Game Development in SL

2 days of presentations

2011-01-19T14:37:00.000-08:00

2 days, 2 presentations - both on Second Life. The first a joint presentation in an arts-focused seminar, based on the virtual theatre work, the second a presentation to built environment educators and trainers on the University's virtual quarry.

Common to both was the advice that anyone looking into using immersive simulations in their teaching, should make OpenSim their first choice. I'd guess that it's common advice circulating through the educational sector. At a time when funding is being cut to the point that jobs are being lost, there's no way of justifying the cost of 'trying it out'.

A model is starting to form in my mind where institutions jointly hire some hosted OpenSim land, and collaborate to produce a learning activity. And then when it's complete each institution takes a copy to use on their own local servers, run when required. We're entering times where the efficient use of resources is paramount.

Bright future for games in Second Life...

2011-01-12T01:18:00.000-08:00

... possibly. Towards the end of last year Linden Labs officially announced that Rod Humble would become the new CEO. Having had a very successful career in the games industry, there are justified expectations that under his leadership Second Life will become more game-like. Whether that includes a focus on content or is more the "feel" of the experience, we'll wait and see.

With Mr Humble not due to actually start in the role until mid-January, I wouldn't have expected to see any impact until around the Summer. However, there are already some signs of shuffling at Linden Labs, such as the new blog post on games. It relates mainly to the category in the destination guide - which has gone from no mention of games at all, to a combined 'sports and games' category, to giving games an entry all on their own.

As I mentioned in the comments of that post, I don't see the point in separating sports and games in a virtual world like Second Life. The distinction between sports and games in the real-world is mainly due to culture and organisation - for example Kabaddi compared to British Bulldog. Currently Quackerstone Duck Racing is in the sports category; really? Categories are always tricky, which is why we shouldn't be using them anymore - see "Everything is Miscellaneous" - but for sports and games in SL I think that if you're looking for something in one, then you'll enjoy what's in the other.

Half Day Challenge: Melee

2010-12-30T11:37:00.000-08:00

Got distracted there for a while so things ran on for more than half a day. Still, this is the last update.

Just to round things out I added in melee. Very simply when a unit activates it scans for adjacent enemy units and then distributes its melee attack across them. By rights it should also lock movement, but that's for another time.

The end result is a skeleton for a more advanced system. At the moment there are no real rules, but I've tried to use a modular system that would make it easier to expand. The visuals are also more at the abstract end of the spectrum, but they could be replaced with small figures or, maybe in an OpenSim megaregion, full-size models.

Half Day Challenge: Ranged

2010-12-30T09:28:00.000-08:00

Unable to display content. Adobe Flash is required.

The video shows the basic movement and ranged combat.

This first system is as basic as they come. The player selects a target and the unit uses the llSensor function to see if it is within range. If it is then it informs the target that it has taken damage.

Of course usually there would be a random check made based on the distance to target and units skill, and possibly random damage as well.

Half Day Challenge: Movement

2010-12-30T06:58:00.000-08:00

A few overheads in setting up, but I now have a HUD that controls orientation and movement. I'm using the llDetectedUV function for both.

For the rotation this touch coordinate needs to be converted to an angle, which you can do using the llAtan2 function - just remember to subtract 0.5 from both x and y to move the origin to the centre.

vector touchPoint = llDetectedTouchUV(0);

float angle = llAtan2(touchPoint.y - 0.5, touchPoint.x - 0.5);

The angle will need adjusting so that clockwise is positive 0-180, and anticlockwise is negative. The OpenSim version that I'm using (0.7.02) returns inconsistent results for the four 90 degree quarters, so it might take some trial and error depending on what system you're using.

For movement, I'm just passing on the x component. Since this is just a number between 0 and 1 I'll use it to scale the movement. While on the subject, moving objects "forwards" is very easy using the built-in functions:

// Get the current rotation

rotation myRot = llGetRot();

// Get the vector that is pointing "forwards"

vector fwd = llRot2Fwd(myRot);

// Get the current position

vector myPos = llGetPos();

// Move forward a distance based on variables maxSpeed and movementScale

myPos = myPos + (fwd * maxSpeed * movementScale);

Just remember that an objects forward direction is along its positive x axis.

Time for lunch.

Half Day Game Development Challenge

2010-12-30T03:01:00.000-08:00

I've found some free time over the Christmas break, so I thought that I'd devote half a day to working on a game project - it is the title of this blog after-all.

SL-based platforms aren't a good choice for real-time games. Basically, unless you're running a dedicated sim in SL with very little on it, then lag is going to be a major problem. As much as I love OpenSim, its performance would be even worse.

I've always thought that SL is a better platform for turn-based games. If you think about real-life, apart from sports, most games are turn-based, from hopscotch, to Monopoly, to Warhammer, to poker, to spin-the-bottle. Although this is hardly an epiphany, since most of the games that I've come across in SL were turn-based.

Anyway, since New World Notes reported that SL's new CEO had worked on some Open Source miniature wargame rules, that seemed like a perfect fit. I'll update on progress.

Results of OpenSim/SL Exercise

2010-12-13T01:45:00.000-08:00

Last week we ran the SL/OpenSim activity for directing actors. The overall aim was for students to work in groups to plan out the stage direction for a piece of dialogue from Hamlet that only involved Hamlet and Ophelia, and then present their plan to the rest of the class. Virtual representations of the Globe theatre were used both as planning tools and the source of screenshots to use in their presentations.

