Barts News

SketchUp your desk

2009-12-16T01:00:00.006+02:00

At some point this year I have decided that I will be staying in my current place for a while, as opposed to a rather nomadic life I had been living for a couple years before. What followed was the simple constatation that I needed a proper working space. While I had a banana-shaped desk bought for pennies from some company sell-out of used furniture, the fragment of which you can see in the photo below, I wanted something more.

I wanted to have an organised space for all my working needs, with a set of most often used books, my computer and its accessories placed within reach, as well as some storage space for the numerous papers and various other paraphernalia - all neatly composed and aesthetically pleasing. Having read an article on Lifehacker on using Google SketchUp for modeling one's home some time earlier, I decided to use it for the purpose of design and spatial planning. The program itself turned out to be extremely simple and user-friendly and my vision materialized itself in a form that can be observed in the screenshot below.

Having the preliminary design in hand, I have called local companies making customized furniture. I am not very skilled at DIY projects and I wanted it to be done nicely and, if possible, quickly, both of which would probable not be the case if I were to do it myself.

Out of three companies I contacted, I chose the folks that were not late for the initial meeting. Not surprisingly, they also sounded the most professional when we chatted about the project - they have measured all the nooks and crannies of the corner where my desk and cupboards would be placed and presented me with a rough order of magnitude pricing. They have also suggested some changes, such as not using roller blinds due to the cost of this solution, as well as altering the shape of the table top to make it more usable and not obstruct access to upper parts .

As a result of the discussion, I have sat down and made changes to the project. Funnily enough, I didn't have problem with resigning from some of the features I have initially designed. The experience of having worked with iterative software development made it natural for me to acknowledge that the process would be an iterative one. So, having introduced the changes, we have met once again for the final preparation, after which the gentlemen left with specifications, ordered appropriate parts and a few days later spent a couple of hours assembling them together, the result of which can be seen in the photo below.

I have added a corkboard on the wall behind the monitor, because I find it incredibly useful to be able to pin something up, either in order not to forget it (katakana and hiragana charts for my JLPT exam) or simply because it is pleasing to the eye (a postcard from Japan with three pretty ladies wearing skimpy Santa costumes). As for the one hundred computer cables, I have used some of the advice from numerous Lifehacker posts on cable managment and wrapped them together with small pieces of wire. My old laser printer found its shelter on the upper shelf, and it fits there perfectly. The smallish desk space on the left can be used for stacking books on the "to read" list, as well as for putting down a drink when sitting on the sofa.

I am really happy with how it turned out. Instead of using standard desk and cupboards, I now have custom-tailored workspace that is exactly how I wanted it to be: pretty, efficient and neat. What's more, the pleasure of designing the furniture and working place layout from the scratch was truly immense. Of course, I am now thinking about some upgrades, but nevertheless the overall outcome is very satisfying.

Unity3D goes free!

2009-12-15T13:01:00.001+02:00

This one is going to be short: there is a game engine and development tool Unity. It runs on Windows and MacOSX, allowing to create games for different systems, including consoles and iPhone. I have first heard about it on the occasion of Game Design Challenge on Lost Garden. Then, some time later, I have seen two attention-worthy games created in Unity, namely Blush and Minotaur China Shop.

Before I had the occasion to play with the tool myself (always some excuses, first it was Mac only, then I was busy and so on), Unity has actually been released for free, at least in its more basic Indie version. Still, more basic version is powerful tool of a professional caliber that can be used to create wonders.

If you, dear reader, would like to get your feet wet in game creation, there is nothing stopping you from downloading Unity and making your own awesome game. There even are some tutorials to help you with the basics available here. Personally, I find it very cool that there are so many tools and platforms available for wannabe game creators and folks behind Unity have scored a couple of points in my book.

Yet another free track from Ugress

2009-12-14T01:15:00.001+02:00

Just about a month ago Gisle Martens Meyer, one of my favourite chiptune musicians, released a cool free track, and now he's done it again! This time it 8bit remix of a classic theme from a French cartoon from the eighties called Les Mondes Engloutis, which I have known as "Shagma or the lost worlds". This Wiki note will give you more information, but for many people of my age this was a cult series. I myself have cried when it ended.

You can listen to the track and download it here, and frankly, you should. The original version can be found on YouTube and I am now off to watch it and shed a tear of nostalgy. Thanks, Gisle!

Good night, sweet princess.

2009-12-11T01:00:00.000+02:00

Remembered how I was being cautiously optimistic about new Beyond Good & Evil game? As it turns out, it is good that I was not exaggerating with my expectations, because the game got cancelled.

Real life Jade by jmk1999

You might be somewhat surprised, but I am not that sad. I really was afraid they were going to butcher the franchise even beyond what was done to the first part. So while I would be happy to see some more Jade (especially in the more realistic tone, hence the image above) and uncle Pey'J, I am not that worried I won't. Some things are better left as they were, because all the attempts of revival can only tarnish the idolized image we hold in our hearts.

Nevertheless, be sure to click the link and see the city parcour by Jade - it looks spectacular.

[ via RockPaperShotgun ]

Today I Die... or then again, Maybe Not

2009-12-10T01:31:00.003+02:00

I have stated many times before that I don't like to take sides in the whole "games as art" discussion. Every now and then, though, there comes a game that I can't qualify as anything less than art. This is the case of Today I Die, indie game by Daniel Benmergui. I have played it just recently, having missed it when IndieGames wrote about it, and I like it a lot. It is a little jewel, thing of beauty that actually stirs emotion in me - and that's something.

