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2007-11-02 12:07:30The Exodus: Part 3
Well, the site is finally back up. I know, I said I wouldn't go with 1and1, but really, I'm not in a position to be picky. Besides, I overreacted to the lack of control from this hosting plan. It does enough to host the site, and that's all I really need right now. So, horray, DigitalAqua Development LIIIIVES!
Now, I need to get back to working on other things, like BLUEngn. Ja na~
-Blue
2007-10-30 15:36:43The Exodus: Part 2
[Twitter] Okay, the site's down. Most of the pages are currently on 1and1 and will eventually be publicly accessible, once 1and1 gets the domain name set up. However, the pages currently lack any MySQL functionality. This is mostly because I don't like 1and1's strict permission management. It's not a huge hassle. However, it is enough to make me want to move back to Lunarpages before I do anymore work on the site. I will, however, take this opportunity to work more on BLUEngn while waiting for funds for hosting. More to come later.
2007-10-14 01:48:47The Exodus: Part 1
Well, as stated earlier, our time here in the Lunarpages cluster is running short. Most of the site has been converted to a format that can be executed on most, if not all, free hosts, so that shouldn't be much of a problem, thank goodness. The real issue will mostly lie with our domain name and the database. The domain name digitalaquadev.net shouldn't be too much of a hassle. I just need to find out where exactly it is that we'll be moving all of this, and that is solely dependent on our database. We run an MS Access database via ODBC, and chances are there aren't any free web hosts lying around that offer MS Access database support, even over ODBC. This, of course, could totally be solved by a database conversion, but meh, I'm stubborn. :) Besides, I like being able to update the database locally prior to updating the online version remotely, and MS Access facilitates that very well. The other option might be to convince the owners of my network to allow me to set up the site through here using my PC as the server, though that may or may not be possible with their current (and desired, apparently) setup. I'll let you know how that goes, as well as any other progress, through the Twitter.
Well, here's to a successful exodus...
2007-10-14 01:48:30Progress Update
I only managed to put about a week's worth of work into this before I realized our web hosting account was due for deletion, but I managed to knock out a good few things:
First off, I'm happy to say I finally debugged the error with textures. Apparently it was just a misplaced macro, with a name similar to the one I should've been using. In the process of messing around with class TEXTURE, I threw in two alpha-texturing modes, and made it possible to load a texture to/from a matrix<rgba> object. I attempted to throw in scene-capturing, too, but that's still incomplete. I also managed to set up internal texture management for the class. However, I can't really say it's fully debugged, since I still need to work around OpenGL's tendency to require all textures to be generated at once. Chances are there IS no work-around, and I'll have to buckle and come up with a way to accommodate that.
The THREAD and THREADPOOL classes are coming along quite well structurally, but I have yet to do any decent testing with them. I plan on adding a locking mechanism to the class set at some point, and by then they should be seaworthy. Also, the DAquScript engine is still under construction, but finally has a parser. At some point I'll have a chance to test it out, and then actually try to do something with the commands it can read. I'm debating right now as to whether or not I want it to have C/C++-style or PHP-style syntax... I might make it a hybrid of sorts. Whatever works for the engine.
Well, those are the major points I wanted to touch up on. Until next time~
-Blue
2007-09-17 02:12:24Site Updated!
Finally! No more fixed-resolution contrast-lacking styling! Took a lot of work getting the CSS code to work right, but task is finally complete, at long last. Now I'm looking forward to an entire day on the Team Fortress 2 Beta. Should be a nice little break. :)
Just wanted to make a few quick notes about what will be happening in the next month or so. I'll be trying to get some work done with BLUEngn while seeking employment, so be looking forward to some progress updates withthat. Project Yin will still be on hold; I have enough writing to do as it is, with all resumés and applications! The story pages there did get messed up in the process of changing the site,but I decided to cut my losses for now and let them stand as they are. I'll try to do some work on them later on. Also, Lust Online Communities is officially down and dead, as are the forums. I know, MAJOR LOSS, right? *chuckle* But with our new servers, we'll probably be running another forum for the site in no time.
Well, with that, I'm gonna go ahead and try to get some rest, so I can get my sleeping schedule back in check. Just keepin ya updated! :)
blue~
(9/20/2007, sidenote: Lust OnlineCommunities has been converted to one single forum acting as our forum. I wasn't aware until I looked at it recently. ^^; The links to the forums are all fixed.)
