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• What is the best way to code the XNA Game Server for FPS game?

  - by AgentFire

  I'm writing a FPS XNA game. It gonna be multiplayer so I came up with following: I'm making two different assemblies — one for the game logic and the second for drawing it and the game irrelevant stuff (like rocket trails). The type of the connection is client-server (not peer-to-peer), so every client at first connects to the server and then the game begins. I'm completly decided to use XNA.Framework.Game class for the clients to run their game in window (or fullscreen) and the GameComponent/DrawableGameComponent classes to store the game objects and update&draw them on each frame. Next, I want to get the answer to the question: What should I do on the server side? I got few options: Create my own Game class on the server, which will process all the game logic (only, no graphics). The reason why I am not using the standart Game class is when I call Game.Run() the white window appears and I cant figure out how to get rid of it. Use somehow the original XNA's Game class, which is already has the GameComponent collection and Update event (60 times per second, just what I need). UPDATE: I got more questions: First, what socket mode should I use? TCP or UDP? And how to actually let the client know that this packet is meant to be processed after that one? Second, if I is going to use exacly GameComponent class for the game objects which is stored and process on the server, how to make them to be drawn on the client? Inherit them (while they are combined to an assembly)? Something else?

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• SlimDX Texture2D from DataRectangle array

  - by Rebekah Bryant

  I'm totally new to DirectX. I'm using SlimDX to create a texture consisting of 13046 DataRectangles. Here's my code. It's breaking on the Texture2D constructor with "E_INVALIDARG: An invalid parameter was passed to the returning function (-2147024809)." inParms is just a struct containing handle to a Panel. public Renderer(Parameters inParms, ref DataRectangle[] inShapes) { Texture2DDescription description = new Texture2DDescription() { Width = 500, Height = 500, MipLevels = 1, ArraySize = inShapes.Length, Format = Format.R32G32B32_Float, SampleDescription = new SampleDescription(1, 0), Usage = ResourceUsage.Default, BindFlags = BindFlags.RenderTarget | BindFlags.ShaderResource, CpuAccessFlags = CpuAccessFlags.None, OptionFlags = ResourceOptionFlags.None }; SwapChainDescription chainDescription = new SwapChainDescription() { BufferCount = 1, IsWindowed = true, Usage = Usage.RenderTargetOutput, ModeDescription = new ModeDescription(0, 0, new Rational(60, 1), Format.R8G8B8A8_UNorm), SampleDescription = new SampleDescription(1, 0), Flags = SwapChainFlags.None, OutputHandle = inParms.Handle, SwapEffect = SwapEffect.Discard }; Device.CreateWithSwapChain(DriverType.Hardware, DeviceCreationFlags.None, chainDescription, out mDevice, out mSwapChain); Texture2D texture = new Texture2D(Device, description, inShapes); } EDIT: Running with the Debug flag set, I got: D3D11 ERROR: ID3D11Device::CreateTexture2D: The format (0x6, R32G32B32_FLOAT) cannot be bound as a RenderTarget, or cast to a format that could be bound as a RenderTarget. This is because the current graphics implementation does not even support this Format. Therefore this format does not support D3D11_BIND_RENDER_TARGET. Use CheckFormatSupport to check Format support. [ STATE_CREATION ERROR #92: CREATETEXTURE2D_UNSUPPORTEDFORMAT] D3D11 ERROR: ID3D11Device::CreateTexture2D: Returning E_INVALIDARG, meaning invalid parameters were passed. [ STATE_CREATION ERROR #104: CREATETEXTURE2D_INVALIDARG_RETURN]

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• What could cause a pixel shader to paint outside the lines of the vertex shader output?

