whoisvince http://whoisvince.com a creative professional/ entrepreneur/ mogul in process Tue, 08 Sep 2009 19:17:57 +0000 en hourly 1 Unity 3D killers? http://whoisvince.com/2009/09/unity-3d-killers/ http://whoisvince.com/2009/09/unity-3d-killers/#comments Tue, 08 Sep 2009 05:29:52 +0000 admin http://whoisvince.com/?p=642 So there’s plenty of hype being pushed around the interwebs of which engine or framework is best to help build the next best app/game for the iPhone. Point blank, Unity 3D is the best! Now if your one of those l33t developers out there who belittles developers that are using frameworks & engines instead of getting dirty with Objective-C, I say screw you and get off your fake high horse. Although Objective-C isn’t all that complicated, it’s not nearly that easy either, especially when it comes to developing games for the iPhone. Also as a second note, plenty of gaming companies use gaming engines for one of the simple facts that it wouldn’t be cost efficient to reinvent the wheel when it’s staring right back at you. So as an Indie developer trying to compete with big companies, these gaming engines may be worth it. It’s an investment. So if your game is crappy, it doesn’t matter what engine you used, it’s still going to be crappy. However if you have a solid idea(s) and plan to invest the time needed, it’ll eventually pay itself off.

With all that said let me get back to my point, here are some of the top ‘Indie friendly’ game engines out there; Unity 3D vs Shiva vs Torque. Now my first initial thought will of course be that Unity 3D is the best, as previously stated, however this is a very biased statement. Not because I’m on the developmental team, but because I’m now invested into it { don’t forget to download Feed Meh!! }, so it better be the best for good while. Nevertheless, after actually reviewing the other competition out there I’m sure you’ll be agreeing alongside with me too.

Below are a few pro’s & con’s for each engine:

Unity 3D

http://unity3d.com/unity/features/iphone-publishing

iphone-feature

Pros:

  • Feature Packed!
  • Full support for native Objective C (for whatever reason if you needed/wanted it)
  • 3 scripting language options: JavaScript, C#, and a dialect of Python called Boo
  • Scripts are compiled to native ARM assembler code during build
  • I already have a license

Cons:

  • Price! Indie+ iPhone: $600 |  Pro + iPhone: $3,000
  • Forced splash screens for Indie licenses
  • No 2d platform

Thoughts: The price and the forced splash screen almost insticivly makes me want to say no, however when you dig deeper you’ll see a solid engine that’s only getting better & better. In addition, it’s more approachable, and has an easier learning curve because of the 3 separate language options they allow you to use.

Shiva

http://www.stonetrip.com/

shiva-editor

Pros:

  • iPhone publishing for FREE!
  • Price; Indie: $250 |  Pro: $720
  • No forced splash screens

Cons:

  • Works on Mac OS under parallels
  • Lua scripting language, which (most likely) wont be used anywhere else
  • Language is interpreted
  • small(er) userbase and still a bit rough around the edges

Thoughts: Shiva isn’t even available for the mac yet. So although its really enticing with its price, it’s not really meant for the iPhone. You’ll pay for it with the longer development time unless you buy or already own both a PC & mac, to switch back-and-forth.

Torque

http://www.garagegames.com/products/consoles

torque-2d-iphone

tge-iphone

Pros:

  • Both 2D & 3D platform
  • Developer store; buy source code and/or game assets
  • Feature Packed!

Cons:

  • Price! Indie 3D: $900 Indie 2D: $1,000 | Pro 3D: $2,750/ $4,750 Pro 2D: $2,750/ $3,500
  • Individual prices for 3D & 2D engines
  • TorqueScript is a C++ like scripting language

Thoughts: 1st the price is just outrageous. It seems as it it just keeps on climbing. 2nd, although Torque does have plenty of features, it’s not really a ‘pro’ for me simply because it’s written using a language similar to C++ which doesn’t make for smooth learning curve.

Conclusion

So there you have it, the Top 3 iPhone gaming engines compared to each other. You can make up your own mind, and every situation is different, but I’d still have to say that Unity 3D is still above the rest. If your already knee deep with C++ & or Objective C, and you don’t mind loosing $900-$4,740 ( I say loosing because, as any investment is made there is always that chance of not breaking even, and loosing your investment ) then Torque may be for you. It has plenty of features, and a pretty solid community. However if your not familiar or fluent with an Object Oriented Language already, and maybe you know a few scripting languages and you want to develop something for the iPhone but Shiva’s low price is calling to you, I say don’t do it yet. If your targeting the iPhone, why would you develop on a PC? And if your crazy enough to run it through an emulator, than you have every right to lose your investment. Nothing against them, the upgrades are looking great as I’ve been following them since I started researching for an engine to use before I bought into Unity 3D ; but it’s still a bit too rough. With all that said, go check out Unity’s demo & I’m sure you’ll love it. Oh, and did I mention that I made a game using Unity 3D, Feed Meh!! Ah, I did actually. Silly me.