2007-08-15 00:15:26DigitalAqua Development v2.0
Hello again, Blue here. As stated in the last news update, life has kinda taken over this summer. Both me and Kris have been busy with our other jobs, trying to get our finances settled, money saved, systems maintained, bills paid, etc. In the end, it resulted in us not spending much time with the site, Project Yin, or even BLUEngn. Additionally, we (or rather, I) attempted to take on other smaller projects in attempts to bring in some revenue to DigitalAqua Dev, which ended up just leading to frustration, poorly used time, and lack of focus on the main goal of the site. So, with the summer winding down, our pockets not so empty, and most of our major concerns out of the way, we've decided to get back on track with the purpose of this site: to develop software for indie development.
We're putting all of our efforts into developing BLUEngn and setting up a better business model, while putting all other projects (including Project Yin) on hold until BLUEngn becomes fully functional. We're also getting some recently purchased servers set up, so eventually the site and projects will be moved there. Additionally, as you can see, we've made many changes to the site design, and have even added a Twitter to the home page. The About Us page has been modified as well. We've also created a MySpace page, in case you want to leave comments and keep track of important updates though there.
As for the money issue, we've decided to start offering local PC repair and maintenance services, since it wouldn't be as much of a hassle to manage multitasking both that and developing projects here. We'll be offerring a few web services as well, including web hosting. Due to pending relocation and server setup, these services, which will be further elaborated on in the PC & Web Services section of the site, won't be occuring until sometime in the near future. We'll keep you updated on our progress with that.
So with the conclusion of this news update, this should complete the construction of what I'm calling DigitalAqua Development v2.0; same idea, better execution. We look forward to the coming year with confidence, hope, and anticipation. Thanks for stickin' with us. ;)
2007-08-15 00:15:15Progress Update
Wow, it's been quite a while! ^^; Sorry it's been so long...life kinda took over for a bit, but we're getting back on track, and the way things are progressing, DigitalAqua Dev might be heading towards a really good and productive year. :)
BLUEngn has been going through a good deal of changes over the summer, mostly due to us finally porting it over to Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 from Visual Studio 6. Much of the way the templates work has been altered, particularly with the incorporation of the new classes "number" and "const_number<>" in the math algorithms. Texturing seems to be the major concern right now, since somewhere in the port, the algorithms for that stopped working properly. It shouldn't be too difficult or drastic to fix; we'll keep you updated. On a positive note, errors in memory allocation and memory leaks have completely dissappeared, but we'll see how long that lasts. Memory management failure just loves to sneak up on ya :)
2007-05-02 14:26:20Chapter 5 Posted, Found Kurt
Finally got Chapter 5 of Arson posted. It's titled "Not the Issue". Funny thing is, the text I posted has been written for almost a month now. If you haven't noticed, the chapters have been getting longer. My initial intention was to write the Project Yin stories in full-length chapters, but, as it was pointed out later, the shorter chapters make it easier to take in, and each chapter thus far has a certain sense of completeness that a chapter should have, despite their size. Additionally, I find it much easier to pace myself with the smaller chapters, since I only have to focus on one scene and one central series of events at one time, rather than trying to tie multiple scenes together in ways that may not be necessary. So I decided to cut Chapter 5 short, saving the scene in Hari Kari for the next installment, which will see Kurt sharing more dialogue and shedding himself of the silent-emo appearance I've been hiding him behind lately.
That being said, don't expect BLUEngn tutorials until I get done with Chapter 6. It was supposed to be part of the original Chapter 5, after all, and that particular part was what I intended to finish at about the same time as the tutorials. Chances are I'll probably get the tutorials done before I finish writing, since I've been doing more site development lately (notably the mobile xhtml version of the rss feed), so you might see the tutorials before "Hari-Kari" is posted.