There were 4 groups. At any one time only 1 group was in Second Life, and 1 was in OpenSim. They took it in turns, so ultimately 2 groups used OpenSim and 2 used Second Life.

The OpenSim setup is shown in the diagram below (the Second Life setup was identical, except that they connected to the Linden server instead of another PC in the room). Each group had 3 PCs, with two group members controlling the actors, and the remaining group members huddled around the 'director' PC. ((No it isn't the official Imprudence logo, but it's one of the variations that I prefer))

So how did it go? Put simply, very well. From the student experience point of view SL and OpenSim use was near-identical - one student did comment on OpenSim's tendency to flick the avatar's feet up to waist height occasionally. There were no crashes in either setup, and nothing noticeably weird happened. However a few general points did arise:

Getting to grips with SL

An issue that often arises in virtual world activities is the overhead in learners getting to grips with the technology. If anything we experienced the opposite effect. We bypassed all of the account creation/teleportation/inventory issues by providing ready-made avatars en-situ. Actors were on stage suitably dressed and the director was in the 'pit'. Actor controls were just the arrow keys to move around; the director controls were camera adjustment and screenshot taking. This wasn't enough for the students as they experimented with flying, text chat, and using gestures to act out parts of the dialogue.

It should be said that these were English Literature students, with a voiced aversion to 'techie' things. Some of the challenges experienced in introducing SL activities might be caused by exposure to too much early on. The group structure also provided peer support and allowed 'back-seat drivers'.

Phychomotor vs Affective learning

The activity was very successful in terms of students being able to use the technology as an assistance, rather than hindrance, in planning their stage direction. However, it seemed to be a less successful activity in terms of leading to an affective change in their understanding of Virtual World (VW) uses. There seemed to be a lack of imagination or extrapolation as to how VWs might be used in other areas.

This is probably a symptom of how the activity was designed. Removing distractions limited their view of the bigger picture. It's something that will be addressed in any future activities, but I'll wait to see what appears in the students' reflective journals before passing judgement.

First OpenSim project?

2010-11-23T03:06:00.000-08:00

Although I've experimented with OpenSim, and created a few generic educational tools, we haven't used it in a project at the University yet. Although we might do in the very near future.

Shown above are characters on the stage of our virtual Globe Theatre. A previous activity involved students positioning the mannequins (foreground) to explore issues of actor positioning and movement during a scene. To give a better understanding of the affordances of Second Life, it was decided to replace the mannequins with student controlled avatars (centre). This probably seems like an obvious decision to users of Second Life, but the students in question are being introduced to and using Second Life in a single session, and we wanted to reduce distractions from the core activity (navigation issues, creating logins etc). As a compromise we'll be providing pre-made accounts where avatars start in the right locations.

However, a challenge is that the class will need to be divided into groups for the activity and there is only one theatre. There isn't space on the island to duplicate it, and so hopefully OpenSim can come to the rescue.

Our Globe Theatre was created by a developer in our department, and so we were able to export it to OpenSim fairly easily (see image above). The costumes are an entirely different matter, as they were produced by Karen Royer. Even large parts of the mannequins are purchased pieces.

This is a major issue in the educational use of OpenSim, which several people have highlighted. Generally speaking most academics don't have the time or ability to create good quality virtual environments. Even if they could, constantly rebuilding things that others have already made is wasted effort. Thankfully some resources are appearing, such as myOpenSim, although I'd prefer if they did away with the concept of pretend money.

Trying Diva - Part 2: wifi

2010-11-19T06:49:00.000-08:00

Just a quick update to post some thoughts on the web interface supplied with Diva. The bottom line is that it's sole purpose at the moment is to administer accounts, and it does that well. It looks quite nice too.

I can definitely see the benefits of allowing people to register their own accounts, even in a stand-alone, classroom setting. However, there is potential to do a lot more. True, it also allows you to view your inventory, create folders and shuffle things around, but that's not particularly useful.

An alternative is the Opensim Webinterface - opensimwi (redux), as described here. It seems to have more features, including a more easily customisable front-end, but it looks a little dated. Out of the two I would probably still go with the Diva version.

A promising integration that was trialled a while back was linking Elgg to OSgrid. It was supposed to synchronise friends and groups between the two, and I'm sure it did when I registered some time ago, but it seems to have lost all of the functionality now. That's a shame.

I also remember hearing something about being able to buy things from other people's inventories. I'd like to see something like XStreetSL linked into the OpenSim database so that you can just list something as for sale in your inventory, and it would appear for sale in a web listing.

Trying Diva

2010-11-10T03:34:00.000-08:00

I finally got around to trying the diva distribution of OpenSim. I followed the instructions available here, which actually weren't as complicated as it seemed at first glance. So long as you follow it step by step then it's pretty fool-proof. Although I've had previous experience with both OpenSim and an equivalent of MoWeS called XAMP, so I'd be interested to hear about other people's experiences.

One step that did look as though it could be a lot simpler was the setup of the MySQL server. My recommendation would be that at the point when you're choosing Apache2, MySQL5 etc in the MoWeS mixer (pretty much the first step in the instructions), that you also select PHPMyAdmin in the Application software section.

In step 1, after you get confirmation that Apache and MySQL is running, open a web browser and go to: http://localhost/phpmyadmin/

In the window that opens click on the Privileges tab (shown as 1 in the image).