  - by Rei Miyasaka

  From what I understand, the pixels that a pixel shader operates on are specified implicitly by the SV_POSITION output (in DirectX) of the vertex shader. What then could cause a pixel shader to render in the middle of nowhere? I used the new Visual Studio 2012 graphics debugger to visualize my vertex and pixel shader output. This is the output from a DrawIndexed() call that draws a cube: The pink part is the rendered output of the pixel shader, which takes the cube on its left as its input. The vertex shader code: cbuffer Buf { float4x4 final; }; struct In { float4 pos:POSITION; float3 norm:NORMAL; float2 texuv:TEXCOORD; }; struct Out { float4 col:COLOR; float2 tex:TEXCOORD; float4 pos:SV_POSITION; }; Out main(In input) { Out output; output.pos = mul(input.pos, final); output.col = float4(1.0f, 0.5f, 0.5f, 1.0f); output.tex = input.texuv; return output; } And the pixel shader: struct In { float4 col:COLOR; float2 tex:TEXCOORD; float4 pos:SV_POSITION; }; float4 main(In input) : SV_TARGET { return input.col; } The raster stage is the only thing between the vertex shader and the pixel shader, so my suspicion is that it's some raster stage settings. But the raster stage shouldn't change the shape of the vertex shader output so drastically, should it?

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• What are some good examples of exuberant in-game instructions for telling the player to repeatedly smash a button?

  - by Michael

  What are some good examples of exuberant in-game instructions for telling the player to repeatedly and quickly press a button or perform an action? I'm especially interested in examples in retro games (e.g., from the NES, SNES, and 1980-90s arcade eras), and I would love to see examples with text, graphics, or both. To illustrate, here are a few examples of the type of instructions that I'm thinking of: Smash the A button to lift something heavy! Toggle the joystick back and forth to break free! Quickly press the button to build power in a meter! I'm working on a 2D iOS game with retro-style pixel art, and there's a point where I want the player to quickly tap on a sprite to complete an action. I have a serviceable starting point -- the word "TAP" flashing with an arrow repeatedly moving downward beneath it: But it still doesn't feel quite right. I would love to see some actual examples from the golden days of 2D gaming to use as reference material. I know examples abound, but I'm just struggling to think of any concrete ones at the moment. Can you think of any examples of this type of thing in old games?

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• Does DirectX implement Triple Buffering?

  - by Asik

  As AnandTech put it best in this 2009 article: In render ahead, frames cannot be dropped. This means that when the queue is full, what is displayed can have a lot more lag. Microsoft doesn't implement triple buffering in DirectX, they implement render ahead (from 0 to 8 frames with 3 being the default). The major difference in the technique we've described here is the ability to drop frames when they are outdated. Render ahead forces older frames to be displayed. Queues can help smoothness and stuttering as a few really quick frames followed by a slow frame end up being evened out and spread over more frames. But the price you pay is in lag (the more frames in the queue, the longer it takes to empty the queue and the older the frames are that are displayed). As I understand it, DirectX "Swap Chain" is merely a render ahead queue, i.e. buffers cannot be dropped; the longer the chain, the greater the input latency. At the same time, I find it hard to believe that the most widely used graphics API would not implement such fundamental functionality correctly. Is there a way to get proper triple buffered vertical synchronisation in DirectX?

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• General questions regarding open-source licensing

  - by ndg

  I'm looking to release an open-source iOS software project but I'm very new to the licensing side of the things. While I'm aware that the majority of answers here will not lawyers, I'd appreciate it if anyone could steer me in the right direction. With the exception of the following requirements I'm happy for developers to largely do whatever they want with the projects source code. I'm not interested in any copyleft licensing schemes, and while I'd like to encourage attribution in derivative works it is not required. As such, my requirements are as follows: Original source can be distributed and re-distributed (verbatim) both commercially and non-commercially as long as the original copyright information, website link and license is maintained. I wish to retain rights to any of the multi-media distributed as part of the project (sound effects, graphics, logo marks, etc). Such assets will be included to allow other developers to easily execute the project, but cannot be re-distributed in any manner. I wish to retain rights to the applications name and branding. Futher to selecting an applicable license, I have the following questions: The project makes use of a number of third-party libraries (all licensed under variants of the MIT license). I've included individual licenses within the source (and application) and believe I've met all requirements expressed in these licenses, but is there anything else that needs to be done before distributing them as part of my open-source project? Also included in my project is a single proprietary, close-sourced library that's used to power a small part of the application. I'm obviously unable to include this in the source release, but what's the best way of handling this? Should I simply weak-link the project and exclude it entirely from the Git project?

