Mohammad Haseeb

Mohammad HaseebPostsProjectsHello and WelcomePlaystation 3 – Cloud DriveVideo Games have changed…Auto Save Hell – To all Game DevelopersA Different Kind of SoftwareFlash Font Conflicts aka Invisible text in Dynamic Text FieldsMolehill GPU Based SnowOnline Shopping in Pakistan – BeeGeek, HomeShopping, Mega.pk, Bonanza, ShophiveBetter FlashDevelop!WCK vs NAPEThe Troubled Sandy Bridge Platform – Error Codes 0D, 62, 94, D2Adding effects to Dynamic Text in FlashPS3/Playstation 3 “No Video” But Audio Issue Solution

/ Recent content on Mohammad Haseeb Hugo — gohugo.io en-us Wed, 09 Mar 2016 19:56:50 +0100 /posts/ Wed, 09 Mar 2016 19:56:50 +0100 /posts/ <h2 id=”2016″>2016</h2> <ul> <li>[Playstation 4 Cloud Data Saving]</li> <li>[The SO Developer]</li> </ul> <h2 id=”2013″>2013</h2> <ul> <li><a href=”/posts/playstation-3-cloud-drive/”>Playstation 3 Cloud Drive</a></li> <li><a href=”/posts/video-games-have-changed/”>Video Games have changed</a></li> </ul> <h2 id=”2012″>2012</h2> <ul> <li><a href=”/posts/auto-save-hell-to-all-game-developers/”>Auto Save Hell – To All Game Developers</a></li> <li><a href=”/posts/online-shopping-in-pakistan/”>Online Shopping in Pakistan</a></li> <li><a href=”/posts/molehill-gpu-based-snow/”>Molehill – GPU based Snow</a></li> <li><a href=”/posts/flash-font-conflicts-aka-invisible-text-in-dynamic-text-fields/”>Flash Font Conflicts</a></li> <li><a href=”/posts/a-different-kind-of-software/”>A Different Kind of Software</a></li> <li><a href=”/posts/better-flashdevelop/”>Better Flash Develop</a></li> </ul> <h2 id=”2011″>2011</h2> <ul> <li><a href=”/posts/wck-vs-nape/”>WCK vs NAPE</a></li> <li><a href=”/posts/the-troubled-sandy-bridge-platform-error-codes-0d-62-94-d2/”>The Troubled Sandy Bridge Platform – Error codes 0D, 62, 94, D2</a></li> <li><a href=”/posts/adding-effects-to-dynamic-text-in-flash/”>Adding Effects to Dynamic Text in Flash</a></li> <li><a href=”/posts/ps3playstation-3-no-video-but-audio-issue-solution/”>Playstation 3 No Video but Audio Solution</a></li> <li><a href=”/posts/p67-dualdouble-triple-boot-issue/”>P67 Dual Double Triple Boot Issue</a></li> <li><a href=”/posts/need-for-speed-hot-pursuit-nfshp-pc-crash-fix/”>Need for Speed Hot Pursuit PC Crash Fix</a></li> <li><a href=”/posts/idm-and-firefox-4-integration/”>IDM and Firefox Integration</a></li> </ul> <h2 id=”2010″>2010</h2> <ul> <li><a href=”/posts/next-gen-flash-what-do-i-want-to-see/”>Next Gen Flash – What do I want to see</a></li> <li><a href=”/posts/papersteer-works/”>Papersteer Works</a></li> <li><a href=”/posts/filled-diskcircle-with-trianglefan-in-papervision3d/”>Filled Disk Circle with Triangle Fan technique</a></li> <li><a href=”/posts/amazons-price-variation/”>Amazon’s Price Variation</a></li> <li><a href=”/posts/windows-7-mic-issues-possibly-realtek-or-motherboard-related/”>Windows 7 Mic Issues</a></li> <li><a href=”/posts/misc-hacks-and-solutions/”>Misc Hacks and Solutions</a></li> </ul> <h2 id=”2009″>2009</h2> <ul> <li><a href=”/posts/go-fetch-windows-ello-snow-kitty/”>Go Fetch Windows, Ello Snow Kitty</a></li> <li><a href=”/posts/intel-realtek-hd-ac-97-multichannel-5-16-17-1-audio-and-front-panel-solutions/”>Intel Realtek HD AC 97 Multi Channel Solutions</a></li> <li><a href=”/posts/who-at-capcom-is-messing-around/”>Who at Capcom is messing around?</a></li> <li><a href=”/posts/game-sickness-dizziness-vertigo-nausea-and-epilepsy/”>Game Sickness, Diziness, Vertigo, Nausea and Epilepsy</a></li> <li><a href=”/posts/using-synergy-with-yellowdog-linux-6/”>Using Synergy with YellowDog Linux 6</a></li> <li><a href=”/posts/updating-dsl-2640t-to-routertech-firmware/”>Updating DSL 2640t to RouterTech firmware</a></li> <li><a href=”/posts/introduction-to-papervision3d/”>Intro to Papervision 3D</a></li> </ul> <h2 id=”2008″>2008</h2> <ul> <li><a href=”/posts/questionsony/”>Question, Sony?</a></li> <li><a href=”/posts/attention-everyone/”>Atention Everyone</a></li> <li><a href=”/posts/papersteer-and-updates/”>Papersteet Updates</a></li> <li><a href=”/posts/linkdotnet-ptcl-adsl-hell/”>LinkDotNet PTCL ADSL Hell</a></li> <li><a href=”/posts/r4-pv3d-music-visualizer-wip/”>R4 – PV3D Music Visualizer</a></li> <li><a href=”/posts/smoke-particle-system-in-papervision3d/”>Smoke Particle System in Papervision 3D</a></li> <li><a href=”/posts/simple-particle-system-in-papervision3d/”>Simple Particle System in Papervision 3D</a></li> <li><a href=”/posts/opensteer-for-actionscript3/”>Open Steer for Actionscript 3</a></li> <li><a href=”/posts/artificial-behavior-in-papervision3d/”>Artificial Behavior in Papervision 3D</a></li> <li><a href=”/posts/spring-physics-in-as3/”>Spring Physics in AS3</a></li> <li><a href=”/posts/monthly-wrapup/”>Monthly Wrap Up</a></li> <li><a href=”/posts/freecamera3dcontroller-for-papervision3d/”>FreeCamera3DController for Papervision 3D</a></li> <li><a href=”/posts/crazy-flocking-in-papervision3d/”>Crazy Flocking in Papervision 3D</a></li> <li><a href=”/posts/shadow-passes-in-xsi/”>Shadow Passes in XSI</a></li> <li><a href=”/posts/birds-flocking-behavior/”>Birds Flocking Behavior</a></li> <li><a href=”/posts/smoke-particle-system-for-as3-actionscript-3/”>Smoke Particle System in Actionscript 3</a></li> <li><a href=”/posts/simple-particle-system-in-actionscript-3/”>Simple Particle System in Actionscript 3</a></li> <li><a href=”/posts/playstation3-xmb-clone/”>Playstation 3 XMB Clone</a></li> <li><a href=”/posts/vector3d-for-as3-actionscript-3/”>Vector3D For Actionscript 3</a></li> <li><a href=”/posts/tabindanet-goes-live/”>Tabinda.net goes Live</a></li> <li><a href=”/posts/pixel-based-operations-in-flash-and-processing/”>Pixel Based Operations in Flash and Processing</a></li> </ul> <h2 id=”2007″>2007</h2> <ul> <li><a href=”/posts/virtumundo-vundo-removal/”>Virtumundo Vundo Removal</a></li> <li><a href=”/posts/imamat-in-offices/”>Imamat in Offices</a></li> <li><a href=”/posts/mame-sdl-on-ps3-yellowdog-linux-5/”>MAME SDL on PS3 YellowDog Linux</a></li> <li><a href=”/posts/compile-php-4-5-on-linux-with-oci8-support-using-instant-client/”>Compile PHP 4 and 5 on Linux with OCI 8</a></li> <li><a href=”/posts/install-visual-c-6-with-sp5-on-vista/”>Install Visual C 6 with SP5 on Vista</a></li> <li><a href=”/posts/nvlddmkmsys-error-bsod/”>nvlddmkmsys error with NVIDIA cards</a></li> </ul> /projects/ Wed, 09 Mar 2016 00:11:02 +0100 /projects/ <h2 id=”code”>Code</h2> <ul> <li><a href=”/posts/playstation-3-cloud-drive/”>Playstation 3 Cloud Drive</a></li> <li><a href=”/posts/papersteer-works/”>PaperSteer</a></li> <li><a href=”https://db.tt/cZcw1D6m”>MoCapSim</a></li> </ul> <h2 id=”games”>Games</h2> <ul> <li><a href=”https://www.goodgamestudios.com/games/empire-four-kingdoms-app/”>Goodgame Empire – Four Kingdoms</a></li> <li><a href=”#”>BabyWorld</a></li> </ul> Babyworld was Pakistan’s first attempt at MMO scale social gaming. Although, now offline, it still holds as one of fondest memories. The video below was an alpha test for mobile release of the same game but weren’t released after all. <div style=”position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; padding-top: 30px; height: 0; overflow: hidden;”> <iframe src=”//player.vimeo.com/video/57593674″ style=”position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;” webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe> </div> <ul> <li><a href=”#”>Feline Frenzy</a></li> </ul> <h2 id=”motion-and-graphics”>Motion and Graphics</h2> <ul> <li>Dirge <div style=”position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; padding-top: 30px; height: 0; overflow: hidden;”> <iframe src=”//www.youtube.com/embed/zGrHKXLD_tc” style=”position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;” allowfullscreen frameborder=”0″></iframe> </div> </li> <li>Riddle in the Dark <div style=”position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; padding-top: 30px; height: 0; overflow: hidden;”> <iframe src=”//www.youtube.com/embed/ilfpJJ69UmM” style=”position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;” allowfullscreen frameborder=”0″></iframe> </div> </li> <li>Riddle in the Dark 2</li> </ul> / Tue, 08 Mar 2016 21:07:13 +0100 / <h2 id=”about-me”>About Me</h2> I’m a tech guy currently living in Australia. I’m also an Artist/Designer in my spare time. I like to keep my hands full with different technology stacks and much of that keeps my thirst quenched. If you’ve come across this website looking for something or need help with, drop me a line and I’ll respond as soon as possible. Thanks for visiting, Cheers. <img src=”https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=0ByGIs1wVZgIXVVFGWE0zRTI4Tjg” alt=”Fractal Logo” /> That up there is one of my works, if you like it, there’s more in the projects and posts section. You’ll also find interesting things in the projects section. I may have abondoned some of them, but if you want to use any of them, you can. Please just let me know if you use them. Oh, and if you’re looking for my old portfolio, it’s not available anymore. <h2 id=”social-profiles”>Social Profiles</h2> I’m not very active on social channels. But you can find some of the links to my personal profiles below: <ul> <li><a href=”http://www.linkedin.com/in/mhaqs”>LinkedIn</a></li> <li><a href=”http://www.twitter.com/mhaqs”>Twitter</a></li> <li><a href=”http://www.github.com/mhaqs”>GitHub</a></li> <li><a href=”http://psnprofiles.com/mhaseebps”>Playstation</a></li> <li><a href=”http://www.deviantart.com/mhaqs”>Deviant Art</a></li> <li><a href=”http://www.animemusicvideos.org/members/members_myprofile.php?user_id=314265″>Anime Music Videos</a></li> <li><a href=”http://www.vimeo.com/mhaqs”>Vimeo</a></li> </ul> <h2 id=”some-links-i-like”>Some Links I Like</h2> <ul> <li><a href=”http://www.arubavm.com”>Aruba Vending Machines</a></li> <li><a href=”http://www.intelematics.com”>Intelematics Australia</a></li> </ul> /posts/playstation-3-cloud-drive/ Thu, 27 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/playstation-3-cloud-drive/ <div class=”admonition note”> Update I’ve made this application open source, fork to your will at: <a href=”https://github.com/mhaqs/ps3-cloud-drive”>Playstation 3 Cloud Drive</a> </div> It was at the end of last year that I posted <a href=”/posts/auto-save-hell-to-all-game-developers/”>this</a>. It really took me away from gaming on the ps3 for a while. Earlier this year, I searched for a ps3 app that would sync a user’s game-saves to the cloud. I didn’t care which service was it, as long as it was free and easy to use. Unfortunately, apart from Sony’s PS Plus service, there was no application/home-brew that accomplished this task. But I did find <a href=”http://www.ps3hax.net/showthread.php?t=41500″>this</a>. A user named “gingerbread” on the ps3hax forums had this idea about a “Dropbox” app that could work like a game-save synchronization application for the PS3. I decided to take a shot at it and although the development went slow for several reasons, I eventually finished the first set of features I planned for. The application is called “Playstation 3 – Cloud Drive”. You can install this application on a ps3 running a custom firmware. This app is programmed using “<a href=”http://psl1ght.com/”>PSL1GHT</a>” open source SDK and it was a pretty good experience working on the ps3 overall. Anyhow, here’s more information about the app itself: <h3 id=”current-features”>Current Features:</h3> <ul> <li>The application works with Google Drive. You will need a Google account to use it.