Category: Random

I built some really terrible games

I’m interested in creating a VR application. The first step on this road is learning some of the tools involved, liked Unity. Unity is an application for developing 3d games. Some of the best apps I’ve used on the Vive are created with Unity.

So I spent some time yesterday running through a few tutorials and ended up with a terrible Asteroid’s clone:

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There’s music and some sound effects, too.

I also made this stupid marble game:

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Scale in Tilt Brush

Since discovering the ability to scale, pan, and rotate in 3D space, Tilt Brush has become an obsession. My latest scene explores the ability to create massive scale differentials with an amazing amount of detail.


Starting small, I created a little campsite (complete with pillow, blanket, and lantern inside the tent), and then zoomed out to create a large mountain backdrop with sunset and snow.

This was also the first time I painted sitting down rather than moving around the room. My back thanks me.

Tilt Brush

I picked up an HTC Vive this week. I played with one for the first time a few weeks ago and knew I needed to have one. Specifically, Tilt Brush, a sort of “painting” app for the virtual reality headset, captivated my interest. Here’s one of my first attempts at creating a scene in Tilt Brush:

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Make a Mess

A writing professor of mine in college once told me the secret to writing:

“Just start. Starting is the hardest part. You’ll be tempted to edit yourself, or obsess over details. You’ll be tempted to create a clean and polished piece of work. That’s impossible. Instead, focus on making a mess. Then, clean it up later.”

The idea of “making a mess” has stuck with me ever since. Making a mess is easy. My kids can make an impressive mess in a matter of minutes — and have fun while they do it. I approach a new design project with the same methodology; I get everything out on the page and make a giant mess of it.

And then I clean it up.

And then I’ll mess it up again.

And then I’ll clean it up, again.

Rinse. Repeat ad nauseum.

Overheard

One ideal we quickly adopted was “no chickens, only pigs”. Meaning only those truly committed to the meeting were allowed. Chickens make eggs; They survive. Pigs make bacon; They’re committed.

I absolutely love this analogy. But I can’t help think that I’d prefer to survive the meeting. Maybe I’m a chicken?

Homer

Homer

Been practicing with the Apple Pencil by drawing some of my favorite characters. Homer came out pretty good.

The shading on his arms turned out a little weird, as did the shape of his head above his left eye. Mostly traced from an image found on Google.

Watch me paint

I’ve fallen in love with the Apple Pencil and iPad Pro — the iPad really is massive. The pencil is super accurate, and feels great to use for hours on end. It really does remind me of traditional pencil and paper, but with all the advantages of digital. Procreate, the best drawing app I’ve found, has a great “Instant Replay” feature that lets me share videos of the paintings I’ve made. From blank canvas to finished painting.

Here’s one of the first videos I recorded recreating (with a twist at the end) a painting in found on Google: