Ripeworks!
12:04 am 0 comments
I am launching a new site strictly dealing with all of my freelance work and services that I offer. I decided to call it Ripeworks, and it's turning out to be pretty sweet! Check it out, but please be aware that it is still going through some changes, and some cleaning up. I will probably make another post soon once it is all finished.
Since I have a new site for freelance, I am re-purposing mikekruk.com just for day-to-day blogging about my life, and web technologies, etc. I also might re-do the design for this site and DEFINITELY will be switching it over to WordPress, because it just is easier that way.. Even though my custom blog admin is pretty sweet ;-)
P.S. Can anyone make me some scratch and sniff business cards?
weekly FD update
10:59 pm 0 comments
Time for more updates! I have been focusing a lot of my time with trying to optimize data sending and server optimization this weekend. After tons of searching and research, I decided to completely drop the use of a XML Socket.
With AS3, aside from using the updated XMLSocket from AS2, there is actually a brand new Socket class that is strictly used for sending bytes and data types. Since XML serves no purpose to the type of data that needs to be sent/received (in fact i despise using XML for this ), I am re-writing my Socket class for AS3 to work with sending all my data based on header requests and data types.
The main problem I was having with XML was the size of information being sent, and also data was being sent at such a rate, that every now and then XML strings would get chopped in half, in turn making the server spit out a lovely warning about not being able to parse the XML as an object.
By switching to a regular Socket connection, I won't need to parse data at all. The only interpretation that takes place is checking the header being sent which will tell the server/client what to do with the data it has.
And since I have my VPS all setup (forgottendestiny.net and the socket server), once I get this new Socket all setup, I am going to create a register section for the site so that if you don't have a FD account yet, you can make one! And then I will be releasing a demo!!!
It won't be much.. You will be able to move around (path finding), chat with other players, and view your player's stats. But nonetheless, I really feel the need to show everyone my progress, and just how much better this game is looking more so than when I was developing in Visual Basic.
P.S. I'm shooting for tomorrow/Monday ;-)
Goodnight!
My first VPS
09:31 pm 0 comments
Just recently I purchased a VPS for running all of my projects. The main thing I will be using it for is Forgotten Destiny!
I haven't had any real time to sit down and set it all up to my liking, but I will do that when I get a chance. I am excited to setup the current FD server on it, and see exactly how much this connection can take!
I also plan on transferring the FD site onto the VPS also, just for ease of management and having the database on the same server as the site.
As for right now.. I just heard iPhone 2.0 FW was confirmed jailbroken and unlocked, so I sit and wait until they release it for the iPod Touch!
FD for Flash Updates
11:30 pm 0 comments
So it's been a little while since I've been contemplating porting Forgotten Destiny to Flash, and... I just have to say that I couldn't be happier!
My first working demo includes basic client/server communication which includes on-the-fly policy file parsing for external IPs, user authentication (with existing FD database), movement (walk, run, and now... jump!), and some very basic chat functionality.
After some more speed optimizations, and once I spruce up the chat functionality I will most likely deliver a demo for everyone to try it out, and give me some feedback!
I will be making some updates on the forgotten destiny site, so be sure to watch for updates and the first demo.
In the mean time, enjoy a screenshot
later!
Another great GREAT game
10:46 am 0 comments
Another amazing classic from the same company from the previous blog post... It's called Forgotten Myths which is funny since it's a similar name to Forgotten Destiny, AND it's similar to it in the sense that I am also striving to achieve that classic 8-bit appearance.
this is like... Zelda meets Super Mario.. meets Friggin' SWEET!
linkage here
sweet game!
11:05 pm 0 comments
Another fine display of sweet pixel art.
Makes me want to bust out my original grey, bulky, gameboy... or my TI-83+
destined to be flash?
01:02 am 0 comments
After nearly 6 years of on/off development of Forgotten Destiny, I have come to a realization that this game is honestly quite "light" and building it as a windows only app may not be the best way to complete this project.
