Some of you may remember the bundled Away3D game that came with the first Adobe Gaming SDK download towards the end of last year. Called Invawayders (already regretting that title…), it demonstrated a simple Away3D interaction with pixelated 3D space invaders, and had compilation options for both mobile (phone/tablet) and web applications.

The game has recently had  a bit of a spring clean, and in order to give it a more permenant home, we’ve uploaded to a new source repository in github. The source is arranged in three libraries, a core lib containing all shared assets and logic, and two FB projects for mobile and web publishing respectively. Instructions for installation can be found in the README.md file.

The game itself plays very similar to the existing Invawayders demo bundled in the Gaming SDK, however this version has a couple of significant updates to it’s code architecture:

• The game loop is now managed by the Ash framework, an extremely clean and flexible entity framework for AS3
• The required Away3D version is has been updated to 4.1 Alpha, taking advantage of some of the new particle APIs

The live versions of the game have also been updated, these can be found in the following locations for each respective platform:

• Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=air.invawayders&hl=en
• Apple iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/invawayders/id566559602?mt=8
• Facebook: http://apps.facebook.com/invawayders

I am only just getting to grips with Facebook’s new App Center, so it may take a while for me to work out how to link the mobile games from the app page, but according to FB developers, the experience should be “seamless”. At least i finally worked out how to get that “play” button working again on the community page. Info about the game will appear here from now on now when there are any more updates etc, and if we’re really lucky we should be able to get the username shortcut for the page after 25 likes

Would be interested to hear what people thought of the re-architecture. I’m actually quite liking the approach that Ash places on game development, the conversion took a while to get my head around but after a bit of code wrestling, everything seemed to fall neatly into place. Hopefully I’ll be getting a chance to apply Ash to some more Gaming SDK examples in future.

Last week the latest Away3D release was launched – the FP10-only 3.6.0 version which added some much needed memory and speed optimisations to the main branch of the engine. Now, these updates have been transferred to an interim 3.5.2 version (one that requires no code refactoring) and an equivalent FP9 2.5.2 release, both of which try to includes as many of the bugfixes and optimisations from the FP10 trunk code.

The announcement of the new release appeared alongside a new Away3D demo called BattleCell, the result of a recent collaboration with Influxis which uses both the extra power of the new engine and the peer-to-peer capabilities of Flash 10.1 to produce a realtime 3D multiplayer prototype. Special thanks must go to Influxis dev Sean McCracken, as well as Away3D coders David Lenaerts and Fabrice Closier, and 3D designer Federico Selmi for their hard work on the project.

The demo uses a newly developed API for multiplayer games over RTMFP (the new P2P protocol available to Flash 10.1 users). What this allows is many live data connections directly between clients with little to no latency, creating the perfect environment for some serious fragging fun! BattleCell is the name given to both the demo and the underlying AS3 API, the latter written by Sean in order to easily connect multiple users and pass data between clients.

The BattleCell demo is a typical FPS Deathmatch-style game, complete with room allocation, choice of weapons and a large play area for you to roam. Obstacles in the game include lifts, teleport windows, acid baths and secret tunnels to assist your attacks… but be careful who is lurking round the corner!

The new 3.6.0 version of Away3D has a completely remodeled core to take full advantage of all native 3D APIs in Flash 10, which results in more stable and less memory-hungry apps. Performance has improved also, and we expect framerates to increase still further as we continue to optimise the new framework. There have been some older class replacements that you need to be aware of when upgrading: both custom classes MatrixAway3D and Number3D have been replaced by the native Matrix3D and Vector3D classes respectively for added speed and stability.

The Battlecell demo is kindly hosted by Influxis and can be accessed online at http://www.influxis.com/battlecell. Type in a room name for your friends to join, and a user name so that others can identify you in-game. The game URL can easily be copy-pasted for fast access to a room, and any user leaving the game automatically frees-up their slot for a new user to join. As the APIs are still being tested, a maximum of 4 users can join a single room at once, but we hope to increase this limit in future versions of the demo.

As usual, all updates can be downloaded from the googlecode svn, or from the downloads section of away3d.com.  For those of you just interested in upgrading your FP10 library without having to worry about existing code breaking, there is a specially tagged 3.5.2 version of the code that includes all enhancements up to the point where external API adjustments are made. This version is recommended for developers in the middle of a project, who don’t want the hassle of changing their code. A full breakdown of the API changes for 3.6.0 will be posted on the Away3D mailing list in the next few days.

