Update to Alternativa .3DS class generator

I created a new version that should fix some of the issues people were having. You can grab it here.

Scheduled tasks for App Engine

All I can say is its about time!

http://code.google.com/appengine/docs/python/config/cron.html

Wolfenstein 3D for the iPhone!

Get the scoop here:

http://www.idsoftware.com/

You can buy the game on the app store for 5 bucks, or if you can comment out two lines of code and press the compile button, then you can have it on your phone for free (its opensource). Here is the link to the opensource download:

ftp://www.idsoftware.com/idstuff/wolf3d/wolf3d_iphone_v1.0_src.zip

I got link errors in two places, to fix it just comment out lines 366 and 405 in opengl_main.c.

Alternativa Class Generating AIR App

Through my recent experience with Alternativa, I can say hands down that getting your model out of the 3DS file format and into AS classes is simply the way to go. Yes, having classes that are thousands upon thousands of lines of nothing but vertex creation is kind of lame; but the performance gain from it is completely worth it. Especially when you consider that complex models take on the order of 10 seconds or more just to load from 3DS into your scene. I’ve seen some of these models load from AS classes in a third of the time.

So we have a function given to us in the API to generate a class from a mesh object, the generateClass() method. It creates a string which represents the entire class written out. But for models with multiple meshes contained in a hierarchy, it would be nice to have something create these classes automatically. So, I created an AIR app that does just that. Given a directory and a 3DS model, it will take the 3DS model, parse all of the meshes, and allow you to edit mesh names. Once you are ready, it writes the files out to the directory you choose. It will (hopefully) ignore all non-mesh objects, and will even create directories for multiple meshes contained within a parent mesh. Its a free app, do what you want with it. Just remember that you use it at your own risk, there is no warranty and though I will do what I can to help those with problems I may not have the time to fix every issue.

Now then, with that out of the way… To use it, simply install the AIR app (download the AIR or zip file here). Once you’ve installed and opened it, click the choose directory button:

After you’ve chosen the directory, click the Choose 3DS File button:

Once you’ve chosen both, you can edit mesh names and then export your files by clicking the Create Classes! button. Here is a short video showing how it works:

Example of Alternativa Class Generator

Hello, I’m a PC… No, wait actually I’m a Mac.

In the irony to end all ironies, there is some pretty convincing evidence that Microsoft’s new “I’m a PC” commercial was actually made on a Mac.

There is no need to put into words how confusing this 300 million dollar campaign is, especially when others have done such a good job. To me this is almost as embarrassing as the old Microsoft Hotmail debacle where they had to run the Hotmail servers on Unix for a time, because windows NT couldn’t scale to enough servers.

Now on to the good stuff, read about how Microsoft got exposed via Flickr.