₦airaland Forum

Hi guys!

Some of you may know about the apps for development competition on challenge post which was discussed on thread : https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-549846.0.html some months ago.

After reading about it, I managed to squeeze some time between school and the game project we're working on and started development of HoPe.

HoPe is a vision. A tiny glimpse of freedom. A vision of a place where we can all come together to solve different problems and do many things to move ourselves forward.

As mentioned above, HoPe is still tiny, young and unfinished. I had to learn many things along the way and my time was really constricted. Most of the features have not yet being implemented and worse, I couldn't get a web-host that allows all php functions to work so some of the implemented features don't even work.

Anyways, check it out on http://appsfordevelopment.challengepost.com/submissions/1520 and vote for it if you like it.

There's many great submissions on the site. Have fun browsing around the gallery.

PS: You may have to sign up before voting. Cheers!!!

Hi guys!

Home for the weekend,

@ castrokins : Anyone who feels he can contribute in anyway is free to participate. Welcome to the team.

@ fire_hawk: Welcome to the team.

I've been doing some thinking about the project lately. There's still a lot of work to be done and we don't seem motivated or willing to work. We don't even have a working demo or prototype to motivate us. The other project I uploaded on new year's eve isn't working because of the host's limit or something. I'll try to get some money and buy some space but that would be after my exams at the end of February. Anyways, what have you guys been up to. I think you guys should try to work on stuff even if it isn't on the immediate project. who knows? Some brilliant ideas might come up. The multiplayer game I'm also working on is being delayed because of some networking issues. Each client is receiving all commands instead of it's own. I'm going to look into it later.

I'm sorry I haven't been able to upload the other project files I said I would upload before. I can only attempt uploads on weekends when I'm at home but my speed sucked on my attempts. I'll try again later.

Before I forget, does anyone know how to control animations well in unity scripts? One of my characters is supposed to do some cheesy attack animation when i press the left mouse button but it stops immediately I leave it. I tried using playqueued() on my idle animation but it isn't working well.

What platforms(android, iphone, nokia e.t.c) are you targeting and what skills do you have (programming, graphics e.t.c)?

Programming a racing game will require some knowledge on physics concepts such as force, rotation, collisions e.t.c. Some games require this knowledge and they are needed if u want to simulate something that's realistic to some extent. Still, if you're willing, you can totally fake most of the stuff and make a fun game without all the physics concepts strictly implemented. You just have to know what you want. There are a lot of tools and libraries available, some free. You can also join this thread: https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-471237.0.html to get involved and learn some stuff on game programming. The thread is kinda dull right now and no games yet but with some motivation and time, I believe we can do great things.

I'll suggest you download the unity 3d game engine @ httpp://www.unity3d.com and start learning to use it. Even if you don't have a license for the particular platform you want or even want to use it in a finished game, it's still great for prototyping and planning.

I've uploaded a web player to http://gamer.byethost32.com but it's not working on my PC. I tried offline deployment and streaming but both web players are giving me errors. You guys should visit the page and see if the game loads.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I'm hoping we can finish this side project before the year runs out. Working on it. one level. one objective: Get to the bridge in the shortest time possible a la blow up if you fail to get there at a required time.

Your Arch enemy, Dr Morpheus kosókó Samuels (lol) has set up a little test for you. He's hypnotized you with one of his latest and crazy mind control machine which puts you in a kind of forest maze. You have to defeat his cooked up monsters and get to the bridge to win or else your brain gets fried as you die with an image of an exploding forest-oh the horror (okay, not funny,  I've got a headache, can't think much, sorry).

You've got two weapons, one nl-55-dxr(nl stands for nairaland,  dxr stands for,  meh) and a short range rocket lancher. Can you do it?

Everyone should try to come up with plans for the forest maze/level layout quickly. I'm trying to animate one of the monsters I created now and I'll try texturing it later. Let's make a game before Jan 1, 2011.

@ Worldbest: I've sent it.

^^^^ damn bot stole my post and added a fake link

meh,

Back from skool, 

@ worldbest: Sorry about the password thingy, I forgot to post it when I opened the page.  I'll send it to you and Harmone's email addresses now. Anyone who wants it can request it.