</li> <li>Google Drive comes with 15GB of free space compared to PS Plus’s 1GB.</li> <li>Remote Authorization through “OAuth 2 for Devices” does not need you to give application any of your personal information.</li> <li>Bi-Directional Sync is possible. The application will sync your saves to the cloud and will download them to your hard drive.</li> <li>Resume support is present and you can quit the application any time you want. The app will pick up from where it left off.</li> <li>Resumable uploads and partial responses are supported.</li> <li>Save Revision and pinning/sticky support.</li> <li>Save Difference and update will only sync data that has changed to cut bandwidth usage.</li> <li>gzip compression for faster transfers. This is to save bandwidth on those ridiculously big “replays” and saves from some games.</li> <li>PSX/PS2 card slot sync. There were a lot of requests for this feature and version 1.1.7+ includes support for both ps1 and ps2 memory card slots.</li> </ul> <h3 id=”planned-features-for-next-releases”>Planned Features for next releases:</h3> <ul> <li>Selective Sync. Users can select the game-saves they want to sync to the cloud. This also requires a GUI for the user to select which saves he needs transferred. Most likely a Dual panel layout.</li> <li>Multiple Playstation 3 units support per account. A user may sign into a PS3-Cloud-Drive account and download saves from another ps3. This feature is highly dependent on selective sync.</li> <li>Save Resigning. Oh yeah, I know this’ll have to be done some day to make this app super awesome on all levels. But it’s prolly way down the road.</li> </ul> <h3 id=”how-to-use-authentication”>How to use: Authentication</h3> <ul> <li>Authentication is a one time process and you do not need to repeat it unless you delete the app or wipe your ps3s hard drive.</li> <li>Download the “PlayStation 3 Cloud Drive“ at the bottom of this post.</li> <li>Install it on your PS3. This app has been tested on various firmwares up to 4.41 CFW including (DEX/REX).</li> <li>Run the app and it will generate a code for you. It will also prompt you to go to <a href=”http://www.google.com/device”>http://www.google.com/device</a></li> <li>Visit the above url on your computer/smart phone and enter the code given by the application. You must be signed into a Google account for verification.</li> <li>Click “Allow Access” to register your account with the app.</li> <li>The PS3 will automatically detect the authentication as soon as you finish registration.</li> <li>Once the authentication completes, the application will start building data and syncing game-saves to the cloud</li> </ul> <h3 id=”how-to-use-general-usage”>How to use: General Usage</h3> <ul> <li>Every time you run the application, it will detect and sync changes to the cloud automatically.</li> <li>You can press the “X” button to cancel the sync at any time. But let the application finish the current transfer. If you force quit it, there’s a chance of corrupting data.</li> </ul> <h2 id=”frequently-asked-questions”>Frequently Asked Questions:</h2> Q: Does this app harvest or store any of my “personal” information? A: No. the application uses Remote Authorization or <a href=”https://developers.google.com/accounts/docs/OAuth2ForDevices”>OAuth 2</a> for authentication. It does not require any of your personal information. None of your personal data from the ps3 running the app, apart from game-saves, is transferred to the cloud. You may use a proxy application to sniff the data. Q: Can’t you make this app work like a service? Such that it automatically runs in the ps3’s background? A: I honestly do not know how to do that yet. If you know how, please get in touch. Q: Do saves from the currently logged in user get uploaded or all users on my ps3? A: The app syncs saves for all user profiles present on the internal HDD. Q: Does the app sync PS1/PS2 cards? A: Yes, version 1.1.7+ include support for PSX and PS2 save sync. Q: Can I give custom paths to the app to sync? A: Not right now because I do not plan to make it anything else apart from a gamesave sync utility. I might add a custom path feature later. Q: Does this app update/modify/delete any of my saves? A: Not at all. The application is designed to let the user decide what gets synced. It will never “ever” delete or modify any of your saves. See next question for more details. Q: So how does it “download” saves back to my PS3 or any ps3? A: The application will only download a save back to your hard drive, if you “delete” the save “yourself“. It will detect the missing save and automatically download it again. Q: I formatted my ps3’s hard drive, how do I get all those saves back on the hard drive? A: Install the app again on your PS3. Once authentication is done, it will start downloading all the saves to your hard drive. Q: What about resigning? Does this app resign saves? A: Not right now. But I understand this feature might come handy for this app “a lot”. It’s later down in my timeline. Besides resigning saves is a touchy matter. Once I’m sure the application can handle resigning properly, I’ll put it in. For now you can use “<a href=”http://www.aldostools.org/ps3tools.html”>Aldos’s PS3 Tools</a>“, which are actually a front end for <a href=”https://twitter.com/flat_z”>flatz</a>‘s awesome save tools. Q: Can I use “one” account on two ps3s to sync saves? A: In short, yes. You can use the same Google drive account to sync two ps3s. However, you must understand that the application has no way to differentiate the two Playstation units apart from the Gmail address used to register the application. So here’s what happens: If you sync your saves on PS3-A and then run the app on PS3-B with the same Google account. The application will download the saves from PS3-A which are “not” present on PS3-B. It will “not” replace or update saves that are already there. It “will” upload/update all the saves on PS3-B to the google drive account that were not present in PS3-A. Hence it might not be feasible for people that own two Playstation units and want separate save locations to use “one” google account to run the application. However, if you have one PS3 in the living room and another in the lounge with the same saves/games; You can use the same account. Once the application has “selective sync” feature implemented, it will be a lot easier to use this feature because the application will let the user decide what to upload/download on every sync. Q: So why can’t you just program selective sync right away? A: This is dependent on so many things but mostly because the PS3 dev community hasn’t been all that helpful. I’m figuring things out about the ps3 and psl1ght sdk over time. Currently, I’m trying to figure out selective list import/export functions on psl1ght. If any dev can help me with this, I’ll appreciate it. Q: A corrupt save got uploaded/synced. And if I delete the corrupt save, the application keeps downloading the corrupt save. A: By default the app thinks of the last save revision as the one that gets synced. However, if this scenario happens, you can go to Google Drive yourself and delete the last revision and pin the revision that is not corrupt. You may then download the save yourself or run the application again to download the correct revision. This is also a planned feature, where a user can select which revision he wants to download. See question for more details. Q: My revisions got purged on Google Drive? A: Google Drive has a <a href=”https://support.google.com/drive/answer/2375120″>default policy</a> of purging older revisions after 30 days. This is enough time for you to recover any data. Read the linked article on how to recover a revision or mark it as pinned, such that it never gets purged. Q: So why can’t you pin every revision by default? A: This may be a future feature in the options but for now because every revision takes the same amount of space the original file does, this is not enabled. I understand that Google Drive has so much space for playstation3’s saves that it shouldn’t be a problem. Q: The application data got corrupted due to a malfunction or the PS3 shutdown abnormally (power failure etc). How do I recover application data? A: The app keeps a backup of your configuration and sync data with “.backup” extensions. You can delete the corrupted data and restore the backup. The backup might not be recent but it should still save you a lot of hassle. Q: Is this app going to be open source? A: It already is, check update on top of post. Q: Can I cancel my PS Plus subscription now? I’ve got cloud save sync! A: Oh no, PS Plus is so on another level. This is just one of its features. I don’t think Sony would like you to use their PS Plus subscription “and” have a CFW running. You’ve been warned. Q: Can you make this app stealth like multiman? A: I currently do not know how to do that. But may be down the road. If you know how to, drop me a message. Q: Are you associated with Sony, Google or the PlayStation brand? A: Nope, nada. <div class=”admonition note”> Update It has been brought to my attention by a user named “nuno” that the XMB does not “show” a game-save when downloaded from the cloud. This is only a visual glitch and your save is perfectly fine. The PS3 keeps a database of everything and the app currently cannot update that database directly as it resides in the flash. I’m working on a way to fix this. However, as a temporary solution, you can make the save appear in the XMB by playing the game for that game-save and overwrite the save once either with autosaving or manual save. You can also rebuild the database from the recovery menu as well. This updates the PS3 database and you will begin to see the saves in the XMB. </div> <h3 id=”thanks-to-people”>Thanks to People:</h3> I’d like to thank <a href=”https://twitter.com/BaatishS”>Baatish</a> for taking the time out for testing the program with me for so long. I’d also like to thank some other people: <ul> <li><a href=”https://twitter.com/breadhack”>gingerbread</a> (it was his idea in the first place)</li> <li><a href=”https://twitter.com/KaKaRoToKS”>KaKaRoToKS</a> (for all the help on twitter)</li> <li><a href=”http://www.ps3hax.net/member.php?u=195579″>Rautz</a> (tester)</li> <li><a href=”http://www.ps3hax.net/member.php?u=234753″>w0313</a> (tester)</li> <li><a