Also, I'm pretty sure the Hari-Kari scene will take about two to three chapters to complete in this "short chapter" format, but the chapters should flow more smoothly, so they should almost be back-to-back. The only reasons for the division are the introduction of the mysterious girl from "Pagoda" and my preference to use cliffhangers ^_^. I'll try to make the wait as quick and painless as possible. Trust me, I'm waiting for the next day in Arson to come as much as you are. I heard there will be guns and explosions. :D
2007-04-24 09:14:05Progress Update
Sorry for the delay, folks! I tried to focus on one project at a time, but found myself going back to the usual multitasking routine again. Oddly enough, I feel that I've gotten more done this way ^_^. As it stands now, ForumWave is sitting on the backburner for now :(, not for any reason in particular, other than that I would really like to put out another build of BLUEngn as well as some other things throught the site.
BLUEngn itself has had quite a bit of work done on it; it's finally completely free of memory leaks, the EVENT class has been incorporated into the new multithreading features, the array
Also, Chapter 5 of Arson is almost finished. Part of the reason it isn't finished is because I've been trying to better flesh out Kurt's character. It didn't occur to me until I started trying to write in a pure dialogue scene that I hadn't quite ever defined what Kurt is like at the beginning of the story. When I came up with Kurt, I mainly focused on what I wanted him to become. It hadn't occurred to me to come up with a way to introduce him into the story. So now I'm taking a good look at Kurt's persona and am trying to break him down to his core personality traits. It's nothing too hard to do, just something I should've thought up ahead of time.
Well, that's all I've got for now. Just keepin' ya updated!
2007-03-18 01:03:05Coming Soon...
ForumWave v1.0! I surprised myself with how much progress I managed to make in developing the forum software. I might actually make my deadline at the end of the month after all! I left a link to the test project in the Side Projects page. Additionally, very soon the Nautilus and PhjearNET pages will be hidden away for a while, mostly because I don't intend to have any content for them for a while. Kinda sad, really, but I have a feeling they won't be missed.
But getting back to ForumWave, it will be a fully functional forum software package (as to be expected) with plenty of room for customization and expansion. The software is written in classic ASP/Jscript (I know, I'm a crackpot :P) and depends on Cascading Style Sheets for most of its formatting. Creating versitile add-ons and themes should prove easy and allow for things like integration into other websites, media players, integrated chat rooms, and more. The software will be available free under the GPL, but will come with Google ads and Google search (No, the other ads won't be there) and, of course, DigitalAqua'a copyright information, all of which you may NOT remove. However, for just $25.00, not only can you get rid of all of that, but we'll customize your package for you AND provide unlimited support via email! In addition, you'll have access to free downloads of any and all ForumWare v1.0 add-ons made by us! And the best part: the license will last for a lifetime! So you'll only be making one payment of a clean $25, no other charges, for open-source forum software with lifetime support! How cool is that?
But before I start making promises I can't keep, let me get back to work. Just keepin' you updated ^_^.
2007-03-07 01:23:05Focus, Focus!
Well, it's no secret that I'm boasting waaaay too many projects at once for a one-man show, and it's definitely taking its toll on me. There has been progress, at least. BLUEngn's still arguing with me about memory management in the array<> and matrix<> classes, and both Nautilus and Phj34rW@r3 will probably be on the back burner for at least a couple of years, at the pace that things are going. I might even have to close down those areas for a while. The site itself is doing fine: the feed automation and site log are working smoothly, and even the Forum project is doing fine. Also, I should have chapter four of Arson posted sometime today, after I work out a few kinks.
In case you haven't noticed, or if you're just new to the site, I got some new ads. They're basically there so I can still afford to keep this site up. Let me know if they get to distracting; I don't want to scare off the few visitors I have! Anyway, this brings me to the point of this rant; I've set a lot of goals, but there's no way for me to do them all at once without help, and more importantly, without money. So, with that being said, I've decided to strinctly focus on the easiest money-making project I've started: the Forum project. I won't be doing any more debugging of BLUEngn until I get the forum software done. Shouldn't take any more than a couple of months, tops. I might still write the storyline for Arson just for fun (just Arson; I had the same problem with Project Yin), but for now, until I can get some reliable assistance, I'm gonna take this one step at a time.
2007-02-22 15:21:36Back on Track!
I finally managed to get this train rollin' again. Chapter 3 of Arson is pretty much complete, and should be posted shortly, and I finally fixed those darn "<div>" tag glitches that kept showing up in Internet Explorer. Hopefully I'll be able to hit up the new Web Development pages soon.