For this year’s US Open, IBM has deployed advanced technology on the tennis field to collect the data to be analyzed and visualized.  With the U.S. Tennis Association, IBM is providing public access to its PointStream technology in the form of a real-time data visualisation, which offers a special insight into every match.  Each point is individually visualized in the application to offer an interactive representation of match data that updates in real time.

Expanding areas of the visualiser under the mouse allows them to be viewed in more detail. Each match is split into sets (concentric circles), games (collections of line segments) and points (individual segments). Players are represented by different colours, with each point segment taking the winning player’s colour. The length of each segment is representative of the length of the rally for that point, and serve speed is represented by the height of the segment.

A Key along the bottom of the visualiser doubles as a filtering option. Each representation can be clicked on to highlight the areas of the visualisation that contain those events. This allows a user to instantly focus on individual aspects of a game, such as the progression of converted breakpoints, where in a match double faults occur, and who benefits most from unforced errors. Further detail is available for each point in the game by clicking on the relevant segment, with the information displayed in the center of the visualiser.

At all levels of the application, the central momentum meter displays an overall swing of player success, calculated algorithmically from match data. If a player is particularly on top of their game, dropping less unforced errors, holding their service games etc, the momentum meter will display a larger portion of their colour in the central circular graph. This acts as a quick indicator of how the match is progressing for the players.

As matches are completed, they are added to the Pointstream database and can be re-visited at any time. The data view for a completed match retains all information that is available in the live data view, although obviously the outcome is already known! A completed visualisation is unique to the match it represents, and goes some way to demonstrate how data can be at the same time both interesting and informative to look at.

The application will be producing live data all through the US Open up to the finals on the 12th of September, so if you are following the tournament, be sure to check it out!

.

.

.

.

.

.

Away Media recently teamed up with CBBC to assist in the production of the latest web content for the children’s program Escape from Scorpion Island. The TV show focuses on two teams assigned a series of island-style challenges, and the website continues that theme with a navigable series of mini-games.

Away Media were brought in to assist with the Flash development of the web interface for series 4 of the show. This included the development of the 3D island interface, the navigation interfaces, animations for all intro screens, info panels, hi-scores and video players, and the client-server communication using the existing BBC login facility.

Visitors to the site can keep a running score of their achievements on all minigames, that are entered into a hi-score table alongside other CBBC players. The mini-games were developed independently by 4T2 and Collective, two London-based digital agencies.

As one of the first commercial projects to use Away3D Lite, Away Media teamed up with creative agency Cocomino to produce a 3D minisite in Flash for chip manufacturer Qualcomm, in order to promote their latest line of Smartbook devices.

My Dream Device is a simple online editor that allows users to view and create 3D sculptures out of the various pieces of hardware that are supported by Qualcomm technology. everything from satellite dishes to  sat navs can be used as the building blocks for creating your own ‘dream device’.

Using a simple drag and drop system combined with a movement mode selector, objects can be manipulated in 3D to position them in any arrangement. Away3D Lite was used to keep the interface responsive even after many items have been added to the stage. A simple 3D collision system was built specifically for the site to assist the positioning of objects next to each other.

Once created, a sculpture can be saved to the gallery for any other visitor to view and rate. Deeplinking allows users to link directly to their own creations from another website, and users can automatically email to a friend or post their creation on Facebook.

Away Media was responsible for all frontend and backend development, with Cocomino providing design and management expertise. The site was recently awarded an Adobe site of the day award – a great achievement for all those involved! To create your own sculpture, visit http://www.mydreamdevice.com.

Away Media has recently been involved with CBBC in the development of an online interactive story for the kid’s TV show My Almost Famous Family. The show tracks the highs and lows of the Swann family as they try to make it as a band, and the recently launched online story continues the narrative with a series of minigames based around the children of the family as they attempt to form a breakaway group and win the local battle of the bands tournament.

The entire game is located in a 3D ‘map’ of events as they unfold, with various mishaps and discoveries along the way unlocking new content. The user is drawn into the narrative with a clever use of webcam video of the band seen as if they were communicating directly with you, and it is here where the main story unfolds. Each event is punctuated by either a video clip or minigame, with the latter requiring the user to perform a task that allows the story to advance to the next stage.