It is actually hard to qualify Today I Die as a computer game in the traditional sense, as it sits somewhere between dreamy visual poem, retro point'n'click adventure and a piece interactive fiction. I can't even describe how to play it, lest I spoil the joy of discovery for you, but it is totally worth to give it a try. Similarly to recently reviewed Small Worlds, the whole gameplay (as much as I shudder to use the term in this context) will take about ten minutes of your time, perhaps less if you are smart, so even if you don't feel like it's your cup of tea, trust me and give it a go.

As an experiment, I sat my girlfriend down in front of the computer and told her to play Today I Die without any additional explanation. After a while she figured it out, solved the few puzzles and completed the experience. Oddly enough, she has reached the other ending than I did. She did enjoy it and said it touched her a bit, although she was a bit lost as to the interpretation.

What is it all about then? Hard to say, really, but for me Today I Die is about digging oneself out from the bottom of dark waters that is depression, about changing our life by manipulating the words we use to describe ourselves and the world around us, thus changing the way we think about it, and about eventually becoming at peace with oneself and (possibly) others as a result.

Sounds strange? To some extent it might, because, as I have written, Today I Die is both not easy to classify and open to interpretation. You might agree, you might disagree and your discoveries might turn out different. But the fact that it manages to evoke emotions in me and makes me ponder about its meaning (even for a short while) means that it deserves to be called art.

Play Today I Die here and here you can read some feedback from the author - it includes a fanart and a wallpaper, the small version of which I allowed myself to use above in order to illustrate this post. Also, be sure to let me know what you think via comments!

Status update

2009-12-09T01:00:00.002+02:00

Just a brief note to let you know that the blog is not dead yet. It just so happens that my other activities required significantly more time than they normally do. Trying to pass JLPT was just one of them, one of others included trying to break into gaming industry (something I have always wanted to do). All in all, very time consuming and while most of them are either completed or on hold, I also need to sleep sometimes. Fear not, though, new posts are on their way.

Image courtesy of Threadless.

In other news, there are some changes around the corner. One category of posts that has been absent for quite some time will now vanish completely with the final post on the subject (some readers might already suspect what it is). There will be a new category making appearance (this one is somewhat unexpected). Website will undergo a face lift and I am seriously considering a major change in blog insides as well, which, unsurprisingly, will require more time. Ahem. You might also have noticed that I have closed the option to comment anonymously due to overwhelming amount of spam in comments.

So, stay tuned and I promise there will be new posts before Christmas and other new things in the beginning of 2010!

Canabalt III: the Return of Canabalt

2009-11-18T01:06:00.007+02:00

I loved Canabalt, MRW aka Michio loved Canabalt, everyone loved Canabalt. So no wonder that I am writing yet another post on the game, especially since I've got some juicy bits to bring you.

First of all, if you haven't got an iPhone and happen to go offline from time to time, haven't you ever wished that Canabalt was portable? As in, you could download it, put it on your netbook and play on the plane when you have no internet access? If so, then your wish has just been granted, since there is a portable version of Canabalt available for download here. And if you actually do own an iPhone, then don't be a greedy bastard, go buy the damn game from AppStore. Go on. Do it now.

Secondly, if you would like to know more about how Canabalt was created, how the development process was going and how the final result came to life in its final form, please read this interview with Adam Saltsman and have a look at his early design sketches available here. These two links constitute an excellent post-mortem and are truly invaluable insight for anyone trying to get their feet wet in game development.

Thirdly, while we are speaking of great resources for game makers, wouldn't it be cool to have access to the framework that Adam used for making Canabalt and his other games? Guess what, Adam has made it publicly available for no charge at all! It is called Flixel and can be downloaded from flixel.org (additional information can be found here). If you are not sure how to even approach Flash / Flex / ActionScript programming, this post of mine might be of help. So now you have no excuse not to make your dream game, as the very same code that makes Canabalt work lies at your feet.

Incidentally, it also means that I have no excuse either, which could be a bad thing or a good thing, depending on how you look at it.

Two free music tracks

2009-11-17T01:09:00.003+02:00

The title says it all, really - there are two cool music tracks that have surfaced recently and can be downloaded for free and both of them are worth it.

The first track is a remix of a music motive coming from Aquaria, the game that I have already mentioned on this blog in 2007. It is hosted on OverClocked Remix site and on the download page you can read more about it. It coincides with the release of Aquaria soundtrack, a fragment of which can be grabbed here. [ found via IndieGames ]

The second track was released for free by Gisle Martens Meyer to, quote, celebrate the monthly Ugress concert series, unquote. If the name rings the bell, it is probably because I have written a post on Barts News about this spectacularly-awesome-one-man-chiptune-orchestra phenomenon. Needless to say I totally dig his music (well, most of it, but still), even more due to the fact that he has put good part of it online for free.

Download and listen to these tracks, you won't be disappointed.

The OTHER Lionheart

2009-11-15T01:44:00.000+02:00

Chances are that Lionheart means to you either a crappy movie with Jean-Claude Van Damme or almost equally crappy computer game, subtitled Legacy of Crusader. But other than those two, Lionheart was also the Amiga game and it was definitely less crappy, even legendary for some.

Allow me to quote equally nostalgic gentleman from Hexus forum, appropriately nicked retroborg:

The game had some of the most stunning looking Heroic Fantasy levels, which I had only read about in novels like Conan, Elrik, Lords of The Rings, Dungeons & Dragons, etc…
The Wastelands, the swamps, the spider infested caves, the forgotten city, the fiery caverns, the gravity defying citadel and especially the last Sorcerer Boss fight, were all some of the coolest and most memorable gaming moments.

