So, I've been working with Ruby on Rails lately -- which is another discussion entirely -- and I've come to the point where I want to figure out how to embed SWF games into a page.  This research led me to a great little article called "Embedding SWF content with Ruby on Rails " at EleventyTen (which is just a cool name, btw.)

I'm posting here as usual to give myself a future-note on the topic, but also to share a bit.  SWFObject is really sweet and is a MUCH nicer way to handle the ridiculous mess that is the embed-vs-object "thing" for putting SWF movies in your files.

So, consider this an introduction to SWF embeding in Rails, as well as a heads-up on SWFObject since you'll probably want to use that sucker no matter what you're using on the site dev backend!

You're welcome. 

"A performance so scrumtrilescent, I can barely move."  -- Will Ferrell as James Lipton

This post has nothing to do with that quote, or that made-up word, for that matter.  However, it is my shallow attempt at humor so there you have it.  :P

Point is, I've been working on implementing Scrum and Agile software development goodies and I'm very much liking what I'm seeing. I have a lot to learn -- mostly through practice -- but I'm both inspired and motivated by this change in my processes.  It's a typical story heard amongst people getting into Scrum officially, where I'm sure I've done all this stuff before.  That's said to be due to the "common sense" nature of so much of this.

At any rate, I just had to post this note to get me thinking about posting more here about how my process is improving.  I'll work on documenting a lot of the core stuff I'm learning later, but I've gotta bail.  It's really late for me and sleep looms.

Cryptic (the folks behind City of Heroes and City of Villains) have released a pretty sweet tool for animation junkies.. the Cryptic AR (Cryptic Animation Rig) for 3D Studio Max 8 or higher. Their stated goal for doing this is to provide "the animation community with the ability to use professional quality animation tools free of charge. The rig's flexibility and ease of use allows users of all experience levels to create professional video game animations."

They've also put up a Cryptic AR community forum for new & experienced animators to discuss their craft, as well as getting tips about using the Cryptic AR.

I'm not much of an animator, but I'll have to give this puppy a run and see how it flies. Good Stuff, Cryptic! This is pretty cool.

Torque Constructor has been discussed here before, so maybe you remember it from my fingertips. The GG community is all buzzy about the release, since it marks the first official tool targeting the Torque art pipeline squarely in the chest. Previously (as mentioned in my earlier post) you had to use other tools to develop Torque interiors, so this is a pretty Big Deal to have a tool specifically designed for Torque development.

In a nutshell, in case you're not going to follow the link above, here's what you'll find in Torque Constructor:

Torque Constructor is a Constructive Solid Geometry (CSG) WYSIWYG brush editor that supports export of buildings and structures to numerous industry-standard CSG model (.map) formats, or seamlessly exports directly into Torque Game Engine (TGE) or Torque Game Engine Advanced (TGEA).

Torque Constructor features the ability to modify and expand any of the basic scriptable functions with TorqueScript, from plugins, tools, and widgets to customization of the GUI.

Get a nice list of features by checking out the big announcement post at GG.com: Torque Constructor Now Available .

I'm sorry to be so late on this announcement, but I'm struggling to keep up these days.  However TOMORROW is a very interesting event if you happen to be in the area of this event.  Career Discovery: Games is being held tomorrow, 3/24/07 in Belleview, WA.  It's looking to be a fantastic event for students or other folks interested in getting into the game development industry.  I'll work with them to get more advance notice of future events like this.

I realize my current habit of cross-posting might be getting annoying for you folks, but hey... lots of work to do and all that blah.  Anyway, here's a copy of my post about the Indie MMO Game Dev Conference coming up in April:

I'm sorry I missed this before, since I could have helped you folks save some cash if you were wanting to go, but here it is anyway. With everything in much of the game development world focusing on San Francisco in March (I'm not linking to that "other" conference here, since it seems rude,) I'm stoked to keep finding out about other conferences catering to the small shops... of which there are a TON. In fact, I'm a "small game dev shop" so I have a bias for this type of thing, I don't mind admitting...

In Minneapolis, MN on April 14th-15th, the Indie MMO Game Dev Conference (IMGDC) will provide a forum for the vast reaches of independent MMOG developers out in the world to gather and learn/teach each other. There are a lot of these folks, mind you, in case you're not one of them, or if you're not paying attention to the number of games blogged about everywhere.

If you're interested in making (or are currently making) an Indie MassMOG, go check out this conference and consider attending. There are some great speakers planned and it looks to be a great start to what might end up being an excellent yearly event. Make sure to spread the word, since things like this need exposure, IMO. (Even late exposure... *ahem*)

Well, my interest in Virtools has just been ratcheted up, oh... 500%! Check this out...

Virtools will present in exclusivity its new Wii™ Solution for faster and easier developments on Nintendo’s console at the Game Developer Conference, March 5–9 2007, San Francisco, California, USA. Specific components of Virtools 4 solution, the Wii Remote™ building block and Wii Remote client, allow the use of the Wii controllers directly on PCs, and authorized Wii game developers are now able to see results in hours and precisely tune their game. Come and discover it on our booth 454 West Hall.

Hah! That's pretty sweet, methinks. (They're a French company, so don't fault them much for the wonky English in spots, eh?) Get the full press release here if you want.

I'll definitely be checking out their booth at GDC and I'll report back. I came very close to turning myself into a Virtools developer for a while, but the costs are pretty steep. Especially if you develop for a console, so I'll be VERY interested to learn about licensing costs for a Nintendo part versus what Xbox numbers were (nearly astronomical, IMO.) I'll definitely be talking about this more later.

[I'm going to be lazy and just post a copy of this article from my other site.  You're lucky you're getting a post at all!...]

 

The Austin Game Developers Conference has been officially announced to take place September 5-7, 2007.  Many of you may notice the addition of the "Developers" word in that title as compared to previous years... well it's now the Austin version of the bigger Game Developers Conference -- coming up March 5-9 incidentally -- owned by the former's new aquirer, CMP.  Sound confusing?  It did to me too as I was typing it... I'm not going to try to rewrite it.  Sorry. My point is, CMP bought up the Game Initiative, who previously ran the Austin Game Conference.  Now the Austin conference may really be more of a "little GDC" like many of us referred to it from the start.

Bah.. I'm not helping anything by trying to be more clear.  More coffee please, Miss!

So, the Austin GDC (as they're acronymifying it) will focus on three tracks:  online games, audio for games and writing for games.  That particular combination makes sense when you realize the old Game Initiative conference palette included a conference for game writers as well as the online game-centric AGC of old.

Seriously... I'm thinking my writing is sucking just about now.  I'll put a nail in this story and let you go browser over there yourself for more info. 

 

I'm just dropping a post to say "hello" and thank you folks for stopping by.  I know it's been really slow around here.  I'm sorry to leave you hanging, but I've been incredibly busy with other work for a while.  I just wrapped up a couple big projects, but now I'm taking a break for the holidays.

 So... Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Yippity Skippity Doo... whatever you're doing this time of year, just have a great time and I'll see you soon.  Happy New Year!!

Oh yeah... the "snow" thing eludes to the fact that there are 4-foot snow drifts outside my front door!!  Wheeee!  It snowed around 2 feet last night & yesterday here in Denver, Colorado (USA) and I freakin' love it.  I grew up in the mountains West of here and when I was a kid, there were a lot more of these big storms than we've been having recently.  

Anyway, it's a white Christmas for me.  :)