Let me know what you think? Love Unity too? Hate it? Think Shiva is going to tear the market right open? Let me know and sound-off.

]]> http://whoisvince.com/2009/09/unity-3d-killers/feed/ 27 H.N.I.C. or C.E.O. ? http://whoisvince.com/2009/08/h-n-i-c-or-c-e-o/ http://whoisvince.com/2009/08/h-n-i-c-or-c-e-o/#comments Mon, 31 Aug 2009 16:09:48 +0000 admin http://whoisvince.com/?p=625 I found myself, once again, defending my chronic tardiness this weekend with regards to a video I was watching online. The particular topic which sparked the debate was referring to standard business practices, and how to become the C.E.O. of a company. One of the most constant and regurgitated statements is to basically ‘be the first one to enter and the last one to leave.’ I get that, I do really, however I feel most people take it in as a black & white situation and begin to shun those who aren’t adjusting themselves into those specific traditions. I’m not saying that you can be a complete sloth, although there are always exceptions. What I’m saying is that people need to understand that these are the suggested common best practices. Suggested. It’s not the absolute, and end-all solution, nor are the other majority suggestions.

Being the first one in the office & the last one to leave seems like it’s more for show than about being dedicated. Sure, I understand that isn’t the case most of the time, as most pragmatic people do have the best intentions. Yet in contrast, what about those like me who are seemingly more nocturnal by nature and tend to put in more work, after hours. I’m constantly criticized by corporate ‘folks’ because of my, admittedly, bad habit of constantly being late for everything. Anywhere from 9ish-10ish is when I arrive to work. This obviously goes against the grain of corporatism, so I must not want to become a successful CEO and/or Mogul right? Wrong. What everyone always seem to neglect or refuse to acknowledge is how much work I, and others actually put in. On average I get about 3-4 hours of sleep a night. All I do is work, yet the person who is “most likely to succeed” is the person who’s putting in 4 more minutes of their required 8hours?!

Now, I suppose I could just make my life a whole lot easier and just do the exact same thing as CEO Joe over there, but I won’t. Why? Because I refuse to follow along the path and become an addition to the herd of sheep grazing on the grass of followshipers™, instead I’ll take the trail of most resistance. Sure I’ll gain plenty of battle scars, and it may slow me down a bit, but it’ll make for a darn good book and an Oprah appearance. Nonetheless, it won’t stop me from becoming the H.N.I.C.!

]]> http://whoisvince.com/2009/08/h-n-i-c-or-c-e-o/feed/ 0 wedding of the millennia http://whoisvince.com/2009/08/wedding-of-the-millennia/ http://whoisvince.com/2009/08/wedding-of-the-millennia/#comments Thu, 27 Aug 2009 18:45:33 +0000 admin http://whoisvince.com/?p=466 Picture 37

June 6, 2009 was the day that Crystal and I became one. It was a momentous occasion and we were ecstatic to have shared the moment with our closest friends, family and PLENTY of strangers. If you somehow didn’t actually make the wedding because of some lame reason, one being you don’t even know us, I have some good news; we forgive you! But in all seriousness, I’ve been extremely busy before and after the wedding day, but I’ve finally uploaded our wedding photos. We haven’t really sat down and picked our ‘favorites’ just yet for prints, however sometime this week we should be making that happen.

Here are the wedding & honeymoon photos, enjoy:
wedding day & honeymoon

If you are one of those fortunate enough to know us, then you know how much in love we are. I’m looking forward to growing old & sharing our lives together. In addition, for those whose still asking about how we met & how I proposed, the stories have been pasted below from our engagement website: vince&crystal.com

Our Story

Crystal had just relocated from Atlanta and didn’t know much about the city. A local mutual friend introduced us and I insisted I’ll be her Orlando guide. Unknowingly, we immediately became an item. We emailed one another multiple times a day, and talked on the phone at night for hours. During the extended Labor Day weekend Crystal traveled back to Huntsville, Alabama to visit her family while I stayed in Orlando to celebrate with my friends. As a guy it’s not cool to talk about falling in love, so I decided to keep playing the tough guy roll throughout the weekend and go out with the guys; nevertheless, the truth was that I was looking forward to talk on the phone with this gorgeous and intelligent women I just met 2 days ago. Saturday and Sunday I didn’t leave the house, it seemed as if we talked on the phone from dusk till dawn about anything and everything.