Enter a User name of opensim, set a password (including retyping it), as shown in 2. Then select the radio button option to create a database with the same name, as shown in 3. That's it. No use of command prompts or typing in unfamiliar strings of text.

I've only had a brief play so far, but I'm looking forward to trying out the web interface and sending things flying around the Megaregion. My only concern was that I couldn't connect to it from another PC. Whether this is due to permissions or the hard-coded local IP I don't know. Hopefully the former.

Running a LAN grid

2010-10-14T01:42:00.000-07:00

I don't want to clutter this post with the background reasoning, but I would argue that the majority of educational uses of virtual worlds can be addressed by running 1 student per grid, or ad-hoc multi-user set-ups. The second of those seems to be a lot easier now than the last time that I tried it.

The instructions in this post will allow you to set-up a loca

l OpenSim grid, for use within an institution's firewall. You can walk into a lab, start the server on one PC, and have the students connect to it through other PCs.

Server setup:

Download OpenSim and run it once in order to configure it - as described here.
You will need to use the 'create user' command to create an account for each student.
Copy the 'bin' folder to a USB stick.

Running the server:

Plug in the USB stick
Run OpenSim.exe (OpenSim.32BitLaunch.exe on 64bit machines).
**Update** In the OpenSim window, type: 'show region regionName'.
Note down the text that starts with http://

If you've forgotten the name that you gave to your region, then it is shown in brackets within the OpenSim window, i.e. Region (regionName) #

Viewer setup:

If you already have Second Life viewers installed then skip to the next bit
Alternatively you can install a viewer on any PC, and then copy the viewer's folder from the 'Program Files' directory (typically on the C drive) onto a USB stick. The just run the executable in this folder.

You (or the students) will need to configure the viewers so that they connect to your server. If the server is run from the same PC each time, then you should only need to do this once.

Running the viewer (easy way):

Viewers such as Imprudence and Hippo include a grid manager where the ip address of the server can be added. Be sure to include 'http://' at the front and ':9000' at the end.

Running the viewer (slightly harder):

Copy your existing shortcut to the viewer (assuming it's installed - if running from a USB right-click on the exe and choose 'create shortcut').
Right-click on the new shortcut and choose 'Properties'.
On the 'Shortcut' tab, look for the 'Target' option.
At the end of the text in the 'Target' box add: '-loginuri http://11.5.2.54:9000/' where 11.5.2.54 is the ip address of the server.

There is of course a huge variety in networks and institutional setups, but hopefully these steps should work in most cases. You should consider involving your IT or eLearning department when trying to setup OpenSim in this way. They probably won't like running things from USB sticks, but their alternative might be a more robust system.

OpenSim commands

2010-10-13T02:34:00.001-07:00

You can type commands into the OpenSim window. It can be a bit daunting if you are not used to 'command line' applications, and although there is a possibility that you might completely wipe everything that you've made, the chances of doing it by accident are very slim (hint: avoid any commands that include the word 'delete').

To list the available commands type: help

To create a flat terrain (taken from Roger Stack) type: terrain fill 21

If you're tired of being Test User type: create user firstname lastname

When you're finished and want to shut down type: quit

Note that permissions are ignored by default, so even if you login as a different avatar you will still be able to modify everything that's there. You won't have access to the other avatar's inventory though - unless you feel brave and use the IAR system to transfer it.

Running OpenSim from USB

2010-10-13T01:29:00.000-07:00

With Linden Labs pushing out educators there have been an increasing number of blog posts regarding OpenSim. What caught my attention were the guides to running OpenSim from a USB stick, such as the one by Roger Stack. Although very comprehensive and probably the best way of doing things, it's quite complicated, and we should be showing educators how easy it can be.

And so, the easy way:

Go to http://opensimulator.org/wiki/Download
Download the zip file under the 'Binary Packages' heading, and extract it somewhere
In the Bin folder, run OpenSim.exe (OpenSim.32BitLaunch.exe on 64 bit machines)
Eventually you'll be asked for a region name - enter something
For everything else just keep pressing Enter to accept the default settings
Wait until it says: Region (the name you entered) #

That's it. You now have a locally running OpenSim server. Copy the bin folder to any location where you want to run the server from (including a USB stick). Always remember to close the server correctly by typing quit.

Connecting to the server is also easier than some have described. Don't bother messing around with shortcuts; viewers such as Imprudence and Kirstens allow you to pick 'localhost' from a drop-down list:

Assuming you went along with the default values you can login with first name: Test, last name: User, and leave the password field blank.

Linden Lab's war on games continues

2010-02-22T04:09:00.000-08:00

Linden Labs recently over-hauled their forums. I'll ignore the fact that it's broken for now, since they're sure to fix it at some point.

However, the first thing that I noticed was the fact that the games section of the forum has been removed. It's true that it didn't get too much activity, and that might have been their selection criteria when moving between systems, but it certainly doesn't help the gaming community.

Forensic House Update

2010-02-15T13:06:00.001-08:00

Just a quick update on the forensics simulation. A bit of surrounding detail has been added to the bedsit environment to add context (see below). The crime scene is now in the basement of the central building.

Shown below is the view when you first walk in; although because of the enclosed nature of the environment you'd actually have to be in 1st person view. There's still a little bit of work to be done to create a more realistic setting.

Various important objects have MCQ quizzes attached; and a feedback board has been added to indicate which quizes were attempted, and whether or not a 100% score was achieved.

