Game Development – Kevin Gulling

Coaster of Carnage VR – New Trailers, Official Release Date

keving — Tue, 31 Oct 2017 16:45:11 +0000

Happy Halloween!

With the Steam release pending, I’ve decided to share the new trailer for Coaster of Carnage VR that will appear on the Steam store here as a Halloween surprise. Many of you may have been following the development since the announcement last year (2016), and may know that just recently the title was Greenlit on Steam by our fans! So first of all, a big thanks to all who visited the greenlight page and chose to upvote Coaster of Carnage VR! We have been working hard at ARVRCADE to bring you an “Early Access” version of the game for Halloween, unfortunately, it will likely premiere on Steam on or around the first week of Nov. But as a bonus for all those that purchase during early access, we are planning on giving it a Christmas twist that will be accessible in December! I’ll leave a link here to it when the store page is finally online! [http://store.steampowered.com/agecheck/app/737260/?beta=0]

If you aren’t familiar in Coaster of Carnage VR, players ride an abandoned roller coaster in the middle of a spooky, horror-filled carnival. Here’s the newest trailer that highlights Vive use, where rather than a headlamp, the Vive controller is utilized as a flashlight!

The upcoming release will be an “Early Access” version which is a status available in the Steam store used to release an incomplete, but fully functional game version. So not only will it be great for some scares throughout the year, but coming October of 2018 when the game is scheduled for official release, there will be many new scares, features, and improvements! Those with early access will be able to offer ideas for the next scares, and those with ideas that we use will be given a spot in the credits, also the Christmas version that will be available in December, so make sure you check it out!

PS thanks to everyone who came out Friday night for the premiere party! Here’s some shots of your reactions:

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How to embed 360 pictures on your website – 1000 AE Sneak Peak

keving — Sun, 27 Aug 2017 10:44:44 +0000

With the emergence of VR, 360 degree video and images have become a popular form of media across the web. Facebook allows users to embed these images directly simply by uploading them. But how do you post a 360 image on your website or blog? 360player.io is a great resource for developers that accomplishes just that. Simply sign up for a free account, upload your 360 image/video in the proper format ( equirectangular 2:1, also for many players metadata for the associated image may be required). On Facebook you simply upload the image as you would any other image and as long as the metadata and format are correct, it is automatically converted to 360.

A 360 degree shot looking at Sol II from the satellite Lua: ARVRCADES 1000 AE for Vive/Oculus

360 image before processing

If you are wondering how you can capture these 360 degree images, there are different ways to accomplish this. You can capture real 360 pictures with the Android app Google Cardboard and Cardboard Camera available in the Play store. If you are interested in capturing a 360 shot of your project, 3d model(s) or game, there is a bit more to it. (Contact me for more info).

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Agar.io Strategy Guide, Hints, Tips, Legal Cheats, Hacks

keving — Tue, 18 Jul 2017 23:28:59 +0000

Agar.io Strategy, Hints, Tips, Cheats and Hacks!

Agar.io is another great online massively multiplayer browser game/app utilizing socket.io. You start out on a large square grid as a cell around 38-45 mass (It seems that sometimes you spawn on top of mass particles, so you can get a little bonus right from the start if you are lucky). There are little hexagonal particles of mass that spawn randomly on the map, and you gain mass by gobbling up these small bits of mass. It’s sort of like Pacman meets Odell lake. You can also gain mass by eating smaller cells, so when you start the game you are on the very bottom of the food chain!

Agar.io Beginners Guide

Objective – In FFA the object is to gain mass until you reach the leaderboard to show off your massiveness! There are also daily missions which give you coins and “DNA” if completed. In Rush mode the object is to be the largest cell when the timer expires.

Viruses – Viruses are the green spiked circles, and spawn at random around the map. A virus can be a safe haven for a cell of smaller mass. For cells larger than the virus, running into a virus will cause the cell to split up into 16 different pieces. This can be a good if you are able to keep all your cells because when you are in 16 parts you can eat viruses, but more commonly this can be your downfall. When nearby cells spot a cell being split by a virus, a frenzy of sorts begins. Cells from all over the map will risk there little cell lives just to try and get a piece of you, often times at their own peril.

Cell bursting on virus – Agar.io

Mass Ejection – Press ‘W’ on the keyboard to eject mass in the direction you are traveling. There are many reasons to eject mass, but most commonly it is used to transfer mass from one cell to another. If you see two opposing cells doing “feeding” each other in FFA, watch out, this is most likely a team! (Teams dominate FFA, go figure).

Split Mass – Press ‘Space’ on your keyboard to split your cell in half, ejecting one half in the direction you are traveling. The most common reason one would opt to split in half is to “eat” another cell. Make sure you are more than twice the mass of the cell you are trying to eat, or it will fail and you will either not be able to eat the cell you targeted, or if you overestimated your mass by too much, the cell you target can even eat you! Another common use for this function is to avoid being eaten entirely! When being hunted by larger cells a well timed split will insure that only half of you is eaten, and you will live to see another day! If your cell is smaller than 38 mass, you will not be able to split).

