This is great news for anyone who’s been interested in creating content in Unity. Not only is the plugin just over 3MB, but it’s an almost seamless install in all the browsers I’ve tried it in.

What’s so great about Unity? Excellent 3D support, and you can use either JavaScript or C# for development, which makes transition from programming Flash games quite attractive.

Check out the island demo over on lab.iestyn.net

So, this leads me to UnityBrighton.com. Back in March I registered the domain, but did nothing with it. I’m guessing there will be renewed interest in Unity, so I’ve finally got round to setting it up. For now it’s a basic Wordpress blog and a Google groups mailing list. If you’re interested in Unity, please join and say hello!

var red:Sprite = new Sprite();
red.graphics.beginFill(0xFF0000);
red.graphics.lineTo(40, 0);
red.graphics.lineTo(40, 150);
red.graphics.lineTo(0,150);
red.graphics.lineTo(0,0);

red.x = 40;
red.y = 40;

addChild(red);

var green:Sprite = new Sprite();

green.graphics.beginFill(0x00FF00);
green.graphics.lineTo(40, 0);
green.graphics.lineTo(40, 150);
green.graphics.lineTo(0,150);
green.graphics.lineTo(0,0);

green.x = 300;
green.y = 40;

addChild(green);

var useRotation:Number=10;

var redBmpData = new BitmapData(red.width, red.height, true, 0);
redBmpData.draw(red);

var useDimension:int = Math.ceil(Math.sqrt((green.width * green.width) + (green.height * green.height)));
var diffWidth:int = useDimension - green.width;
var diffHeight:int = useDimension - green.height;
var newBD:BitmapData = new BitmapData(useDimension,useDimension,true,0);
var angle_in_radians:Number = Math.PI * 2 * (useRotation / 360);
var m:Matrix = new Matrix();
m.translate((green.width / 2) * -1, (green.height / 2) * -1);
m.rotate(angle_in_radians);
m.translate(green.width / 2, green.height / 2);
m.translate(diffWidth / 2, diffHeight / 2);
var translatedPoint:Point = m.transformPoint(new Point(0,0));

trace(useDimension);
var greenBmpData = new BitmapData(useDimension,useDimension,true,0);
greenBmpData.draw(green,m);

/*var sampleGreen:Bitmap =new Bitmap(greenBmpData);
addChild(sampleGreen);
sampleGreen.x=200;
sampleGreen.y=200;
*/
green.rotation=useRotation;

stage.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_MOVE, onMouseMove);

function onMouseMove(e:MouseEvent):void {
	green.x = mouseX;
	green.y = mouseY;

	if (redBmpData.hitTest(new Point(red.x, red.y),
	255,
	greenBmpData,
	new Point(green.x-translatedPoint.x, green.y-translatedPoint.y),
	255

	  )) {
		trace("hit");
		red.filters = [new GlowFilter()];
	} else {
		red.filters = [];
	}
}

I’ll blog a better example of this, with comments and an explanation of what it’s doing in the next few days.

Simply stunning.

It’s based on work by Mehmet Akten, which in turn is based on this paper: Real-Time Fluid Dynamics for Games.

Here’s another great video by Matt:

Found on the Wired blog. Brighton so needs one of these!

Creating the Shopper 13 game sparked my enthusiasm, and I’ve been gathering new parts to experiment with:

In addition to that, I’ve also got a Wii Nunchuck hooked up to my Arduino which I’m currently controlling Flash and Servos via the accelerometer and analog joystick. Oh, and a Laser.. and some Papervision too. When I’ve got something interesting, I’ll post it. Hopefully that’ll be in the next few days

Well I have to start building my robot army somewhere..

This time it’s 15,625 Pixel3D points, and the position in the cube defines the colour. 

I really like the moirre effect.

Well, here’s the first.  in brief:

- Plot 9902 Pixel3D points evenly around the surface of a sphere
- Colour each one a random red
- Rotate the sphere depending on where the mouse is
- Apply a blur effect to a BitmapEffectLayer
- Change the clippingPoint 

I kinda liked the effect, so here we go. Hold the mouse down to push the sphere away.

I’ve just had some great news. The Bow Street Runner Flash game that I worked on for Channel 4 earlier this year at Littleloud has been nominated for a Children’s BAFTA!
The competition is pretty tough, but, well, fingers crossed eh!

Update: We won!