I recently had a need to exchange data between the Unity game engine and spreadsheet software. The simplest common format supported by most spreadsheet programs is CSV (Comma Separated Values.) I had assumed that this would be such a common thing to do it would be built into either the .NET or Unity libraries. It turned out this is not the case.
Category: video games
Spot the different
It was Ludum Dare last weekend. I was running my code club so I set the theme, “one room,” as a challenge for my club members. I usually do this when the competition comes around, but I think this is the first time one of my club members has taken up the challenge and completed a game. It took a little encouragement, but I am delighted with both the effort and the result.
Last week’s programming surgery was the most popular yet, with 5 attendees, and a diverse set of programming topics to discuss. I won’t attempt a detailed record of the conversations as my notes were too brief for that, but I will summarize a couple of interesting topics.
You are the monster
This weekend I participated in the Ludum Dare game jam. The theme this time was “You are the monster.” So I made a small game about a troll.
Upcycling Cardboard
Last month, the good folk of Lives Not Knives and a few of us local technology specialists got together to host an event for London Technology Week. Our theme was upcycling cardboard. Mick Rideout and I created a workshop where attendees could add their own faces into a virtual reality zombie game running on the Google Cardboard virtual reality glasses.
The importance of education
We have a new young chancellor and it was his first budget this week. He made at least one schoolboy error. Did you spot it?
He forgot that profit = revenue – costs.
This is an important accounting concept often used when making accounts, financial plans, and budgets.
Gnothi seauton
While playing Assassin’s Creed a couple of days ago, I realised that whenever I pick up a new game I first learn the limitations of my game character. In a way I get to relive childhood for a short time and truly experience what it is to know nothing.
PS3 compatible video
After much searching I’m unable to find a simple reliable method to get video into a format that the PS3 can recognise and play. But I do have a recipe that works in the majority of cases.
Confirmation bias
I recently read a paper on confirmation bias: the tendency to focus on information that corroborates theories and dismiss information that contradicts them. It explained a general problem that I’ve noticed with many scientific studies (particularly in the field of software development) but I hadn’t been able to identify.
Networking
A post on one of the game developer newsgroups suggested that I got myself LinkedIn. It’s only when you do something like this that you realise just how many contacts you have in the business.