Indie Games: Synaesthete

PC, Video Games, Windows Comments »

Synaesthete

Synaesthete is an interesting mix of genres. It is part shooter and part rhythm. Imagine playing Geometry Wars but instead of pointing where you want to shoot, you have to press buttons to match the rhythm much like Dance Dance Revolution. If you are interested in trying it out, it can be downloaded for free here. Synaesthete is a finalist for the Independant Games Festival so be sure to vote for it if you like it.

Atari, Amiga, Commodore Joystick Port For Xbox 360/PC

Computing, Windows, Xbox 360, Projects Comments »

I added an Atari/Amiga/Commodore joystick port to my Xbox 360 X-Arcade stick today… Why you ask? Sensible World of Soccer of course! Although I never played the older versions, I have become very addicted to the recent Xbox Live Arcade release. The guys at sensiblesoccer.de seem to prefer an Amiga joystick over any other type of control method so I decided I would give it a shot. Since the Xbox 360 controller can be used on the PC, I figured this project would also be good for emulation.

Relay Inside X-Arcade Stick Outside X-Arcade Stick

The gamepad I used is a wired Xbox 360 MicroCon Game Pad Pro. I had to use a relay (TF2E-4.5v-1-H50  ATF20620) on the left and right buttons because they don’t share a common ground. If you decide to do this and just want a joystick port on the controller and not the X-Arcade stick, you should use an opto-isolator instead of a relay as they are smaller.

Atari/Commodore/Amiga Controller Port

1 UP
2 DOWN
3 LEFT
4 RIGHT
6 BUTTON
8 GND

On my controller, pins 3 and 4 go to the following relays which connect to the left and right d-pad buttons. Other controllers may be set up differently. Any button that does not share a common ground needs a relay or an opto-isolator.

Xbox 360 MicroCon Game Pad Pro Relays

Join The NooberoUno Folding@Home Team

Mac OS, Linux, Windows, Playstation 3 Comments »

  

A NooberoUno Folding@home team has been created and anyone can now join. You will need to have downloaded the Folding@home software or own a Playstation 3 in order to participate. Once you have it up and running, just enter 91933 as the team number. If you have no idea what Folding@home is then read the following:

What is protein folding and how is folding linked to disease?
Proteins are biology’s workhorses — its “nanomachines.” Before proteins can carry out these important functions, they assemble themselves, or “fold.” The process of protein folding, while critical and fundamental to virtually all of biology, in many ways remains a mystery.

Moreover, when proteins do not fold correctly (i.e. “misfold”), there can be serious consequences, including many well known diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, Mad Cow (BSE), CJD, ALS, Huntington’s, Parkinson’s disease, and many Cancers and cancer-related syndromes.

You can help by simply running a piece of software.
Folding@home is a distributed computing project — people from throughout the world download and run software to band together to make one of the largest supercomputers in the world. Every computer takes the project closer to our goals. Folding@home uses novel computational methods coupled to distributed computing, to simulate problems millions of times more challenging than previously achieved.”

Download The Original Command & Conquer For Free

Windows Comments »

Electronic Arts is offering the original Command & Conquer as a free download. If you are interested, you will need to download and burn the cd images.

In order to give back to the fans for over 12 years of devotion we are putting together a 12th Anniversary celebration during the month of September. However, as any Command & Conquer fan knows, the true party starts today, August 31st, which marks 12 years since the original Command & Conquer launched way back in 1995.”

Download Here

Google Earth - The Free Flight Sim

Mac OS, Windows Comments »

The newest version of Google Earth now has a built in flight simulator. This was kind of a no-brainer for them to throw this in since the hard part (creating a 3D version of earth) was already done. I have always enjoyed flight sims but since there is no point to them, I never purchased them.  Now I can enjoy flying over my girlfriend’s house and crashing into pyramids for the low price of nothing. The controls are pretty basic so it is not a flight “simulation” in the true sense, but who wants to learn how to fly a real plane anyway? Okay, many people would. That’s not the point. The point is, it’s free and it’s pretty fun. If only they would add multiplayer dog fighting, you could shoot down your neighbors and watch them crash into their own house. Awesome!