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• How to handle wildly varying rendering hardware / getting baseline

  - by edA-qa mort-ora-y

  I've recently started with mobile programming (cross-platform, also with desktop) and am encountering wildly differing hardware performance, in particular with OpenGL and the GPU. I know I'll basically have to adjust my rendering code but I'm uncertain of how to detect performance and what reasonable default settings are. I notice that certain shader functions are basically free in a desktop implemenation but can be unusable in a mobile device. The problem is I have no way of knowing what features will cause what performance issues on all the devices. So my first issue is that even if I allow configuring options I'm uncertain of which options I have to make configurable. I'm wondering also wheher one just writes one very configurable pipeline, or whether I should have 2 distinct options (high/low). I'm also unsure of where to set the default. If I set to the poorest performer the graphics will be so minimal that any user with a modern device would dismiss the game. If I set them even at some moderate point, the low end devices will basically become a slide-show. I was thinking perhaps that I just run some benchmarks when the user first installs and randomly guess what works, but I've not see a game do this before.

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• Does Unity have existing support for Timelines?

  - by Raven Dreamer

  I am planning the development of a game in Unity3D, and trying to come to terms with what the engine has already provided, and what I must code myself. The game itself is going to be a rhythm game, which means synching audio and graphical events so that they always play when they're supposed to. What I'm looking to avoid is a potential scenario of lag where either the audio or the graphics starts to progress faster than the other. When we discussed this type of coordinating system in my game design class back at university, my professor called this type of design a "Timeline" class. The idea being that you can instantiate one or more of these to progress at different rates, schedule things to happen in the future, and synch up periodic events. However, calling this a "Timeline" class seems to have been limited to my professor himself, as googling for whether a certain API features "Timeline" functionality has been a fruitless endeavor. Is there some more common name for this kind of functionality? Does Unity have any pre-existing methods to coordinate the scheduling of events like this, or is this the kind of thing that needs to be built onto the engine? And if it does, I'd appreciate being pointed towards some tutorials!

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• Where can I find video and audio drivers for my netbook?

  - by Ari

  I got a little netbook yesterday (an Acer Aspire One) for schoolwork and read in numerous reviews Ubuntu was a must. I dove into it blindly and downloaded 12.04 LTS and though I admit it's faster than before, I have no idea how it works yet and was stupid enough to get rid of the Windows 7 Starter that was on there before completely. I can see myself getting used to the rest of Ubuntu, but the main issue is that it seems to have eaten all of my drivers and I don't know where to get any Ubuntu compatible ones. Any video at all is jilty and kind of creepy and any audio is very distorted and REALLY creepy. I understand that this is a tiny $150 typing and light web use school device I'm talking about, but I feel really stupid making the poor thing worse than it was before and not knowing what to do about it. Does anyone know how to install graphics/sound drivers? Or, alternatively, does anyone know where I can get a copy of Windows 7 Starter. I can see myself liking this if the problems are fixable, but if not I still have the product key and would be able to tackle the problem by myself with that.

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• GetData() error creating framebuffer

  - by Lelezeus

  I'm currently porting a game written in C# with XNA library to Android with Monogame. I have a Texture2D and i'm trying to get an array of uint in this way: Texture2d textureDeform = game.Content.Load<Texture2D>("Texture/terrain"); uint[] pixelDeformData = new uint[textureDeform.Width * textureDeform.Height]; textureDeform.GetData(pixelDeformData, 0, textureDeform.Width * textureDeform.Height); I get the following exception: System.Exception: Error creating framebuffer: Zero at Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Graphics.Texture2D.GetTextureData (Int32 ThreadPriorityLevel) [0x00000] in :0 I found that the problem is in private byte[] GetTextureData(int ThreadPriorityLevel) creating the framebuffer: private byte[] GetTextureData(int ThreadPriorityLevel) { int framebufferId = -1; int renderBufferID = -1; GL.GenFramebuffers(1, ref framebufferId); // framebufferId is still -1 , why can't be created? GraphicsExtensions.CheckGLError(); GL.BindFramebuffer(All.Framebuffer, framebufferId); GraphicsExtensions.CheckGLError(); //renderBufferIDs = new int[currentRenderTargets]; GL.GenRenderbuffers(1, ref renderBufferID); GraphicsExtensions.CheckGLError(); // attach the texture to FBO color attachment point GL.FramebufferTexture2D(All.Framebuffer, All.ColorAttachment0, All.Texture2D, this.glTexture, 0); GraphicsExtensions.CheckGLError(); // create a renderbuffer object to store depth info GL.BindRenderbuffer(All.Renderbuffer, renderBufferID); GraphicsExtensions.CheckGLError(); GL.RenderbufferStorage(All.Renderbuffer, All.DepthComponent24Oes, Width, Height); GraphicsExtensions.CheckGLError(); // attach the renderbuffer to depth attachment point GL.FramebufferRenderbuffer(All.Framebuffer, All.DepthAttachment, All.Renderbuffer, renderBufferID); GraphicsExtensions.CheckGLError(); All status = GL.CheckFramebufferStatus(All.Framebuffer); if (status != All.FramebufferComplete) throw new Exception("Error creating framebuffer: " + status); ... } The frameBufferId is still -1, seems that framebuffer could not be generated and I don't know why. Any help would be appreciated, thank you in advance.