Each minigame can be completed fairly easily so that no one game is a barrier to progressing through the story, however for those who like a more competitive edge, results and highscores are logged and users can revisit a game at any stage to try and improve on their personal best. There are also some nice touches in the story where the results of your completed tasks are used directly with the narrative.

Away Media’s role in the project was primarily the development of the global navigation and game shell, with the 3D map using a mixture of Away3D Lite and native Flash 3D. The minigames were contracted separately and integrated into the main site with the help of the Away Media development team, who also looked after all server communication, asset loading, video playback and control interfaces. The end result is an engaging interactive story that treads new ground for the online portal of a TV show, mixing live action video with interactive flash games in a seamless and convincing manner. Check it out here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/myalmostfamousfamily/

The Tomorrow Mural is a collaborative online art piece that allows anyone to contribute by uploading an image and/or message for their vision of the future. Commissioned by Intel, the site has various ways to interact with the content submissions as the database grows.

As you begin, spacey bleeps and widdles float out of your speakers, as if you’re about to enter some sort of online isolation tank. Once in, the emphasis is placed as much on casual browsing as contributing to the content – you can sort and search messages using many different categories including, colour, popularity, geo-location, submission time etc. Each set of search results are presented in a 3D interface that allows messages to be browsed individually at your leisure.

The concept was developed by MRM Worldwide, with Away Media providing Flash development and 3D expertise. Launched around the end of August, contributions have been flooding in from all over the world for the last few months, with the overall outlook being surprisingly positive! Certainly, i would recommend a browse to anyone who required a few minutes of contemplative relaxation amidst the typically hectic buildup to Christmas

Doritos have recently launched an online campaign called ID3, which revolves around a prize draw that participants can enter by playing and completing the flash game at http://id3.doritos.co.uk/. All packets of doritos have a code printed on them allowing you to gain access to the game. You can also get a free passcode by going to http://id3.doritos.co.uk/codeclaim.php, although using one of these will only allow you to play the game, not enter the draw.

The site was another collaboration between  Rehab Studio and Away Media, with Upset TV, providing the excellent live action sequences that plunge you straight into an undercover gangster bust-style scenario, complete with dodgy east-end accents and evil secretive bosses.

Away Media’s role within the project was to develop two 3d minigames that had to seamlessly integrate with the main cinematic sequences. Away3d was used to great effect, taking advantage of some of the advanced shading options, and relying on frustum culling to make possible the use of the large gameplay areas. The 3d physics library Jiglib was used for collision detection.

The draw is to remain open until the end of September, so there is still time to enter! As an added bonus, there is a easter egg to be found inside the warehouse minigame. When you encounter the forklift truck, press the keys ‘up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, b, a, enter’ to unlock drive mode…

The site was recently included in Board’s top 5 picks of the month for August 2009 following it’s FWA site of the day award on the 11th August.

Toyota have recently launched the English version of their minisite for the new Verso. Based around a series of minigames, the Verso minisite was built as a collaboration between Rehab Studio and Away Media for the Brussels branch of the media agency Saatchi & Saatchi.

Away Media were responsible for the development of the minigames, which included some 3d elements that were created using Away3d. Each game integrates with the rest of the site using video shorts that play after completing one of the game tasks. Games developed by Away Media include the Luggage game, Personal storage, Driving dynamics and Harmony.

The entire site is built to be localised and has already been translated into French & Dutch for the Belgian version which can be found here.

The financial institution Morgan Stanley have recently released information on a new online product called the Morgan Stanley Matrix. This required an eye-catching microsite for the product launch, which was built as a collaboration between Away Media and Morgan Stanley.

The site takes an immersive approach to a 3d environment, navigating between areas by flying through space in a similar manner to the site for the well known digital agency Nitrogroup.

The project was built using Awaybuilder, one of the more recent features of the Away3d engine. The Awaybuilder framework allows a seamless workflow between 3d modeling packages and Flash, enabling menus and site areas within a 3d space to be positioned and updated with ease. As a result, camera movements can be executed with pinpoint accuracy, allowing for some very nice effects – particularly with textfields.

The 3d menu text uses vector based shapes to render, another recent feature addition to Away3d. The crisp text outlines it allows are quite an improvement from text as bitmap textures. Frustum culling is used to keep framerates high even though the entire 3d scene contains many elements, thanks to the early-outs it allows for objects outside the viewing frustum.