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Rumor: Gran Turismo 5 to feature track editor
The site E4G reports that Gran Turismo 5 will include a very exciting option: The ability to create your own tracks or edit the existing tracks. Eurogamer checked in with Sony to confirm this new feature, and, while Sony refused to confirm the news, the company also refused to deny it, in a carefully worded statement that makes the news suddenly seem more plausible: "We haven't confirmed this and aren't offering any other comment at this time," Sony told Eurogamer. We contacted SCEA but have yet to hear back, so this rumor is going to have to remain a rumor. Hopefully we'll find out before the game comes out, although Sony also has yet to announce the release date beyond a possible "early 2010." Okay, we'll simplify the whole thing: Gran Turismo 5 is an unconfirmed rumor. %Gallery-71410% [Original image credit]
AP Stylebook comes to the App Store
If you're a journalist, writer, or editor, you've probably either heard of, used, or referenced the AP Stylebook in some way. Now, the AP has released an iPhone app of the AP Stylebook [iTunes Link]. It's searchable, allows you to make notes, and offers features for easy access of suggested writing styles. However, this app costs $28.99, which is considerably more expensive than the printed version, which is available for $18.95 from the AP. If you're out a lot, and don't want to carry a big spiral-bound book around with you, you might want to consider this, although the price of this app may be limiting.
The Guild shooting season 3, fires director (not really)
Our friends over at The Guild are hard at work on season 3 -- if you've been following their Twitter feeds, you'll have seen that shooting is underway en masse, and while we haven't yet heard when they'll be done, it sounds like they're already keeping some long hours over there. Such long hours, in fact, that tempers are apparently flaring on the set -- as you can see above, director and editor Sean Becker has become a victim of Felicia Day's (substantial?) wrath, and been fired from the show.Ok, not really -- they're just joking around. But even if he's kidding about what's in that "guild 3 master" box, we at least know there is a season 3 master, and that sooner than ever, we'll be able to see just what happened when Codex took that out-of-body sprint at the end of season 2. Can't wait to see it.
Want to write for us? Engadget is looking for a European editor!
Oh sure, you love gadgets -- but do you have the chops to write about them? We'd love to know if you think you do, because we're looking to actually pay people to do this stuff. Professional writing experience isn't necessary (though it doesn't hurt), but what we really care about is that you can write skillfully about gadgets with wit, concision, and authority. And being obsessed with Engadget is good, too. Here's what we're looking for right now: European editor - Part-time or full-time (freelance), must be based in Europe, preferably London. Want to apply? Read on.
Apple files patent for gesture-based text editing
An Apple patent unearthed by Mac Rumors named Swipe Gestures for Touch Screen Keyboards suggests a future direction the company might be taking which would substantially change interaction with devices like the iPhone. According to the document, the new system would allow for simple finger gestures like swipes to the left or right to control basic functions of text editing. Some movements outlined in the application include a left swipe for deletion of characters, right swipes for a space, and a swipe down in place of the return key. Of course, these types of gestures are nothing new (and frankly, nothing patentable we suspect), as applications on the company's own devices -- namely the jailbreak-only MobileTerminal -- feature almost this exact implementation of gesture control, and Microsoft has had a similar (albeit stylus-based) concept in WinMo for years. Still, adding in this functionality to the software's existing tools would likely improve navigation and input, and opens the door for solutions to the lingering (and annoying) copy / paste problems Apple seems to have.[Via Mac Rumors]
Blast Works duo on what didn't make the cut
Blast Works: Build, Trade, & Destroy will finally launch in North America next Tuesday, so now seems like a fitting time for Budcat Creations pair Marcus Brown and Matt Modaff to update their IGN blog and reflect on numerous aspects of the game's lengthy gestation. Fortunately for this post, that's exactly what they did!Amongst other things, Brown and Modaff discuss the team's motivation for including the game's wonderful editor, the content sharing features that we adore so much, and how they'd like to see the game cultivate a modding community to rival those seen in many PC titles. They also reserve special praise for the Wiimote, noting how it "affords players a near mouse-like interface."Most intriguingly of all, there's a list of features that didn't quite make the final cut, mainly due to time constraints. These include the ability to play through the Campaign Mode with four players (there's still a two-player function), a "Marathon Mode" (in which players blast their way through an infinite selection of levels randomly chosen from the campaign and rack up the highest score possible), a "Movement Editor" (for editing, yes, the movement of enemies), and the ability to trade high scores.Despite all of that "missing" stuff, some of which sounds way cool, we'd still probably trade our closest family members in for a copy of Blast Works next week.%Gallery-4821%
RWThemeMiner 2.0.5
Did you just upgrade to the latest version of Realmac Software's RapidWeaver? Then you might notice RWThemeMiner, which lets you edit your RW themes, is no longer working. Fret not because RWThemeMiner was just updated to version 2.0.5 which works with RapidWeaver 4.RWThemeMiner is available for $15 (US) and you can download a free 20 day trial version from the developer's website.