Yes, at the time this game truly was something. The bombastic music, beautiful intro screens, high colour scrolling backgrounds, fantasy ambiance - it definitely was impressive. Just a couple years back it was released for free by its authors and could be downloaded and played legally. Unfortunately, their website disappeared and so did the game. It wasn't until recently that I've learned that there exists a relatively faithful remake.

Lionheart remake was made by an anonymous student from the University of Bordeaux and can be downloaded free of charge here (choose the Enhanced version, the newest one). It resurrects the game quite faithfully, at least as much as I can recall, having played the original some fifteen years ago. As it follows, the remake is hard and demanding, jump mechanics rough to say the least and graphics, well, dated. Fortunately, the music score is as bombastic as ever!

Still, accusing a remake of having dated graphics kind of goes against the whole idea of a remake and this particular one does fully deliver - playing Lionheart feels the same as playing the original, which is generally what one would expect. Thanks to this new version, some of us will be able to revisit it again. If reminiscing Lionheart makes you all misty-eyed or if you are a die-hard retro fan, this is a game for you. If not, then you probably won't get too excited - but frankly, if you were not somewhat retro-inclined, you wouldn't be getting as far through this post, now, would you?

So now just go and play it, for the sake of good old times.

God of War PS2/PS3 compared

2009-11-11T12:21:00.004+02:00

Remember the post in which I was getting excited over the port of God of War to Playstation 3? Such transition of course stems questions as to the quality of porting. Fortunately, it seems like the nice folks at Bitmob have been kind enough to bring us the graphical comparison of PS2 versus PS3 versions.

PS2 version on the left, PS3 on the right

Find more here (GoW 1) and here (GoW 2). My opinion is similar to what I feel when I see an old PC game played at much higher resolution than it initially was intended to: low resolution and aliasing actually hide graphical limitations, such as low textures and blocky models, higher resolutions only highlight these problems and make them stand out more. As a result game's presentation starts to slide dangerously down the uncanny valley. But maybe that's just me.

Also, I will definitely get God of War Collection for Playstation 3, should I ever buy the console.

[ via Kotaku ]

Learning setup for JLPT exam

2009-11-06T01:40:00.003+02:00

I already wrote about small programs useful for Japanese learning and another one on spaced repetition software, as well as one about PSPKanji. I reckoned that it would be interesting to share the news about this particular software that is not necessarily known by everyone. However, these posts were also written on the spot, which means that they did not have long testing time behind them. After learning Japanese for about three years now and using computer software to enhance the process much more extensively than before, I would like to tackle the subject again.

In exactly one month from now I will be writing my Japanese Language Proficiency Test level 3, also known as Nihongo Noryoku Shiken. I have prepared my learning aids all around me and now I am going to share my setup with you. I do not claim that it is the best possible configuration ever, but it works great for me and I have not seen the detailed description of such combination anywhere else, hence the idea to share it with the world. So here we go!

ANKI

The most important program in my computer-enhanced studying process is undoubtedly Anki, the spaced repetition software. If you are unsure what the term means, just click on the link and read more on Wiki, but in short this means that the program will adapt the frequency of cards it displays to how well the user remembered them.

I know that long time ago I have written that I prefer Mnemosyne to Anki, but over time the latter has become my weapon of choice. My previous favourite turned out quite annoying in prolonged use due to the fact that there are too many buttons to classify how well user remembered kanji, irritating bug which caused the labels on these buttons to be displayed incorrectly, as well as a number of other minor annoyances (read this post for more on the subject). Also, my impression is that Anki was constantly developing, while Mnemosyne was standing still.

In short, I use Anki because it is reasonably easy to pick up and use for a normal non-geek person, yet at the same time very configurable, bug-free, stable and well supported. Anki is available for Window, Mac OSX and various Linux distributions. Other than that, it is also pretty, which is definitely a good thing - I don't like ugly interfaces.

Of course, Anki is only as good as the deck it is using. The deck means the collection of cards, the question and answer pairs. Many people recommend making one's own deck when studying, but while it is a good habit, it also requires considerably more effort and therefore can be discouraging for some lazier users. I have actually prepared my own deck in the course of learning, because I was looking for some things I could not find in other decks available on the internet (I will share them at some point, but the are a little bit too messy to go public just yet), but in the beginning I was using pre-made decks. Yes, I am a lazy bastard deep inside.

For JLPT 4 and 3 I highly recommend the decks from Transmogrified website - they are infinitely better than the decks available for download on Anki page and I actually consider them to be the best around. At least until my deck goes live, that is.

We've exchanged emails with the author and here's what he has to say on the installation procedure:

I've corrected the two issues you mentioned in your email, so
downloads should work correctly now. You may want to let your readers
know that they may experience problems if they don't have the latest
version of Anki (9.9.8.5). I made these decks on a little older
version of Anki and the application version in the Ubuntu repositories
appears to have trouble with some of them. 9.9.8.5 can convert them
correctly, however.

Hence, the bottom line is that you should use the newest possible Anki version and import the decks in order to have them working fine. Also, let me remind you that thanking the author for his hard work is generally a nice way of showing appreciation.

With Anki ready to use, now it's the time to introduce the second great tool that I use almost daily, namely Wakan.

WAKAN

I have wasted quite some time searching on the torrent sites for a good Japanese dictionary software and couldn't find any. Then I just slapped myself and looked for a legal and preferably free option. As it turns out, there exists an excellent, yet almost unknown and therefore much underappreciated piece of software that is both a dictionary and ideogram database: Wakan.