Educational tools in OpenSim

2010-01-11T02:38:00.000-08:00

My first batch of educational tools for use in OpenSim has been released, and is available at:

http://thoughtfulmonkey.com/eduset/

It's an IAR file, which allows you to load the objects into your inventory without affecting any existing build.

I'll also be adding in some tutorial videos to show how the tools work. The sound is a bit low on the first offering, but you get the idea. If you have any suggestions or problems then feel free to voice them in the comments (it's moderated so they won't appear straight-away).

Educational tools in SL

2009-10-08T05:26:00.001-07:00

I've just finished compiling a list of educational tools available in Second Life. You can view the Google Doc here:

http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AbJhUXLbxPT9ZGY0NDNwM3pfNmhwbTVxZGMy&hl=en

AIMLBot and Open Metaverse

2009-10-02T06:53:00.000-07:00

To remove any hard work in creating a chat bot using Open Metaverse, I performed a search for C# AIML parsers. Top of the list was AIMLBot (http://aimlbot.sourceforge.net/), and after a bit of poking around they seem to work well together.

There was some head scratching because the chat example on the Open Metaverse page (http://lib.openmetaverse.org/wiki/Respond_to_inworld_chat) seems to be out of date - the LL prefix from LLUUID and LLVector3 seem to have been dropped. The AIMLBot also doesn't come with the xml and aiml files needed, but I just took those from Radegast.

As it stands the chat call back is fired whenever anyone starts typing nearby, and when it hears itself. My slap-dash solution is included below:


static void Self_OnChat(string message, ChatAudibleLevel audible, 
 ChatType type, ChatSourceType sourceType, string fromName, 
 UUID id, UUID ownerid, Vector3 position)
{
  if (message != "")
  {
      if (fromName != "Test Bot")
      {
          //process chat here
          AIMLbot.Request request = new AIMLbot.Request(message, 
            myUser, myBot);
          AIMLbot.Result reply = myBot.Chat(request);

          Client.Self.Chat(reply.Output, 0, ChatType.Normal);
          Console.WriteLine(reply.Output);
      }
  }
}

That's the main component of the chat bot, so you can see that it is very easy to implement.

Creating Bots for SL/OpenSim

2009-09-25T05:16:00.000-07:00

If you have any exposure to Second Life culture, then you will hear discussions about 'bots' - which are simply avatars controlled by computers, rather than by real human beings. For example, when you perform a search for places in SL, the results are ordered based on traffic, with the places that have had the most visitors listed at the top. Some unscrupulous people used bots to inflate their traffic stats to move up the search list. Also, how do you know that the preset grinding sequence of the SL stripper you just paid was initiated by a person and not a computer? Do you care? Should you care? Why are you there?

Regardless of the controversies, bots are very useful as NPCs. Compared to the alternative on in-world modelled and scripted bots, out-world bots will generally look better (using the avatar mesh and any of the high-quality garments and animations you choose to purchase) and have potentially better AI. I will now share with you the knowledge gained from a brief investigation into how to create these bots, with specific consideration to OpenSim.

Important note: Every bot neads a valid login account.

Easy-Peasy Method:

The Radegast client (http://radegastclient.org/wp/) is a non-graphical client for SL. It supports almost everything you might want to do in SL, except look at it, and also includes a built-in AI agent based on A.L.I.C.E. You just turn it on as a setting, and when anyone enters chat nearby that includes the avatar's firstnname (this is very important), then Alice will repond.

I.e. If you log in as Rupert Marmaduke, and somebody says "Hello Rupert Marmaduke" or "Hello Rupert", then they will illicit some suitable response.

For OpenSim, you will need to set a URL and port in order to connect (e.g. http://127.0.0.1:9000).

Personalising Radegast (Maybe):

As mentioned the Radegast chat-bot is built upon A.L.I.C.E, which uses aiml definitions. Basically these are xml files, listing patterns (what the user might say) and templates (how the bot might respond). For example:

<category>
<pattern>TELL ME ABOUT YOURSELF</pattern>
<template>I am a natural language chatterbot, that talks to people via computer networks such as the Internet.</template>
</category>

You can conceivably modify the aiml files that come with Radegast (stored in Program Files\Radegast\aiml) as you see fit. Whatever you put in the template section is regurgitated whenever the pattern is matched. I have not tried this, but I'm 90% sure that it would work.

Getting Complex: OpenMetaverse

If you want to get your hands dirty then you can download a C# library called Open Metaverse - and it is what Radegast was built upon. There are plenty of examples provided, and it is very easy to get an avatar to login and say something (i.e. follow 5 instructions then copy and paste). Capturing the surrounding chat and responding intelligently is obvioulsy the biggest challenge.

By default the library connects to SL, but you can switch to any grid using:

client.Settings.LOGIN_SERVER = "http://osgrid.org:8002/";

Full details are given here: http://lib.openmetaverse.org/wiki/How_to_create_a_basic_libopenmv_bot_for_osgrid%3F

MCQs in SL

2009-09-21T06:43:00.000-07:00

Shown in the video are various options for showing multiple choice questions (MCQs) in SL. The fundamental criteria was that the questions needed to be attached to an object in-world, and so there were 3 main options:

Dialogs: MCQ presented through a series of dialogs. Only a certain amount of text can fit on a dialog button, and so longer options need an ABC-style system.
HUD: Very similar to the dialogs, but allows for 'bigger buttons' to display options.
Website: Displays a website using the in-built browser. In this case the website was made using software called Twine, but any html page would work (including javascript).