Strategies – There is one strategy that works fantastic for me most of the time. This method involves spending about 5 minutes or so farming mass particles and avoiding all larger cells, and maintaining a friendly relationship with cells in your size range (chasing a slightly smaller cell is usually fruitless, and will likely get you both killed!). Also it’s wise to keep in mind that when you are a small cell, you are a huge target! Trust no one! In the video below I’ll show you how to use this strategy to make it onto the leaderboard in about 10 minutes.

Of course one of the most popular strategies is the social game in Agar.io. Feed the right cell and you might have made a friend for life (of your cell)! But watch out, there are those who will eat you even if you do feed them. A good sign that a cell is willing to cooperate is if they eject some mass back at you in exchange. Also beware of traders though! About 50% of the cells that try to make friends, do so only to eat cannibalize their friends! This is a strategy that I don’t really recommend, as it may be a quick boost, but generally you will make an enemy for life by doing so, and getting revenge is one of the sweetest things to do in Agar.io!

With a good teammate it’s easy to dominate the map!

Hacks/Cheats – It’s likely that some bad hacks exist for this game, but I’m not going to be covering any hacks of that sort. There are “legal” hacks that I will focus on instead. The most common being using your name field to communicate to other cells with language or symbols. A popular use of this is for teams to use a “tag” on the beginning of their username, so that they can easily be identified as a teammate no matter what skin the cell is using. For example a couple popular groups are “MK” and “FBI”, and when they play they generally have a large team working together to easily dominate the entire map for hours on end! Another popular use is to mention teams in your name. Usually a cell with the name “team” is willing to cooperate, but still watch out for the predators, not every cell named team is actually friendly!

Another simple hack is to log on every hour and collect 20 free coins. When you want to play, if you have a couple hundred coins you can pick up a nice boost that lasts for an hour, which can be very helpful!

Now to the good stuff! If you want a real edge over the competition, you might decide that using ‘W’ and ‘Space’ are not the easiest keys to use. Sometimes you really have to mash that ‘W’, and sometimes you have to be very precise! Using a programmable input emulator we can change those keys to whatever keys we like! I am using GlovePIE, an old but still working PIE utility. FreePie is another one. There are others out there, let us know in the comments if you know of any other good PIE’s! The script I like to use is making the left mouse button work as ‘W’ in addition to ‘W’. If you need to eject some mass quickly, you can mash both the ‘W’ key and the ‘LMB’ and eject an incredible amount of mass very quickly! Download the Agar.io GlovePIE script.

Pro Tips – Now that you know the basics, here are a few pro tips to remember:

The longer you hold down Space to split your cell, the further you will eject half your mass. This is helpful for reaching cells that are far off.
You probably shouldn’t trust anyone unless you know them personally. Agar.io players are treacherous!
If a cell that is slightly larger than you has almost encapsulated you, don’t split, don’t eject mass, just stay on course and try to direct your cell into the particles in your path. Your opponent will be unable to collect any particles while following you, so after collecting enough particles, you will grow bigger than the cell chasing you. My my, how the tables have turned! This is also generally a sign that you are up against a newb, most vets know that the smaller cell is faster!
When you are small, sometimes you can find a giant cell and use it as parasitic host of sorts. Most large cells won’t risk trying to come too near to a giant cell so it can be a safe haven at times.

If you like this guide please subscribe to my blog! See you on Agar.io!

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Rust Skin “Slave Tank Top” T-Shirt Design – Gear for your Slaves

keving — Mon, 12 Jun 2017 16:26:30 +0000

Slave Tank Top Rust Skin

A tank top for your hard working slaves. Now if your slaves wander too far, your neighbor will know to blow their head off and send ’em on back home.

Support this skin by visiting Steam and voting “Yes” and adding it to your favorites it:

“Slaves”, also known as “Workers” in Rust are players that do utilitarian work, such as gathering wood and stone. Using slaves in Rust enables clans to build large bases fast. The concept is simple really, generally it involves finding some players with little experience who are interested in joining up with your team/clan, or just trying to get a decent start in the game without getting killed so easily. Depending on who you slave for you can generally rank up to a normal clan member eventually after hours of hard slaving!

If you play Rust and are interested in working as a slave to help build some of Rusts largest and most badass monuments and buildings, add me on Steam and I’ll give you the details, such as our current server and such. If you are a dedicated and hard worker we will even pay you in skins (which are worth actual money)!

It’s not always bad to be a slave in Rust, but watch this hilarious video by faceless as they wrangle some fresh slaves for trade on the market XD

Some tips for fellow slave masters:
-Don’t ever let your slaves into the treasury until after so many hours, about 10% of the volunteer slaves are actually trolls looking to reck your base! (true fact)
-Don’t give your slaves guns, it makes it too easy for them to kill you and take yours, slaves should be equipped with hatchets and pick axes and if you are a kind slave master, a “Slave Tank Top”.
-Don’t kill your slaves and laugh at them. While this may be entertaining to you, I find that usually your slaves will get bored of this behavior and eventually move on.