href=”https://twitter.com/Condorstrike”>condorstrike</a></li> <li>any one else I’ve forgotten</li> </ul> And last of all but not least, here’s the download link for the app: <a href=”https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=0ByGIs1wVZgIXTC1OQ3FiMlA3QkU”>PS3 Could Drive 1.1.7</a> <a href=”https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=0ByGIs1wVZgIXRG1XWXdmNlRXejQ”>PS3 Could Drive 1.1.5</a> /posts/video-games-have-changed/ Tue, 18 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/video-games-have-changed/ When I say “Games have changed“, I am literally trying to mimic Snake saying “War has changed“. It has that certain dramatic tone to it about the development, audience and economy of an industry. I feel games have lived their prime age to an extent and they might not enjoy a similar age anytime soon. This is a very important subject for my life. I’ve learned to program video games in a country where people never considered it a real profession or hobby. It’s safe to assume, education and culture could not exist in a country with that attitude towards an industry. But I learned to code and understood core principles of a video game. But after all these years, if there’s one thing I love to do, it’s playing games. I believe, I have enjoyed gaming far better than many. However, in recent times, I have found a huge list of games pending to be played. This is not because I have lost interest, there are so many factors involved in this. I’ll break this article down into factors that may have contributed to this change. <h3 id=”there-8217-s-too-much-noise”>There’s too much noise</h3> When I saw <a href=”http://www.appup.com/index”>Intel AppUp store</a>, I knew App Stores had grown bigger than their use. I have always avoided playing games on my computer or laptop. I want to keep the machines for their intended use. Consoles are for gaming and a computer is for work. This has now changed. I built a gaming PC later in 2008 to enjoy the better versions of games like <a href=”http://www.gamespot.com/crysis/”>Crysis</a> but I rarely turned to this computer and have been playing games on PlayStation, Wii and PSP. I wanted it to stay that way, because I like to be selective about what games I play and the quality of content being delivered on the platform. The PlayStation platform has a lot of exclusive 3rd party support and you keep seeing these awesome games all the time. This goes for other platforms like Xbox and Wii as well. However, the amount of original content has dropped drastically. Most of the games, I see popping up on the PS Store/XBL or other game stores do not have enough content to satisfy the longevity of a platform. There are exceptions, for example, on mobile platforms there are games such as Fruit Ninja, Angry Birds or Temple Run etc, but other games just can’t catch on. <img src=”http://wac.76ff.edgecastcdn.net/0076FF/hbwebmedia/fn/images/fn/screenshots/2.jpg” class=”pictureframe img-align-center ” style=”width:px; height:auto” alt=”thumbnail” /> I went as far as to say that Fruit Ninja had that feel for touch devices that Pacman had for Arcade consoles. It has interesting game-play, tight controls and replay value that forced me to play it again and again. When I played Angry Birds for a long time and wanted to play a new game, I found a hoard of clones and copy cats plaguing the app stores on every platform. These games had no soul and they just wanted to cash in some of that market. It gave me the worst feeling when I saw Angry Birds being developed for bigger consoles as well. Then, I saw it on Intel AppUp store. I did not play that game, no matter how good it felt. That game did not belong on those platforms. The rise of sequels and clones has generated a lot of noise in the gaming industry. I stopped playing the <a href=”http://www.gamespot.com/tekken/”>Tekken</a> series after the 3rd Installment but I enjoyed the <a href=”http://www.gamespot.com/tekken-tag-tournament/”>Tag version</a>. Namco has been busy creating sequels of that game for many years and I’m sure there’s a huge fan base for the game. But why not spend some energy reforming “Ridge Racer”? The recent “<a href=”http://www.gamespot.com/ridge-racer-unbounded/”>Unbounded</a>” entry in the series is the worst and I don’t think it can get any worse than that. Silent Hill is another example. I may get flamed about this but I know they are both great game studios. <a rel=”prettyPhoto” title=”Silent Hill – Homecoming was the beginning of a downward spiral for the series” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uKtxLy7toN4/T_S7rqtzs_I/AAAAAAAACws/-mXL7En1fkM/s1600/Silent+Hill+Homecoming+Missing+People.jpg”><img src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uKtxLy7toN4/T_S7rqtzs_I/AAAAAAAACws/-mXL7En1fkM/s1600/Silent+Hill+Homecoming+Missing+People.jpg” class=”pictureframe img-align-center pictureframe-image” style=”width:px; height:auto” alt=”thumbnail” /></a> OK, I’ll explain another side of this case and why I think this noise has increased. This will also help me explain the later parts of this article. There used to be a time when Video Game development was pretty much “Black Magic” and the percentage of game development studios was low. There was less competition and studios had more time/resources to spend on one game. This changed with the advent of scripting languages and more accessible technology and knowledge of hardware. Platforms like Facebook/Flash made it easier for people to create and publish their games. This opened up a whole can of worms with terms like “casual” gaming and “<a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free-to-play”>free to play (F2P)</a>“. The existing game studios took a lot of time to move their development strategies between consoles/pc and other platforms. This allowed smaller game studios to rise up with “a lot” of smaller games. Most of these games do not have any value beyond a small play group but others made it big. And then the world jumped in to the video game scene and <a href=”http://venturebeat.com/2011/07/05/even-with-half-the-users-zyngas-farmville-made-more-money-than-ever-before-in-q1/”>made money from it</a>, or at least tried to. The more game studios, the more content they generate and without any scale to live up to; Review sites like IGN or GameSpot cannot possibly cover every game that’s released out there. But you do come to see all those games in store listings. You can either opt to play them or pass them to know if they’re worth your time and money. Either these so-called “casual” games are helping the game industry or they’re hurting it, I won’t put a vote on either one. That’s a long debate and one that I do not have enough stats to prove. But I do know that they’ve generated too much noise for the average gamer. It’s not possible to play all these games, even if you only choose to play the good ones. <h3 id=”games-have-lost-their-attraction-depth”>Games have lost their attraction/depth</h3> I look back to the days when I played the first game on the Arcade and it was “Double Dragon”. I have almost played every console that released through the years from Atari to PlayStation 3 etc. I can list down the first games that generated a lot of interest for that platform: <figure > <img src=”/files/2013/06/Arcade-King-of-Figters-98-Dream-Match.jpg” /> <figcaption> <h4>The King of Fighters 98 – The Dream Match</h4> </figcaption> </figure> <img src=”http://blog.tabinda.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Dreamcast-Shenmue-2.jpg” alt=”Dreamcast—Shenmue-2″ /><div class=”sc_slideshowtitle”> Dreamcast—Shenmue-2 <img src=”http://blog.tabinda.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Facebook-Farmville.jpg” alt=”Facebook—Farmville” /><div class=”sc_slideshowtitle”> Facebook—Farmville <img src=”http://blog.tabinda.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Gamebody-Advance-Advance-Wars.jpg” alt=”Gamebody-Advance—Advance-Wars” /><div class=”sc_slideshowtitle”> Gamebody-Advance—Advance-Wars <img src=”http://blog.tabinda.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Gameboy-Tetris.jpg” alt=”Gameboy—Tetris” /><div class=”sc_slideshowtitle”> Gameboy—Tetris <img src=”http://blog.tabinda.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Genesis-Sonic-the-Hedgehog.jpg” alt=”Genesis—Sonic-the-Hedgehog” /><div class=”sc_slideshowtitle”> Genesis—Sonic-the-Hedgehog <img src=”http://blog.tabinda.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Mobile-Fruit-Ninja.jpg” alt=”Mobile—Fruit-Ninja” /><div class=”sc_slideshowtitle”> Mobile—Fruit-Ninja <img src=”http://blog.tabinda.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/NES-Super-Mario-Bros.jpg” alt=”NES—Super-Mario-Bros” /><div class=”sc_slideshowtitle”> NES—Super-Mario-Bros <img src=”http://blog.tabinda.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Nintendo-64-The-Legend-of-Zelda-The-Ocarina-of-Time.jpg” alt=”Nintendo-64—The-Legend-of-Zelda—The-Ocarina-of-Time” /><div class=”sc_slideshowtitle”> Nintendo-64—The-Legend-of-Zelda—The-Ocarina-of-Time <img src=”http://blog.tabinda.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Playstation-1-Metal-Gear-Solid.jpg” alt=”Playstation-1—Metal-Gear-Solid” /><div class=”sc_slideshowtitle”> Playstation-1—Metal-Gear-Solid <img src=”http://blog.tabinda.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Playstation-2-The-Shadow-of-the-Colossus.jpg” alt=”Playstation-2—The-Shadow-of-the-Colossus” /><div class=”sc_slideshowtitle”> Playstation-2—The-Shadow-of-the-Colossus <img src=”http://blog.tabinda.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Playstation-3-The-Last-of-Us.jpg” alt=”Playstation-3—The-Last-of-Us” /><div class=”sc_slideshowtitle”> Playstation-3—The-Last-of-Us <img src=”http://blog.tabinda.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/PSP-Loco-Roco-2.jpg” alt=”PSP—Loco-Roco-2″ /><div class=”sc_slideshowtitle”> PSP—Loco-Roco-2 <img src=”http://blog.tabinda.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Saturn-Panzer-Dragoon.jpg” alt=”Saturn—Panzer-Dragoon” /><div class=”sc_slideshowtitle”> Saturn—Panzer-Dragoon <img src=”http://blog.tabinda.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/SNES-The-Legend-of-Zelda-A-Link-to-the-Past.jpg” alt=”SNES—The-Legend-of-Zelda—A-Link-to-the-Past” /><div class=”sc_slideshowtitle”> SNES—The-Legend-of-Zelda—A-Link-to-the-Past <img src=”http://blog.tabinda.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Wii-Super-Mario-Galaxy-2.jpg” alt=”Wii—Super-Mario-Galaxy-2″ /><div class=”sc_slideshowtitle”> Wii—Super-Mario-Galaxy-2 <img src=”http://blog.tabinda.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Xbox-Halo-Combat-Evolved.jpg” alt=”Xbox—Halo-Combat-Evolved” /><div class=”sc_slideshowtitle”> Xbox—Halo-Combat-Evolved <img src=”http://blog.tabinda.