Wakan can in fact be used with both Chinese hanzi and Japanese kanji characters, but obviously I have used it only for my Japanese study. I mostly use it as a dictionary, but the fact that there are premade sets of kanjis for different JLPT levels (and other classifications) or that it also has a very powerful tool for searching kanjis based on radicals go to prove that there are many ways in which Wakan can be used. For me, however, its main advantage is that Wakan is infinitely faster than searching for kanji in a regular book dictionary.

Its only downside is that, unfortunately, sometimes it does not recognize the copy-pasted kanji, even though it does in fact exist in Wakan's dictionary (but it happens rather rarely). Also, it is only available for Windows, but I have had no problems running it via Wine on Linux and I suppose that it should not be hard to convince it to run on Mac OSX as well.

I recommend to download the full Wakan file from the download section (last version as of writing this post is 1.67), then replace the edict dictionary file with the latest version (edict_dic_080320 from 20 March 2008) and add JLPT Levels 4, 3 and 2 Vocabulary files, as well as Japanese Example Sentences file. In order to find the last two files you will need scroll down to Japanese Vocabulary files section that strangely enough is separate from Japanese dictionaries section. I am unsure as to why Japanese has been split into two sections (with Chinese dictionaries in-between!) and it does not seem very logical to me, but the authors have decided to have it that way.

If you follow the above steps, your Wakan will use the up to date dictionary and highlight the words that are officially marked as required JLPT vocabulary (so that you know exactly which ones are important for your particular exam level). It will also present sample sentences containing characters that you were looking for and while these sample sentences may seem very difficult to read at first, even to the point of being intimidating for a beginner, the practice they provide will certainly prove very valuable over time.

Also worth noting is the synergy effect that stems from using Anki in conjunction with Wakan - user can almost instantly check what some particular kanji from a multi-character expression means, something that is not feasible with just Anki. It is a very effective learning enhancement, especially in cases where you have the impression that you already know some kanji from elsewhere, but can't quite recall it and would like to check it immediately on the spot. The sense of achievement flowing from finding it out significantly boosts the chances to remember the character in question.

LEARN KANA

I have to admit that I am very quickly fogetting both kanji and kana. It can be attributed to me getting older, not having daily contact with written Japanese other than single lesson per week or perhaps to overall difficulty in memorizing abstract graphic symbols. Aspiring to any JLPT examination, however, one should have a perfect proficiency in kana - and I still tend to forget some of them, especially less often used katakana. Here comes the solution.

While Anki can be used to practise kana as well, I prefer a separate program instead of juggling many decks. It is just my personal quirk. The program I use is LearnKana - there actually are two programs bearing the same name, the one I have in mind is this one, not this one. Not much can be said about it, as it is a rather simple tool - but its simplicity is one of its main advantages, it means that there's nothing to distract you from just taking it and using it from the very beginning. It is a simple, quick and somewhat rough around the edges solution for kana memorization. I mention it here, because I think it deserves it place in the suite.

MOBILE

The aforementioned trio is the main powerhorse of my accelerated learning process, but there are also mobile platforms to take advantage of when learning. I won't describe these programs in as much detail as the previous ones, because A) this post is already reaching gargantuan size and B) they are simpler applications. Nevertheless, they are quite useful in prodding memory banks with a stick when away from the computer.

The program that I most often use when on the go is Kanji Recall, a kanji quiz written in Java for mobile phones. From what I know, it is not using spaced repetition algorithms, which makes it a little less sophisticated than Anki and co. It is, however, very convenient for repeating kanji when on the bus, waiting at the queue and so on, mainly because one always has their mobile phone on them. Simple, neat and free - excellent combination (I have found a number of paid programs, but having tested them I don't think they are any better than Kanji Recall). For JLPT 4 you will need First Grade and for JLPT 3 - Second Grade. I will not provide you with a download link, because the numerous websites with Java programs are coming and going and it might become invalid at some point in future, but if you google the program name, you will surely find it.

The second program that can be used for kanji and kana quizzes is PSPKanji. With a good number of options, XML lists and nice interface, it is an interesting alternative for studying on the go. Its disadvantage, however, is that it requires a hacked PSP with Custom Firmware, which makes it userbase significantly more limited than Kanji Recall and while there exists a PC version, it is inferior to Anki and Wakan. You can find more about PSPKanji in this post.

The third solution is not only portable and mobile, but also does not require electricity: kanji flashcards. Mine are from White Rabbit Press, namely this set: Japanese Kanji Flashcards, Volume 1 (warning: this is an affiliate link). They are inexpensive, durable (I've carried them around in my backpack for years now and it doesn't show), contain stroke order and sample kanji use, plus they are geared towards JLPT - the volume 1 set contains kanji cards for Level 3 and Level 4. I like having them around for times when I can't look at computer screen any longer and for making my own custom lists.

So there you have it - five applications and a traditional deck of flashcards are what make my studying setup. It was first testing it when preparing for JLPT 4, but it is just now, on the verge of passing JLPT 3, that the true strength of such combination is beginning to show - the number of kanji and vocabulary to memorize is three times as large as at the previous level. The exam in December will verify both my skills and usefulness of this setup, yet I am confident it is a good choice of programs to boost your learning curve, which is why I am sharing this with you.

If you find this post useful, please let me know via comments.

Shoot the evil Wizard from Venus!

