Unity - Blue Blast Effect

I've been trying out Unity and I must say, IT'S FRIGGIN AWESOME \m/
I couldn't believe it's so light weight either!


I was trying out my hands at the in-built Particle System. After seeing some of the samples, the very first thing that came to my mind was the Blue-Blast effect in Transformer's Chopper scene.


Well, this is my first attempt.

Kinda looks alright in the beginning, but as the ripple spreads out, gaps appear. I'm thinking of other better-slicker-elegant ways to achieve this effect.


Actually, I'm so tempted to start creating a level editor for Away3D / XNA right now!I know I know... it's like adrenaline rush... and I'm lazy.

Plus, Unity is probably THE example for Component/Entity based design

NTFS: 
Why did I stop playing with Away3D?
1. There is no editor.. bummer.
2. Unity is planning a "publish to Flash Player 11" (Molehill as of now)
3. I'm lazy and I find good reasons to convince myself

Applying Material in Away3D

I wanted to know Away3D basics first, before getting my hands dirty with Broomstick. So, currently I'm using version 3.6.

I looked at the Ferrari sample, and i replicated it - all seemed fine.
But when I created my own model - I wasn't able to apply material in Away3D.

Funny thing - a lot of people seem to have the same issue and no results have been posted yet. So after Google(Nasdaq GOOG.. lol.. that outta belittle you) finished playing cruel tricks on me, I was finally able to figure out the issue on my own.

Step 1: Modelling
Create the 3D Model and Unwrap UV
Go to Material Editor - Select a material and set a name for it - This is very important!
Apply this material and export it as a 3DS Model

Note: I'm using some old 3DS Max 2008 trial version that I got in a DVD along with some boring useless book, so a lot of things may be different or changed. And yeah, the new Blender is apparently awesome - gotta try it.

Step 2:
In Away3D, get the mesh ready and do the following

// Load the model, use load or parse - me use parse
// Gift me a server or shut up
myMesh =  Max3DS.parse( /* Embedded Resource */);


// Apply the material
// Note: The name "SKIN" is same as the one we set before
myMesh .materialLibrary.getMaterial("SKIN").material = Cast.material(/* Embedded Texture*/);


Just an FYI how I found this -
I opened the binary 3ds file in notepad++ and found only few things that were human readable - model name, material name and texture filename. So, yeah, it was a brute force attack.

NTFS: Prefer NOT to apply "texture or image" before export - will give resource not found run time error

True Engineering

I came across this hack-a-day post. It's about how Rice University students rigged Wii Boards to help kids with disability learn to walk.


From their website:

"By cleverly linking five Wii Balance Boards, a team of Rice University undergraduates has combined the appeal of a video game with the utility of a computerized motion-tracking system that can enhance the progress of patients at Shriners Hospital for Children-Houston.

The Rice engineering students created the new device using components of the popular Nintendo game system to create a balance training system. What the kids may see as a fun video game is really a sophisticated way to help them advance their skills. The Wii Balance Boards lined up between handrails will encourage patients age 6 to 18 to practice their balance skills in an electronic gaming environment. The active handrails, which provide feedback on how heavily patients depend on their arms, are a unique feature.

Many of the children targeted for this project have cerebral palsy, spina bifida or amputations. Using the relatively inexpensive game console components improves the potential of this system to become a cost-effective addition to physical therapy departments in the future."

Check out  this video on Youtube:

How sweet is this? Come to think of it.. We.. thats right.. You too (95% probability  - 80% that XNA, Game or Actionscript got you here and 15% that you are a known friend ) as engineering grads forgot all about making lives better and sadly, everything after college life is about "Money"