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Xbox-Live-Limbo.jpg” alt=”Xbox-Live—Limbo” /><div class=”sc_slideshowtitle”> Xbox-Live—Limbo <div class=”toggle_container”> <div class=”block”> <div class=”starlist”> <ul> <li> <a href=”http://www.gamespot.com/the-king-of-fighters-98-the-slugfest/” target=”_blank”>Arcade: King of Fighters</a> </li> <li> <a href=”http://www.gamespot.com/classic-nes-series-super-mario-bros/platform/nes/” target=”_blank”>NES: Super Mario Bros</a> </li> <li> <a href=”http://www.gamespot.com/sonic-the-hedgehog/platform/genesis/” target=”_blank”>Genesis: Sonic the Hedgehog</a> </li> <li> <a href=”http://www.gamespot.com/the-legend-of-zelda-a-link-to-the-past/platform/snes/” target=”_blank”>SNES: The Legend of Zelda – A Link to the Past</a> </li> <li> <a href=”http://www.gamespot.com/tetris/platform/gameboy/” target=”_blank”>Gameboy: Tetris</a> </li> <li> <a href=”http://www.gamespot.com/advance-wars/” target=”_blank”>Gamebody Advance: Advance Wars</a> </li> <li> <a href=”http://www.gamespot.com/metal-gear-solid/platform/ps/” target=”_blank”>Playstation 1: Metal Gear Solid</a> </li> <li> <a href=”http://www.gamespot.com/panzer-dragoon/” target=”_blank”>Saturn: Panzer Dragoon</a> </li> <li> <a href=”http://www.gamespot.com/the-legend-of-zelda-ocarina-of-time/platform/n64/” target=”_blank”>Nintendo 64: The Legend of Zelda – The Ocarina of Time</a> </li> <li> <a href=”http://www.gamespot.com/shenmue/” target=”_blank”>Dreamcast: Shen Mue</a> </li> <li> <a href=”http://www.gamespot.com/shadow-of-the-colossus/” target=”_blank”>Playstation 2: Shadow of the Colossus</a> </li> <li> <a href=”http://www.gamespot.com/halo-combat-evolved/” target=”_blank”>Xbox: Halo Combat Evolved</a> </li> <li> <a href=”http://www.gamespot.com/locoroco/platform/psp/” target=”_blank”>PSP: Loco Roco</a> </li> <li> <a href=”http://www.gamespot.com/super-mario-galaxy-2/” target=”_blank”>Wii: Super Mario Galaxy 2</a> </li> <li> <a href=”http://www.gamespot.com/the-last-of-us/” target=”_blank”>Playstation 3: The Last of Us</a> </li> <li> <a href=”http://www.gamespot.com/limbo/platform/xbox360/” target=”_blank”>XBL: Limbo</a> </li> <li> <a href=”http://www.gamespot.com/farmville/” target=”_blank”>Facebook: Farmville</a> </li> <li> <a href=”http://www.gamespot.com/fruit-ninja-2010/platform/iphone/” target=”_blank”>Smartphones: Fruit Ninja</a> The biggest thing to notice from the above list is that almost all of them are exclusive or original games and they define these platforms. The controls, the graphics and the game-play were specifically designed to match the hardware and the intended audience. So what I said in the beginning of this article has a lot to do with the quality of a video game as a product and not parts of it. Here’s the intro of [Ridge Racer Type 4][9] on Playstation 1. Please watch it and then read on: Whether you have played Ridge Racer Type 4 or not, that’s not the question here. This intro and the game inside has that “feeling” that defined the game. The developers behind it had a vision and they programmed the game through that vision. It was not like they “had to” make a game follow a series. Type 4 had everything that Ridge Racer was known for. How do game devs do that through the years? It’s definitely “not” because of a proprietary engine or technology used by the developer. It’s the people involved with the team responsible for the game. Are they working on the project because they want to make a living or if the company asked them to develop one? Or are they working on it because they “want” to. If I jump from consoles to mobile space, the perspective changes with the size of the game and platform. Mobile games are short with extensive repetition of the same game-play but exciting enough to keep people playing, once they’re hooked. But the real problem with all these mini games is user acquisition and retention. Once a user goes a certain mile, he’ll continue playing the game for a long time but if he leaves in the first or second week, the game’s pretty much dead to him. I’ve experienced this myself for some time now and I can’t find myself playing games on my mobile or laptop. May be, it’s the idea of playing console quality games that has kept me away from mobile games or that I prefer a deeper experience from a game than mere “jumping” mindlessly. I may sound harsh with the arcade feel of mobile games but I like to compare today’s mobile arcade games with the likes of “Pacman”, “Rygar” or “[Journey][10]“. If the differences between these two game eras is “Monetization”, then may be monetization is to blame. Free to play or casual games are forcing developers to change their design considerations. I can still see myself paying a certain amount of money to play “Journey” for hours than I’d like to be reminded every minute in a mobile game that I can’t level up unless I buy something. <a rel=”prettyPhoto” title=”PSN – Journey” href=”http://thatgamecompany.com/wp-content/themes/thatgamecompany/_include/img/journey/journey-game-screenshot-20-b.jpg”><img src=”http://thatgamecompany.com/wp-content/themes/thatgamecompany/_include/img/journey/journey-game-screenshot-20-b.jpg” class=”pictureframe img-align-center pictureframe-image” style=”width:px; height:auto” alt=”thumbnail” /></a> I don’t want to completely shut myself of the fact that there aren’t “any” games that force me to play. “[The Last of Us][11]” has literally blown everything out of the water. It has proven the dedication that goes in to making a game is worth it. I had the same love for “Final Fantasy” but I didn’t play any Final Fantasy game on the PS3. <div class=”hrule”> </div> <h3 id=”we-8217-re-too-retrofitted”>We’re too retrofitted</h3> Do other people feel the same way as I do? Does age really affect playing video games? I bet it does to some extent. But the golden question is: If everyone from the Y generation is around 30-40 years of age, are they going to stop enjoying games? They’re the ones who programmed Mario and Sonic and they played all those Nintendo consoles. I have emulators in my PC and sometimes I look forward to playing classic games repacked as “HD” on my console as well. If I do not have time to play recent games such as “<a href=”http://www.gamespot.com/tomb-raider/platform/pc/”>Tomb Raider”</a> and “<a href=”http://www.gamespot.com/crysis-3/platform/pc/”>Crysis 3</a>“, why do I want to go back and play “Ico” all over again? Why is the idea of playing a retro game so satisfying? <img src=”/files/2013/06/Garou-Mark-of-the-Wolves.jpg” alt=”Garou Mark of the Wolves” /> “<a href=”http://www.gamespot.com/garou-mark-of-the-wolves/platform/arcade/”>Garou, Mark of the Wolves</a>” remained the most played game with my friends in the past 3 years. SNK made that game 2 decades ago. We still enjoy it because of its balanced fighting system and characters. We had “Tekken 6” lying around all this time but we preferred to play a Retro game over it for 3 years. We had Tekken players among us and we did play it once or twice in a month but it just didn’t stick. The Tekken players still wanted us to load “Tekken Tag” or “Tekken 3” for a better fighting experience. Retro is not specific to pre 3D era as well. When I mentioned all those platform defining games in the previous heading, I gave examples of games that came out and helped outsell a system. People always buy hardware because of the software support and continue looking forward to the software. More than half of the current generation games are based on retro imaginations of the same games. People keep buying these games because of their memories for these games. But somehow, with every sequel, the game loses the depth that the original had. I’m sure this hurts the game a lot. I’ve already given an example of Silent Hill and I’m sure everyone who’s seen or played the recent installments in the series will agree with this fact. There have been some excellent sequels or reboots as well. The recent Tomb Raider reboot was perhaps one of the best games I’ve played in a long time, but it’s still part of the list of games that I need to finish. But then there is this article: <a href=”http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/187601/untold_riches_the_intricate_.php”>Untold Riches – The Intricate platforming of Tomb Raider</a>. This article says so much about everything I’ve written so far. I highly recommend giving it a read, whether you’re a Tomb Raider fan or not. If you’ve read so far, you might feel that I’ve gauged the current game generation in a retro-scope. I’ve already explained the reasoning behind it pretty much but does it make sense? I think it does to a bigger extent. I have friends that have been playing games with me since childhood and they share this feeling. Whether this is correct or not or the gaming industry is running out of ideas is another discussion. But retro games will probably dictate the course of game development for a long time. <div class=”hrule”> </div> <h3 id=”i-don-8217-t-have-time-or-have-gotten-old-8230″>I don’t have time or have gotten old…</h3> “<a href=”http://www.gamespot.com/ni-no-kuni-wrath-of-the-white-witch/”>Ni no kuni</a>“, “<a href=”http://www.gamespot.com/tomb-raider/platform/pc/”>Tomb Raider</a>” and “<a href=”http://www.gamespot.com/crysis-3/platform/pc/”>Crysis 3</a>“; These are the games I have in the list of “to-play” on the Playstation 3. “Dead Space Series”, “Alan Wake” and “Sleeping Dogs” on the PC. These are absolutely the best of games that the industry has produced in the past few years and I was looking forward to them. I bought them all and for a while I thought I’ll play them over the weekend. Many weekends passed and the games are lying there. This saddens me. I said it before and I will say it again, video games are part of my life and I love playing them. They have so much craft and creativity packed into them. The versatility and the sheer amount of thought that goes into making an interactive program. i think that may be the reason a lot of people like playing video games. I’ve read over the internet that people complain about the same thing. They’re buying games but not playing them. Some of them say that they don’t have enough time while others complain that there are too many games to play. I, for one, think that I have “lost interest” in video games in general. When I said that it “saddens” me, that’s what I really meant. I never wanted to lose interest in games. It could be that I’m really busy these days with my job and life and I’ll be up and playing in no time. But that may not be true as well. <img src=”/files/2013/06/metal-gear-rising-revengeance-1.jpg” alt=”Metal Gear Rising” /> I had two other games during this time, “Devil May Cry” and “<a href=”http://www.gamespot.com/metal-gear-rising-revengeance/”>Metal Gear Rising</a>“. I bought those games and ended them over night. It was part mindless slashing coupled with engaging game-play mechanics. I enjoyed playing “Rising” so much that