@ Harmone: Good to know you're working hard on the project. You can also open a 4shared account and upload it there if you wish.

EDIT : @ worldbest: seems like you've disabled your old email or something. The yahoo mailer daemon sent an error reply Where shall I send it?

@ Harmone, did you receive it?

I used this model when I was testing the camera system. I haven't worked much on the animations yet.

Hi guys.

@ Harmony: Thanks for calling. Glad to meet people willing to work on this project.

@world best: I hope your laptop gets fixed soon.

I'm trying to figure out how to free some hours so I can work on this project but I'm yet to get all my course outlines and our time-tables haven't been finalized so I can't make any real decision on my time now. I'll be moving into the hostel next week or so and hopefully, everything will be sorted and I'll know how to allocate some time to the project.

It's almost Christmas and we haven't done any real work yet but I'm happy our ideas and skills are getting better. Like I said in one of my earlier posts, we should try to create little demos/projects to learn different concepts and improve quickly. I tried my hands at some things before we resumed and I've been able to work certain things out and think over certain ideas. I found a simple solution to the aiming/turning problem and I worked on a god of war style camera system. The scripts are not yet perfect but they are ok. I'll upload the project files when I can.

I also remember I posted something at the start of the project about a simple FPS in a maze kind of environment. I think we could do that before the year ends and we'll gain some more experience.

Hi guys, Unilag has resumed and I'm really busy at skool right now. I can't even browse on my laptop till weekend. I may not be able to do anything for the main time. I'll try working anytime I'm free though,

google url rewrite.

@slyrox: lol, removed.

Dunno if this can pose any threat:

DELETED.

I'm almost done. I have changed it to use the NPC's CharacterController.Move() function but I haven't figured out how to set his position so he doesn't stay behind the player.

Here are the scripts:

AI_FOLLOW.js

public var walk_speed = 3;
public var jump_speed = 5;
public var turn_speed = 5;
public var wanted_distance = 2;
public var gravity = 20;

private var direction : Vector3 = Vector3.zero;

private var player : Transform;
private var me : Transform;
private var c_contoller : CharacterController;

enum States{ FOLLOW, STOP, LEAVE};
public var state : States;

function Start()
{
player = GameObject.FindWithTag("Player".transform;
me = transform;
c_contoller = GetComponent(CharacterController);
if(player)
{
state = States.FOLLOW;
}

animation.wrapMode = WrapMode.Loop;
animation.Stop();
}

function Update () {
var target_pos = player.position - me.position;

if(state == States.FOLLOW)
{
if(Vector3.Distance(player.position, me.position) > wanted_distance)
{
target_pos.y = 0;

if(Vector3.Angle(me.forward, target_pos) > 10)
{
me.rotation = Quaternion.Slerp(me.rotation, Quaternion.LookRotation(target_pos), turn_speed * Time.deltaTime);
animation.CrossFade("Walk";
}

// me.position += target_pos * walk_speed * Time.deltaTime;
target_pos.y -= gravity;
c_contoller.Move(Vector3(target_pos.x, target_pos.y, target_pos.z) * walk_speed * Time.deltaTime);
animation.CrossFade("Walk";
}
else
{
animation.CrossFade("Idle";
if(!Input.GetAxis("Vertical" && !Input.GetAxis("Horizontal")
{
//Debug.Log("STOPPING";
state = States.STOP;
}
}
}
else if(state == States.STOP)
{
animation.CrossFade("Idle";
if(Vector3.Distance(player.position, me.position) > wanted_distance + 3)
{
state = States.FOLLOW;
}
}
else if(state == States.LEAVE)
{
var newpos = me.position - player.position;
newpos.x += 2;
newpos.z += 2;
animation.CrossFade("Walk";
//me.position += newpos * 1.5 * Time.deltaTime;
newpos.y -= gravity;
c_contoller.Move(Vector3(newpos.x, newpos.y, newpos.z) * 1.5 * Time.deltaTime);
if(Vector3.Distance(player.position, me.position) > wanted_distance)
{
state = States.FOLLOW;
}
}


//Debug.Log(state);
// me.position.y -= gravity;
}


AI_TRIGGER_HELP.js (This helps to initiate the LEAVE state. It is placed in a child gameobject with a box collider as trigger)

/*
The trigger doesn't yet detect the player if he is colliding
while in the gutter and the enemy is above him.