More importantly, I managed to make some modest progress with BLUEngn. The license and copyrights are updated, and that infernal 0x3 error, although still present *sigh*, only presents itself in one thread (NTDLL.DLL). I'll probably post a new build (BETA 0.1) once I fix whatever I did to the TEXTURE class, which I'm debugging now. Additionally, I'm putting together a new computer to add to my rig, on which I'll be running Red Hat Fedora Linux, so I'll be able to start working on Linux support. There might still be some hope yet for a solid, error-free build of BLUEngn within the year, so keep your fingers crossed!
2007-02-09 21:21:09Stalled Progress
I'll be honest; I haven't made any real progress within the past month. BLUEngn had to take a back seat as I went through the process of moving (as noted earlier), but even after getting settled I ran into a few huge problems with the POLYSTRING class, and eventually with the texture class, which decided not to work at all. If that wasn't bad enough, I still have to deal with the 0x3 exit code error, and all while getting an American driver's license and a new job. *sigh* It isn't easy doing all of this as just one person...hopefully I'll get some help on this.
In addition to the engine delays, Arson hasn't received much attention, mostly due to writer's block, occasional lack of time, having more important things to do, dealing with Windows and wireless network issues, and my struggle to resist my addiction to World of Warcraft (which is proving successful, btw). I should be able to get back on track with Arson, and maybe even some of Omega Yin, within the week. BLUEngn will take as long as it takes, as per usual for software of its nature.
In the mean time, I have been considering starting up some new side projects, Codename: Grey being one of them. I don't have anything substantial on it right now, just some plans and outlines. Right now I'm still deciding whether or not to develop it using the current BLUEngn beta or wait until I get more features added and more bugs removed. Additionally, I've been considering doing some experimentation with scripted layered web pages. I figure that with enough time and development, one might be able to emulate a three-dimensional browsing experience using the web technologies currently available, albeit an imperfect one. I've also considered resurrecting the ASP.NET forum software that I originally intended to put into the site, back when I first bought this domain. Of course, if there's even the slightest chance that I can get textures to start working again within the next week, these side projects will definitely be put in their place, on the side.
This site, of course, will keep going through various fixes and modifications as time goes on, and as per usual, I'll keep you updated on what's going on. If and when the engine decides to cooperate with me again, I'll post another progress update to let you know what works, what doesn't, and what new or old bugs exist. Keep checking in.
2007-01-22 06:04:55DEVing Hiatus Over
Finally settled in again! Hope you didn't miss us, search engine bots...wait, are there any human readers here? Anyway, dealing with the move and the holidays ended up being one huge programming break, which was good for site development and writing for Project Yin, but left BLUEngn (and consequently Nautilus, et al) alone to gather dust. Now that it's all over with we can get back to business!
Don't worry too much about the delay, though; the time wasn't idly spent. We've pseudo-coded a lot of the additions and fixes intended to be inserted into the beta, and we've started up a small game project (referred to here on out as Codename: Grey until further notice) that should help us bring in some revenue. Also, we've been working on building a solid business plan, and we're trying to organize our work into some sort of timeline or schedule...a feat I'm afraid may be futile to attempt. Anyway, we'll keep you posted on further developments. Right now, I need to get some sleep. (6:17 AM Central)
2007-01-04 20:47:59RSS Upgrade
Good news, cell phone users: The DigitalAqua Dev Feed is now featured with full stories and news articles! Take the most pertinent info from DAquaDev with you, or read the latest chapter from Project Yin, all from one easy-to-read feed!
2006-12-21 07:45:28Arson Has Begun!
The Project Yin has officially kicked off with the first chapter of Arson. You can read the prologue in the Project Yin section. More should be coming soon.
2006-12-09 17:54:25BLUEngn BETA 0.0 Released!
Consider this our early Christmas present to you! You can download it from the downloads page of the BLUEngn part of the site!
2006-11-28 23:43:59New Icons
With the rising popularity of Window Vista style icons (you know, the candy-colored glassy-cartooned look) I began to wonder if I should try to make my icons conform to the trend. I tried, and I didn't like what came of it. However, after playing around with Macromedia Fireworks, I managed to make the bevel effects cooler and way more realistic! Check 'em out around the site!
2006-11-28 23:43:31Release Date: X-Mas!
