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IndieCade 2011: Molding The Swapper out of clay
The Swapper is one of IndieCade's most fascinating finalists this year. While the trailer will definitely pique your interest about the title (it features some really interesting "create-a-clone" gameplay -- more on that in a bit), what's most incredible about this one isn't how it looks or plays. It's how it was made. The Swapper was created by Facepalm Games, which is actually two teenagers named Otto Hantula and Olli Harjola (along with a sound designer) from Helsinki, Finland. They've created a few games, "but nothing as big as this one," they told me. You may think, given the amazing textures and bump-mapping on the game, that they used some kind of high-end engine to create it. Unreal Engine 3? CryEngine, maybe? Nope. "They're actually made of clay and some other stuff," said Harjola. As in, actual physical clay, which he modeled, photographed, and then put into the game with lots of dynamic lighting. "I probed a lot of different graphic styles," he says. "I don't really like 3D modeling, but I really like doing stuff with my hands, and this is what I came up with."
Where IPs go to die: a theoretical look at the belly of the online beast
The key to a secure online world of tomorrow? Why, that would be an internet that spends a bit more time padding its waistline at the protocol buffet. Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed an evolutionary model, dubbed EvoArch, that simulates a survival of the IP fittest battle for the interweb's belly. Separated into six distinct layers, the top-to-bottom structure -- specific applications, application protocols, transport protocols, network protocols, data-link protocols and physical layer protocols -- reveals a fiercely competitive middle tier that often sees newer, non-specialized competition cannibalized in favor of an older, more dominant framework. The team created the theoretic model as a guideline for "architects of the future Internet... to increase the number of protocols in these middle layers," thus protecting the web from potential security vulnerabilities. Despite these proposed layer variances, however, further simulations of the model only churned out more midriff slimming eventualities. It seems our dear internet is destined for a damned if you do, damned if you don't hourglass-shaped evolution. Full PR after the break.
Visualized: Objet's 3D printer breathes plastic life into Hollywood creatures, layer by layer
It ain't easy being plastic, you know? Objet -- the 3D printing house that aimed to replace your office's all-in-one Epson back in July -- brought a few of its snazziest pieces here to SIGGRAPH, and we popped by to have a gander. Targeting the animation-inspired crowd that showed up here in Vancouver, the company brought along some Hollywood examples of how its multi-material Objet260 Connex helped movie makers craft prototype creatures before they were inserted into the storyline. Thor's Destroyer and Avatar's Na'vi were both on hand, as well as the two critters shown above. The hothead on the right was crafted in around 18 hours (and subsequently painted), while the cool cat on the left was built in three fewer. Wildly enough, that fellow required no painting whatsoever; so long as you're cool with shades of grey, you can program your object to be colored from the outset. Oh, and as for his cost? Around $80 for the materials -- slightly more for the printer itself. %Gallery-130291%
Nokia goes with a numbers-only naming scheme, thinks the alphabet is hard
There had been rumblings that Nokia was going to switch up its naming scheme and ditch the letter prefixes. Today, with the launch of the Nokia 500 (previously known as the Fate) that shift in convention has finally taken effect. The all-number nomenclature is brilliantly simple -- the higher the number, the higher-end the handset, and the higher the price. So, if and when Nokia unveils the 790 (which the Finnish company denies exists with a wink), you'll immediately know it will be costlier and more powerful than the 500 or the 670. Now we can all stop wondering what the "C" and "X" in C7 and X7 are supposed to tell us about our choice in Symbian handset and, by extension, ourselves.
SoftEther's sensor-laden QUMA robot demonstrates poses, intimidates your acting coach (video)
A solution in search of a problem, or a solution to a problem that you were too proud to cop to? SoftEther has just revealed what might be the final blow to Barbie's distinguished career: the sensor-splashed QUMA. So far as we can tell, the human-shaped puppet contains a myriad sensors to pick up precise bends and flexes, and then pipes that information to a screen. Aside from showing your team of ballerinas exactly how their routine should look, we're guessing that the real future here is in far more sophisticated tasks -- things like artificial intelligence, major motion pictures and scientific research. As the saying goes, a video's worth a zillion words, so have a peek for yourself just after the break.
Mass Effect Normandy SR2 Cerberus Variant model up for pre-order
The problem with that Normandy SR2 model you pre-ordered for your cube back in May is that it doesn't have anything to pick a fight with. Enter the newly announced Cerberus variant, available for 35 clams, and expected to arrive in this galaxy sometime in November. Pew-pew sounds not included.
LED Moon shines message of hope, no dark side to see
Scale models of manmade wonders are usually the stuff of gimmicky travel souvenirs, but could you resist a faithful replica that was a topographic clone of our closest celestial body? We didn't think so. Dedicated to the super moon that brought his catastrophe-stricken nation comfort, Japanese designer Nosigner culled imagery taken by the lunar orbiter Kaguya to create a hope-swelling, LED-lit copy of Earth's favorite satellite. Recently on display at the Dwell on Design exhibit in LA, this spherical lamp of lunar love doesn't yet appear to be available for order -- but then again, how do you put a price on hope?