*/

private var Parent : Transform;
private var trigger : Transform;
private var player : Transform;

function Start()
{
trigger = transform;
Parent = trigger.parent.transform;
player = GameObject.FindWithTag("Player".transform;
if(player)
Debug.Log("FOUND";
}

function Update () {
}

function OnTriggerEnter(entity : Collider)
{
if(entity == player.GetComponent(CharacterController))
{
Debug.Log("HIT";
Parent.GetComponent("AI_FOLLOW".state = States.LEAVE;
}
}

@Rasulullah: Welcome to the team.

@ FifiO: What do you mean by game show kind of game? Like questions and answers or what? Anyways, Post some details on what you want. I'm sure someone around might be able to help you.

@Everyone: I couldn't work on anything as we've almost resumed skool and I had to sort some things. I may be free till next Monday though.

@omo_to_dun: I researched the question last night and discovered there were many solutions to the puzzle. Most of them are based on nodes, a topic I haven't yet touched. I'm not going to attempt a node based solution till I get around to studying it because I dislike using something I don't fully understand.

Please post your python implementation so every one can learn from it. I also found many GUI solvers and I will not agree that anyone has solved the problem until I see his solution. Anyone can use the solvers available and post solutions. Please, make Lojik post his.

in my school, this kind of problem cannot be assigned as a problem set since it is a classic problem with readily available answers. Instead, we are given NP-complete problems to solve.

Well, most of us are hobbyists and not even computer science students. We just try to learn what we can first and work on personal, motivational projects before even considering the fact that questions like this and many other concepts and algorithms exist.

@misteri: Welcome to the team.

@ Ojukwu24: Sorry about your system. I hope they fix it soon. I hope it won't stop you from contributing to the project in other areas. We need all the help we can get.

@Everyone: I've been thinking about the AI and tried my hands on states and triggers. I've gotten a fairly good way to get another character to follow the player depending on it's state (FOLLOW, STOP OR LEAVE).

It follows the player as long as it's distance from the player is at a greater distance  from the wanted distance, the player is moving(vertical or horizontal input buttons are being pressed) and it's state is FOLLOW. If the player stops moving and the character has reached it's wanted distance, the state changes to STOP and it waits till the player moves and reaches a greater distance again.

I added a trigger to a child object of the character and created a script to send a message to the parent's script whenever the player enters the trigger. The message informs the character to enter the LEAVE state. This makes the character move a little distance away from the player. This is in case it is blocking the player's path.

The only change left to make is to use the character's CharacterController.Move() function with a direction vector rather than changing the position directly. This may help make setting the character's angle and position easier because it always follows the player the set distance directly at his back right now which is not really suitable. I'll also look into why the player's character controller won't collide with the trigger if it's below it like when the player is in the gutter and the character is above. I'll post the scripts when I'm done.

@ omo_to_dun: Nice puzzle. It looks like it requires AI related algorithms. Either that or I've played and read about too many games. I don't think it can be solved in a few hours by those of us who haven't been studying those things though. I tried my hands at it when I had the chance. My solver class is weak and unfinished at the moment though.

Anyways, I hope someone solves it soon. Wouldn't be nice to have an unfinished competition. Please notify us when someone does. I also hope you're not posting your college assignments as questions for people to solve That'd be a bummer. I'd also like to suggest that you post general questions too and not just stuff like this. That way, people with different strengths, interests and levels can participate. It'll help a lot of people. Thanks for the competition.

@GraphMoney: Thanks for the advice. I understand your concern especially given the fact that we still need a lot of focus and hard work on the current project.

That said, I don't think it's a bad idea for anyone involved in the project to participate especially now that omo_to-dun has stated that the timescale will be really short.