With all of the advances with Flash, it seems to be the perfect platform for this type of game. I like to think of Forgotten Destiny as a classic, light weight, fun, and social online experience. Therefore, Flash just might be the best bet!
A couple reasons why I am considering Flash is:
- usability - any OS that has a browser and the latest flash player can take part!
- setup - nothing to install, don't have to worry about updates
- testing - no need to worry about testing across multiple platforms or different versions of platforms with all sorts of different applications installed.
- animations - out of the box, Flash has many tools that make it easy to manipulate graphics, which would speed up development a TON.
There are obviously more pros, but I just don't feel like listing them.. hehe
As far as cons go, the only big one is definitely client/server communication. Flash is slowly making its way to becoming more open with dynamic data communications, and being able to retrieve data from various sources, but it is still somewhat of a pain to setup secure client/server communication.
The image at the top is just a small example of an isometric flash engine that I am playing around with. I will most likely start building onto this engine and hopefully be able to make this happen!
The 3rd possible candidate for developing is.. Java... me no likey.. hahha, I will admit Java has come a long way as far as game development goes, but I still don't like it ;-)
Expect some updates on this project soon.
Tumblr for the baby
12:56 pm 1 comment
While getting everything ready for our upcoming bundle of joy (today is the day!) I spent a little bit of time to setup a Tumblr for all the blogging and photo posting that I hope I will be doing while in the hospital.
So if you want to check out what's going on.... take a look! The link is on the right side of the page, can't miss it.
My code popped up at Ning's Developer forum
12:07 pm 0 comments
Ever since i was put on the project of ImSaturn, I have been burrowing deeper and deeper into the social network platform, Ning. Being written in PHP, it is looking to be quite the sweet platform.
Through the build process for the Saturn Ning, There were a lot of things "requested" that unfortunately Ning wasn't able to offer. That is why I had resort to my hack-ish little friend, Javascript! Lots of customizations went into the site, and if you happen to disable JS, you will surely notice a difference.
Anywho, here is a link to the forum if you wanna check it out: Ning Developer Forum
That totally made my day to actually see MY code up there!
new theme for a new me
10:28 pm 0 comments
Since I originally started mikekruk.com in 2004(?) I mainly just used it as some free webspace, where I could experiment and store files online for my younger days of web development.
Once I got into the groove of things, I created it's first simple (yet sweet for it's time) layout! which you can see here.
Now, being almost 3 whole years down the line, and with my most recent job as a Web Producer, I really felt the need to spruce up the old personal site a bit. With my even better abilities to write semantic CSS, and use jQuery like a pro, and even have sharper photoshop/design skills, I was mocking up the new design in a matter of one night!
So, after much fiddling of what EXACTLY will go into the side-bar, I am nearing completion of the new re-design, and it is looking hot! There are obviously a few minor things that need to be taken care of.. more testing.. and more testing... then I can be done with the re-design.
So be sure to check back when this bad boy is all finished, and stay tuned for an RSS feed, so all you subscribers can subscribe to my blog!
3D Ultrasound... check!
06:00 pm 1 comment
Today I worked from home so that Danielle and I could go get a 3D ultrasound of our baby! I was very VERY excited to do this, because with a 3D ultrasound you can actually see what the baby looks like.
Everything at the ultrasound place went very well. We got 4 color photos of the ultrasound, and also a DVD of the whole entire session which we watched shortly after at my mom's house.
It was pretty crazy to actually the baby, almost the whole time he was sucking on his FOOT! haha, and we got to see him yawn a few times, and even rub his eyes.. amazing.. I never thought that even before the baby comes out he would be doing baby things!!
This was a great experience, but I think it makes me want to hold my son more than ever.
Here is a photo album of the photos we recieved: Baby Koen Album
zomg! the Reester Bunny!
01:08 am 0 comments
Out and about with the fiance, we stumbled upon the massive array of various Easter treats! Now, I am a man of my peanut butter and chocolate. Every Easter it is common ground that I always get a basket with Reese's Eggs, and Reese's Pieces (the orange ones that are packaged to look like a carrot).
