Unity+Android on Mac

Written by MentalFish. Posted in Games

Right off the bat, installing the Android SDK was a bit of a “huh?” moment, but I came across this nice guide for getting up to speed with installing the Android SDK on a Mac: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTh1i-7D75o

So to recap and make it more geared towards Unity peeps, do this:

  1. Download the latest SDK: http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html
  2. Unpack it and place it somewhere, i.e. /Developer/android-sdk-macosx/
  3. Fire up a terminal window go to /Developer/android-sdk-macosx/tools and execute the Android SDK Manager:   ./android
  4. When the window pops up, check the boxes for target APIs you need, and hit “Install x packages” <- x the number of packages to install
  5. Connect your Android device to your Mac with a USB cable and go to it’s Settings->Applications->Development->USB debugging and turn it on
  6. When you build for Android in Unity the first time, point it to the /Developer/android-sdk-macosx/ folder when it asks for the SDK location

Tadaaa!

if(Tadaaa==false)
{
RestartUnity(“BuildAndRunAgain”);
}

Iron Sky

Written by MentalFish. Posted in 3D Graphics

I must say its quite entertaining to see my name on a movie production like Iron Sky :) Thanks to Kelly, Alex and Luke for letting me play and helping out in getting some automagic LScripts going. Now, how to get some LightWave going for the next Star Trek movie… Mr J.J. sirr, need some VFX assistance or what about you Mr Lucas, any live action TV series about to be made? :)

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm4339735/

In any case, now I need to get on with my own space ship projects. Where do I go to order more time in a day?

Edit: It seems to be doing well at the Berlin film festival:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2012/feb/08/sci-fi-nazi-berlin-film-festival

Game Dev 2012

Written by MentalFish. Posted in Games

Its 2012 and the local peeps are awesome. After attending Bergen Game Jam last weekend and the first international Join Game conference yesterday and today, one can not help but to be excited and inspired to get back into the game dev mode. I need to update some LScripts and I think some Unity/C# scripts should be released too. Sharing is caring.

If you so happen to be a Norwegian or a local Bergeneese, head over to spillmakerlauget.no and join in on the game dev fun. If you are in the 3D/CG realm, then also head over to cgbergen.org and join the mailing list.

Full steam ahead!

Holocron

Written by MentalFish. Posted in Games

It’s been a few days since the Android version went live, and I am awaiting the approval process from the App Store. In any case, the swtor.com RSS reader marks the kick off for many iOS and Android apps in the coming months.

LScript Appeal

Written by MentalFish. Posted in 3D Graphics

To any and all LightWave scripters out in the interwibble.

There is quite a few LScripts in circulation, some are very focused and task oriented while others are quite wide in scope. These tools can sometimes become a vital part of someone’s pipeline and if we as creators of LScripts become less invested in it, both in time and effort, people using it may end up suffering from unfixed bugs and scripts not working at all.

I would urge all developers of free LScripts to release them as uncompiled .ls sources, so that the scripts can be maintained and stay alive even after the creator of them has stopped caring or been hit by a truck.

New game in development: B.A.G.

Written by MentalFish. Posted in Games

MentalFish and Scary-Monsters have teamed up to deliver an absurd experience in the form of a 3′rd person shooter named B.A.G. The game is a tribute to the 80′ies comic D.R. & Quinch and will feature ridiculous weaponry for disposal of annoying aliens.

Leigh Bamforth has created some awesome models and first up is one of the two characters:
Unity turntable of Quinch in all his splendor.

It’s all about the Mac

Written by MentalFish. Posted in Usability

Ok Steve, you told us recently it was all about the Mac. The new MacBook Air is nice and slim, and iLife makes my wife’s life easier when making albums of the kids in the kindergarten where she works… but I don’t see how this is all about the Mac. It feels more like, its all about making the Mac more like the iDevices, which is fine when making them more consumer friendly.

As a “power” user in need of productivity tools in 3D and game development, I am still waiting for an up to date graphics card update option to my 2008 Mac Pro. The overpriced Quadro 4800 is not really an option and the Radeon 5780 is still not available for purchase.

In terms of OS X, there are some issues that needs to be addressed. When changing the association of all files of a certain type to be opened by a specific application, it will only be valid for the currently existing files on the system. As soon as another file is added/downloaded, it might have some other application associated with it. Can I please have a more Windows like file association? Not by file extension though, but by actual file/mime type. I am fed up of having the most recently installed app hijacking any file types it want to. I have tried RCDefaultApp, but it just doesn’t work as “advertised”.

Next issue that needs to be fixed is Spotlight. When I search the system for files of a certain file size, Spotlight does not allow for displaying the file size next to the name and date in the listing. I have to Cmd+I click each of them or check their size. Why oh why?

Fix these first, then you can get back to implementing iOS features in OS X.

Dang it

Written by MentalFish. Posted in Personal

If I don’t post something now, it will be more than a month since last time (not that anyone reads this).

With full time work and freelance work on the side, there is absolutely no time left in the day to do things such as space ship modeling. If there is any energy or creativity left by the end of the day, it goes towards making some food and brush my teeth before going to bed. I have also handed over some LScript projects for others to complete, as I don’t give them enough attention.

This sprint run of workmania is soon over and then it is back to regular 07.00-15.00 workdays with energy and time to spend on space ships and other important things such as flying R/C things.