The dialog and HUD are roughly equivalent; with the HUD possibly just having the edge since its appearance can be customised, and it doesn't have the button size restrictions. The website option has many advantages, including support for images and larger passages of text, but requires a server somewhere to host the pages, and extra effort in authoring them.

In the video the Dialog questions load slightly faster because they are hard-coded, while the HUD is reading from a notecard. The notecard is the better option because it is easier to produce questions for. The system that I'm using requires lines to start with special characters, as shown below:

?Question
*Incorrect option
*Correct option<
*Incorrect option
+Positive feedback
-Negative feedback
#

I think that this is a fairly straight-forward, human-readable format, so putting together quizes shouldn't be too difficult.

I want to briefly mention Twine, which is a fantastic tool for creating branching scenarios. It was used in the website example to create a linear quiz, but it can be used in much more creative ways. Full details can be found here: http://gimcrackd.com/etc/src/

Second Life Games Directory Update

2009-08-16T12:50:00.001-07:00

15 more games added; many more still waiting.

http://thoughtfulmonkey.com/slgameslist/

Crime Scene - Fingerprints

2009-08-09T04:39:00.000-07:00

This morning's addition to the forensics simulator was a Comparison Microscope, specifically for the purpose of identifying finger prints (although I'm not sure it's actually used for this purpose).

It is now possible to assign fingerprints to objects in the world, which can be retrieved while wielding the correct tool. Below we have the murder weapon hidden in some bushes. A print taken from this can be compared with one taken from the hand-prints in the bathroom.

Shown below is the comparison microscope itself. Fingerprint samples can be dropped onto the left or right location. If the print is on file then the corresponding record appears on the panel behind; and a match between two samples is also flagged.

Crime Scene - Blood Samples

2009-08-08T01:03:00.000-07:00

The Ideal System for Evidence

I strongly believe that in training situations, virtual environments should only be used to 'fill in the gaps' for things that can't be done in the real-world. For example in this case, it's unlikely that a department would be able to provide a restaurant and alleyway for students to investigate; and impossible to have 20 such environments, so that all students can perform the exercise at the same time. This is what the virtual environment provides.

However, in using the environment I would argue for a system similar to a murder mystery event that I recently attended:

Students explore the environment gathering virtual evidence.
At the end of the exercise a list of reference codes is given for the virtual evidence.
Tutors give students real evidence based on these references.

For example, in the simulation I take a swab from a pool of blood, and after the exercise the tutor gives me a real swab sample to analyse; or finger prints to compare, or fibres to analyse etc. Even if the students don't perform the actual analysis, then they should at least be given a physical report of the findings, acurately matching what they would encounter in the real-world.

I think that this system has a good clear division between gathering (virtual) and analysing (real); which would obviously need to be supported with real-world evidence gathering exercises - but these could be on a smaller scale focusing on skills rather than the environment.

Without wanting to waffle too much, it could be taken to the extreme, where students are given physical props when they encounter the virtual counterpart. Act-UK have a system in this style, developed by make-media; where a cave-style technology provides the environment and real-life actors and props form the foreground.

Virtual Blood Sampling

However, using the above method wouldn't leave me with much to do, and so I've created a virtual blood sampling system as an alternative. As with the UV light, the student must equip the swab to the avatar, and can then click on the object to sample (in the image below it is the victims blood).

The student is then given a sample, which is stored in their inventory. These can be given unique id's for use in the afore-mentioned method, or the student can be tasked with assigning them names and recording where they were taken.

These samples can then be dropped onto the centrifuge; where various characteristics are reported back.

Crime Scene - Visual Tools

2009-08-07T04:57:00.000-07:00

Camera

To be honest my experience of forensics is based solely on documentaries and CSI, but something that seems important is taking lots of photographs. SL Viewers offer a free-roaming camera that you can position how you want, and a 'snapshot' feature to save screen-shots. So that's one tool ticked off.

UV Light

Another common tool seems to be the UV light, for highlighting various bodily fluids. A representation of this is fairly straight forward in SL; you simply control the switching of textures and emissive colour (see the images below of the suspected escape route - a bathroom window).
Note that it was the ladies bathroom, which already gives us a clue as to the muderer.

A major issue encountered is that OpenSim doesn't seem to allow objects in-world to hear messages from HUDs. In the example above the avatar is carrying a UV light, which you click on to toggle the light on/off. This method may be more realistic in that different tools must be worn in order to be used, but from a usability perspective a HUD is often the best choice. We'll see how this affects other tools.

Virtual Crime Scene

2009-08-06T13:07:00.000-07:00

There has been some discussion at work about using SL as a tool for a forensics course; and having some free time I thought I'd look into it. The biggest initial surprise when working with the latest edition of OpenSim (with the Meerkat viewer) is that the maximum size limit for prims has been increased; which makes things considerably easier.

The first benefit is being able to lay out a whole floor plan in one piece (apparently produced in some software called SmartDraw).

The creation of buildings is also a lot simpler, since you're no longer restricted to 10m panels.