I started it all over again right after finishing it. May be, my mind isn’t fresh enough to play games that requires more time and effort. I just want to have fast and satisfying game-play. I play fight em ups every weekend with a friend. “<a href=”http://www.gamespot.com/dead-or-alive-5/platform/ps3/”>Dead or Alive 5</a>” and “<a href=”http://www.gamespot.com/mortal-kombat-2011/platform/ps3/”>Mortal Kombat</a>” are in our prime line up. Those games give the best response to playing a game. Why do I call it Response? Because I’m enjoying the company of a friend “and” playing a game with a lot of effort. This turns the idea, of me not playing games that need time and effort, upside down. May be it’s not boredom or effort that stops me from playing those wonderful games. May be it’s the time I’ve spent at the Arcades that I can’t let go of. All those games that you had to wait in line for and fight another person when he’s standing next to you. Have I gotten old? I wouldn’t like to think of myself as old per say. But it could be that my taste for games has changed. I do not look forward to sitting 48 hours consecutively and hunt for the ultimate sword in a Final Fantasy game. I think the industry analysts dividing games into “age” groups are perhaps right. A 16-year-old would have the energy and time to finish a game 100% and gain all trophies and achievements and secret stuff. I, however, would like to go through the game once without worrying about the achievements and progress and call it a “game”. To me, the idea of 100% is not attractive. But that’s me. <div class=”hrule”> </div> <h3 id=”wrapping-it-up”>Wrapping it up</h3> I’m playing “<a href=”http://www.gamespot.com/the-last-of-us/”>The Last of Us</a>” these days and I think it’ll revitalize that faith in me to get back into playing games. It is games like this that might decide the course of game development in the future. Anyhow, I’ve written enough and spoken my mind. If somebody feels the same as I do or not, I’d like to hear it. Thanks for reading. /posts/auto-save-hell-to-all-game-developers/ Fri, 21 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/auto-save-hell-to-all-game-developers/ It was after a long time, I picked up a racing game and I was pretty excited about it. One of the reasons, I wanted to play the game was because “Criterion” developed it and I am a fan of the studio and their quality of production. Need for Speed: Most Wanted appeared to be a “so-so” game at first, but after playing the few hours through, I was hooked. It was later that I almost finished the game through 86% when suddenly during the transition to multi-player, the loading screen hung, and to my fear, the “auto-save” icon was visible. I waited for the game to resume but no luck, after a while when I rebooted the game, the save game was corrupted and I had to start all over again. One of the first things I do, when I start a new game, is that I create “two saves”. There was no such option in NFS:Most Wanted. I’ve been bitten by all sorts of mishaps while playing a video game and one of the catastrophes that can happen to you is that your save game gets corrupted. A save can be corrupted due to all sorts of reasons, and that’s why I like to keep a close backup. I save to “alternate” save files on checkpoints. Recently, it seems to have become a norm that game developers program an “Auto-save” function in their games. I am not at all against it but the thing is, they should provide an alternative to it. Either turn it off or allow the player to keep a backup. This is one of the biggest things that annoyed me playing an otherwise “Fantastic” game but now I won’t go back. Criterion, I can understand that you guys needed the auto-save functionality for the awesome “Auto-Log” but please define a way to cater to the possible corruption of the user save as well. This can be achieved in many ways: – Allow Save-Game backups or manual checkpoints.- Auto checkpoints creation when writing to a “auto-save” file. – Give the user an option to import save files. None of the above exists for NFS:Most wanted. Criterion, I love you guys, but please understand that I can’t play a game if it destroys my beautiful save. Thank you, and please consider a fan’s plea. Did you guys ever have to face “Auto-Save” hell? Any solutions? /posts/a-different-kind-of-software/ Mon, 03 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/a-different-kind-of-software/ I’ve meant to write about some software I use on my desktop and laptop. But these software packages are very different in their application and utility. But if used right, they can really enhance the working experience. [I’ve meant to write about some software I use on my desktop and laptop. But these software packages are very different in their application and utility. But if used right, they can really enhance the working experience. ]<a href=”https://www.soluto.com/”>1</a> Soluto is the smart way to get the most out of your PC, and help others with their PCs too. When I first stumbled upon Soluto, I didn’t want another background process hogging all the CPU/IO resources, but then that was the reason I hunted for such a software. Soluto has a great concept behind it, and that’s sharing common windows issues and resolving them as all other people using soluto would. This comes together as a great way to know which process is causing your pc to slow down and if there’s program that you didn’t even know about. Updating soluto’s database with your daily usage helps all other members of the community. At first, I found Soluto to be slow but over time they’ve put so much effort into the software that it now works as an integrated SAAS. This seemless integration brings so much more to the table and I’d definitely recommend anyone who’s used Soluto before to try it again. <a href=”http://stereopsis.com/flux/”>F.lux</a> f.lux makes the color of your computer’s display adapt to the time of day, warm at night and like sunlight during the day.This is not just cool in theory but in application as well. I’m a programmer and I know what staring at that white IDE window for hours at a time does to my eyes. I never imagined someone would come up with as indigenous an idea as F.lux, but someone has and it’s already made its way to IOS and Android devices now. The software is still in active development and can make your night shifts so much easier to work with. F.lux is also different for a regular computer user, I for one would vote for this technology to be integrated into the mainstream monitor/display market. But it requires taste, which I feel not every computer user has. <a href=”http://grano.la/”>Granola</a> The simplest and most effective way to identify and eliminate energy waste in your computers. Granola is perhaps not as old as Soluto but it’s definitely up there with the hidden gems of computer hardware utility apps that can change the way you use your computer. Granola, previously had a simple application that ran in your windows taskbar and told you about how much energy it saved every day. This software has also grown to be service oriented and has much more to offer in terms of reports and usage than it did before. Enterprise entities can probably make much more use of this application but I haven’t seen it implemented to date. I’m sure if they targeted their audience and showcased their reports, that would mean a huge change in their potential audience. Nevertheless, it’s still a different software and stays in this list. [Solarized][4] This is not really a software but something that I’ve grown fond of. Solarized is a set of precision color schemes, which help improve the continuous use of your display. Using high contrast colors with sharp visuals and typography really helps improve your application usage. If you’re a pro programmer or IT professional, I recommend looking into solarized. If you guys have anything to add to this list. I’d love to hear about different/unique software. [4]: <a href=”http://ethanschoonover.com/solarized”>http://ethanschoonover.com/solarized</a> /posts/flash-font-conflicts-aka-invisible-text-in-dynamic-text-fields/ Mon, 03 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/flash-font-conflicts-aka-invisible-text-in-dynamic-text-fields/ Alright, now this is one of the bigger hair pulling nasty issues, I discovered while working with Flash/AS3. It happens such that when you have fonts embedded or used in a project with either static fields or dynamic fields, you’ll see that it creates duplicate font entries in the compiled SWF. Font.enumerateFonts() returns multiple entries of the same font. That’s all fine and good, however, Flash is nasty for resolving font conflicts. If you came to this post, you already know what’s happening. You tried to embed a font and load it dynamically or assign it to dynamic textfield and the Flash Player shows “nothing“. The dynamic text field goes empty. It could be a hair pulling experience but I just found a solution to that. Edit: Ah well, I just found [this][1] post and he’s already given a pretty neat solution and explanation for this.   [1]: <a href=”http://www.blackcj.com/blog/2010/01/03/resolve-swc-font-conflicts/”>http://www.blackcj.com/blog/2010/01/03/resolve-swc-font-conflicts/</a> /posts/molehill-gpu-based-snow/ Mon, 03 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/molehill-gpu-based-snow/ I haven’t been able to work on my portfolio for a loooooooong time. One of the reasons is that I want to generate and display a slew of new algorithms and works I’ve worked on in the past 2-3 years. Recently, I’ve been in love with Particle Systems and although Flash’s 2D was great from the beginning, thanks to the Bitmap class, the introduction of 2D GPU accelerated API has hit the ball out of the park. I’ve tested ND2D, Starling, Genome2D etc and I personally adore ND2D alot. It’s sad to see that the project is now obsolete. I’ve noticed that Adobe tries to advertise Starling a lot but Starling lacks the general API usage ease that many other recent APIs have learned to improve. Nevertheless, Starling still packs a punch in performance. The credit for this snow goes to Tim Soret. This is a very gpu heavy demo and the storm one can really slow your browser down, so be warned. I’ve compiled it using three better known Molehill 2D GPU libraries. Nd2D, Starling and Genome2D. Feel free to add your thoughts/benchmarks in the comments below. Genome2D: Outstanding performance, tedious API, lacks general purpose texture filtering (I guess this was recently introduced). Starling: Excellent performance, vast support for GPU accelerated API including extensions, filters for sprites and buttons. However, differentiating between the old Flash API and starling is tedious. ND2D: Now defunct still packs a punch but has poor support for sprites and buttons etc. Without further ado: <a href=”http://blog.tabinda.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/nd2dsnow/”><img class=”alignnone” alt=”” src=”http://www.nulldesign.de/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/nd_logo.jpg” width=”221″ height=”53″ /></a> <a href=”http://blog.tabinda.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/starlingsnow/”><img class=”alignleft size-medium wp-image-528″ title=”title-logo” alt=”” src=”http://blog.tabinda.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/title-logo-300×132.jpg” width=”300″ height=”132″ /></a>         [<img class=”alignleft size-full wp-image-529″ title=”genome” alt=”” src=”http://blog.tabinda.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/genome.jpg” width=”323″ height=”113″ />][3]     [3]: <a href=”http://blog.tabinda.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/genome2dsnow/”>http://blog.tabinda.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/genome2dsnow/</a> /posts/online-shopping-in-pakistan/ Mon, 03 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/online-shopping-in-pakistan/ Work has taken me lots of places but I still fear buying on-line in my home country. Why? Well, there’s so many reasons, I can’t begin to explain them all. But to cover it all up, it all comes down to “trust”. The on-line shopping industry hasn’t managed to take trusted roots in Pakistan after so many years in business. People are afraid to order things on-line because the merchants aren’t providing them any baseline to trust on. I’ve had similar experience buying on-line, some bitter others excellent. So far, I’ve shopped on-line with the following on-line stores in Pakistan, and given under is a brief of my shopping experiences with them. I’ll be updating this post with more shopping outlets in the future: <a href=”http://www.iamextreme.net” title=”IAmExtreme Logo”><img src=”http://www.iamextreme.net/images/links/i-am-extreme.jpg” class=”pictureframe img-align-center portfolio-fadein” style=”width:px; height:auto” alt=”thumbnail” /></a> IAmExtreme is a computer hardware store that operates on-line most of the time but recently, they’ve incorporated retail outlets in Islamabad and Rawalpindi. I’ve had some really good business working with the store and there are several things that assured the store was legit and doing good business. One of these is a thriving on-line community with overclockers, enthusiasts and casual computer users sharing their experiences. The owner of the site is Yasir Nawaz, he’s well-known among the community for his interest in computer hardware, which brings the bar up. He’s mostly active and responds personally to complaints lodged by customers. Not only that, he takes initiatives to gather information/feedback. The product ordering system requires transferring money to the store’s account and the product is shipped afterwards. Returns and warranty claims are handled just like that. The store has extended warranty plans and instant replacement plans for many international brands including Xigmatek, Antec and G.Skill etc. <h4 id=”first-buy-5-5-click-to-read-2-trigger”><a href=”#”>First Buy – 5&frasl;5 (Click to Read)</a> {.trigger}</h4> <div class=”toggle_container”> <div class=”block”> My first purchase from IMX was the Xigmatek Elysium. Much to my appreciation, I was the first owner in the world of the casing after its release. I certainly looked forward to buying more from IMX because of the warranty offered and the exclusive kind of hardware brought in to Pakistan. </div> </div> <div class=”clear”> </div> <h4 id=”second-buy-4-5-5-click-to-read-2-trigger”><a href=”#”>Second Buy- 4.5&frasl;5 (Click to Read)</a> {.trigger}</h4> <div class=”toggle_container”> <div class=”block”> It was once that I bought a Graphics unit from iAmExtreme and it turned out faulty. I tried to make do with the unit but to no avail. Several helpful community members tried to get it to run as well but eventually I had to ask IMX for a return. To my relief, Yasir offered me an instant replacement with any other card in the store. I went in the store, picked a replacement and that was it. The new card turned out great but the “Warranty/Return” experience has been one of the best I’ve had in my life. </div> </div> <div class=”clear”> </div> <h4 id=”third-buy-4-5-5-click-to-read-2-trigger”><a href=”#”>Third Buy- 4.5&frasl;5 (Click to Read)</a> {.trigger}</h4> <div class=”toggle_container”> <div class=”block”> My third buy from IMX was an SSD, which got delayed due to some reasons known to IMX Staff. However, Yasir was well aware of the delay and offered me to bring in an upgraded version of the SSD. The SSD was around 3000 PKR more expensive than the unit I initially ordered. My frustration with a delayed order addressed with a surprisingly excellent response from IMX. Another badge in IMX’s good track record. </div> </div> <div class=”clear”> </div> I’m mostly satisfied with how I Am Extreme works. I highly recommend using their on-line store. Testimonials about the store’s service and reliability are equally spread across various on-line communities like <a href=”http://www.pakgamers.com”>PakGamers</a> and <a href=”http://www.wiredpakistan.com/”>WiredPakistan</a> etc. <a href=”http://homeshopping.pk/” title=”homeshopping”><img src=”http://homeshopping.pk/product_images/homeshopping-05.png” class=”pictureframe img-align-center portfolio-fadein” style=”width:px; height:auto” alt=”thumbnail” /></a> Update 1: Seems like open journalism has some uses to it, HSN just fixed their SSL certificate. More power to the consumer. One of the reasons to write this post was my recent experience with HomeShopping.pk. A friend suggested that he’s gone through the store and the prices they mention are unlike any other on-line store. I have been a frequent visitor of their site already but the site wasn’t welcoming and never forced me enough to place an order. The layout itself seems low-grade compared to the kind of business they claim to be doing. Other on-line stores have gone to great lengths to get a greater audience. iAmExtreme mentioned above is a prime example of that. Let’s roll down to my buying experience with homeshopping.pk also known as HSN. My experience is what will probably keep me away from buying on-line in Pakistan for a long time. I am definitely never buying again from homeshopping.pk. So to start, I decided to give HSN another chance. I ordered an HTC One on a Sunday, 11th August 2013. I received a call the same hour asking me if I wanted to confirm the order and I did. I picked direct deposit as a means for payment and the transaction completed in the next half hour. I confirmed the transfer with HSN accounts. After that, the series of unfortunate events started. At first they told me that they had a faulty unit left in stock, so they can’t ship right away. I let this go, although they should have told me so before the money was transferred. But instead they chose to have me wait “3 days” for a shipment to arrive from Dubai. The due date set was Thursday the 15th of August. I called in on the 15th but got the same response and that I’ll have to wait for the shipment to arrive from Dubai. I made a formal complaint to Shayaan (The CEO) the same day, who chose to ignore my email for two days and then informally replied with a one liner saying “You will get it on Monday”. HSN continually tested my patience and the person dealing with me this whole time was “Ahmed”. After a mind boggling wait on Saturday as well, Mr. Ahmed chose to not receive my calls any more and would lift the receiver to cut the call. I knew I made a big mistake of giving these people a direct deposit. At 7PM Saturday, my order status changed to “Shipped” without any info on TCS tracking number, which was promised to me countless times over the phone by Mr. Ahmed, who also told me that the phone has an AT&T logo on it. After the shipping status changed, the product was immediately put “Out of Stock” on the HSN product page. The whole “shipment arriving from Dubai” story was a farce. I also saw a comment appear on the page where a user asked if the product was in stock and the HSN staff responded that it was indeed available on a 24-48 period. Comment that was deleted: <a rel=”prettyPhoto” title=”Comment deleted” href=”http://blog.tabinda.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/comment.jpg”><img src=”http://blog.tabinda.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/comment.jpg” class=”pictureframe img-align-center pictureframe-image” style=”width:px; height:auto” alt=”thumbnail” /></a> Along comes Sunday and I receive the package at 5PM. I chose to be excited about it because the time had passed and I did receive the product on Sunday. I open the package and I was shocked. After waiting for a week, HSN sends in a used phone covered with cheap plastic. No accessories, no warranty card, no invoice. The headphones were taken from HTC Desire and the packaging was as poor as it can get. I did not have to check any further and made a return request immediately. Here’s some photos for your pleasure: Shitty Packaging with no Invoice, no warranty card and no HTC stuff that comes in the box: <a rel=”prettyPhoto” title=”Packaging” href=”http://blog.tabinda.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/packaging.jpg”><img src=”http://blog.tabinda.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/packaging.jpg” class=”pictureframe img-align-center pictureframe-image” style=”width:px; height:auto” alt=”thumbnail” /></a> HTC Desire Headphones: <a rel=”prettyPhoto” title=”HTC Desire Headphones instead of HTC One” href=”http://blog.tabinda.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/desire-headphones.jpg”><img src=”http://blog.tabinda.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/desire-headphones.jpg” class=”pictureframe img-align-center pictureframe-image” style=”width:px; height:auto” alt=”thumbnail” /></a> Cheap Plastic cover on the Phone: <a rel=”prettyPhoto” title=”Cheap Plastic on Phone” href=”http://blog.tabinda.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/shitty-plastic-wrap.jpg”><img src=”http://blog.tabinda.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/shitty-plastic-wrap.jpg” class=”pictureframe img-align-center pictureframe-image” style=”width:px; height:auto” alt=”thumbnail” /></a> Proof of Usage (Zoom in on the USB Slot) <a rel=”prettyPhoto” title=”Signs of Usage (Zoom too see)” href=”http://blog.tabinda.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/proof.jpg”><img src=”http://blog.tabinda.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/proof.jpg” class=”pictureframe img-align-center pictureframe-image” style=”width:px; height:auto” alt=”thumbnail” /></a>   The request process turned out to be worse. I was asked to return the phone to the RWP outlet situated in Midway Centrum 6th Road by Mr. Shayaan himself over email. When I reached there, the “empty” shop is closed. I make a call to HSN Karachi office and ask who’s in-charge of this outlet and they gave me a number for “Mr. Adnan”. Mr. Adnan chose to make the situation even worse by telling me that he’s busy and if I need help, I will need to travel and get him. Once he received a piece of my frustrated mind, he chose to appear in front of the shop and asked me for an invoice (which was never sent to me). God was willing to help me and IMX had an outlet right next to this shop. They chose to help me print out the invoice and give it to Mr. Adnan, who initially told me he had no internet access. Mr. Adnan calls HSN Karachi office and they have no idea if Mr. Shayaan made any remarks about the return. My brother who was with me had enough of it and called HSN Karachi office to process this return immediately and refund the money. Mr. Adnan continually chose to remain unhelpful throughout this process as he neither had cash or a return receipt to give to me. After taking a bashing from my brother, the Karachi HSN staff responded and I received multiple calls from “Ahmed” and inevitably Mr. Shayaan Tahir (CEO). They both apologized and wanted me to give them another chance. I felt they seemed reluctant to give me a refund and that’s where my brother told them to just end this here and make the refund. They also kept telling me that it was not their fault but because they chose to trust someone for this purchase, that source made them look bad. I really wonder what was that whole week I waited for a shipment to arrive from Dubai was for? And why did Mr. Ahmed tell me that phone had an AT&T logo on it? Could this get any worse? Yes. Mr. Adnan who suddenly became aware that his Boss is apologizing for the situation, suddenly had internet access and wanted to help me. I sent in my Bank Details for the refund and after half an hour I receive the money back into my account. After which I bid farewell to homeshopping.pk forever. I did receive a call from Shayaan once again, who wanted to refund me any “other” expenses that I had made during this time. I had enough for the day and told him “it’s OK”. So, if I told him it was OK, why am I narrating this on my blog? Because I want this shitty HSN episode to be a reminder for everyone out there and because of the embarrassment and inconvenience I had to bear because of the all the lies that is homeshopping.pk Homeshopping.pk is officially off my list of online shopping sites and I will not let any of my friends or relatives buy from them ever again. They use shady tactics and lie to the customer. Their customer support has no sync in process management. Others may have had a good experience with them but I’m definitely not in that list. /posts/better-flashdevelop/ Mon, 06 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/better-flashdevelop/ Alright, I have to say it out loud that I haven’t had so much fun working on an IDE after Visual Studio 6. Flash Develop is definitely one of the best IDEs for professional flash programming out there. I’ve worked with Flex/Flash Builder, FDT and IDEAj but after spending some time with these IDEs, I believe they’re bloated with over-engineered features that don’t belong in the Flash environment. If there is anything that Flash Develop lacks against these IDEs, it is better Refactor support. Anyhow, this post is not about which IDE is better. I’ve worked with Flash Develop for a long time now and there are some plugins that I’ve used to increase my productive time. These plugins make your development faster and much more robust. I thought I should make a log of these plugins and if they would help anyone using Flash Develop in their routine development. Name: Ant Plugin URL: <a href=”http://code.google.com/p/fd-ant-plugin/” target=”_blank”><a href=”http://code.google.com/p/fd-ant-plugin/”>http://code.google.com/p/fd-ant-plugin/</a></a> <img class=”alignnone” title=”antplugin” alt=”” src=”http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1674435/fd/ant-plugin.png” width=”292″ height=”321″ /> Anybody working on projects with multiple targets or components cannot avoid the power of ANT. ANT is the definite tool for automating builds and continuous integration. This plugin simplifies the process of integrating ANT in your project. You can drag drop your build targets into your project panel and build targets selectively. Highly recommended. Name: NME Target URL: <a href=”http://www.flashdevelop.org/community/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=9309″ target=”_blank”><a href=”http://www.flashdevelop.org/community/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=9309″>http://www.flashdevelop.org/community/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=9309</a></a> <img class=”alignnone” title=”nmetarget” alt=”” src=”https://www.box.com/shared/static/9mfq608dhrr3jtlue156.png” width=”615″ height=”150″ /> Haxe is amazingly simple to port your flash environment to and anyone coming from the flash world can pick it up fast. What makes it even better is the fact that FlashDevelop is the best IDE to develop in Haxe. If you’re working on an NME project,this plugin will help you immensely. The plugin will put multiple build targets to your FD toolbar. You can select a target like Flash, HTML5 or Android on the fly. The toolbar is customizable as well. Name: Project Export URL: <a href=”http://www.flashdevelop.org/community/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=4641″ target=”_blank”><a href=”http://www.flashdevelop.org/community/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=4641″>http://www.flashdevelop.org/community/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=4641</a></a> This plugin was one of the first Flash Develop 4 plugins I used and before I found the ANT plugin. It helps you with many regular tasks on any project. For example: Create Documentation,export your deployment directory etc. If you’re not ANT savvy, this plugin can ease some of those tasks. Name: Export SWC URL: <a href=”http://sourceforge.net/projects/exportswc/” target=”_blank”><a href=”http://sourceforge.net/projects/exportswc/”>http://sourceforge.net/projects/exportswc/</a></a> Building SWCs is one of the core components of Flash development. You do not need the FlashIDE for building an SWC anymore. This plugin makes it very easy to build an SWC from you current project. Name: Quick Navigate and Navigation bar URL: <a href=”http://code.google.com/p/fd-quick-navigate-plugin/” target=”_blank”><a href=”http://code.google.com/p/fd-quick-navigate-plugin/”>http://code.google.com/p/fd-quick-navigate-plugin/</a></a> <img class=”alignnone” title=”quicknavigate” alt=”” src=”http://i.imgur.com/sqZh5.png” width=”392″ height=”303″ /> URL:<a href=”https://github.com/JoeRobich/fd-navigationbar” target=”_blank”><a href=”https://github.com/JoeRobich/fd-navigationbar”>https://github.com/JoeRobich/fd-navigationbar</a></a> <img class=”alignnone” title=”navigationbar” alt=”” src=”http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3917850/images/navigationbar.png” width=”732″ height=”553″ /> I really missed the quick navigation of Visual Studio and these two plugins make it a snap to find and navigate through your code. The quick navigation dialog can find code, variables through string matching. The navigation bar adds visual studio like class and function/property dropdowns under your Flash Develop toolbar. Really handy!! Name: SlimTimer URL: <a href=”http://code.google.com/p/fd3slimtimer/” target=”_blank”><a href=”http://code.google.com/p/fd3slimtimer/”>http://code.google.com/p/fd3slimtimer/</a></a> I always wanted to track time on my development environment for clients or my job. This plugins integrates with the SlimTimer service and logs your projects automatically. It’s integrated really well and does not get in your way. Highly recommended if you want to track your time and it is for FREE!!. Apart from some plugins that I use for Flash Develop, there are some snippets that help me with certain requirements. So here goes: Name: SVN Revision info generation URL: <a href=”http://www.blixtsystems.com/2008/05/svn-version-control-in-flashdevelop-projects/” target=”_blank”><a href=”http://www.blixtsystems.com/2008/05/svn-version-control-in-flashdevelop-projects/”>http://www.blixtsystems.com/2008/05/svn-version-control-in-flashdevelop-projects/</a></a> Name: Build Organization cmd.exe /c “xcopy /Y $(OutputDir)$(OutputName) $(OutputDir)$(BuildConfig)&#8221; Just put the above command in your post build field and it should automatically move your debug and release swfs in respective folders. Very handy!! Let me know if you guys know of any other useful plugins or scripts. /posts/wck-vs-nape/ Mon, 28 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/wck-vs-nape/ Update: The NAPE demo is updated for rotation as pointed out by a reader. However, I see that it made no difference to the benchmark. Let me know, how it works for you guys. I don’t like to deliver useless speeches on current affairs and by that I definitely mean the Flash death fiasco that spawned a while back. Adobe announced that that they were making <a href=”http://blogs.adobe.com/flashplayer/2011/09/updates-from-the-lab.html”>Alchemy a commercial product</a> that rang my ears because we were using Alchemy in a project and it’s about to go into production. Adobe announced recently that older Alchemy products will not work in Flash Player 11.2+. This was definitely a painful decision to make but we had to look for alternatives, e.g. Apparat, Haxe etc. I searched for alternatives to WCK and stumbled upon NAPE in the next search. It was surprising how many good reports I saw about Nape and the absence of a native Flash Physics engine. I know about APE but it’s outdated and isn’t in active development any more. I had to test NAPE before I could make a decision. So, I searched for a test and I found <a href=”http://blog.codestage.ru/2011/11/09/2dphysics/” target=”_blank”>this</a>. The test is good and shows the comparison between WCK and NAPE on Desktops and Mobile platforms. However, there is one thing missing from this test that I had to test myself. For 2D accelerated APIs, I had Starling and ND2D in the contender list but I chose the former for its better API. I’ll check Starling later as well. The test below was originally posted on <a href=”http://www.nulldesign.de/2011/04/27/nd2d-box2d-tests/”>ND2D site</a> but doesn’t work anymore. I recreated it to work on current FP11 releases. For now, check out the two demos: <a href=”http://blog.tabinda.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/wck/index.html”><img class=”alignleft size-full wp-image-482″ title=”wck” alt=”” src=”http://blog.tabinda.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/wck.jpg” width=”500″ height=”200″ /></a>             <a href=”http://blog.tabinda.