As we both eagerly awaited her return back to Orlando, we went on our first official date that following Tuesday. We had planned a simple classic dinner and a movie, unfortunately the theater was closed so we had dinner and talked to each other till twilight.

One and a half years later, we were engaged, and shortly we will be now are officially one!

The Proposal

One early morning of November in 2007, Vince and I traveled to Alabama to spend Thanksgiving with my family. We talked the entire trip except the times when I accidentally fell asleep. Everything seemed normal. The next morning we began to get settled for Thanksgiving dinner that evening with all of my family and friends. The day after Thanksgiving, my mom, cousins, and aunts traditionally go out to shop for all the great deals. I felt terrible for my Vincey because he would be stuck at home watching football all day, which isn’t his particular  favorite pass time. Throughout the girl only shopping trip, I continued to check on my Vincey to make sure he was okay, as I reassured him I would try to rush the girls as fast as I could.

Later that evening my mother and I finally arrived home and I ran up the stairs to the game room as I called out to him, no one answered. I went back down the steps to find a path of roses and my father instructing me to follow them. There he sat, with a tuxedo, guitar, and a microphone. He sang a beautiful song to me. He even learned to play the guitar for the song that your listening to right now this song! Finally, he got down on one knee and gave me a rose which represented the blessing of my father and brother and asked “will you marry me.” I couldn’t have asked for a better proposal!

]]> http://whoisvince.com/2009/08/wedding-of-the-millennia/feed/ 0 becoming a Mogul http://whoisvince.com/2009/08/becoming-a-mogul/ http://whoisvince.com/2009/08/becoming-a-mogul/#comments Wed, 26 Aug 2009 07:52:20 +0000 admin http://whoisvince.com/?p=556 schedule

Ok, so it’s back to that time of the year again Fall 2009, and for those who aren’t that intimate with my personal life this means my academic calendar has once again become active. This is part of a looooooong journey to my hopefully Cinderella (Prince Charming?) ending. To the left is my ‘academic plan’, it’s quite extensive as I had to practically start over as a freshmen because none of the credits from Full Sail University transferred. I knew this of course, so that was no big surprise; nevertheless I began my journey after a considerable amount of research and soul searching back at the end of 2007. I’m currently about a third of the way through and I’m feeling good about the process. The plan is to get a Bachelor’s in Finance, then move onto achieving my Juris Doctorate while focusing on Intellectual Property Law. This is indeed a bit of a step away from my initial Digital Art & Design degree, however I do plan on reeling everything back in and continue producing great work similar to what I am already currently involved with. I figure in order for myself to become the Mogul I envision and do big things, I need to take big steps.

This does cramp my schedule a bit, as I’ll still be working my day job at VisualFlux.net full time, CBMUmedia.com fullpartacouplehourshere&there time & trying to balance spending time with my Mrs. & dog Bailey; nevertheless, it still doesn’t change much. I created Feed Meh!! amongst the chaos of ending a previous school semester, getting married, honeymooning & moving. I’ll continue to try and share my knowledge with whomever listens via this and other various blogs in addition to future presentations I may be giving.

So tune in, subscribe as I may just have something you’re interested in.

Here’s few things on coming up within the next couple months: 1.2 update to Feed Meh!!, & 2 new apps.

]]> http://whoisvince.com/2009/08/becoming-a-mogul/feed/ 0 Day & Night (remix) http://whoisvince.com/2009/08/day-night-remix/ http://whoisvince.com/2009/08/day-night-remix/#comments Wed, 26 Aug 2009 07:21:23 +0000 admin http://whoisvince.com/2009/08/541/ another song for the unofficial Feed Meh!! sound track.. This is a remix to Kid Cudi’s ‘Day & NIght’ with references to developing Feed Meh!!

Lyrics
============================
============================

i’ll tell you whats happening/
its easy for you to see/
hearing me remix this hit first done by him the kid kudi/
no prablemo, i know javascript, but no Objective-C/
i got the answers, give em’ frameworks & then they come ask for me/

my mental capacity/
is why these devs hatin’ me/
my game Feed Meh!!, overshaddow & beat super teams/
not one line of C/
scripted in Unity/
nothings free, 100 cents i charge, pocket & give to my mrs. B/

============================
============================

]]> http://whoisvince.com/2009/08/day-night-remix/feed/ 0 Ramblings episode 2; part 3 | Some advice http://whoisvince.com/2009/08/ramblings-episode-2-part-3-some-advice/ http://whoisvince.com/2009/08/ramblings-episode-2-part-3-some-advice/#comments Tue, 11 Aug 2009 06:02:36 +0000 admin http://whoisvince.com/?p=456

**This is part 3 of 3**
This is my 2nd video for my bi-weekly video blog. There are 3 topics in which I talk about, #1. being my first iPhone/ iPod Touch game Feed Meh!! v1.1 update & some other future updates as well. #2 is some advice and insight with regard to submitting your app and/or game to Apple for their cringing approval process. #3 is some general advice I wanted to share.