2009-11-03T15:23:00.010+02:00

Yet another small and free indie gem: Star Guard. A very classical run'n'gun shooter presented in 8 bit aesthetic, available for Windows and MacOSX (nice!), can be downloaded from here. The gameplay is very smooth and addictive, the graphics are in lovely black and green (with a bit of blood red mixed in), the sounds are also very retro. Not much more can really be said about it, so just trust me that it's pretty cool and go play it. Below you can find the speed run, if you are still not convinced:

[ Via IndieGames ]

Small Revelation

2009-11-01T16:02:00.002+02:00

I don't normally take part in the whole "games as art" discussion. I consider games to be just a medium like others, in a sense that 90% are crap, 9% are good and the remaining 1% is great. The strength of the medium lies in the fact that it is interactive, hence allowing for alternate stories, endings and more involvement on the part of its consumer, the weakness being that it is generally considered as flashy entertainment for socially inept morons.

Every now and then, however, there arrives a title that proves otherwise and the game I would like to present today is exactly such a title. As much as I shudder to write it, it is a perfect example of art in game form.

Conceived as an entry to for Casual Gameplay Design Competition, the theme of which was "exploration", Small Worlds conveys the story and the ambiance via simple exploration. In this game there are no threats to the player, such as enemies or hazards, there is just player and the level. As player progresses, the camera pans out and shows the bigger picture of their surroundings. Similarly, as the story progresses, the player gains more insight into what is happening.

Having reached the ending, I was looking for some explanations of the story over the internet and have found some interesting ideas in the comments on Reddit (much to my surprise, to be honest). Turns out it is really hard to tell with absolute certainty what has happened in the story - it is somewhat ambiguous and open for interpretation. The mood it conveys, however, is truly spectacular, amplified by excellent music tracks that enhance the experience. I was swept away by the feelings of melancholia, loneliness and nostalgia, as I was unfolding the layers of the game.

If you are stuck or otherwise too lazy to complete the game, the video walktrough can be found here - unfortunately it misses on couple of elements of the puzzle that (in my opinion) are important to the story. Therefore, try to finish the game on your own for a complete and unique experience.

I highly recommend playing Small Worlds: this little jewel of the gaming worlds will take less than 10 minutes of your life to complete, but will leave its imprint in your soul for much longer.

[ via IndieGames ]

Left 4 Dead 2

2009-10-26T17:59:00.002+02:00

I was actually planning to write about Left 4 Dead earlier this year, as for me it was the game of 2008. So addictive that I actually had to sell it, because it was disorganizing my life. I finally didn't write anything, because everything worth writing had already been written and also because with all the things happening in the meantime it was already summer.

Today, however, I have to post the trailer to the sequel, even though I promised not to copy-paste trailers anymore - simply because it's great and it got me all excited about Left 4 Dead 2:

Not sure about you, but I can't wait to kill some zombies. Unfortunately, this will have to wait as I have incoming important exam in December, as well as some other extra work that Left 4 Dead 2 would successfully undermine. Still, I know what I will be getting for Christmas this year...

Free places to get three music (or vice versa)

2009-10-22T02:58:00.007+03:00

I don't write too much about music on Barts News, but I do like to share some nice tracks available for free download every now and then, especially if they can be qualified as chiptunes or are otherwise game related. Today I would like to point you out to three interesting places where you can get quality music for free.

The first place is the great website of a very cool band called Machinae Supremacy. Rock, metal, chiptunes, game music and free downloads - if you don't think it's extremely cool, then you probably should be reading some other blog right now. I have found theim by following a really cool remix of The Great Giana Sisters theme, quite possibly the only C64 game I have played (it can be downloaded from here, as well as a remix of Bionic Commando theme). Be sure to browse their homepage, as there's a lot of goodies and info to be found there, such as for example full game soundtrack from Jets'n'Guns available for free download.

The second place is the website of She, who, on closer inspection, actually turns out to be a he. But don't fret, no transsexuals here, it's just a man with a passion for creating music and intriguing choice of pseudonym. What's interesting is that he is Polish (from the town where I live now), is quite young ('83) and his music just got published in Japan (Digipak CD), iTunes and AmazonMP3. Way to go! I just love it when people fulfill their dreams, excel at what they love doing. I also like it when my fellow compatriots grow beyond the limits of our small, backwards potato country and are gaining well-deserved worldwide recognition, like for example Andrzej Sapkowski. Or She, toutes proportions gardees. Back on the subject of music, there's a choice of chiptunes and very Japanese-like modern pop (don't hit me, I am not a specialist on music and am struggling with words here) so it definitely deserves a try.

The third place is this page on SoundCloud. Bearing a clever nickname of Jinja Ninja (something along lines of ninja from a shrine), the gentleman behind it is Alex Gemmell, a London DJ who was kind enough to share with us his remixes. Not exactly chiptunes and not exactly game related, but it's free, cool, trancey music. Be sure to listen to at least some of it (you can do it online, streaming), although if you have a slow connection, chosing to download large files might turn out to be somewhat problematic.

So there you have it - three places, loads of free music. Like it? Don't like it? Don't give a damn? Let me know via comments.

Barts is back!

2009-10-21T15:59:00.006+03:00

My Japanese travel is over. As I have mentioned before, I did not manage to go to Tokyo Game Show this year, but reading various coverages over the internet I get the impression I shouldn't be too worried about that.

Surprisingly, there are not many game-related information that I am bringing from Japan this time. I had very aggressive visiting schedule and a lot of meetings with old friends, and hence not much time for slipping into game shops and parlors. The highlights of my trip include chilling in New York Bar at the top of Shinjuku Park Tower, the bar in which "Lost in Translation" movie was filmed, as well as visiting Gunkanjima, the so-called Battleship Island:

You can read more about this spectacular place on Wikipedia and Cabinet magazine, as well as on Shibuya 246. Interesting observations and photos can also be found here, here, here and here. But why do I even bring it up here? Is it a blog on games or on my personal travels? Well, first of all, this is related to Japan (notice the blog subtitle) and secondly...