Autodesk 123D solid modeling software hits beta, hobbyists cheer $0.00 pricetag
If you've spent any time whatsoever in SketchUp, there's a better-than-average chance you'll have a ball within Autodesk 123D. The new Windows-based program -- which quietly slid into beta a couple of weeks ago -- is a gratis, stripped-down version of Autodesk's famed Inventor application, but it still offers a plethora of design tools for something that's being given away free of charge. We're told that just the basics are here, and sadly, it's not open source; that said, it does have an option for exporting to STL, and you will find support for assemblies and constraints. Eager to toss something else in your 3D modeling toolkit? Hit the links below to get started, and feel free to check your wallet at the door.
Lego GLaDOS warms our cold, monstrous hearts
Brandon Bannerman has found the quickest, most direct path to our hearts: He's combined our love of Legos with our love of Portal's omnipresent antagoinst, GLaDOS. If this doesn't get picked up as an official model by the toy blocks manufacturer, you can be certain that we're going to cry forever.
Visualized: preconceived notions about personal computer security
See that chart up there? That's a beautiful visualization of a dozen folk models surrounding the idea of home computer security, devised by Michigan State's own Rick Wash. To construct it (as well pen the textual explanations to back it), he interviewed a number of computer users with varying levels of sophistication, with the goal being to find out how normal Earthlings interpreted potential threats to their PC. His findings? A vast amount of home PCs are frequently insecure because "they are administered by untrained, unskilled users." He also found that PCs remain largely at risk despite a blossoming network of preventative software and advice, and almost certainly received an A for his efforts. Hit the source link for more, but only after you've spiffed up, thrown on a pair of spectacles and kicked one foot up on the coffee table that sits in front of you.
Microsoft application creates 3D model using a cellphone, blows our minds
Using your smartphone to take regular, or heck, even 3D images, is so last-gen -- thanks to Microsoft's Interactive Visual Media Group, we shall soon be able to use its new app to generate virtual 3D models. For example, if you want to capture that Ferrari on your neighbor's driveway, you'll need to circumambulate it while shooting around 40 photos. The final product, which is compiled using some beefed up PhotoSynth magic as each shot is uploaded to the cloud, is a beautifully crafted 3D model that can be panned around surprisingly smoothly. Hit play on the video below to feast your eyes on Redmond's new trick. [Thanks, @scienceben]
Five by five: PlanetSide Next reveals the Reaver
For a new MMO that's supposedly launching this year, we've heard precious little about the tentatively titled PlanetSide Next so far. Today, our knowledge grows by an inch as PlanetSide Universe got its hands on an exclusive picture of one of the new ships of the game, the Reaver. Like the ships in other screenshots we've seen, this is a model and not necessarily representative of the actual vehicle in-game. Still, it definitely looks like it means business, and evokes the image of modern attack helicopters minus the rotor blades. SOE's John Smedley has talked up this MMO sequel as having "massive battles on a scale no other FPS will touch." The studio is looking at late Q1/early Q2 2011 for a release window for the game. The first beta testers will be current PlanetSide players, so if you want to get a look at the future, it may behoove you to jump on board the present. %Gallery-115730%
Guardian iPhone app debuts, subscription available to UK customers
The Guardian has released a brand new version of its iPhone app on the App Store, this time featuring a subscription model for UK customers. Lots of publications have been trying to get Apple to approve a subscription model for apps, but The Guardian went ahead and did it themselves, offering up a six-month subscription to the content for £3, or a full year subscription for £4. The full app will still have content even without the subscription, but the subscription offers features like offline browsing and search, as well as some extra audio and video content. Americans can still download and use the app for free, and while it has all of the subscription features unlocked, the app is populated with ads. Interesting model for The Guardian, but theirs is a big organization, and the app is probably just a line item somewhere in a gigantic budget. If the subscription model works well for them, it could influence both Apple and other publications in terms of how they appear on the App Store.
Bart Decrem on Tap Tap Revenge 4 and the Disney acquisition of Tapulous
Tapulous (purchased by Disney earlier this year) has released Tap Tap Revenge 4, the fourth iteration of the extremely popular iOS music game, and the new version brings a whole lot of new features to the series. The game is now compatible with the Retina Display, includes Game Center integration, and has quite a few new social modes that let you "like" various songs, as well as see which of your friends have also "liked" that same music. Like Tap Tap 3, it's a free app that sells music packs and avatars as in-app purchases, with music from artists in all genres, from Linkin Park to Rihanna, The Killers, and quite a few more. Earlier this week, TUAW sat down to chat with Tapulous CEO Bart Decrem about the new game, and how his company has changed since it was not only acquired by Disney, but since he was placed in charge of the entire Disney Mobile operation. Read on to find out just how well Tap Tap Revenge 4 is doing (it's showing "the biggest download numbers ever," according to Decrem), and how he sees Disney's future in the mobile app space.