@omo_to_dun : Your contest is a nice effort and is well appreciated. I've checked out the page and I'm happy people are signing up.

I'm hoping you will make this and the future ones enjoyable and intuitively challenging for all involved as this is something that can spur people's creativity to greater heights.

I myself may not be able to participate in this particular one because I'm very busy for now but I'll try checking out the question(s) when you post them.

@ Olayokun: You're in, start contributing what you can. If you'd like to work on gameplay or programming, download the game engine we're using at http://www.unity3d.com The scripting language is kinda okay to learn. The only challenge will be learning and applying new concepts related to 2d and 3d which I'm sure you'll be able to do.

@ GraphMoney: Thanks. Ain't no contest in here unless there's something you're not telling us.

@ Worldbest : Cool. Great idea. I had a go at unity's terrain system and it looks like it's essentially a one sided plane. I was worried about the memory and size additions as well additional work we might need to do but it seems we'll still have to use it because it may actually offer us more and we can tweak it's shape to get different looks.

@ A- zed: Welcome back.

I just finished the school registration today and will try completing the faculty and departmental ones soon. Will try my hands on some scenes.

@ tensor777: You just want an argument, My first post sums up my opinion so, you ain't getting non.

We bring implications to the story without considering all the variables don't you think?

@ Goldmann: I think you haven't done right in your evaluation of the story especially as the OP, well everyone with his opinion, here's mine:

First, I think the aim of the story is to simply show that sometimes, humans run around, chasing things and causing harm to themselves all for something they already have. At the end of the story, we see that the same answer given by the farmer in the beginning was given by the banker himself.

In essence, like we say in Nigeria, why go to Sokoto when you have what you're looking for in your shokoto.

In fact, I think this is the whole aim of the story and shall give no second point. It's not a story about helping your neighbors or being wealthy by Bill Gates. THE STORY IS ABOUT UNDERSTANDING WHAT YOU WANT FROM LIFE! SIMPLE, NO COMPLICATED LOGIC. IT ILLUSTRATES A CONCEPT AND DOES NOT TALK ABOUT THE WHOLE OF LIFE.  STOP TALKING ABOUT HIS BEING LAZY AND BRINGING ALL YOUR SIMPLE LOGIC. IT'S SIMPLE, SIMPLE, SIMPLE.


The first time I heard this story, I was inspired and I'm glad I learned it's essential lesson  and hope you guys do too.

@ worldbest: I left some holes close to the points where I merged the vertices of the gutter planes to the main center plane. Dunno if that's what you are describing. Unity's auto smoothing on import also makes edges hard to notice so the bottom is kinda unclear. I haven't figured out how to turn it off in unity3.

As for being able to enter parts of meshes sometimes, especially when turning the camera while the model is close, it always happens no matter the modeling program you use. The mesh collider system is not yet perfected and I've read several posts on the forums where people say they take time to arrange and use the other types of colliders. These are also not perfect. Another cause may be the normals. Everything thing seems to be like normal behavior here though. Does it happen with all the poles? Is it when the camera is very close?

You could open the file in blender and inpect it for normals especially the goal posts. I couldn't decide if I should use a box or cylinder for the goal post and ended up rushing things. I might have missed some things. I'll check it later.

Yes we could use unity's terrain. I think it will be necessary if we eventually get all the parts together and make a complete environment. The only thing is that we can't get as much details as with a modelling program. It will be difficult to make thinks like gutters in it. We'll eventually have to patch things here and there.


@Ojukwu: Like worldbest said, we've still got a lot of work to do. How's your texturing?

@worldbest: Nice.

@ Mudley313: Yes I do, like I said in my previous answer. One just has to be careful when approaching issues like this. So many religions, so many minds, Mankind has suffered much.

@ Mudley313: Nice question

I do believe it's supernatural. I do not take the claims of other religions as just tales because I don't believe them. I see them as lies, perhaps by this supernatural beings themselves and individuals who participate in the religion to lead people away from the true God. It gets really heated and frustrating especially with many religions asking people to have faith.