When I was visiting the island, I was thinking that it would make a great Unreal Tournament map, had I some better modding skills. I also asked myself how is this even possible that it has not yet been used in a game, but it turns out it was! Gunkanjima has starred in a game, namely famous killer7 and you can see it in this Youtube video.

...so now you see, I just had to bring it here.

Times of silence

2009-09-28T15:14:00.006+03:00

I am writing this note to apologize in advance for a period of silence on this blog. I am leaving for Japan very soon and won't be back until late October. I did miss Tokyo Game Show this year, but my bi-yearly travels to Japan ('05, '07, '09) are not only game-related. With all the things to take care of prior to and during the travel I won't have much time to write down my musings, hence this note.

I will, however, bring you some tasty bits of gaming news from the Land of the Rising Sun, I promise. There's also a bunch of (somewhat stale) news, information and articles waiting for their turn to be published, so be sure to keep Barts News in your RSS tabs and we'll return in less than a month time with a kick. Take care until then, gentle readers!

The city made of pixels

2009-09-17T01:02:00.004+03:00

Writing about Canabalt, I used terms "city" and "procedurally generated" in the same note. This has triggered some neurons deep in my brain and I recalled a really cool thing on the same subject that I had seen quite some time ago:

Procedurally generated city. That's right - a digital depiction of three-dimensional city, randomly generated at runtime based on a set of rules. It actually is amazing: I know I have just recently brought you the demo of procedurally generated landscapes, but nature and procedural generation kind of go hand in hand, while artificial and ordered human creations, such as city not so much. That's what I thought until I saw this:

For those curious how the development went and how it was done, read Shamus Young's blog entries on creating pixel city. For those less technical savvy and more visual, just watch the video above. The program itself can be downloaded from here. And if you would like to see how procedural generation can be applied in games, have a look at Canabalt and Rescue the Beagles.

[ via RockPaperShotgun ]

God of War Trilogy coming to PS3

2009-09-16T02:35:00.001+03:00

For quite some time I have been struggling with the thought of getting Playstation 3. Xbox 360, while having some cool exclusives and generally being cheaper, scares by its infamous failure rate. If I buy an entertainment device, I don't want to be left without it for extended periods of time - and since Poland is not USA, struggling with it would be much more painful. Hence, Playstation 3.

One of the best games on PSP, if not downright the best, is God of War: Chains of Olympus. I never owned PS2, so I admit not having played two first installments more than an hour or so. I thought I'd buy them, once I get my PS3, but it turns out that backwards compatibility was just an occasional Sony mistake and is not an option now (unless one chases the elusive 60Gb PS3 on eBay or elsewhere). So, until God of War III graces Sony's black behemoth, no Kratos adventures are to be had on PS3.

Now there's good news - you can scratch the last paragraph, because Sony will bring two first parts in new remastered version:

The information states that "games are now running 720p, with full anti-aliasing, running at 60 frames per second". God of War I was okay in graphics department, but God of War II was great and just thinking of how it might look with aliasing and bumped up resolution gives me the shivers. The God of War Trilogy (Collection plus third part) might be what finally gets me into buying Playstation 3.

[ via Ars Technica ]

Introduction to Flex programming

2009-09-14T01:00:00.003+03:00

So you want to learn how to make online games, just like the ones you can see on Kongregate, but don't know where to start and don't have money for Flash? You've come to the right place. This post will be a short introduction into making games in Flex - the result being Flash games. Don't worry, you'll understand what's the difference between two names that start with F is, the important bit is that they both are free and it is not really that difficult to start.

The first thing to consider is why I am talking about Flex instead of Flash here. You can read what people smarter than me have to say on that difference here, here and here. In simple terms, the outcome is the same whether you use Flash or Flex - a SWF file, containing compiled ActionScript, graphics and sounds. It's how you get there that is the main difference. At the risk of oversimplifying things, I will say that the main difference is that Flash approaches the end result from the point of view of a designer and Flex from the point of view of a programmer.

Just substitute Flex Builder with Flex IDE for now.

Flash is an authoring tool, more suited to making animations, movies and simple games. Flex is a development tool, consisting of set of components for creating rich internet applications (RIA), interfacing with databases and implementing client-server architecture. Does this sound too complicated? Second attempt at ubersimplicity: Flash equals drawing plus ActionScript, Flex equals industrial components and ActionScript. Professionals will smack me on the head with a stick for writing that, but for layman it should be comprehensible - and you can read the articles I linked to above if you want to know more.

Now, if you want to begin writing simple online games, these tutorials on Flash game development with Flex and ActionScript are the best out there (or at least the best I have been able to find). When you go through all of them, you will have some understanding of how Flash games work and you will also have a basic framework for your games with loader and all. That's a very good starting point indeed.

The only problem from the beginner's point of view is that the setup part described in the first tutorial is a bit complicated, because it uses a simple text editor instead of a proper IDE (Integrated Development Environment) and requires some command line magic to be done. Let me fix that by showing you alternative setup that is easier to use, more powerful and equally free - and you can continue with the rest of tutorials from there on.

First of all, download Flex SDK from here. SDK stand for Software Development Kit and contains all the components, libraries and whatnot that constitute Flex. Once downloaded, unpack it to some directory, in my case C:\FlexSDK (why complicate things?). That's all, no fancy setup magic is required.

