – –
4 27 August – Report intro, abstract and formatting complete.
5 3 September – Myo gestures and movements implemented.
6 10 September – Research on gesture devices and audio games complete and drafted in report.
7 17 September – Mobile version working to test with, including sound effects. 1 boss fight.
8 24 September – App tested with users and findings added to report.
9 1 October – Draft of report done – more testing completed if necessary. No more adding to report – polish only.
10 8 October Report due Report completed and submitted.
11 15 October –  
12 22 October –  
13 29 October –  
14 5 November Working prototype due Working prototype complete and submitted.
15 12 November –  
16 19 November – Draft presentation complete – prototype polished for presentation.
17 25 November Presentation day Final presentation complete and presented.

 

Testing

Testing will involve users playing the game and seeing how it feels. They will be asked a survey with questions similar to the following:

  • How much does the Myo enhance the game experience? (-3 to +3, where 0 is no enhancement or you would have just as much fun touching the screen, -3 is that the Myo makes it worse, or 3 where the Myo definitely creates a fun experience)
  • Would this game enhance your exercise routine if it incorporated GPS and jogging to a location?
  • How likely are you to play the game out in the open where people could see you? (-3 to 3 where 0 is neutral, 3 is very likely or don’t care, and -3 is shy and would play it at home, maybe using a treadmill.
  • How effective are the audio queues at providing proper feedback about the game world. (-3 to 3) : -3 makes it worse, 0 is neutral, 3 is makes it more fun and easier so you don’t have to look at the screen. 
  • How responsive is the Myo device at getting your arm’s orientation? (-3 – 3)
  • How responsive is the Myo device at getting the correct gestures (spread hands, fist, etc.)?
  • Anything that didn’t feel quite right?
  • Any notes that would help improve the game?
  • What was the most fun thing about the game?
  • What was the least fun thing about the game?
  • Would you buy a Myo if there were more games like this one?

 I will be adding more as the game develops, but as of now, these will be a good start at getting my report done.