Finally sat down for the first time this week and started to actually mess around with getting something started. It’s a bit weird when starting out to try and figure out exactly how to start… but I decided to just open up the twin shooter template that ships with UE4 and just began trying to overwrite the controls with my own. Read More >

There’s a reason I’ve been trying to learn programming recently, and that’s because I intend to actually do some programming. I’ve got several games in mind that I eventually want to do, and honestly hadn’t really considered that any of them would be mobile, however a couple of months ago I got a-talkin’ with a friend of mine and decided that we’d try to whip something up this summer. So we’ve got some basic ideas down on paper and now it’s time to start trying to get them down on platter. Hard disk drive platter, that is. Computers, yo. Read More >

Alright! This marks the end of me working through Section 3 of this tutorial series. I feel like I’m learning a good deal going through this course. It’s certainly helping me feel more comfortable with UE as I peek under the hood. Looking forward to the next section. I would have liked to have seen a little more effort on optimization in this section, but I imagine Ben needs to leave something to teach in the next section 😉 Read More >

So on the 5th, I wrote about how I wanted to go see Generation Axe. I’d been thinking of going since before the tickets went on sale, and so I decided I couldn’t pass it up, got off my butt, and went. It was worth it. But between OT at work, and concerts, and trying to figure out day care for the little dude, it’s been almost a week since I’ve done any of the tutorials! Lucky for me, I still have both my computer, and my fingers, (and ears and eyes) so lets see how far I can get with this tonight. Read More >

I spent a good chunk of time watching music videos on YouTube tonight. Generation Axe is playing in Vancouver on Wednesday. I have no tickets. This makes me mildly sad, but at the same time I I’m struggling to justify the cost of admission to myself. But at least I got some learnin’ in too. Read More >

Huh. I hadn’t really been paying attention. It turns out that Udemy has just changed their pricing strategy. Instead of allowing instructors to charge whatever price they wish for the content they provide, they now charge between $20 and $50 per course. This means that the Learn to Code in C++ course is now a mere $35. I can’t help but feel mildly agitated at having backed the course for £45 on Kickstarter now that I know I could have spent less. That said, I’m glad that Ben got the funding he asked for, and I feel that this has been the best course I’ve taken. So… I’ll try not to get too disgruntled.

As a side note, I’m now on the fence about what that means going forward with my own plans. I had it in my mind that I was going to produce some Houdini training material for the website… but now I’m not so sure it’s worth while when I can’t price at what I feel to be an appropriate rate. Or maybe instead of developing a “proper” curriculum I would need to break it up into digestible chunks for a smaller price point? It feels like a shame that people will be limited to buying piecemeal courses for a low price. But I guess it just means that teachers will need to migrate to a different platform going forward.

At any rate, I didn’t get as much done today as I’d hoped, but it was a good day nonetheless. Read More >

I set out yesterday to start playing Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams, which is on my list of games I own which I should be playing so that I can force myself to learn Japanese. I don’t know what to say… I played the first two levels, and I just had no fun at all. And there are a ton more menu screens than there were in Brothers. Part of me wants to stay focused and translate that shit… but it’s not going to be fun, and if I’m not having fun in my leisure hours, what’s the point? So instead of torturing myself playing that game, I’m taking it off my To Play list, and moving on.

And in this case, moving on means doing more tutorials. Read More >