About Adam Lutton

Game Designer / Programmer

31/07/2014 – Summer So Far

As I thought would happen, I’m going to have to do two resits later in August. I’m not surprised, I’ll just have to manage my time better.

In terms of projects, there’s two I’m working on. One is a music visualizer, which I’m doing for my dissertation next year, and the other is a instant messaging program that doesn’t suck. For the former, I’m currently in the process of getting my head around FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) which I’m using to get the frequency of sound every 20ms or so, and then producing that as an image on screen. I haven’t done much in the way of note taking so far, but I have found a library for it which I might use to save time on development.

As for the instant messaging program, I’m more or less doing it as a test for more networking stuff. I never got my head around it as much as I would have wanted, so I figured doing more stuff on it would help. I’m still figuring how much stuff I want to put into it for the prototype. I’ll definitely give an update later on once I start making some more progress. The more worrying thing about it at the moment which I haven’t looked into is security. That should be fun.

In terms of other things, I’m working my way through my Gaming Backlog. Currently jumping between Deus Ex Human Revolution DX, Yakuza 3, and Ni No Kuni. Although recently Tabletop Simulator became available, and I’ve been looking forward to trying that for a while. Somewhat related, I bought a 144Hz monitor, and it is fucking sweet. Everything is super smooth now. I might boot up Quake Live and see if it makes a difference.

I also played some stuff on my PS4, so I might give some impressions on that console at some point, along with the WiiU which I promised to do ages ago.

On a sadder note, MGC is shutting down. I will probably archive the History of MPU stuff on this site. The podcast will stay up though, but I’ll rename it with MoA stuff in mind. The Steam group is also unaffected.

It’s a very sad thing to close down something that a long line of people have kept alive over the years, and it was fucking awesome talking to every one from MPU, and helping start MGC. I wasn’t there for MPC, but everything about it sounded great, and speaking to the people who have stuck around since that time gave me a lot of perspective on the whole thing. But everything must come to an end.

That’s it for now. See you when I see you.

-Adam

06/06/2014 – You Should Listen To The Pillows

It really has been a while since my last post. Fuck it, I’ll stop taking notice.

So yeah, I’m done with my exams and coursework for this year. It’s been tough. Last couple of weeks before the exams were a nightmare. Partly my fault though, I spent far too long trying to get my 3D coursework working that I neglected my other work. Unfortunately, I’m probably going to have to do a resit for at least one thing. That being Advanced Programming, which mostly consists of C++ work, which I had barely used until I decided to start my coursework. So yeah, that was great. If all goes well though, I should get my shit together properly for next year. I’m taking all my stuff back this Summer, so I’ll have less distractions.

I FINALLY MADE SOMETHING OF SOME POSSIBLE USE. I made a Magic Eight Ball program, which depending on what kind of life you live; may become useful. Personally, I’ve been using it to decide on what food to order.

I might have mentioned this before, but you should listen to The Pillows. They’re a really awesome Japanese rock band. I spent quite a bit of money getting a few of their albums. I’d embed an example, but my WordPress stuff is kinda fucked up right now. I’m probably going to rebuild it in the next few weeks after I get back home.

So about the Summer. Basically my plan, like last year, it is try and periodically make blog updates about things I’m working on. This year should actually work out seeing as I have coursework to do, but also have a good idea of software I want to make. So hopefully you’ll get something on that. Hopefully.

That’ll probably do it for now. I’ll make a games and anime focused post later next week or something. Also, E3 is happening, so look forward to that I guess.

Later.

-Adam

21/02/2014 – “So, What’s The Craic?”

University life continues.  Exams have been out of the way for a while now, although I’ve never cared much about the results of those, seeing as I care more about what I’m learning versus some arbitrary number grade. But anyway, the second semester started and I’m looking more into networking, 3D graphics, and a continuation of AI. Prolog isn’t proving to be that bad yet, understanding recursion is probably the most difficult part, but once you’re past that, it’s relatively understandable. At least so far.

As for networking, understanding the theory of how that works is really interesting, learning a lot of the protocols, systems, and whatnot that we all take for granted. However the implementation networking through C# code has not been easy. I’ve had to ask for help from a friend of mine on multiple occasions. This is partly due to the pretty hideous layout of the coursework specification and non-explanation of what the fuck I am doing. Finally 3D graphics is OK. That one is sort of on the back-burner because of the networking coursework.

So how have I been? OK I guess. I really need to exercise more, and I was pretty sick a week or so ago. Actually oddly enough, I had a pretty awful nosebleed Thursday last week. Blew my nose after waking up and my hands were covered in blood. Not great.

As for things I’m working on… Well I guess I should write up my impressions of the WiiU at some point. I’m also working on a novel with a friend, it’s still early on that. And these days I’m playing “Bravely Default”, “Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc”, and a copy of “YS: Memories of Celceta” turned up this morning. I also had a good crack at the “Titanfall Beta”. It was fun.

Sorry about the 2-3 month gap, I honestly forgot about it and had quite a lot of stuff to do. Till next time I guess.

-Adam

11/12/2013 – Humbug, and DualShock 4 Impressions.

The first semester is coming to a close. That JavaScript work I was talking about really was a pain in my arse, I very much doubt I passed that coursework. Luckily I can probably make up a good chunk of the marks on the exam.

But soon I will be going back home and enjoying the ownership of a WiiU, which I promise I will do some livestreaming with.

But anyway, the DualShock 4. Let me tell you something. Do you have a 360 controller for your PC?

You do? Well that thing is hot fucking trash compared to this thing.

The greatest improvement is the latency. Both the 360 controller and DS3 suffer from generally latent inputs, leading to sub-par responsiveness. This is amplified when you start using those things on the PC where the frame-rate and other performance improvements really point that shit out to you. This is not the case with the DS4, it is a very noticeable improvement from other devices, reacting very quickly to inputs.

Well I’ve been playing Assassin’s Creed IV with the DualShock 4 and I don’t think I can go back. The feel of it, the latency (As mentioned), the buttons, and the material used are just fantastic. And before you ask, yes, the analogue sticks are great too. I’m not one of those people that hated the sticks on the DS3, I actually preferred the looseness. But the slight tightened feel is good. The dead-zone for that stuff is not as atrocious as the 360 pad is, so that’s good. The only thing that kinda bugs me is the light-bar, but when using it on PC, it is never turned on (Except with the use of custom drivers).

If you want a replacement for the fucking crap that is the 360 pad, the DS4 is pretty great so far.

Yeah, pretty short this time. I’ll try and make a more significant post before I head back home for Xmas, or maybe I will do a quick write up on the WiiU. Whatever works.

Later.

-Adam