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/nape/index.html”><img class=”alignleft size-full wp-image-483″ title=”nape” alt=”” src=”http://blog.tabinda.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/nape.jpg” width=”500″ height=”200″ /></a>             To test these demos, you must be on FP11.1 for WCK. FP11.2+ will not run WCK or any Alchemy SWF, so if you get a blank screen, it’s definitely because you’re running FP11.2. For me the results of these demos are somewhat strange. The demo has 1000 balls in it. The Machine I am running these demos on: Processor: Intel Core i5 2500k 4.6Ghz RAM: 16GB DDR3 1833Mhz RAM GPU: GTX 560 Ti DF 1GHz 1280MB <h3 id=”wck”>WCK:</h3> FPS: Initial 25-26, Settling 33-36, Settled 52-60 (Note: Messing with the settled balls brings the FPS down to 35FPS for 3-6 seconds) Memory: Initial 23-28MB, Minimum 22MB, Maximum 36MB GPU Load: Initial 12%, Movement 3%, Settled 26% GPU Memory: 286MB SWF Size: 361KB <h3 id=”nape”>NAPE:</h3> FPS: Initial 35-40, Settling 52-53, Settled 60 (Note: Messing with the settled balls keeps the FPS at 60FPS, which is amazing) Memory: Initial 15-16.1MB, Minimum 15MB, Maximum 33.4MB GPU Load: Initial 1-3%, Movement 12%, Settled 26% GPU Memory: 268MB SWF Size: 309KB NAPE is the definite winner. You may download the sources for yourself and test the demos. I’d be glad to know results in different browsers from users or mobile machines. <a href=”http://blog.tabinda.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/nd2dwck.zip”>WCK Sources</a> [NAPE Sources][6] [6]: <a href=”http://blog.tabinda.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/nd2dnape.zip”>http://blog.tabinda.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/nd2dnape.zip</a> /posts/the-troubled-sandy-bridge-platform-error-codes-0d-62-94-d2/ Mon, 03 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/the-troubled-sandy-bridge-platform-error-codes-0d-62-94-d2/ UPDATE: I get a lot of mail and links for this article. I thought, I should post an update to this article. After I originally published this article, ASUS rolled out a lot of bios updates for the P67 motherboard. After the recent bios upgrades, I do not face this issue anymore. The bios posts fine in all cases and I can use my USB slots in all configurations. If you face this issue and the solution in this article doesn’t help, try upgrading or downgrading your bios. The Sandy Bridge platform has seen quite a lot of down hill turns in his short life time. First the <a href=”http://www.anandtech.com/show/4143/the-source-of-intels-cougar-point-sata-bug”>Cougar Point</a> issue, then a series of Processor and Motherboard delays, and the P67/Z68 Fiasco and the failed attempt to keep the platform up to date with bios and driver releases. Of course, the third party manufacturers like ASUS, Gigabyte and MSI have their share of bad support for the platform as well but it’s mainly Intel that’s to blame. People have faced so many issues on the Sandy Bridge platform that it feels flaky at best. I just wonder my PC would shutdown any moment. It’s happened to me and a lot of other people. Apart from many of the “bigger” and “widespread” issues with the Sandy Platform, like <a href=”http://blog.tabinda.net/microhard/p67-dualdouble-triple-boot-issue/”>the one I blogged about</a> some time ago, there has been another issue that’s been plaguing the users of Sandy Motherboards. The issue has something to do with no POST on cold boot and the following error codes: 0C-0D – Reserved for future AMI SEC Error codes 62 – Installation of the PCH Runtime Services 94 – PCI Bus Enumeration has started D2 – PCH Initialization Error There is no detailed information about these error codes in the manuals or the AMI website. I picked those definitions up from my P67 manual. I believe it should be the same for all Sandy Bridge motherboards with EFI bioses. Let me go through the error for reminder’s sake: On a cold boot, your monitor will not show any display and your motherboard won’t POST. If you have the internal speaker attached to your motherboard, you will hear beeps about those error codes as well. However, the error is specifically noticeable when you look at your motherboard physically. The following signs should tell you what’s going on 1. Your VGA LED next to your PCIExpress x 16 slot is constantly lit. 2. If your motherboard has Q Code or Debug Code LEDs on it, you will see it either stuck at 0D, 62 or 94 or in rare cases at D2. 3. Your Motherboard boot LEDs might be constantly lit as well. If you’ve seen any of the above symptoms, you may have scoured the internet for a solution. The issue happens to be more frequent in ASUS motherboards. People on the internet have exchanged their motherboards in hopes to kill the error, and some have been successful after an exchange but others have been unlucky. Some have pointed out that it’s because the PCI Bridge is dead/corrupted or damaged. Some people have shifted from their primary PciExpress x 16 slots to their secondary slots x8 and the issue seems to go away. However, it has returned for some in that case as well. This is very frustrating if you’ve hit the issue. Somehow, I was not satisfied with the sudden notion that the hardware went bad just like that. So, I searched myself and found all the same results and then I turned back to the motherboard manual and datasheets from the manufacturers themselves. I found this: [<img title=”irqs” alt=”” src=”http://blog.tabinda.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/irqs.png” width=”573″ height=”628″ />][3] The Image tells us that the PCIExpress x 16 slot shares IRQs with other components on the motherboard. This sounds exactly like where it’s going. An IRQ conflict/sharing issue. I went to the ASUS motherboard pages to verify if the components shared bandwidth as well and I found this for the P8P67/P8Z68 Pro: *1: The PCIe x16_3 slot shares bandwidth with PCIe x1_1 slot, PCIe x1_2 slot, USB3_34 and ESATA12. The PCIe x16_3 runs at x1 mode by default for system resource optimization.(PCIe x1_2 will be disabled.) The above note is only mentioned in the P8P67 Pro and lower models and the Deluxe/Extreme models do not have this note displayed. I can’t say if it is only for marketing but perhaps the upper models share bandwidth with the components as well. Why, you ask? Because I solved the issue by disconnecting the USB3_34 Front Panel slots that share bandwidth with the PCIExpress x 16 slot. I have disconnected, reconnected, changed Graphic cards and slots to test my motherboard and it keeps working with the above solution. This is strange and is possibly a fault in the BIOS. I recommend you to not upgrade to the Beta bioses posted by ASUS and other manufacturers. These bioses might damage your system because they threw the QA garbage over to the customers. I’d be glad to know if this works out for any of you. It’s a detailed post, I know but I like to detail what caused the issue in the first place. [3]: <a href=”http://blog.tabinda.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/irqs.png”>http://blog.tabinda.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/irqs.png</a> /posts/adding-effects-to-dynamic-text-in-flash/ Mon, 01 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/adding-effects-to-dynamic-text-in-flash/ Wow, it’s been so long since I blogged about anything related to Flash. Anyhow, while working on [our game][1], we came across a problem where we needed to add effects to dynamic text. Those who’ve tried this know that it can be a real pain. Flash doesn’t have proper tools to allow that. I’ve seen that it’s better to record a video of how things are done in tutorials, because people can follow things easily. Thus, I’ve prepared a video rather than writing long boring paras. Enjoy and I’m sure this will help people who need it. [1]: <a href=”http://baby-world.tumblr.com”>http://baby-world.tumblr.com</a> /posts/ps3playstation-3-no-video-but-audio-issue-solution/ Wed, 08 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/ps3playstation-3-no-video-but-audio-issue-solution/ Hey everyone, Many of you might come to this thread looking for a no video PS3 solution and perhaps 80% of your issues/solutions are written in <a href=”http://www.thebuzzmedia.com/ps3-hdmi-black-screen/” target=”_blank”>this blog post</a>. However, this post is about a unique problem with the Playstation 3. It could happen for one reason or the other but here’s what happens in the end: You can hear audio from your PS3, but no matter what you do, you can’t get video. You’ve tried all the tricks on the net but you never get video and you’re sure that your GPU is fine and hasn’t YLOD’ed. Well, the solution is to get an HDMI-> DVI cable (Dual Link) and hook it up to a monitor that is completely HDCP compatible and can display 480p or 720p and 1080p. That is absolutely necessary and if a monitor is not fully HDCP compatible, this won’t work. Once you hook it up, reset your PS3’s display settings, which I guess you know how to. Once you’re done with that, you should see you PS3 display on your monitor screen, Voila? Why does this happen?: Well, I dunno specifically why this happens but it happened to me because of a power surge while connecting my PS3 to the wall power socket. I heard a small blow and then there was no display. What’s the logic? How come the PS3 shows display now? Hmm, that’s a tricky one but I figured that the PS3 has an onboard chip which does all the video scaling called the Super Companion Chip or SCC. This chip is probably the reason why the display has gone bad and you don’t see a display. The PS3 can display quite a lot of different analog and digital video outputs and perhaps in one of these output modes (digital, I presume), the PS3 skips this chip and you get a display. It’s because of HDCP encryption or colorspace, I can’t say. But here’s a clue that supports my theory: [<img class=”alignleft size-medium wp-image-429″ title=”ps3disp” src=”http://blog.tabinda.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/ps3disp-300×68.jpg” alt=”” width=”300″ height=”68″ />][1]     Image Courtesy: (<a href=”http://www.edepot.com/playstation3.html#PS3_Video”>http://www.edepot.com/playstation3.html#PS3_Video</a>) I have yet to figure out how to force the PS3 HDMI port to display in RGB mode without using an HDMI-DVI cable. If there were a way to check which mode the HDMI port display is in i.e. YCbCr or RGB, perhaps that could solve it. For Audio, you can use the regular PS3 Composite cable and hook the audio out somewhere. You may also use the PS3 Optical Out to get audio. Anyhow, if this post helped you, please let me know. I have spent a lot of time researching this and I would like to fix this in a better way. [1]: <a href=”http://blog.tabinda.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/ps3disp.jpg”>http://blog.tabinda.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/ps3disp.jpg</a>