The scene is at the moment fairly basic, but will allow me to start investigating potential tools and issues. The first concern is the camera angle. In the field of computer games, if a third-person view is used then camera positioning is massively important, and a lot of effort is put into getting it right - with various algorithms used to reposition it so that the view of the main character is never obscured. In tightly enclosed environments a first person view is often chosen instead. In contrast SL's 3rd person camera is fixed behind the avatar, which in enclosed spaces means that the view is often obscured by walls. A 1st person view is included, but removes the possibility of interacting with a HUD. The enclosed architectural spaces appropriate for a forensic simulation may cause some design problems.

Next step is to look at some tools (see below for a sneak preview):

Toy Interface

2009-06-22T00:46:00.000-07:00

I added the video to YouTube, but forget to comment on it here. Basically it's very easy to make all sorts of interesting user input devices if you can get hold of a keyboard encoder. A keyboard is in essence a lot of buttons connected to some electronics that communicates to the computer. A keyboard encoder is just a stripped down keyboard, which allows you to add your own buttons.

In the example below I took a childrens toy and wired it up to control the avatar in second life. For example the accelerator pedal is wired up so that when you press it, the encoder tells the computer that the up arrow key was pressed. Very easy.

As a rule of thumb, if the toy makes a noise when you press/turn/squeeze/shake/whatever, then you can use that as an input. Just find the two wires that go to that part, and connect them to your keyboard encoder instead.

Using the Meerkat viewer

2009-06-19T01:54:00.001-07:00

Shown above is the Cannons and Castles game, ported from SL to a local OpenSim grid using the new Meerkat viewer (discussed in several places). It's fairly fast and pain free, but doesn't carry over scripts - and may never be able to.

It looks like a great option for people to backup work, create locally and then upload to SL, or to flee the sinking ship (2 years of sinking and still no change in the water line).

Interestingly the data is saved to an xml format, which is likely to lead to an explosion in tools for procedurally generating content, file conversion and import/export plugins. It looks to be a much more elegant solution than current systems.

General update

2009-04-07T06:52:00.000-07:00

The store at Wild Hollow has gone, but the one at Celebration remains.

I recently started a new job, which includes some occasional SL work, but which doesn't leave much time for game development. Although as part of it I have been looking more closely at other Virtual World platforms; of which the SL clones seem most promising at this point. Once you've replaced the default physics engine in OpenSim, it seems to work fairly well; while RealXtend looks good, but its graphics rendering causes problems with my work and home PCs.

Expect to see some OpenSim-based game update coming soon.

llDetectedTouchUV function

2009-03-03T12:11:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure when it was added, but the ability to determine where the user clicked on an object's surface is very useful. To try it out I threw together two examples, shown in the video below.

Subbuteo:
The HUD calculates the distance and angle from centre of the point clicked, and applies an equivalent force to the Subbuteo player. ((I wasn't impressed by Ronaldo's finishing))

Star Fleet Command III turning:
You can click on the ring surrounding the ship to set a heading.

SL Games List

2009-03-02T05:47:00.000-08:00

There doesn't seem to be one around at the moment, so I've made one myself:

http://thoughtfulmonkey.com/slgameslist

This will be a steadily expanding list of the games available within Second Life. They won't be reviewed; just briefly described and linked to.

Store Locations

2009-02-25T11:51:00.000-08:00

**Update 2009-06-22: I ran out of Lindens and the stores closed. Now I'm back in the black I might open another, but nothing is decided yet. **

I've been looking into setting up a store for a while; and now I have two. They are 'stores' more in the literal sense of being places to store my games, rather than being shops, since everything is FREE.

The locations are:

Wild Hollow: SLURL

Celebration: SLURL

The Wild Hollow store has a higher prim allowance and so there are some extra decorations, but both will have identical content. Tell your friends.

Pocket Battler: Faery Update

2009-02-13T10:50:00.000-08:00

... and the faery graphics/model - which still requires some work. In fact it's taking the most work in all respects; control, attack effects, attack coding, and texturing. Let's just say its not my favourite.

Pocket Battler: Pirate Ship update

2009-02-13T08:13:00.001-08:00

... and here's the updated graphics/model for the pirate ship.

Pocket Battler: Tank Update

2009-02-11T10:07:00.000-08:00

Just a quick update to show the tailored HUD and new model for the tank Pocket Battler. Area effect damage is now also working.

Inventor's Show & Tell - Joint 1st place

2009-02-01T05:24:00.000-08:00

Yesterday (31/1) I demonstrated Cannons & Castles at the Rivet Town Inventor's Show & Tell, and was honoured to take joint first place; alongside Edwardian Halberstadt (who won my vote). It was well recieved, with an enquiry as to whether it was for sale, and recommendations for a tournament to launch it. I should really try and do something with it.

Rivet Town is Steampunk-esque role-play sim, and so all the items shown were in that theme. Yesterday's exhibitors were, in order and as far as I remember:

Sidney Arctor: a submarine in the Jules Verne style, packed full of features.
Edwardian Halberstadt: a highly detailed film projector, which could actually stream media (including a tiny version on the 'film' at the projection lens).
Torus Heliosense: also highly detailed gramophone and 'steam compass'.
-- at this point I was starting to feel ashamed about the plain wood textures I'd used --
Maximus Ecksol: an ingenious crate that unfolded to four seats and a table.
Professor Sadovnycha: a complex suit of armour, in what I've come to recognise as the creator's unique style, with many hidden surprises.
Lakhesis Nikolaidis: well designed ear protectors and breathing apparatus.

The event is held every saturday (1pm slt - as shown in the image), and is a great place to see interesting creations; particularly if you have an interest in the steampunk genre.

*update*
The Show and Tell event is no longer taking place, and it seems that the actual Sim it was hosted in might be vanishing from the grid in the near future.

WAIN (Where Am I Now?)

2009-01-24T10:35:00.000-08:00

Following yesterday's post, the navigation aide (now named WAIN) can load information from an object in the environment - specifically a UUID for the map, and a list of landmarks. Time for a video - including an unnecessary overlay that I just learnt how to add.

To be a useful system users would need to know where to get these updates, and so I've created a logo to identify WAIN info points. A user arriving in a new location and spotting one of these signs, would then know that some map information is provided.

I have the code to take SL's internal Sim maps and apply it as the texture (taken from a wiki example originally I believe), but the Lindens seem to be in the process of changing the way maps work so I might leave it for a while.

Virtual Navigation Aide

2009-01-23T17:56:00.000-08:00

Navigation in virtual worlds is a similar challenge to navigating through the real world. You often need to identify the purpose of buildings and environments through visual cues, and identify a route that leads to your goal location. The nature of Second Life makes lots of people ~~lazy~~ complacent about supporting navigation, generally offering teleport coordinates to a specific location without considering how people will move around once there. Buildings are generally labelled (though often just a vague company name), but there is a distinct lack of directions.

This is to be expected through most of the mainland where ownership is fragmented, but many times I've landed in private Sims and had little clue what was North/South/East/West. Where are the "You are here" maps, the paths with signposts, the guide leaflets, or other examples from the real world? A reasonable answer is "Explore", but to have the desire to do so a person must know that there is something there that they want. If you go to a website, and nothing on the homepage hints at what you're looking for, you'll go somewhere else. Sometimes wandering is the goal, but builders should ask themselves "do I want to help people find things?".

The waffle is due to a navigation HUD that I've been inspired to make (below), which shows your current position and orientation within a Sim (represented by the blue arrow). You're probably wondering why it might be necessary when there are map tools built into the client; but one feature of this tool is that a Sim owner can include their own annotated map, highlighting the different areas. And there's more...

The HUD includes the option for setting landmarks, which are shown on the map as the user cycles through them. These are hard-coded at the moment, but ultimately I aim to have them added dynamically. A user could arrive at a sim and be given "todays" landmarks. If you have generic meeting or teaching rooms, then the landmarks could be for the specific meetings or lessons of that day; if a commercial sim has changing store rentals, then the landmarks could update to the current sellers etc.

Pocket Battlers - Generation 1 prototypes

2009-01-19T18:14:00.000-08:00

At the moment I'm just getting a few ideas out of my head, and into working prototypes. One of these is Pocket Battlers, in which you control a small 'Battler' (as a sub-avatar?) that can move around and launch various attacks. A major feature is that these Battlers can be very different, for example in the first generation with be a tank, a pirate ship and a faery; all with appropriate movement and unique attacks.

The second major feature is the power bar, through which attacks are activated. Power gradually accumulates over time, and each attack requires a certain amount of power before it can be used. When an attack is used then a portion of the power is used up. You can see it in action at the end of the video below (there's no sound so don't go fiddling with your volume control).

They still need a bit of dressing up, but after a few small tweaks they'll be at the stage where they can be fought against each other (I just need to add in area-effect damage).

Credits: The particle systems used for the faery are based on free examples available at 'The Particle Lab' in SL, and the faery's wings are by Jane Mc Carthy.

Cannoneer turn controller

2009-01-12T10:38:00.001-08:00

Shown above is the turn controller for Cannoneers. Players can click on it to register; the owner of the device can use a dialog menu to join/start/reset the game; and player order is randomised.

It was fairly easy to lock player controls so that only one person can move at a time; and that turns ends either after 10 seconds have passed, after they have moved 5 metres, or (soon) after they have fired (I still have it allowing multiple shots for final testing).

Also shown in the image is the HUD for switching between the two ammo types: shells that explode on impact (small area, large damage), and grenades that explode after 5 seconds (wider area, low damage).

Cannoneers - Early Development

2009-01-09T10:07:00.000-08:00

One of my current projects has the working title of "Cannoneers". Ultimately it will be a turn-based game where players run around shooting at each other, along the lines of the 3D versions of Worms. Shown below is the Avatar I've built for it, which should give an idea of the style I'm aiming for.

I decided to go with "tiny" avatars, because it adds a sense of fun to things. It's also good practice with the anim overides, squashed anims and invisi prims that tiny avatars rely on.

The animations are done, and cannon power is controlled by how long you hold the mouse down. The next big feature will be controlling turn taking.

SL ButtonMen Promo

2008-12-19T11:12:00.000-08:00

I've made a short promo for SL ButtonMen; although if you don't know anything about ButtonMen it doesn't make too much sense. An introductory tutorial would probably be a better option. I digress, here's the video:

Steamboy rocket

2008-12-08T05:33:00.000-08:00

If you've seen the excellent animation Steamboy, then you'll no doubt remember the one-man rocket that he mashes together in a couple of seconds (as shown on the poster).

The video shows a Second Life version that I'm working on. It's a little bigger than Ray's, and still can't achieve lift yet, but if the rivets hold then it should be airborne soon.

There are quite a lot of prims involved in the pipe-work, so a large part of it is going to have to be an attachment. And don't get me started on the pose - the only way I can stop the avatar bending freely at the waist is to use a looping wiggle. Any alternative suggestions are welcome.

Cannons and Castles

2008-12-06T02:42:00.001-08:00

Version 1 of the game is all but complete, and provided an excuse for my first Machinima production. As expected more time was spent learning the tools than making creative decisions, but it turned out well.

In the game two players compete to destroy each other's castles. It's basically an extended version of rock-paper-scissors. You pick one of three of your opponent's towers to attack with your cannon, and one of three of your own towers to defend with your wall. The towers add a level of strategy since each one can only be hit twice, and you need 4 hits in total to win.

IM me in-world to try it out.

Back on the grid

2008-12-02T06:05:00.000-08:00

I was away for a while, circumnavigating the globe; but now I'm back. The house in Stormhold has gone, but the game development will begin anew.

Prototype dueling system

2007-10-12T13:54:00.001-07:00

The first development from Dr. Nesterov's workshop is a dueling system. Duelists must compete to click on the six numbered discs in the shortest amount of time (an idea taken from a Flash game I saw). The discs must be clicked on in numerical order, and their position and scale is randomised to make things a little more difficult. The HUD is shown below.

A free set, including HUD, basic dueling pistol and instructions are available at my workshop (slurl) - by clicking on the dueling pistol laying on the ground. Also at the workshop is a training dummy to practice against.

Back in SL

2007-10-12T13:45:00.001-07:00

A transition in real-life has left me with some time to be back in SL. Even better I now have some land; situated in the magnificent state of Caledon's Stormhold region (plot number 7). Shown below is my first permanent structure on the Grid - a small, currently empty, workshop.

Spider-Fly Final Graphics

2007-05-14T08:26:00.000-07:00

Shown above are the final graphics (game board and HUD). Subconciously it took on some red and blue Spiderman theme, most likely because the third film is in cinemas now (which is rubbish).

I'll add a HUD/instructional-notecard dispenser, and then it'll be all done. As usual, IM me for a free copy.

Spider-Fly game nearing completion

2007-04-25T02:29:00.000-07:00

Above is the Spider-Fly game that I have been working on recently. It is a 2 player game, where the objective is to be the spider and catch the fly.

Players sit on the coloured stools and the matching coloured ring identifies the creature they control - which is set randomly when the game starts. Players can issue 3 moves each turn (via a HUD), and the role of spider/fly can also switch randomly between turns.

The scripting is done, so all that's left is to add a lick of paint and it'll be ready to play. Expect an update soon.

Uber Chameleon complete (maybe)

2007-03-11T15:07:00.000-07:00

The generic SL-Buttonmen system has been completed. Well, as far as I can tell. Testing will probably reveal a few errors, but I expect them to be minor. In the image below you can see my Tick persona using the system, which now has standard 12-sided green dice. Message me in world and I'll send you one.

SL Buttonmen update

2007-03-10T07:03:00.000-08:00

As expected the end of the Christmas break meant a reduced amount of time in SL. A painfully reduced amount of time, since I'd like nothing better than to jump on in and make some games.

A few months ago I contacted cheapass games (the makers of RL Buttonmen), and although they were happy for me to make an SL version, there were copyright issues surrounding the imagery they use. This led me to take a different direction and instead of releasing specific buttons I started working on a generic system.

The new button (codenamed: Uber Chameleon) is almost finished, and can use any dice combination the player should want. The current imagery is shown below:

I am hopefull that it will be completed within the next few weeks (given that it would probably only take an hour or so of in-world time).

Next Project

2006-12-28T06:27:00.000-08:00

SL Buttonmen has moved to a promotional stage, which I hadn't really thought of and am still not sure how to proceed. However, while I have the luxury of being in-world for hours at a time I thought I'd continue making.

Shown in the image is a four-player game called Droid Arena. Players issue a series of instructions through their individual consoles to a robot in the arena (a 5x5 square grid). The robots then act out the instructions in sequence. There'll be power-ups and missiles and landmines etc.

But still early days

Where you'll find me

2006-12-24T15:58:00.000-08:00

I use the public sandboxes (whichever one is least crowded), and on a few occasions have had problems with griefers. Shown in the image is the solution - a personal sky platform on which to work. The idea was unashamedly taken from something I'd seen on SL Boutique, although there's was far more impressive in appearance and features.

At the moment it simply rises to a high altitude and centers on rounded coordinates, but I might add more features if they seem necessary. For example, why build in a feature to descend when its more fun to delete it and land by parachute?

SL Buttonmen V1- Beta released

2006-12-23T12:30:00.000-08:00

The Beta version of SL Buttonmen has been finished. In the image above you can see my avatar (19th century flavour) wearing one of the buttons, and the rezzed dice set in front.

There are currently 3 Buttonmen from the soldiers series available: Karl, Avis and Bauer. The remaining soldiers should follow soon after, and then other sets with their unique features (no decision on which ones yet though).

Above is the free button vendor (my first), and I'm currently looking for places to house it. It also gives notecards on how to play the game and use the SL system.

------------------------------------------------

Buttonmen is a two player game, where each has a set of dice, and the aim is to capture your opponent's and gain a higher score. The set of dice each player uses depends on the Buttonmen character that they choose. In SL the button can also search for players in the area, and the dice values are displayed in text hovering over the dice objects.

Full details of the real-world game can be found online at http://www.cheapass.com/bpu/start.html