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Posts from ‘April, 2004’

Infinite planks

planksSo I’ve been thinking that the next thing I want to add to the infinite city is a coastline, and that I want the coastline to have piers extending out into the ocean. While thinking about how best to approach that, I started thinking about generating an infinite variety of worn planks with which to construct the piers. I’ve coded up an algorithm that does just that, with results to the left. Haven’t had time to add texture support just yet, but the final version will also select from a few different textures based on random choice and the aspect ratio of the plank.

If you’d like to see for yourself, click here to download the demo app. The arrow keys will rotate around the plank, and F3 will cause it to alter itself. Note that there’s currently no bottom to the plank. I’m undecided as to whether or not to add one, as it adds polygons that aren’t likely to be seen, and a savings of 8 triangles per plank times lots of planks could end up being worthwhile.

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Infinicty: first draft write-up live

I have a short (one-page) write up of the Infinicity project up here. There’s also a link to it and both the planks and suburb demos in the “research” section

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Infinite planks

So I’ve been thinking that the next thing I want to add to the infinite city is a coastline, and that I want the coastline to have piers extending out into the ocean. While thinking about how best to approach that, I started thinking about generating an infinite variety of worn planks with which to construct the piers. I’ve coded up an algorithm that does just that, with results to the left. Haven’t had time to add texture support just yet, but the final version will also select from a few different textures based on random choice and the aspect ratio of the plank.
If you’d like to see for yourself, click here to download the demo app. The arrow keys will rotate around the plank, and F3 will cause it to alter itself. Note that there’s currently no bottom to the plank. I’m undecided as to whether or not to add one, as it adds polygons that aren’t likely to be seen, and a savings of 8 triangles per plank times lots of planks could end up being worthwhile.

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More Suburban Goodness (download)

I’ve added a few things to the suburb demo:

  • Fixed the navigation
  • Added ambient and footstep sounds (though only one at a time so far)
  • Made it actually infinite- you’ll never run out of blocks no matter how far you walk
  • Changed textures from grass to dirt (prepping the area for the development to come)
  • Added an icon (I hate the default windows application icon)

If you’re interested, a zip file of the current incarnation can be downloaded here

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Infinite Suburb

I’m currently working on an infinite city – an infinite urban dreamscape, implemented in OpenGL. So far I’ve got more of an infinite suburb (the developers haven’t moved in yet). Current feature list (not much, but a start):

  • On-the-fly generation of curb and street geometry, based on a random offset value for the placement of the intersection
  • Rudimentary user interaction- move forward/back, left/right, look left/right
  • Animated sky

Watch this space for updates and eventually, downloads

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Demented Jacks in Boxes

I just finished a new Virtual Puppet for the OmniCircus show, a Jack in the Box based on one of Frank Garvey’s paintings. He undulates back and forth, and can be made to bend forwards/backwards, left/right, and to twist to either side. His jaw is also controllable, allowing him to be made to laugh. Additionally, he can be multiplied, yeilding a forest of Jacks with each one slowing waving.

He was modeled in Maya, textured with Photoshop, and implemented/animated via an OpenGL program. The Jack program incorporates the opening doors that we’ve been using in the OmniCircus shows, and can switch back and forth between rendering the doors and rendering the Jacks.

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