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• Dot Matrix printers setup...

  - by Parhs

  Hello! I am using debian which is similar to ubuntu. They have 7 dot matrix printers some very old like this one http://www.omnidatasys.net/product/desc_printer_ti880.htm which works from 1979 daily and at text is faster than many inkjects. I believe that it has his own language... Sending text to serial port (port server) prints garbage. However i think is prints only capital english up to 95 asccii and greek and the rest up to 127 i think greek capital.(special chip ) Sending english capital letters prints garbage i think but i amnt sure... i will try again... The other printer are ESC/P compatible and i use generic epson driver provided from ghostscript... However i think that sending text via lp -dpr1 filename It prints the text as a grafic...Changing from printer font face(courier,times roman etc) or pitch has no effect... I am wondering if is there any work arround for this? In AIX they claim that lp command printed output as text as it prints and cobol programs send raw text to to lp printers . However in AIX they use some custom filters for the printers and has more options for dot matrix printers.. I would like to know if there is a solution for this.. To avoid graphics mode for text and change font face somehow.. The most Straight-through approach would be to use no driver ,just send ESC/P from cobol but this requires too much work... Thank you again!

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• TV Antenna Helper Makes HDTV Antenna Calibration a Snap

  - by ETC

  If you’re rocking an Android device, TV Antenna Helper is a free tool that will help you orient your HDTV antenna for best signal strength. The free (ad-supported) application checks your location and lists all the HDTV stations within range. You can check signal strength, use compass bearings to help align the antenna with the stations you want to tune, and check additional information about the station and your orientation to it. It’s the kind of tool you won’t need everyday but when trotted out will save you tons of time and aggravation. Hit up the link below for more information and to grab a free copy for your Android device. TV Antenna Helper [Android Market via Addictive Tips] Latest Features How-To Geek ETC Learn To Adjust Contrast Like a Pro in Photoshop, GIMP, and Paint.NET Have You Ever Wondered How Your Operating System Got Its Name? Should You Delete Windows 7 Service Pack Backup Files to Save Space? What Can Super Mario Teach Us About Graphics Technology? Windows 7 Service Pack 1 is Released: But Should You Install It? How To Make Hundreds of Complex Photo Edits in Seconds With Photoshop Actions Awesome 10 Meter Curved Touchscreen at the University of Groningen [Video] TV Antenna Helper Makes HDTV Antenna Calibration a Snap Turn a Green Laser into a Microscope Projector [Science] The Open Road Awaits [Wallpaper] N64oid Brings N64 Emulation to Android Devices Super-Charge GIMP’s Image Editing Capabilities with G’MIC [Cross-Platform]

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• Where or what are the instructions for installing FMOD Ex for Linux to use in g++?