Let me know if you have any other questions regarding the approval process, or anything else really; and I’m also always looking for some feedback regarding how your taking in the information. Am I babbling, should I show some accompanying videos, or does it even matter as you don’t really care?

]]> http://whoisvince.com/2009/08/ramblings-episode-2-part-3-some-advice/feed/ 0 Ramblings episode 2; part 2 | App subission woes http://whoisvince.com/2009/08/ramblings-episode-2-part-2-app-subission-woes/ http://whoisvince.com/2009/08/ramblings-episode-2-part-2-app-subission-woes/#comments Tue, 11 Aug 2009 06:00:35 +0000 admin http://whoisvince.com/?p=454

**This is part 2 of 3**
This is my 2nd video for my bi-weekly video blog. There are 3 topics in which I talk about, #1. being my first iPhone/ iPod Touch game Feed Meh!! v1.1 update & some other future updates as well. #2 is some advice and insight with regard to submitting your app and/or game to Apple for their cringing approval process. #3 is some general advice I wanted to share.

Let me know if you have any other questions regarding the approval process, or anything else really; and I’m also always looking for some feedback regarding how your taking in the information. Am I babbling, should I show some accompanying videos, or does it even matter as you don’t really care?

]]> http://whoisvince.com/2009/08/ramblings-episode-2-part-2-app-subission-woes/feed/ 0 Ramblings ep. 2; pt 1 | Feed Meh!! v1.1 update & more http://whoisvince.com/2009/08/ramblings-ep-2-pt-1-feed-meh-v1-1-update-more/ http://whoisvince.com/2009/08/ramblings-ep-2-pt-1-feed-meh-v1-1-update-more/#comments Tue, 11 Aug 2009 05:58:49 +0000 admin http://whoisvince.com/?p=452

**This is part 1 of 3**
This is my 2nd video for my bi-weekly video blog. There are 3 topics in which I talk about, #1. being my first iPhone/ iPod Touch game Feed Meh!! v1.1 update & some other future updates as well. #2 is some advice and insight with regard to submitting your app and/or game to Apple for their cringing approval process. #3 is some general advice I wanted to share.

Let me know if you have any other questions regarding the approval process, or anything else really; and I’m also always looking for some feedback regarding how your taking in the information. Am I babbling, should I show some accompanying videos, or does it even matter as you don’t really care?

]]> http://whoisvince.com/2009/08/ramblings-ep-2-pt-1-feed-meh-v1-1-update-more/feed/ 0 Some advice http://whoisvince.com/2009/08/some-advice/ http://whoisvince.com/2009/08/some-advice/#comments Mon, 10 Aug 2009 19:20:59 +0000 admin http://whoisvince.com/?p=619

**This is part 3 of 3**
This is my 2nd video for my bi-weekly video blog. There are 3 topics in which I talk about, #1. being my first iPhone/ iPod Touch game Feed Meh!! v1.1 update & some other future updates as well. #2 is some advice and insight with regard to submitting your app and/or game to Apple for their cringing approval process. #3 is some general advice I wanted to share.

Let me know if you have any other questions regarding the approval process, or anything else really; and I’m also always looking for some feedback regarding how your taking in the information. Am I babbling, should I show some accompanying videos, or does it even matter as you don’t really care?

]]> http://whoisvince.com/2009/08/some-advice/feed/ 0 App subission woes http://whoisvince.com/2009/08/app-subission-woes/ http://whoisvince.com/2009/08/app-subission-woes/#comments Mon, 10 Aug 2009 19:19:41 +0000 admin http://whoisvince.com/?p=617

**This is part 2 of 3**
This is my 2nd video for my bi-weekly video blog. There are 3 topics in which I talk about, #1. being my first iPhone/ iPod Touch game Feed Meh!! v1.1 update & some other future updates as well. #2 is some advice and insight with regard to submitting your app and/or game to Apple for their cringing approval process. #3 is some general advice I wanted to share.

Let me know if you have any other questions regarding the approval process, or anything else really; and I’m also always looking for some feedback regarding how your taking in the information. Am I babbling, should I show some accompanying videos, or does it even matter as you don’t really care?