Anyway, try it out. I suggest using a gamepad; I hated the mouse and keyboard controls. I have a feeling this will turn into a full-fledged flight sim over time and will probably be the best one available. Hopefully it stays free…

Here are the full instructions

Google Earth Flight Sim - My Neighborhood Google Earth Fligh Sim - Neighborhood

CamShots Update

Windows, Projects 1 Comment »

Here is the first CamShots update. For those who don’t know CamShots is an application that allows you to capture screenshots from a video capturing device in intervals from 1-60 seconds. It is based on the InterVideo Home Theater software. For more information, see Home Security System For Under $50 - Part 2

New Features:

  • Creates 3 folders in the CamShots directory to store picures from the last 48 hours.
  • Every 24 hours the oldest folder gets deleted.
  • Enabled fast capture (captures every .15 seconds). Can be used to make animated .gifs for signatures and icons. (can slow your computer down a great deal depending on the processor and hard drive speed)
  • Shows how many pictures per folder based on the screen capturing interval.

Keep in mind you need the InterVideo Home Theater software (came free with my video capturing device) as well as the .NET framework for this to work.

Download CamShots - (freeware)

I hope to use something other than InterVideo for future updates.

Home Security System For Under $50 - Part 2

Windows, Projects 1 Comment »

I wrote a simple program called CamShots to capture images with a video capturing device. The application is very simple. As of now it just creates a folder on the desktop and starts adding snapshots. You can change the snapshot interval from 1-50 seconds and pause it. Pretty basic stuff. I’ll be updating this in the near future and will post any updates.

CamShots   CamShots Folder

CamShots will work with most video capture devices. You will need the InterVideo Home Theater software as well as the .NET framework version 1.1 or higher for it to work.

See ‘CamShots Update’ for new link.

On a side note, you can use this software to capture multiple screenshots of movies, console games, tv, etc. I captured some video game screenshots to test it and made some animated .gif files with them. Here are some examples…

Atlus Logo - Buddy Icon Odin Sphere - Oswald - Buddy Icon Odin Sphere - Bird - Buddy Icon

Home Security System For Under $50 - Part 1

Windows, Projects Comments »

Being sick of people trying to steal my car, I decided to take more drastic measures. I purchased a nanny cam on Ebay for $33 and set it up in a room over the garage to look down at my car. This thing produces a picture that is much better quality than I expected. It is in color and also has audio (which I don’t need). The only bad thing about it is that it needs a lot of light to get an image but that was to be expected.

Wireless Camera Security Cam

You can connect the receiver directly to your TV, VCR, DVDR, DVR, or PC if you have a video capturing device. I will be hooking it up to the PC and writing a program for the Game Bridge, a USB video capturing device for Windows. I picked this up for $10 a few months ago, I have seen them as low as $3. I bought one just to play PS2 games on my laptop but the video stutters to much to use for gaming (maybe why they are so cheap?). It is great for snapshots though. More details coming in my next post…

Scratch - The Visual Programming Language

Mac OS, Windows Comments »

Scratch is a visual programming language meant to help kids learn the basics of programming. If I had had this as a kid, I wouldn’t have left the house. I remember having to copy pages of BASIC code just to get a circle on the screen, let alone a picture I drew.

After about 20 minutes of messing around, I made a pretty bad… thing, called Zombie Kill. I wouldn’t call it a game since you can’t lose. If you don’t shoot the zombie, he just goes right past you. It has horrible graphics, no sound, and no point. It is, however, infinitely better than anything I made as a young kid.

What you can do with Scratch is limited, but it has way more functionality than I expected. I’m sure that with each new release, it will have a lot more to offer. Don’t expect this to replace real programming languages. Scratch is great for kids, those new to programming, and anyone who likes to waste time. It is free and is availble for Windows and Mac operating systems.

Scratch

GLTron - Light Cycles In 3D

Mac OS, Linux, Windows Comments »

If you’re a fan of Tron the movie or Tron the arcade game, you are going to love GLTron. It’s a 3D version of the “Light Cycles” game from the Tron arcade game. There are a ton of settings that let you change speed, difficulty, and the theme among other things. It looks great and is very addictive. As of now there is no online or LAN play, but there is four-player local multiplayer.

GLTron is available for Windows, MacOS, and Linux. Click here to download it.

GLTron Screenshot 1   GLTron Screenshot 2