  - by Andrey

  I'm looking for the instructions on how to install FMOD. I want to do extra credit for my computer graphics assignment - sound effects. A teammate wants me to go with something simple, and he suggested that I use FMOD Ex. (If you guys can think of something better, do suggest it, but so far FMOD looks more promising compared to SDL, OpenAL, etc.) Right now I'm having a really hard time finding the instructions for installing the latest version of FMOD (audio content creation tool) on Linux Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (32-bit) so that I can use it in g++ with OpenGL. I checked out this YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avGxNkiAS9g, but it's for Windows. Then, there is a Ubuntu Forums thread which redirected me to this page: https://wiki.debian.org/FMOD, and it has some dated instructions. I've downloaded FMOD Ex v. 4.44.24, which I believe is the latest version. Now I'm looking at eight files: libfmodex.so; libfmodex64.so; libfmodex64-4.44.24.so; libfmodex-4.44.24.so; libfmodexL.so; libfmodexL64.so; libfmodexL64-4.44.24.so; libfmodexL-4.44.24.so ... not knowing what to do. I've looked everywhere I could think of: StackOverflow, here, YouTube, Google, ... and came up with zilch. Please help. Thanks in advance.

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• Flattening PDF transparency

  - by Jan

  I have a PDF, made with Inkscape, that uses transparent colors. This image shall be used in a LaTeX document. While preserving the transparency is nice for editing, it can be a problem for printing. Printing usually involves PDF to PS conversion. Since Postscript does not support transparency, this requires either flatting, i.e. creating a vector graphic that works without transparency or rastering, i.e. rendering a bitmap image. When a PDF document containing such a figure is printed (or converted to PS) using Evince (or Cairo or Ghostscript), the whole page gets rendered as a bitmap, rendering fonts ugly (different from other pages). (Adobe Acrobat handles such PDFs well.) Unfortunately, converting the PDF figures to EPS (before including them with LaTeX) doesn't help much, because both pdftops and pdf2ps (again, Cairo or Ghostscript) rasterize the image, i.e. render a bitmap (saved as EPS). (This is slightly better, because it doesn't affect the whole page, but I'd still prefer a vector graphics.) How can I flatten transparency with Inkscape or other software on Linux?

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• Google Chrome Updates; Faster, Cleaner Menus, Encrypted Password Syncing, and More

  - by ETC

  Google Chrome has rolled out a new update that includes a host of improves such as easier to navigate menus, encrypted password syncing, over all speed improvements, Flash sandboxing, and more. Google Chome’s new update has a host of subtle but powerful improvements. The browser is faster, the security is improved thanks the addition of encrypted password syncing and sandboxing of the integrated flash player, and the settings menu has been restructured and cleaned up for easy navigation. Check out the video above to take a peek at some of the changes or hit up the link below to read more. Speedier, Simpler, and Safer: Chrome’s Basics Get Even Better [The Official Google Blog] Latest Features How-To Geek ETC How to Get Amazing Color from Photos in Photoshop, GIMP, and Paint.NET Learn To Adjust Contrast Like a Pro in Photoshop, GIMP, and Paint.NET Have You Ever Wondered How Your Operating System Got Its Name? Should You Delete Windows 7 Service Pack Backup Files to Save Space? What Can Super Mario Teach Us About Graphics Technology? Windows 7 Service Pack 1 is Released: But Should You Install It? Save Files Directly from Your Browser to the Cloud in Chrome and Iron The Steve Jobs Chronicles – Charlie and the Apple Factory [Video] Google Chrome Updates; Faster, Cleaner Menus, Encrypted Password Syncing, and More Glowing Chess Set Combines LEDs, Chess, and DIY Electronics Fun Peaceful Alpine River on a Sunny Day [Wallpaper] Fast Society Creates Mini and Mobile Temporary Social Networks

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• OpenGL CPU vs. GPU

  - by Nitrex88

  So I've always been under the impression that doing work on the GPU is always faster than on the CPU. Because of this, in OpenGL, I usually try to do intensive tasks in shaders so they get the speed boost from the GPU. However, now I'm starting to realize that some things simply work better on the CPU and actually perform worse on the GPU (particularly when a geometry shader is involved). For example, in a recent project I did involving procedurally generated terrain, I tried passing a grid of single triangles into a geometry shader, and tesselated each of these triangles into quads with 400 vertices whose height was determined by a noise function. This worked fine, and looked great, but easily maxed out the GPU with only 25 base triangles and caused a very slow framerate. I then discovered that tesselating on the CPU instead, and setting the height (using noise function) in the vertex shader was actually faster! This prompted me to question the benefits of using the GPU as much as possible... So, I was wondering if someone could describe the general pros and cons of using the GPU vs CPU for intensive graphics tasks. I know this mainly comes down to what your trying to achieve, so if necessary, use the above scenario to discuss why the "CPU + vertex shader" was actually faster than doing everything in the geometry shader on the GPU. It's possible my hardware (newest macbook pro) isn't optomized well for the geometry shader (thus causing the slow framerate). Also, I read that the vertex shader is very good with parallelism, and would love a quick explanation of how this may have played a role in speeding up my procedural terrain. Any info/advice about CPU/GPU/shaders would be awesome!