Hear Bangai-O's downloadable stages for yourself
Bangai-O Spirits is out in Japan as of this week, and Treasure and ESP have already made some bonus content available on the game's website (click "special"). Not only can stages be transmitted through sound, but replay videos can as well! The MP3 files come in at 500 kilobytes at most and run from about 7 seconds long up until 29. As expected, they sound pretty much like modem connection noises -- in case you were wondering! We're saving these for ourselves, just in case they're only available for a limited time. There are currently three stages and three associated replays online -- one of which was created as a TGS demo with V-Jump Magazine branding, another the work of a PR person (we think?) named George who set out to make a challenging stage, and the last a maze created by someone at ESP.%Gallery-16997%
SubEthaEdit 3.1 plays nicer with the 'net
SubEthaEdit, the high-power collaborative code editor from The Coding Monkeys, has been bumped to version 3.1 with new features to make collaboration easier than ever. SubEthaEdit has always worked well for LAN collaboration, but many users found the manual setup for sharing over the internet to be cumbersome. The Coding Monkeys answered the call with a couple of new ideas. First, automatic port forwarding handles establishing your channel outside of your LAN transparently, supporting all routers with UPnP or NAT-PMP capabilities. Second, iChat invites allow users to drag iChat buddies onto a document to automatically invite them to share in your coding ecstasy. This feature is Leopard-only, although I'm unsure if that applies to the invitee as well. The iChat invites go a step further with "Friendcasting." You can view and connect with your friend's friends with the click of a button in the connection browser. You can disable this feature at any time. If you're not familiar with SubEthaEdit, but happen to use Panic's Coda, then you're already familiar with the engine it runs on as it was licensed to Panic in 2007 for the web development package. If you're looking for a code editor and haven't tried it, it's definitely worth a shot, especially if you work in pairs or teams. TextMate and I have a monogamous relationship, but I'm allowed to look. Fair enough. SubEthaEdit costs 29 euros (about $45 right now). Visit the SubEthaEdit page for a 30 day trial and a screencast of the new features.
Yes, you can build your own blocky TIE Fighter dragon monster thing
If you become skilled enough with Blast Works' item editor, there's no end to what you can do! Like this ... thing with what kind of looks like the sides of a TIE Fighter as ears! It's pink and spiky and shoots triangles at seaplanes! Then, when you've finished creating horrible monsters made out of neat-looking white-outlined blocks, you can take them on with up to three friends -- also flying around in homemade avatars.This set of four screens found at Wiiz doesn't just tease the multiplayer and the capabilities of the editor, but also shows the creation tool at work. Now we just have to find a way to become creative before the game comes out.
Blast Works developers on creating the game's creation engine
Blast Works: Build, Fuse, and Destroy developers Budcat Creations have started blogging on IGN about the process of remaking Kenta Cho's TUMIKI Fighters into something much more than the original free game. According to the blog, the remarkable item editing capability grew from a desire to create more complex ships than the original game engine would allow. So they built a more fully-featured Shape Editor.They then stipulated that the artists had to use the Shape Editor to create all the game's assets. The final Shape editor used to develop the levels and the Shape Editor on the disc differ in that "the limits to the maximum dimensions of an individual block and the total number of blocks were removed in the PC version for prototyping." Feedback from the artists then went into refining the engine. The results can be seen above, in this amazing video of a ship being constructed. We were excited enough when this was just a port of a free game. Now it's a completely new game, and one that looks like it absolutely should not be missed.[Via NeoGAF]
AppleScript: Finder commands
Now that you've mastered the tell command, it's time to introduce some of the other AppleScript commands that you may encounter.Location commandThis command will allow you to open a specific location (either on your Mac or on a web server). This command is most often used with the Finder. For instance, if you wanted to open "www.tuaw.com," then you would type:tell application "Finder" to open location "http://www.tuaw.com"Remember, when dealing with an application always include quote marks around the application name. When you're typing a URL, be sure to include the prefix (HTTP:, AFP:, FTP:, etc.) and include quote marks around the URL. You can also tell a specific web browser to open the URL:tell application "Safari" to open location "http://www.tuaw.com"However, if you use the Finder version of the script, it will open your default browser.
AppleScript: the Script Editor
Before you can build your first AppleScript you need to know some basics: what a script-able application is and how to use the Script Editor.Script-able ApplicationsBasically, script-able applications are applications in which the developer has included a set of "instructions" that the Script Editor understands and can use. Some apps are not script-able but most Apple apps are and, of course, Mac OS X itself is script-able.The Script EditorThe Script Editor is a very simple application, but it allows you to do some very powerful things. The Script Editor is located in your Applications folder (Applications : AppleScript : Script Editor.app) by default. The editor has a simple interface with a prominent text entry area. It also has 5 buttons in the toolbar; for now we will only focus on the "Run" and "Stop" buttons. The run button will run the currently typed script, and the stop button will cancel a running script.