Yep, it's official: the first Beta build of BLUEngn will be released during the week of Christmas! Mark that week on your calendar, folks!
2006-11-23 15:27:14Coming Soon: Kappa Build 0.0
I'm happy to announce that I'll be able to set up a kappa release of BLUEngn possibly within the next few weeks. I call it a kappa release because referring to it as a beta would imply that this is a test version of the final product, and it isn't. It sooooo isn't. This build will be released to give you all a feel for how the engine is meant to be set up. It won't have full functionality (understatement of the century :P), and there will be plenty of bugs, but it will be open-source and free for personal use. Also, if you'd like to contribute any ideas, code, or add-ons to the engine, I'd really appreciate it! You can contact me via email at i_sniff_blue@digitalaquadev.net. You can keep checking the site and forums for more info and a possible release date.
2006-11-17 10:44:35Progress Update, Release Date?
As of right now, all POLYGON classes and class OBJECT are fully operational, though there are some memory leaks still being worked out. The TEXT class is going through a total revamp (no more raster fonts; using textures now). The TEXTURE class is being modified to support environment mapping and other features. I'm putting a temporary halt on the development of the script classes, since their no good if the engine doesn't work, so the MODEL class cannot do scripted actions. The pixel shaders still haven't been made, and the virtual light class still hasn't been created, so the engine is still dependent on OpenGL's built-in lighting system, but at least now all the lighting is done correctly. This also means shadowing isn't supported. The array, matrix, string, and clock classes are still working, and the window-related classes (WINDOWCLASS, KEYBOARD, MOUSE, etc.) are still working perfectly; in fact, WINDOWCLASS now has the ability generate child windows, though there are still bugs being worked out for that feature. The ENVIRONMENT class is currently being modified to support a SkyBox/SkyDome. Work is underway for joystick support. Audio and video are still not supported. Particles still not supported. HDR not supported.
Well, if it hasn't already been made obvious, the official first build of BLUEngn won't be done anytime soon. It's not that I can't handle the workload (although working on an engine all by yourself is quite a struggle), it's just that there are a number of other things going on right now, including a move and a job search, and eventually a job. I can't really lay down a date for the first build of the engine, but I can promise you I WILL get it done...I didn't come this far for nothin'! In the meantime, though, I will release beta builds every time I feel the features that are already in the engine run smoothly and are solid enough to release to the public, and I'll throw in tutorials with the package, since making a documentation would just take even longer. I might not let the betas stay open-source, though, since registering code for copyrights cost money. I'll announce if and when I release a beta build.
2006-11-14 02:26:41Modest Changes, Pseudo-Hiatus
We've made a few small modification and optimizations to the site. Users should find that the graphics load faster. Also we've updated the RSS Feed so that it can show you the latest news, and it's prepared for when we start posting stories for Project Yin. Also, the site forum is now capable of being seen from within the site or as a standalone site. We also expanded the right column, so we have more room for links and ads.
All this being said, we probably won't be doing much to the site design right now, since we're still developing our products. We'll still be posting at the DEV Forums and at Geil4Fun, but we're taking a "pseudo-hiatus" from web DEVing to finish DEVing BLUEngn...if that makes any sense...
2006-11-12 18:09:05RSS Feed
Alright! Now we've got our own RSS feed! Keepin' you updated! Check it out!
2006-11-09 16:39:52Progress Update
Models and Environments are working. The script engine structure is underway, with plans for script types and an inheritance structure for scripted class types. Still working on fixing the lighting defects with the quadrics. Also debugging the Environment and Model classes Saving and Loading algos (binary write issue with script::variable class).
2006-11-08 17:01:02DEV Forums
Well, I've given up trying to program my own forum; debugging ASP.NET is just too much for me to deal with right now, and there's still the engine to finish up. There's no point in reinventing the wheel, anyway. Fortunately, Admin Kris gave me a section of Geil4Fun for me to moderate that's all about DEVing, so it all works out! Check it out!
2006-10-22 16:47:12Finally on the Net!
I finally convinced myself to go ahead and buy a webspace. Of course, I still have to work out the bugs and inaccuracies within the site, and now I'll have to get the site to work on more than just Mozilla Firefox...oh well. At least this is one more thing out of the way.
