Well, I graduated with a First in Computer Games Programming yesterday. Patrick Stuart (being the Chancellor of The University of Huddersfield was there presenting everyone with their certificates.
We followed it by a faked and overly cautious “throwing of the caps” photo outside and a pretty damn good night out around huddersfield.
More photos to come…
I really don’t get this new Facebook (other ’social’ networking sites are available) obsession that has recently plagued humanity.
I think it can be a nice little tool to stay in contact with old friends and organise parties.
But seriously, for people spending HOURS a day on it; get a job - and a life! And for those who do have a job GET OFF FACEBOOK AND DO YOUR JOB!
And you get other people that you vaguely know and would never really speak to you adding you as ‘friends’, this widely ranges from your sister’s ex to office managers. And why? Supposidly to raise that little electronic number to the right of the word friend.
As any half intelligent organism will tell you; Director packs its fair share of problems.
I’ve been keeping a log of them in case I ever come across them again.
You know how it is; you come across a problem in an IDE and spend three quarters of your life solving it. You even make a mental note of what an easy fix/solution/workaround it was, and you swear that you won’t forget it. Except Murphy’s Law [64] inevitably proves true and you come across the problem again AND forget the solution.
Happens to every one - at least I hope it doesn’t just happen to me.
Anyway here’s the log I’ve been keeping. Admittidly not all of them are true problems with Directory but problems I encountered as I was learning.
Feel free to leave comments with other problems you’ve encountered or alternative solutions and I’ll update the log giving you credit.
Problem #1
Unexpected ‘new()’ call is called in a recently created script. [20/Sept/06]
Cause
You have not defined the script’s type as a ‘Parent’ script. Its type defaults to ‘Movie script’ upon creation, so its ‘new()’ method appear global and is called upon ANY ‘new’ call.
Solution
Change the script’s type to ‘Parent’
Problem #2
Unexpected ‘new()’ call to a Parent script. [15/Oct/06]
Cause
Moving or dragging scripts between cast libraries can cause Director to loose track of some Behaviour’s attached to Sprites (reason unknown). This can lead to Director attaching the problematic script to the Sprite replacing the correct Behaviour.
Solution
Go through any Sprites in the place of the problem, checking that they have the correct Behaviours attached to them.
Problem #3
Saving a script in Director causes the recent changes to undo. {25/Oct/06]
Cause
This can happen if you ‘link as’ any of your scripts to external .ls files, AND you’ve accidentally made another copy of that script in your Director movie.
Solution
If this happens ensure you only have one cast member for that script.
Problem #4
Using class (parent) scripts that inherit, instances of classes get passed through as parameters. [25/Oct/06]
Solution
Remember, you must pass through ‘me’ in a method from the same Parent script. But not from external scripts (This includes scripts that inherit!)
Problem #5
Cannot access or crash caused by an image in Shockwave format. [11/Dec/06]
Cause
Could be caused by the fact that Shockwave cannot use LINKED cast members.
Solution
Make sure the bitmap is not linked to a file and in embedded in the project.
If member.filename is not EMPTY then it is LINKED.
Problem #6
Crash when importing PNG’s. [18/Dec/06]
Cause
Like Java, Director seams to only support the official definition of a PNG. There it can/will fail to import a PNG that has been compressed with the brute force method in PNGGauntlet (using PNGOut).
Solution
Do not post compress a PNG with the brute force setting in PNGGauntlet.
Problem #7
Member.move() isn’t behaving as expected. [17/Feb/07]
Cause
The documentation is incorrect in the syntax and using this one always moves it to the castLib(1).
Solution
The live doc has been commented and the new syntax is:
move(tMemBeforeMove, member(index, strCastLibToMoveTo))
Problem #8
.label with getSelectedItem() with flash list not working. [29/Mar/07]
Cause
For some weird reason when running director as an exe, getSelectedItem returns a string, but returns flashObject when running in “author”.
Solution
Check the type of the object returned by getSelectedItem().
Problem #9
sendSprite silenly fails in a method (handler) that is called from within a Flash Object (via a call back method). [19/Sep/07]
Cause
Unknown
Solution
Catch the call and any unnecessary conditions, and handle any code in the next update pass.
Problem #10
Rare problem but Director’s debugger stops on the first line in a script (regardless whether a breakpoint is present or not) and complains about a cast member not being present. The application refuses to go any further.
Cause
No bloody idea!
Solution
Removing all breakpoints (using the Menu) and Recompile All Scripts seems to fix the problem.
I decided to cycle from Manchester to Sheffield on Sunday. I’d heard Snake Pass was a good drive; and it turned out it was a good cycle (once you get to the top that is). It wasn’t a particularly nice day; in fact it was pissing it down all the way; it was foggy and why can’t moronic drivers kill themselves before trying to take out anyone else?
Anyway glad I did it before I move back home in a couple of months time.
I went to see The Bourne Ultimatum last night.
I really enjoyed the first two; but this had to be the most nauseating two hours of my life.
The only thing you can determine umongst all the film’s plot twists is that it was filmed by a toddler on crack.
Seriously, The Blair Witch Project had steadier camera work and probably induced fewer headaches and eye strain than this film, despite having a budget of 14p.
There’s virtually nothing you can focus on onscreen. Surprisingly no one walked out though (as has been reported) [58].
Anyway, this modified poster is a much better reflection of the film.
Handed this in a while ago, it includes the development of a first playable game for SoGoPlay with an added Terrain Section.
View the dissertation here [34] [4.8 MB]
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The terrain part is based on the ROAM algorithm [65] and loosely based on Patrick Murris’s implementation [67]. It uses a recursive binary tree algorithm to procedurally construct efficient terrains from heightmaps, greatly reducing the polycount compared to a regular grid terrain.
The algorithm also supports real-time updating (splitting and merging(ish) of polys) although further optimisations are required and in its current state is too slow to be feasibly used in Shockwave. Perhaps C++ with DirectX or C# XNA?? - Future work I think 
I start work today at SoGoPlay [90]. I starting working for sister company Rockpool Games [68] in August 2005 on my University [57] placement. After that I began working part time and freelance for SoGoPlay combining a commercial Shockwave game with my final Uni project (plus an added Terrain section).
Anyway now that Uni is over, from today I’m working full time for them.
Did I mention in my last post that I was locked in a French dungeon inside an old castle while in St. Tropez? Well as you can see, I gradually went mad in my 2 minutes of solitary captivity, until I finally escaped through the roof bars.
Obviously the French need help with their designing of prisons.
[23]
I came back from a water sports holiday run by a couple in St. Tropez, check it out [68].
Had an absolute amazing time, going jet-skiing, water-skiing jumping the wake, high-diving, rock-climbing and (poorly) attempted wakeboarding and ’schleb’ watching.
Everyone was completely sound, highly recommended.
Check out all the pictures here.
[23]
This is my first post!
I thought it was about time to start afresh with my website since I haven’t updated my old website for a good 2 or 3 years; according to which I’m still looking for a job, still competing in gymnastics and don’t know know what puberty is.
Probably got a lot of back dating of posts to do, but now that uni is OVER (in theory) I’ve got a bit of time on my hands.