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• Too sell or give for free

  - by QAH

  Hello everyone! I am currently making a game that I was originally planning to sell. It is a simple 2D arcade style game for the PC. I've seen many indie games become popular and generate revenue from advertisements, but the game itself remains free. I need some advice on whether or not I should sell my game, release it for free with advertisements, or ask for donations and keep the game free. I feel that my game is fun, but of course the graphics aren't tip top because I am a programmer, not an artist. I just take screenshots of 3D models I get from Turbosquid and crop around it to make a sprite. Also, and I could be very wrong about this, it seems that there are more legal issues surrounding selling a game than making it free and generating revenue from advertisement, or asking for donations. If I am wrong, someone please correct me. Also, I am very interested in generating some revenue for my work, but that isn't at the very top of my list. I am in my last year of high school, soon to be going to college, and I am going to major in computer science/software engineering. So I am trying to gain some preliminary experience at home by coding stuff every day. One way of getting this experience is by making this game. So what do you think? What route should I take? What has worked well with other indie games? Thanks in advance.

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• 12.04 No Sound - ALC888 / Radeon 3200HD

  - by Ross

  Evening all. I have a MSI U230 netbook, MV40 processor, 4Gb RAM with integrated ATI Radeon 3200HD grahics & an ALC888 codec integrated soundcard. It has HDMI out as well. I've tried a few distro's and have been around linux for a short time. I reckon I've settled on Ubuntu 12.04 (32bit) due to it doing pretty much everything I want it to. I'm working with a fresh install right now. I recently re-installed when I was going in circles trying to solve my problem before. I install Ubuntu and it works, except for the sound. I have tried things like reinstalling Alsa, editing my asound.conf file, installing HDA Verb and a few other things. Its at the point where I need to ask for help... Some outputs: ross@ross:~$ aplay -l ** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ** card 0: SB [HDA ATI SB], device 0: ALC888 Analog [ALC888 Analog] Subdevices: 1/1 Subdevice #0: subdevice #0 card 1: HDMI [HDA ATI HDMI], device 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0] Subdevices: 1/1 Subdevice #0: subdevice #0 ross@ross:~$ uname -r 3.2.0-34-generic-pae ross@ross:~$ lspci | grep VGA 01:05.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI RS780M/RS780MN [Mobility Radeon HD 3200 Graphics] ross@ross:~$ lspci | grep Audio 00:14.2 Audio device: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI SBx00 Azalia (Intel HDA) 01:05.1 Audio device: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI RS780 HDMI Audio [Radeon HD 3000-3300 Series] Added options snd-hda-intel position_fix=1 to alsa-base.conf file Unmuted all in alsamixer Can anyone suggest anything more?

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• Should I go with OpenGL to see my future in Game Development industry? [closed]

  - by Priyank

  Possible Duplicate: Should I continue studying OpenGL or just switch to DirectX to give me a better chance of landing a job in the game industry? I tried Google but found quite old articles, so I am in search of an answer in context to year 2012. Hi all, I don't know if you will consider this question appropriate for this community but I am constantly searching for a perfect answer. What I have seen is that most of the games that are released these days are DirectX 1x based. Except for few games like Starcraft or Diablo which don't have high end graphics are using OpenGL. So I have few questions to ask. The platforms i would like to target are PC (windows), Xbox 360 and PS3 (must). Should I go with learning OpenGL to see my future in game development industry? Or should I shift to Directx? If I learn OpenGL first, will it be difficult to learn direcx then? Which API is most suitable for indie development? Which one of the two API's are better from coder's (programmer's) point of view? Like OOP and style of coding. Is openGL being cross platform should be the only reason to choose it over Directx? Even when vendors are not providing enough stable drivers for it. Thanks in advance. I have read this post, but I have few questions. Should I continue studying OpenGL or just switch to DirectX to give me a better chance of landing a job in the game industry?

