A large part of the code for our game over at mutantstudio.com is sending the calculations from MAX/MSP into Flash. To do this I have been using a max external called flashserver. This essentially allows for communication between Flash and MAX and vice versa. However, as this is quite an old external, there was only AS2 source code provided, which is no good as our game is fully AS3 based.

I have rewritten the code into AS3, with a simple function that splits the incoming string into an array and places each array item into a textbox. I have also provided [...]

This time yesterday the future of our game, Super Sound Jam, looked a little uncertain. Our game is based on the idea of multiplayer voice controlled gaming. Up until this point, we have not had two simulataneous microphone inputs, which is pretty much the whole selling point of the game. Being the Sound Engineer, it has been down to me to look after all things sound related, and mess around in Max/MSP to sort out the sound engine for our game.

I have been trying to get multiple mic inputs in a variety [...]

I have based my critique on the level design of Little Big Planet, recently released for the Playstation 3. I looked into flow theory, platform level design and the effect of the powerful physics engine on the design of the levels.

Download my critique here.

We have had some great ideas for our games module, and we have been working hard developing some concepts. Very loosely, the premise is to use the voice as a means of control in our game, a feature which can often be overlooked in mainstream gaming.

Consoles such as the Nintendo DS have made great use of the voice, using recognition software and getting data from volume, for example allowing users to blow into the speakers to clear dust off a map. We feel that there is still a lot of good [...]

Design for Entertainment systems is well under way now. In a nutshell we have to come up with a game or gaming system that is novel and unique, make a working prototype and set up a mock company to market it.

We have had some really interesting lectures, focusing on games from the late seventies to mid eighties. Such classics as asteroids and defender. We have been analysing these games, and playing them plenty too, which is pretty sweet! The one thing that does seem apparent is that a lot of the [...]