But today, I found something... new? I have never seen these before, but it is the REESTER BUNNY!!!!! Just the name made me HAVE to buy it..
"Clean me off another one of them bunnies... I'm gonna EAT it." -Carl
Forgotten Destiny on a Mac
10:06 pm 0 comments
For the majority of my day (since I've been home from work) has been spent trying to be able to run Forgotten Destiny on my MacBook, using VMWare... VMWare Fusion has recently added beta support for being able to use D3D, but let me stress again.. BETA.. I've been digging through forums for most of the night, and it turns out that the current drivers for my graphics card don't fully support opengl 1.4, causing VMWare to be unable to handle D3D.
But since there are OTHER applications out there, I am trying out a few others hoping that I will be able to run Forgotten Destiny on something, and then screenshots will soon follow :)
Stay Tuned.
UPDATE
VMWare released an update, which lets the user enable D3D even though it isn't fully supported, so I started up forgottne destiny, and it worked!!! AHHH!!!!I couldn't believe it!
Here is the proof screenshot :)
It's here and it's sexy
01:14 pm 2 comments
Well, I threw down a LOT of money.... but the dream has finally come true!
I have wanted a MacBook for YEARS.. and it's finally here.. it's super fast, and loepard is AMAZING. I love every bit of it.
Just a few quick specs:
- White MacBook 13.1" screen (the small one :) )
- 2.4Ghz Intel Dual Core 2 Duo
- 160 GB HDD
- 2GB DDR RAM
There are more too... but yeah, they don't matter
Anyways.. here the photo album of the unveiling is still under construction... I am having photo upload problems with my custom admin page.. so I need to get that working, but there are a few up in the album..
More stuff soon!
MacBook
09:24 am 0 comments
Since I started my new job at MS&L Digital, I have finally had the privilege to work on a Mac! I have never really sat down and played with one before, but I was always amazed by their word-of-mouth greatness, and how sexy they looked. After using one everyday for almost a full month, my long awaited dream of buying one for myself will soon come true.
I was always hesitant in the past, because I would wonder if I wouldn't enjoy a Mac, and want to go back to PC after awhile, but this is definitely NOT the case... And I actually have to money to be able to afford one!!
So, this coming Monday.. (3 days.. yes i'm counting down) I will make the venture to the Apple Store in Troy to throw down on this great computer. I will also be video taping the adventure, and taking many pictures opening the box and playing around with it, etc. Some of you may think that doing this is silly... but I have always dreamed of owning a Mac for many years.. and it is finally going to happen!
So come check for new blogs on Monday... it will be sweet.
[UPDATE] Multiplayer Isometric Flash Example Update
01:23 pm 0 comments
There have been some bugs/issues that I have noticed when I would test out the connection of users..
I have finally fixed most of these bugs, so if you have tried to check it out in the past, and was not able to.. You should be able to now!!
Pretty soon it will get a HUGE amount of updates and become into something that will be more along the lines of an actual playable FLASH game :-)
More to come!
UPDATE It is really really working good now! Sorry if you tired to connect hoping it would work, then finding out that it won't ...
potty trained kitty!
09:40 pm 1 comment
So, my fiancé's cat just took a dump in the bath tub... Kinda weird but it makes me wonder!
She didn't take a dump in the corner of the living room, or on clothes or anything like that... Almost like she thought that she was allowed to use the bath tub...
Also, at various times when I happen to notice her use the litter box, she sits on the edge of the litter box and takes a dump!
So as I was cleaning up her little mess (nassty!) I got to thinking that it probably is possible and maybe even plausable that we could teach her to squat on the toilet and take a dump?!
Maybe I should make it my life long goal to accomplish this! I ask want to dig around the web and see if anyone has done this before..
Sorry for the completely random blog, better blogs will come! I promise!!!
iPod touch makes phone calls!!
11:10 pm 2 comments
So, I've been waiting for word about the 1.1.3 update... But in the mean time I stumbled upon voIP for the touch!!
Somebody made a homebrew microphone for the touch (possible headset in the future?) and developed an app to make phone calls!!