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• Looking for 2D Cross platform suggestions based on requirements specified

  - by MannyG

  I am an intermediate developer with minor experience on enterprise mobile applications for iphone, android and blackberry looking to build my first ever mobile game. I did a google search for some game dev forums and this popped up so I thought I would try posting here as I lack luck elsewhere. If you have ever heard of the game for the iphone and android platform entitled avatar fight then you will have an idea of the graphic capabilities I require. Basically the battles which are automated one sprite attacking another doing cool animations but all in 2d. My buddy and I have two motivations, one is to jump into mobile Dev as my experience is limited as is his so we would like some trending knowledge (html5 would be nice to learn) . The other is to make some money on the side, don't expect much but polishing the game and putting our all will hopefully reward us a bit. We have looked into corona engine, however a lot of people are saying it is limited in the graphics department, we are open to learning new languages like lua, c++, python etc. Others we have looked at include phonegap, rhomobile, unity, and the list goes on. I really have no idea what the pros and cons of these are but for a basic battle sequence and some mini games we want to chose the right one. Some more things that we will be doing include things like card games, side scrolling flying object based games, maybe fishing stuff. We want to start small with these minigames and work our way up to the idea we would like to implement in the future. We only want to work in 2D. So with these requirements please help me chose a platform to work on (cross platform is what we are ideally leaning towards). Please feel free to throw in some pieces of advice you may have for newbie game developers like myself too. Thank you for reading!

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• Installing the AMD Proprietary Drivers broke my 12.10 desktop

  - by Drybones5

  I decided to download and install the AMD Legacy Catalyst driver 12.6 from AMD's website. I ran the .run file and the GUI below in the second image appeared and I install it that way. On reboot, I saw the below first image, though I managed to open Firefox by Open the pictures by right click Open As. No windows, buttons, or launcher / environment. It took some time but I figured out how to remove the driver and got back to normal on the default open source drivers I had before. Purged the old drivers and reconfigured xorg to make sure. How should I be going about installing the AMD made drivers? Is it even compatible with Ubuntu 12.10 yet? And if so would I even need it for 3D heavy applications like Team Fortress 2, or other game applications? I didn't install Ubuntu just for Steam, I've been using it on and off for a few years. Valve has mentioned that they are working on graphics drivers with NVIDA, AMD, and Intel. Nvidia released their new driver on Steam Linux beta release. Is AMD supposed to also have a new driver coming out soon? I'm using an ATi Radeon HD 4850 1GB. My entire desktop after install the proprietary drivers - http://i.stack.imgur.com/jTbQz.jpg GUI for the AMD Catalyst install - http://i.stack.imgur.com/UkYWn.png

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• RTFMobile

  - by ultan o'broin

  It may seem obvious but it’s worth stating again. The idea that mobile users are going to read lots of user assistance on their devices is just wrong. So, Jakob Nielsen’s post Mobile Content Is Twice as Difficult serves as a timely reminder for anyone thinking of putting manuals as a form of user assistance onto mobile phones. There is also an excellent post on UXMag.com, explaining that one of the ways to screw up with your iPhone app is to throw an old-style user manual into the user experience: 10 Surefire Ways to Screw Up Your iPhone App.   (Image copyright and referenced from UX Magazine 2010)   Instead, user assistance  alternatives—if any at all—include one-time tours, graphics, in-context instructions, and so on. Not so sure that importing “humor” and “personality” work so well in the enterprise app space, myself. However, the message is clear: iPhone users don’t read manuals. Great message. Users will figure it out, and if they can’t, well then your app’s UX is a problem and the app will fail. Shame some teams are obsessed with figuring out ways to port existing manuals to mobile platforms without any thought for the UX. Razorfish’s Scatter/Gather blog says it all: One thing that is particularly discouraging, most material currently available on “Creating Content for the iPad” or similar themes turns out to be about getting traditional content onto, or into, the iPad. Now, manuals for non-end users in PDF format on eReaders is a different matter. I have research on that, but it’s for another post. Technorati Tags: mobile,user assistance,UX,user experience,manuals,documentation