Secondly, you will need a proper editor that's designed for Flex. Contrary to what Adobe tries to convince us, FlexBuilder is not the only Flex IDE out there. The free alternative to that bloated and overpriced piece of software is FlashDevelop, which you can download here. Download it, run installer and you are almost ready to start writing games. Before you start coding, however, you will have to go to Tools\Program Settings... (or just press F10) and tell FlexDevelop where your Flex SDK is. You do this by chosing AS3 Context in the left column and filling Flex SDK Location box on the right with the appropriate path (in my case C:\FlexSDK as stated above). That's all, you can now proceed to making your first project.

Select menu Project, then New Project. Choose Flex 3 Project, fill in Name and Location. In my case it was Tutorial1 and C:\Barts\Flex (again, why complicate things?). Check the box called Create directory for project, it does exactly what it says. Since each Flex project will consist of several files and directories, it's best to keep them all neatly separated into folders. Then all you need is click on OK and your first project is ready.

Now, double-click on the src folder on the right, then select and edit Main.MXML file. Copy and paste the code from Flex tutorial, save it. Then compile and run your first Flex program by selecting Project\Test Movie (or just click F5 instead). Voila! You should see your very first application up and running:

If not, then perhaps you do not have the Flash player and/or Flash plugin for your web browser installed. Download them here. If it doesn't help, check your code - perhaps there is something you have not copied correctly or some mistake in typing. If it doesn't help either, let me know via comments, maybe I will be able to suggest something.

From now on you can continue on your own with the tutorials. They will give you good basics of game programming in Flex and with it you will be able to start creating your own things. And if you ever make something that you publish (maybe on Kongregate, who knows), please put a link to this post somewhere or at least let me know via comments or email - knowing that I have helped someone is incredibly rewarding for me. Good luck!

C.P.C.

2009-09-13T01:33:00.003+03:00

I am in a bit of a nostalgic mood, so I started Amstrad CPC emulator (you do remember that this was the first computer on which I have played?) and fired up a game that I am going to describe today. It is called Cosmic Prison Commando - as in CPC, get it?

Graphics are appropriately colourful and retro, as you can see on the screenshot. Sounds are, well, not that great, but there are some at least. The gameplay is of a classical retro hardcore variety, which means that you will die a lot. Some parts of the game are obviously not finished. That would be all to say about the game, except for one thing...

...Cosmic Prison Commando is, in fact, not a CPC game. It is a PC game made in old-school stylistic of CPC family. I originally wanted to use the term "demake" to describe it, but I don't think it applies, since it is not a port, but a new game (speaking of which, you can download it here). And even though it definitely is not perfect, I thought I'd share it here as a curiosity for everyone that's into indie and retro gaming. I spent a couple of happy minutes reminiscing Amstrad era, maybe you'll find it amusing as well.

[ via Carnivac Games ]

Re: Re: Canabalt

2009-09-08T12:20:00.009+03:00

Okay, so I wrote this little paean on Canabalt, because the game sucked me in and I really, really liked it. Adam Atomic noticed it, saying it's his favourite review - then discarded it a bit later. Woe is mine. But that's not what I wanted to write about today.

If you read my previous note, you know that I think that the good part of what makes Canabalt so memorable is its atmosphere and that the good part of that atmosphere is the sense of impeding doom from which there is no escape. It doesn't matter how far or how fast you run - in the end you'll die anyway. You simply cannot win and your poor nameless character is bound to end up dead with no chance of ever escaping from his private own running hell. Doesn't it strike you as unfair? Don't you wish this little guy could finally rest somewhere?

It did bother me a bit, but I just shrugged my shoulders and moved on. Turns out, it did struck a chord with some other folks as well:

Canabalt is a beautiful tale about nonsense, road to nowhere, the farther you run, the longer you'll live (...), but in the end the world will end in weeping anyways.

wrote MRW in his review (science-fiction double feature, he also examines Vox Populi in the same post), triggered by my review. Our common buddy Radkowiecki then left a lengthy comment in which he both expressed his liking of the game and refused to admit that there is no ending:

Canabalt scares me a little. I know this game does not have an ending, but after three days of playing and cashing all points on Congo [Kongregate] I am still playin'. Because I hope that after running some distance this guy will find a quiet place in which he will wait out the assault of alien robots / robotic Aliens. It is devoid of any sense, but I am still running and I have found out that there is no bonus after 8 kilos. We'll see what is waiting for me on the tenth kilometre of the road.

Damn - one button, looped tune, simple graphics, but replayability is such that games costing a carriage of paper could envy it. Forgive me, but I'm back to pounding x, c or space (it's the only choice in this game), because I am convinced that there must be some ending line out there. Because there has to be, right?

To which MRW replied with a new post, stating that "of course it has to":

It looks that we all pretend to be die-hard cynics, but there are things that really do touch our inner emo kid (to think that it's a bunch of gray pixels that did this). I myself went all "awww" when I saw it. Nameless runner can now rest in peace - good job, MRW!

I just hope that Adam Atomic sees this and adds it to his new iPhone port of Canabalt.

Kanban versus Scrum

2009-09-05T01:33:00.000+03:00

As indicated by the previous post on the subject, I got more and more drawn into Agile development in general and Scrum in particular. Other than applying a whole slew of the Agile practices at work, I also spend time learning about it, both from books and other developers. Recently, I have stumbled upon a very interesting document that compares Scrum and Kanban - and I would like to share it with you.

Spot the difference

I have heard about Kanban at my university when I was still a student, but it was more applied to managing industrial production, not software development. Also, it was presented in a mind-bogglingly boring way. The only thing I could vaguely recall was the idea of a board and a drawing I made during the lecture depicting a Japanese man in II World War uniform, holding a katana sword and threatening workers in order to make them work harder. Hur, hur. It just goes to show how boring the lecture was.