]]> http://whoisvince.com/2009/08/app-subission-woes/feed/ 0 Feed Meh!! v1.1 update & more http://whoisvince.com/2009/08/feed-meh-v1-1-update-more/ http://whoisvince.com/2009/08/feed-meh-v1-1-update-more/#comments Mon, 10 Aug 2009 19:18:42 +0000 admin http://whoisvince.com/?p=612

**This is part 1 of 3**
This is my 2nd video for my bi-weekly video blog. There are 3 topics in which I talk about, #1. being my first iPhone/ iPod Touch game Feed Meh!! v1.1 update & some other future updates as well. #2 is some advice and insight with regard to submitting your app and/or game to Apple for their cringing approval process. #3 is some general advice I wanted to share.

Let me know if you have any other questions regarding the approval process, or anything else really; and I’m also always looking for some feedback regarding how your taking in the information. Am I babbling, should I show some accompanying videos, or does it even matter as you don’t really care?

]]> http://whoisvince.com/2009/08/feed-meh-v1-1-update-more/feed/ 0 Feed Meh!! Game Info http://whoisvince.com/2009/07/feed-meh-game-info/ http://whoisvince.com/2009/07/feed-meh-game-info/#comments Sun, 26 Jul 2009 05:54:37 +0000 admin http://whoisvince.com/?p=450

This is a video with some insight on the many tools and applications we used to make our first iPhone game ‘Feed Meh!!’ and some ideas of what we’re planning for the future of the game.

Let us know if you have any suggestions for an application of your choice that you think we could use for our process, or if you have any questions regarding our upcoming game or the actual tools and process we used.

Visit CBMUmedia.com for more information.

Tools:
Unity3d: unity3d.com/
Cinema 4D: maxon.net/
Photoshop CS3: adobe.com/products/photoshop/family/?promoid=BPDEK
Illustrator CS3: adobe.com/products/illustrator/
Textmate: macromates.com/

Organization
Basecamp: basecamphq.com/
Mole Skin: moleskineus.com/
Drop Box: getdropbox.com/

]]> http://whoisvince.com/2009/07/feed-meh-game-info/feed/ 0 Feed Meh!! Game Info http://whoisvince.com/2009/07/feed-meh-game-info-2/ http://whoisvince.com/2009/07/feed-meh-game-info-2/#comments Sat, 25 Jul 2009 19:14:45 +0000 admin http://whoisvince.com/?p=603

This is a video with some insight on the many tools and applications we used to make our first iPhone game ‘Feed Meh!!’ and some ideas of what we’re planning for the future of the game.

Let us know if you have any suggestions for an application of your choice that you think we could use for our process, or if you have any questions regarding our upcoming game or the actual tools and process we used.

Visit CBMUmedia.com for more information.

Tools:
Unity3d: unity3d.com/
Cinema 4D: maxon.net/
Photoshop CS3: adobe.com/products/photoshop/family/?promoid=BPDEK
Illustrator CS3: adobe.com/products/illustrator/
Textmate: macromates.com/

Organization
Basecamp: basecamphq.com/
Mole Skin: moleskineus.com/
Drop Box: getdropbox.com/

]]> http://whoisvince.com/2009/07/feed-meh-game-info-2/feed/ 0 Feed Meh!! Sneak Peak http://whoisvince.com/2009/05/feed-meh-sneak-peak/ http://whoisvince.com/2009/05/feed-meh-sneak-peak/#comments Sat, 30 May 2009 05:50:28 +0000 admin http://whoisvince.com/?p=446
This is a quick video showing a simple sneak peek into my 1st upcoming iPhone game that I’m currently building under my umbrella company CBMUmedia.

If your interested, please submit your email via the website [ FeedMeh.CBMUmedia.com/ ] and I’ll make sure to notify you once it’s released.

Music By: 6ergascho

]]> http://whoisvince.com/2009/05/feed-meh-sneak-peak/feed/ 0 Feed Meh!! Sneak Peak http://whoisvince.com/2009/05/feed-meh-sneak-peak-2/ http://whoisvince.com/2009/05/feed-meh-sneak-peak-2/#comments Fri, 29 May 2009 19:17:01 +0000 admin http://whoisvince.com/?p=609
This is a quick video showing a simple sneak peek into my 1st upcoming iPhone game that I’m currently building under my umbrella company CBMUmedia.

If your interested, please submit your email via the website [ FeedMeh.CBMUmedia.com/ ] and I’ll make sure to notify you once it’s released.

Music By: 6ergascho

]]> http://whoisvince.com/2009/05/feed-meh-sneak-peak-2/feed/ 0