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• Leveraging Code in Ever Bigger Games

  - by ashes999

  Summary: The same way that I continually build complex engines and libraries within a single platform and technology to allow me to build increasingly bigger and better games, how to continue this when development crosses into different platforms? If I switch platforms, how do I leverage past code and experiences? Games are hard to build. Big games are even harder to build. I've decided that to be able to make big games, I need to start building smaller games, and building up an asset base of code, assets (graphics, sounds), tools, and most importantly, game engines, so that I can eventually get there. One game at a time. Let me give an analogy. To build an MMO 3D RPG, I would approach this by building and releasing small games with increasingly more features. This could entail, for example: A simple 2D game A tile-based game A game with RPG elements (items, equipment, monsters, battle) A full-fledged RPG A 3D RPG The problem now is if I have to change platforms or tools, I don't know how to leverage past code-bases (and experience) to start with a mature product. Right now, I'm writing Silverlight (FlatRedBall) games. Let's say I stick with this for ten years, and then suddenly decide to write a PS6 game, which is in a different programming language entirely. Granted, I have ten years of game-development experience (and correspondingly ten years of professional software development experience from my day job) to back me up. But I would still like some way to transplant that 2D RPG engine into the new programming language, or else leverage it somehow. Is this even possible? What are my options?

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• Read On Phone Pushes Data from Your Desktop to the Appropriate Android App

  - by ETC

  Read On Phone is a free Android application that intelligently pushes data to your phone from your bowser. Rather than simply opening the URL on your phone, it opens the appropriate application for the task and formats text. Most send-to-phone type tools simply take the URL of the web page you’re looking at on your computer and shuttle it to your phone. Read On Phone is a more active and effective tool. When you send a page that is text, it formats the text for easy reading on your phone. When you send a YouTube video, map, or telephone number, it opens up the appropriate tool on your phone such as your YouTube viewer, Google Maps, or your phone dialer. In addition to that handy functionality Read On Phone also includes adjustments for day and night reading, font size, auto-scrolling, and pagination. Read On Phone is available as both a Chrome extension and as a bookmarklet for cross-browser use. Hit up the link below for additional information. Read On Phone Latest Features How-To Geek ETC Should You Delete Windows 7 Service Pack Backup Files to Save Space? What Can Super Mario Teach Us About Graphics Technology? Windows 7 Service Pack 1 is Released: But Should You Install It? How To Make Hundreds of Complex Photo Edits in Seconds With Photoshop Actions How to Enable User-Specific Wireless Networks in Windows 7 How to Use Google Chrome as Your Default PDF Reader (the Easy Way) Read On Phone Pushes Data from Your Desktop to the Appropriate Android App MetroTwit is a Sleek Native Twitter Client for Your Windows System Make Efficient Use of Tab Bar Space by Customizing Tab Width in Firefox See the Geeky Work Done Behind the Scenes to Add Sounds to Movies [Video] Use a Crayon to Enhance Engraved Lettering on Electronics Adult Swim Brings Their Programming Lineup to iOS Devices

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• What is a currently a good game stack for simple Javascript 2D multiplatform game?

  - by JacobusR

  I'm looking for advice from someone can help me avoid common pitfalls in developing light weight, quick-to-market games. Yeah, I've heard of Google ;-), but a trip down Google lane does not beat solid experience from someone who has been down this path. I'm looking for advice from someone who works alone, or in a small team, and has developed some 2D games for mobile. My game ideas don't require intensive graphics, just simple arcade style glyphs and collision detection. My experience is mostly with Scala, Java and web technologies (Javascript, CSS, SVG, HTML, etc). My question is: Is there a nice stack that someone can suggest that will be a good fit for my skillset? I'm considering Javascript for simple 2D shooter games with simple multiplayer games being supported with a Scala server-side written on Spray. Is this silly? Should I rather look into things such as Unity 3D, and use it in 2D mode? For the actual game engine, something like the Sparrow Framework would be great, but it needs to be multiplatform.

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