Unity

It's been a year since I discovered Unity and I've been itching to get my hands on a license ever since. I downloaded the demo last year and had a go at putting a Routine404 3D model into the engine to see what I could do. In just under two days I had it running around and colliding with terrain, transforming into a ship and flying around!

I was amazed at the power, design and ease of use of Unity, and have been confused about whether to invest my time learning it, or wait and see what MicroSoft's XNA would be like to use.

After considerable internal conflict, I've decided to purchase a license for Unity for several reasons:

1) The IDE is beautifully simple and integrates seamlessly with Maya and Photoshop. Check out the insane ease of importing assets in this short Video Tutorial.

2) Unity supports development for Nintendo Wii. Whoopee you might say if you're a fan of high res graphics games, but the makers of Unity have chosen the Wii because the chance of indie game developers creating games for it are so much more realistic. Nintendo are quite obviously pushing for innovation in game play mechanics, and less concerned by top-end visual effects. This is important for us as Prism is retro by design, so simple geometry with fluid game play and an ace story is all we need :)

3) The demo's created with Unity are stunning:

i. Phoenix Final Screenshots and Mac OS X Preview Game Download
ii. Avert Fate - Screenshots and Gameplay Video Demo
iii. Visual Effects Demo - Web Plugin
iv. Visualisation Demo - Web Plugin

4) A Web plugin that is set to wipe the floor with Director's SW3D (as seen in two of the demo's above).

I'll still be taking a look at the four XNA books when they are published, but for now my spare time is going to be used to work on a Prism 3D demo with Unity.

The question that has to be asked now is, does anyone want to join me on this indie mission?

Where'd the good house music go?

Progressive/Deep/Tech/Hard/Minimal/Uplifting yadda yadda

How about good?

Why doesn't there exist within every genre an official subgenre just prefixed with good?

I like good drum and bass, good house, good trance (is there such a thing anymore?), good electronica etc.

I've been relying on Neverrain to provide a staple diet of free mixes, and although on the whole it's a very high standard, the mixes aren't that strong (in terms of the quality of tracks) throughout. I've got all the mixes in my playlist, but there are only certain parts of each mix that really stand out as being ace.

I've listed them below for anyone who wants to hear:

Sakura - 56:20 - Sakura is the strongest mix in my opinion. The first half is nothing special, but from 56:20 onwards it takes a really atmospheric turn, and then gets harder and more intense until it's impossible not to punch the air at around 1:19:15. More of this please.

Second Sun - 1:01:00 - Second Sun is pretty cool throughout, but there's something about this point in the mix where I can't help noticing how much I'm moving to it. I don't usually like vocal samples used in this way, but for some reason this gets me going. Maybe it's the welcome party vibe bassline after the rest of the mix has been quite subdued/tech.

Invisible - 10:46 - Invisible is ace right from the beginning, starting with Subterra by Nikola Gala which although quite new has become a classic track for me. It embodies everything that great house music should... Then, at 10:46, there's a really beautiful moment that doesn't last long. The rest of the mix is okay, but nothing I want to write about...

Shade & Aura Volume 1 - 33:30 - Shade and Aura Volume 1 is one of the more recent mixes and contains some of the chunkiest basslines I've heard in ages. 33:30 brings in a sofa-tearing bassline that immediately makes me want to open Logic and create something similar. Overall quite a good set of tracks, but none that capture the imagination like 33:30.

Syntax - 49:30 - Syntax has such a great moment here. Again it's all about the atmosphere, but there's a lead melody that rears it's head straight out of bladerunner - Can't help but love it.


Overall I'm grateful to Mr. Jordan for continuing to hunt out the best tracks available, keeping the spirit alive. I hope to have a track of my own featured in a mix one day...

Takeshi Kovacs...

...is the coolest character in Sci-Fi.

I'd like to meet Richard Morgan, because I reckon he'd be just as brutally funny as Takeshi Kovacs is throughout the writer's debut and subsequent books that document the character's adventures. I strongly recommend these books to anyone with a thirst for contemporary sci-fi.

Altered Carbon

Broken Angels

Woken Furies

I loved reading all of these books. They get progressively more intricate from the action packed debut, the reflective melancholy of the second and the down right murky but conceptually rewarding third (and final?) chapter.

I'm really looking forward to the films. They have to be made!