I decided to download it, and try it out! I called my house phone and to my surprise in a few seconds, sure enough the phone rang! I am completely amazed to see this kind of implementation to the touch... Slowly weakening the use to have an iPhone....
Can't wait to get the microphone! My iPod may even replace my house phone. Yayyy
another night on the iTouch
11:58 pm 2 comments
Today at lunch I noticed that Andre's touch had Notes and other iPhone apps!!!! So, when I got home from work, I dug around some forums and finally found the correct repository!!
Now I have Notes, Weather, Google Maps, and Mail all on my touch!! They are amazing, and definitely are better than browsing safari the various web versions of these apps...
Now they just need to develop the perfect IM app... Apollo is good, but I hate not being able to type in landscape mode!
Ah well, maybe tomorrow I can be a little more productive.. I can't wait for the SDK!!!!
The Weekend®
07:19 pm 1 comment
It's finally the weekend, and I'm about to go eat dinner with my fiancé :-)... Its nice to have the weekends off! Its almost like school where you have school and homework all week, and then you finally get some free time for the weekend...
Before, when I worked at Guess, the only days I could hang out were my days off.. (when I didn't have school).
The flash piece that I'm working on is actually coming along quite well! Just have to work out a few bugs and I should have some screenshots up soon...
Oh! And I need to get a photo album up of my baby soon!!!!
Peace
mikekruk.com redesign
12:20 pm 0 comments
It has been awhile since I've done much of anything to this site.. and I think that it is about TIME to do some redesigning!!!!
I want the basic structure to stay the same, but I definitely want to spice things up with some colors, patterns, etc.
I also am planning on implementing all sorts of sweet new features, stay tuned!!!
Video Trace
05:33 pm 0 comments
I stumbled upon this AWESOME new thing at work today.. It's called Video Trace, and it totally rules!
It's an application where you can easily create 3D models using a video file. This could seriously make video editing and special effects WAY easier for the future..
Check out the link with video demonstration it: here
testing markdown.....
12:20 am 2 comments
after using a javascript rich-text editor for awhile, i decided to switch to Markdown!!!
Its what i use a lot at work, so im used to it... Meh .. Not really a big deal, bit i thought i'd write a blog about it to test it!!!
weeeeeeweeee
iPod Touch
12:11 am 2 comments
On friday, i purchased an ipod touch (16gb) from my local Apple store during my lunch break!
After spending the entire night getting it hacked, it is probably the best iPod I have ever bought. For the price, i wouldve expected more... But im still satisfied! I mean, safari, instant messaging, games, photos, youtube, and loads of music with coverflow? Yes.... I like it..
Aside from getting used to the on-screen keyboard, im loving it! Infact, i wrote this blog with my ipod! It only took a few minutes...
blogger comment formatting
03:22 am 0 comments
Yeah! I made it so that if the blogger (author) (me) is logged in, then whenever I post a blog comment on anything, it automatically will tell that to my database, and when displayed, shows up in a bright pink/red color to let everyone know what i' sayin..
Also, I have fixed a LOT of CSS bugs and such that were happening between Mozilla, and IE. I even swapped my em fonts for ex fonts, which hopefully will fix any weird font renderings that might have been going on.
But alas, tomorrow is another day of work. And I mist go to bed!! :( Tomorrow will be when I get around to adding screen shots into my portfolio page, and possibly start on the photos or about sections. YAY!
well, im off to bed
02:46 am 1 comment
It's been a looong day.. but a quite productive night..
Anyways.. I have work tomorrow, so I'm calling it quits for the night! Er.. morning? haha.. Just so you guys know, the blog system is almost done, you can view my blogs & comment them! Also, you can view the beginings of my portfolio page :)
Goddnight.
my very 1st blog.
01:25 am 9 comments
Well, I am quite pleased to announce that, this is my first blog for my portfolio site!
I think that this design is just AMAZING, and it's definitely the best that i've done yet..
I still haven't gotten around to coding the portfolio page, but once the blog system is perfect, I will do that :)
Bye for now.