Fifth Ave. Apple Store recreated in Minecraft
The Minecraft Mac was cute and all, but if you think that was the pinnacle of Mac-related creations in Minecraft, you're underestimating our readership. Reader Simon sent along this set of Flickr pictures, which shows off an entire recreation of the Fifth Avenue Apple Store, complete with glass cube on top and a store full of products down below. Unfortunately, there's no way to model out iPads or iPhones in Minecraft, so there's just a whole bunch of what looks like Mac minis on sale. But then again, that sounds like a great store, too. Very nicely done, Simon. I'd like to know how long something like this takes -- I've built a few things in Minecraft myself, but nothing this, err, realistic, and definitely nothing of this magnitude. Awesome stuff, though -- what's next?
Flickr Find: Say hello to the Mac-in-craft
You can make a lot of things in the gigantic sandbox game Minecraft, including a gigantic floating Macintosh computer. Flickr user Caius Durling put together this floating replica on his own Minecraft world, assembled pixelbrick by pixelbrick, along with a floating "Hi" to match. It's pretty impressive. The "resolution" on the Minecraft materials isn't quite good enough to show the Mac OS running on the machine, but he got the dimensions right, and he even got the handle built into the back. All it needs now is a one-button mouse, right?
Sculpt a 3D model using the iPad's touchscreen and accelerometer
This is very cool -- Beautiful Modeler is a software tool used between an iPad and a MacBook above to gesturally sculpt a 3D model using the iPad's touchscreen. As you can see, the iPad works as a controller for the app running on the MacBook, and not only is touchscreen information passed on to the 3D modeling program (I like that multitouch works as well, so you can mold five different points in the sculpture at once), but accelerometer information is also passed across, so tilting the iPad around also tilts the onscreen view. The source code for the project is readily available on the site, and while the gesture control currently hooks up to just one kind of form modeling, technically you could hook this up to any 3D sculpting program and sculpt away. The app even outputs a special 3D format that can be connected directly into a 3D printer, so you can make a form with the iPad and the modeling app, and then turn it into a real 3D object by printing it out. Very impressive. Even Apple probably never envisioned using the iPad as this kind of interface, but that's what happens when you have such a relatively cheap and powerful touchscreen computer available to almost anyone.
GameSalad announces GameSalad Direct, publishing model outside of Apple's dev program
We've posted about GameSalad here before -- the company offers up a third-party development and publishing solution that allows anyone, even non-coders, to jump into the GS SDK, make a game, and then quickly publish it out to the web or platforms like Apple's App Store. The company has been narrowing its focus recently after a round of funding -- last week at GDC, it announced that the Gendai Games brand was no more, and instead it would be consolidating everything under the name "GameSalad." This week GameSalad continued in that focus with a service called GameSalad Direct. Previously, developers could pay a fee to simply remove GameSalad's branding from apps created with the software, and sell those apps on the App Store under their own Apple developer accounts. That will still work for GameSalad developers for now, but when those accounts expire, everything will move to GameSalad Direct, which instead will either be free for devs publishing free games, or part of a revenue share for publishers wanting to sell paid apps. That means GameSalad game devs won't use their own Apple accounts any more -- presumably, everything created by GameSalad in the store will need to be published under the GameSalad banner. That has raised some hackles on GameSalad's forums, and Apple might not be too happy with it either (since if developers do sign with GameSalad, that's potentially a lost developer connection). We've contacted GameSalad to get some more information on the change and an official perspective on the reaction to the news.
Wooden DIY quadrocopter gets no respect from Minnesota State Fair
The Parrot AR.Drone may be the hot quadrocopter of the moment, but not everyone has $299 to add one to their scale-sized hangar. We're not sure if it was financial reasons or a simple desire to get creative that drove Greg "Grease" Lehman of St. Paul, Minnesota to build his own, but build it he did, and out of wood. Using plans for a kit called the Roswell Quadrocopter, Greg hewed this from ash, oak, walnut, and paduak via CNC and a Sherline Mini mill. Thanks to its MikroKopter electronics the thing can hover and automatically fly to coordinates via GPS, or you can switch to a first-person view and do it your way. Most importantly you can build it your way using the instructions at the source link, and then enter it into your own local state fair. Greg entered his into the Minnesota State Fair's "airplane flying model, scratch built" class and came in second. Yes, second. Sadly the Fair's results sheet doesn't describe what came in first, but it damn well better have had lasers and some degree of sentience to have beaten this.
Metroid Prime model gunship boasts 'unprecedented levels of realism and accuracy'
For $300, you get a spaceship that benefits from the most attentive and accurate craftsmanship. It's not quite what intergalactic bounty hunter Samus Aran paid when she commissioned her gunship, but then ... this one is quite a bit smaller. And it's only a model (shh!). As part of only 750 units shipping in Q2 2011, this Metroid Prime ship model from First 4 Figures boasts a height of 12 inches, a swivel joint on its base, an elaborate sequence of LEDs and "unprecedented levels of realism and accuracy," thanks to its slavish recreation from the original game files and canon. Note: The rear-mounted plasma beam cannon is probably less functional in this instance. If you're in the position to order one of these (and you can opt for a three-month payment plan if need be), don't forget to leave space on the mantelpiece for future entries in the Metroid gunship line. First 4 Figures is probably working on a miniature of the Metroid: Other M gunship already, complete with Confession Time booth and compartments for Samus' cyber-diary and violin.