If you don't know what Scrum and Kanban are, fear not, as this document is a very good place to learn. It is relatively free of technical jargon and presents the topic from a refreshing perspective - namely, remembering that these tools are nothing more but tools, not some sort of universal truth descending from heavens.

Well written, concise, useful and user-friendly - if you have anything to do with software development, you will do yourself a favor by reading this document. Also, it's free and available for download from here. The accompanying presentation on the subject can be seen here. Good lecture!

Steampunk parcour - Canabalt

2009-09-03T01:07:00.001+03:00

It seems like everybody is writing about this game recently: TIGSource, Indiegames, GamesSetWatch, RockPaperShotgun, Kotaku, and others . Let me jump on this wagon as well while the news is still relatively fresh - and I do this with pleasure, because I have immediately fallen in love with Canabalt.

The premise of the game is very simple - there is a man running through the city attacked by aliens or robots (or alien robots). The nameless man is running on the rooftops, probably trying to escape. The city is dying, giant machines are looming in the background, buildings are coming down, spaceships woosh by, dropping strange but deadly objects. It's time to run!

As it often happens, the game is more than a sum of its parts - what it delivers is a strangely hypnotic experience, both in a sense of getting into the state of flow while running and in that "just one more try" feeling that I thought I had forgotten long time ago.

The game mechanic is deceptively simple - there is only one button for player to press in order to make the character jump. Nameless protagonist is running all the time, faster and faster with each step, reaching speeds worth of Sonic and making jumps worth of Neo. Player can't control anything else but jumps - at least in theory, because bumping into some obstacles slows the character down. Slower speed means smaller jump range, which can be deadly if there is a particularly long gap between the buildings, but it also provides better control of the hero. Therefore, there exists a very delicate balance between them for the player to keep and this is why the actual gameplay has much more depth to it than just "press button to jump". As an interesting point, levels are procedurally generated, so player never knows what to expect next.

Graphics are great; while I am not too keen on abuse of pixel art that is the trend with indie games recently, there are exceptions to this rule and Canabalt is one of them. There is a surprising attention to detail present in this game, both in paralax-scrolling background (love the effect!) and the foreground. One can see pigeons that shoot out in the air from under the character's feet when he lands on their rooftop, as well as glittering pieces of glass that drop from broken windows that he had just smashed through, and the evil machines in the background are awesomeness incarnated with a hint of steampunk to them (hence the title of this post).

Likewise, the animation, while simple (not that many frames is what I mean by simple), is also great and very fluid. Watching the character roll after a jump from larger height reminds me of the first time I saw Conrad roll in Flashback - this certainly is a very good memory and therefore a good connotation for the game to provoke. Two thumbs up in this department as well.

Music is another component that is just perfect - it enhances strange and unsettling setting of the game and also gives a sense of speed with a hint of hope that quick feet might be the salvation to the horror. In other words, it is great and fits the mood of the game.

You can play Canabalt here (or here if you have a huge HD monitor) and see how it plays below:

Now, with the review part taken care of, a couple words on the idea that came to my head when I was pondering about Canabalt before going to sleep last night: the whole premise of the game reminds me of a bad dream. Think about it for a second: running away from an unknown danger, not being able to escape no matter how far or how fast one is going, not being able to stop, surreal surroundings mixing ordinary everyday elements with imaginary ones, sense of impeding doom, absence of other people. All the components that make a good nightmare (in a sense of one that is memorable and makes the dreamer wake up in horror) are there. Could it be that Canabalt is a result of Adam Atomic having a bad dream one night?

Manhunt 2 headed to PC

2009-08-26T01:01:00.000+03:00

The first Manuhunt was great - I loved it's dark ambiance, tense story, brutal killings with common objects, stealth gameplay, voice acting, almost everything. I liked it so much that I wrote about it once or twice. So when I first heard of the sequel, I was awaiting it eagerly.

Warning: Manhunt 2 does not really contain Pinatas.

Unfortunately, Manhunt 2 turned out rather meh - and it was not the fault of the whole censorship battle that ensued before it was published. I played the unofficial uncensored version on my PSP, so I could see all gory executions, but the gameplay and story were mostly not on par with the first installment. Despite the hardcore violance, the overall impression was rather bland, with a couple of climatic exceptions - visions from the past haunting the main protagonist (similar to Suffering), somewhat unsettling alter ego (as in Fight Club), last level happening in hero's mind with the motive of burying the dead wife and black crows circling around. Okay, I admit, it was not all bad, but nowhere near the quality of the original Manhunt.

The choice of PSP as a platform did not help: levels were broken down into small chunks with lots of loading in-between, graphics were so-so. The game that is all about creepy atmosphere, dark environments and hardcore violence thrown on a portable console - not really a smart decision. The funny part is, I was playing it on the plane, flying from United States to Europe - it freaked the hell out of my neighbours, who, of course, were peeking at the screen. They did give me funny looks later.

Warning: Manhunt 2 does not really contain puppies.

Anyhow, back on topic. Manhunt 2 did not woe me, in fact I was rather disappointed to the point where I didn't even write a review, because I didn't want to waste my time on it. Sorry Rockstar, that's how it was. And now, some two years later I've just learnt that there is a PC port coming.

What?

A port of a two-year old mediocre game that's based on an engine that's seven years old? Made by a company that makes legendarily bad PC ports? Colour me uniterested. I might waste some of my bandwith to download a pirated copy to give it a try if I am particularly bored, but the chances of me actually buying it are very slim. Very slim indeed.

Still, this piece of news was a perfect excuse to write a mini-review of Manhunt 2 I should have done two years ago.

[ Screenshots taken from GeekRising ]