I accept Christianity on faith. It entails me to take others as falsehood and deceptions. It does not entail me to believe that supernatural events do not happen in other religions however. The point is, to each religion, others are not worshiping the true God. It doesn't mean they do not partake in supernatural things. It just means they may be worshiping the enemies of God.

Despite all this, one still has to take note that some of this gods may not exist and are false. Some I think, not all. Some events too may be false. Humans are too quick to ascribe things to the supernatural and many people have fallen victim to this. Many times we hear of witch hunts and confessions but in most cases, it turns out the witch is actually suffering from a psychological problem.

One just has to be careful I think.

@ ROSSIKE an everyone: Instead of abusing each other, can't we just accept that we don't know the answers instead of pretending as if we have all the wisdom in the world. Similar thing killed socrates. People before us and after us have and will contemplate over issues like this and to me, as with all things supernatural, these things will likely remain mysteries.

To those who do not believe in the supernatural: Is it not surprising how every civilization, at least all those I know of have concepts of God, spirits etc. Surely, all this could not have been some old wives tale. The coincidences involved are just too alarming.

Final words: Believe what you will and stop trying to mock or impose yourself on others. If you believe Jesus died for your sin, good for you. If you believe he was just a prophet good for you. if you belief in sango, hinduism etc good for you, If you believe in the evolutionary theories, good for you.

If only we would respect ourselves and stop trying to disprove and mock other people's beliefs for our ego's sake, half the world's problem would be non-existent. Now, can we all move to some better topics?

^^^^ exactly: If you are so sensible as to argue about him dieing then you have to consider the resurrection part of the story. Everything is for a purpose

@ skoten: nice, welcome back.

@ sweetnecta: Our perception of any being called God may push us to believe different things.

To the OP, God is just a being with power who can just do anything and this shows in his/her suggestion that the solution was a simple 'I forgive you'. I don't know if that was possibly the answer. I'm far too foolish to discern God. I'll just say to me, the way I perceive things, the concepts of sin, souls, forgiveness and retribution are complex things that has to do with the supernatural and therefore only understood that way.

We look at God like someone who just gives laws, sits in heaven, does his wishes etc. Many think we can be God if not for mortal states.

The question is this, is it that simple? Could the concept of sin be more complicated than what we imagine? Could the sacrifice have freed us from not just God's anger but something far worse? We think like humans and expect it to be as simple as we want.

If it were that simple, How come a God who is love would not love satan and forgive him or her? Is sin a mere offense against God or something that corrupts and destroys our very essence?

We are only flesh and we think like flesh. I don't know the answers. I say and believe it is the only way because taking the situation to human context. A solution so drastic would only be taken if there was no other way. Why would he allow humans continue to die? Why does he not interfere so often? God and the supernatural, I think, is beyond our logic. We may never know.

I think our perception of God and supernatural things are not complete and can be flawed. It is what we have to fix. It is humans who need analyzing, not God. When the time comes to know the answers, we shall all know.

My speed is messing up and I couldn't upload the whole project file so I just uploaded the blend file. Just change the scale in the import setting to 5, add a firstpersoncontoller, lights and walk around.

@ mudley313: No need to start an abusive relay. If you've truly read the old testament, then I'm surprised about your comments. If you've read the old testament and not discerned that man will always be man, that he will always turn from what is good for him as long as it does not offer immediate gratification and the like, then I'd say you should at least have a go at it again.

The fact is we will always have our own ideas and suggestions about how things should be. call it the normative aspect of existence. In the end, what will be will be. My only advice, Don't let your logic and your wisdom deceive you. God is not a man and you should not and can not impose yourself on him. Arguments like this only breed more hatred, disagreements and in the end, fuel physical battles. It's enough to live life to the best of your ability with love.

@ OP: What is it to you? Let assume for the sake of your ego that all the bible and qur'an are mere tales. What happen next? Can you fathom the emptiness? Man is always driven to things beyond him. He will always choose to believe in the supernatural and there's nothing your ego can do about it. And if man is drawn to believe in the supernatural, we find from logic that it is necessary, if it is necessary, it exists, if it exists, anything is possible.