GameSpot issues short comment on Gerstmann firing
In the wake of the rumors surrounding Jeff Gerstmann's suspicious removal as editorial director of Gamespot, Gamespot owner CNET has issued a short, official comment on the situation. "GameSpot takes its editorial integrity extremely seriously," the statement reads. "For over a decade, Gamespot and the many members of its editorial team have produced thousands of unbiased reviews that have been a valuable resource for the gaming community. At CNET Networks, we stand behind the editorial content that our teams produce on a daily basis."As for Gerstmann specifically, CNET repeated their assertion that "it is CNET Networks' policy not to comment on the status of its employees, current of former."While it's nice to see CNET taking the accusations seriously, the statement doesn't confirm or deny the facts behind the controversy, or add any significant information to the story. With the rumor still generating significant discussion throughout the online gaming community, such a short, pat statement seems unlikely to stop the gathering storm of attention.
BBEdit version 8.7 released
BBEdit 8.7, the latest version of the triple-A HTML editor, has been released.Update: OK, so the reason I originally thought that all the "new" 8.7 features sounded familiar is because I actually was looking at the release list for version 8.5. The 8.7 release notice is here, and it includes Lua programming support, an option to remember which documents and browsers are open after closing BBEdit, and a Python language module and lots of other fixes and improvements. Sorry about the mistake, and thanks to all our commenters (and to Bare Bones Software themselves) for the heads up.8.7 is a free update for 8.5 and 8.6 customers. If you haven't picked up BBEdit yet, you can try out the free demo here.
Flow gets a website
The much-hyped (and little-used-- it's still in private beta) FTP client Flow has gotten a website, complete with a feature list, and some interesting screencasts about how the app will let you let Flow work with a browser, transfer files (remember that, the only thing FTP clients used to do?), and even edit and preview files on the fly.I have to admit that it all looks pretty nifty (the Dropmarks system sounds cool-- drag a file to a bookmark icon, and it'll send that file out for you, complete with a tiny dialogue), but there's not a lot here that might yet lure me away from just using Cyberduck for free. The editor is probably the biggest draw, but even then, I can't yet see anything here that I can't really accomplish using some combo of TextMate and Transmit.Still, can't judge a book by its cover, and can't just an editor without actually using it. Flow is still in private beta, with a release upcoming.Thanks, Sebastiaan!
Crush developer open to Wii sequel
Crush, the PSP's 2D/3D puzzle platformer, may have waggling in its future, according to an interview with Paul Mottram, senior producer at Crush developer Zoë Mode. We're talking faint "may" and distant future, since this was all idle speculation on his part. When asked the weirdly pointed question of why they made a PSP game instead of putting it on a Nintendo platform, Mottram responded, "There is no reason why it couldn't be transferred to multiple different platforms especially the Wii, DS and PS2 and this is something we are thinking about." He went on to describe the level editor they wanted to include, but couldn't. That definitely sounds like something well-suited to the DS or Wii, right?[Via Joystiq]
My Pokemon saves: Let me hack them
Pokesav is an editor program that allows you to hack your Pokemon Diamond and Pearl saves, adding rare Pokemon, changing their abilities, and doing all kinds of crazy hacky stuff. It appears that not only can you generate any Pokemon, you can then assign them abilities outside their type, and with more PP than the abilities can usually have. You need some kind of homebrew ability to do this, obviously, since you need to get your savegames onto the computer. There's even a database of downloadable Pokemon, so you can get started cheating right away. We wouldn't recommend you use ill-gotten Pokemon online, but for your own use, we don't see why you should be bound by the limitations of the game.Check after the break for a tutorial video sent to us by the Hall of Bards. Pokesav is serious business.
TUAW Exclusive: Video of Pixelmator in action
Click To Play The moment I saw John Gruber link Pixelmator - a powerful new Core Image-based image editor with support for layers, a wide variety of tools, iLife/iPhoto, Automator and more - I had to get a closer look. I remember the days of Apple hyping Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger and all the power of Core Image, and then never seeing a formidable editor make use of them. Sure there are a few apps that make use of Core Image in one way or another, but nothing really struck me as truly leveraging all there was to leverage in Apple's Core image.While Pixelmator may technically be vaporware according to Gruber, I managed to snag an exclusive demonstration video of the app in action from its developers, brothers Aidas and Saulius Dailide (who you might be interested to know also founded Jumsoft). The demo showcases some impressive Pixelmator features, including working with multiple layers and objects, opening Photoshop files and moving layers from one image to another, taking a picture with an iSight camera and embedding it into the current working image, and even some slick blending modes.From what I see here, I can definitely say 'wow', especially since Pixelmator is expected to ship in late July for only $59. Stay tuned for more info as soon as we can nab it.
Scrivener - the word processor with a cork board
Scrivener is a new word processor made for the messy, non-linear and notecard-slinging writers out there. Merlin Mann has been raving about it, and I can understand why: Scrivener's entire UI and workflow is designed around managing the pieces of whatever you're working on, allowing you to organize things like thoughts, outlines, pictures and dialog snippets with folders and keywords. The most interesting organizational feature, however, is a unique cork board UI on which you rearrange virtual notecards that contain summaries of whatever is in the document they represent. Hopefully, this allows many a college student and screen writer to stop jamming real cork boards in their bags when meeting for group projects. Scrivener doesn't stop there: multiple document editing, full-featured outlining, full-screen editing and format-friendly exporting all round up quite a v1.0 debut. A 30-day demo is available, and a license runs $34.99.