If you have any ideas for future skins/mods, hit me up on Steam, or by email, or leave a comment below!

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Arduino + SPO2 Pulse Oximeter + Unity3D – Teardown Tuesday

keving — Tue, 17 Jan 2017 23:30:15 +0000

Arduino + SPO2 Pulse Oximeter + Unity3D

After a recent hospital visit, I was given a disposable spo2 sensor to monitor my oxygen saturation and pulse which is standard practice these days. Rather than let the nurse toss my sensor afterwards, I decided to take it home and tinker with it. It would be pretty neat to have my own spo2 monitor at home, never know when it could come in handy! I am especially interested in the applications that it can be applied to in the gaming world, such as fitness gaming, so I created a Unity asset that can handle the readings and graph the results, much like an ECG.

A couple of you have asked for more details about the project so here’s everything I have so far (work in progress).

I couldn’t find much on the exact sensors that Masimo uses in their resposable SP02 sensors, so disclaimer: I’m just sort of winging it here, there is definitely more info needed to perfect this project… That being said, without wasting any more time, here is the project:

Project materials:
-Arduino Uno R3
-Masimo Universal Resposable SPO2 Pulse Oximeter
-Breadboard
-10k resistor
-220 resistor
-330 resistor

SPO2 sketch:

The circuit:

This handy tool I made in Unity reads the data we send to the serial com and graphs it for us in a manner that emulates an ECG.

Download Unity3D SPO2 grapher for Windows

You’ll notice that I commented out a few lines in the sketch. Enable these lines if you would rather plot your graph using an online tool such as FooPlot rather than the realtime Unity3d made monitor.

If you have any information to contribute for the advancement of this project, leave a comment or contact me and I’ll be sure to keep this article up-to-date with new findings! If you have any questions go ahead and leave those in the comments as well and I’ll do my best to answer any.

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Hello World Arduino Uno R3 Morse Code Sketch – 2016

keving — Fri, 11 Nov 2016 20:09:39 +0000

Recently I decided to get started prototyping the VR device I invented back in 2014. I chose to use an Arduino Uno R3 for my micro-controller. I was amazed how easy it was to get started right out of the box!

Below is a copy of my first Arduino “Sketch” (they are known as sketches rather than programs or scripts), it repeats “hello world” in Morse code.

This is a very simple way to accomplish this, not necessarily the best way. I don’t store any values or functions which would probably improve the efficiency a little.



void setup() {

  pinMode(13, OUTPUT);
}
void loop() {

  //hello world morse code
  //H

  digitalWrite(13, HIGH);   // sets the LED on

  delay(200);                  // waits for a second

  digitalWrite(13, LOW);    // sets the LED off

  delay(100);

  digitalWrite(13, HIGH);   // sets the LED on

  delay(200);                  // waits for a second

  digitalWrite(13, LOW);    // sets the LED off

  delay(100);

  digitalWrite(13, HIGH);   // sets the LED on

  delay(200);                  // waits for a second

  digitalWrite(13, LOW);    // sets the LED off

  delay(100);

  digitalWrite(13, HIGH);   // sets the LED on

  delay(200);                  // waits for a second
  //break

  digitalWrite(13, LOW);    // sets the LED off

  delay(400);
  //E

  digitalWrite(13, HIGH);   // sets the LED on

  delay(200);   
  //break

  digitalWrite(13, LOW);    // sets the LED off

  delay(400);
  //L

  digitalWrite(13, HIGH);   // sets the LED on

  delay(200);

  digitalWrite(13, LOW);    // sets the LED off

  delay(100);

  digitalWrite(13, HIGH);   // sets the LED on

  delay(400);

  digitalWrite(13, LOW);    // sets the LED off

  delay(100);

  digitalWrite(13, HIGH);   // sets the LED on

  delay(200);

  digitalWrite(13, LOW);    // sets the LED off

  delay(100);

  digitalWrite(13, HIGH);   // sets the LED on

  delay(200);
  //break

  digitalWrite(13, LOW);    // sets the LED off

  delay(400);
  //L

  //dit

  digitalWrite(13, HIGH);   // sets the LED on

  delay(200);

  digitalWrite(13, LOW);    // sets the LED off

  delay(100);

  //dah

  digitalWrite(13, HIGH);   // sets the LED on

  delay(400);

  digitalWrite(13, LOW);    // sets the LED off

  delay(100);

  //dit

  digitalWrite(13, HIGH);   // sets the LED on

  delay(200);

  digitalWrite(13, LOW);    // sets the LED off

  delay(100);

  //dit

  digitalWrite(13, HIGH);   // sets the LED on

  delay(200);
  //break

  digitalWrite(13, LOW);    // sets the LED off

  delay(400);
  //O

  //dah

  digitalWrite(13, HIGH);   // sets the LED on

  delay(400);

  digitalWrite(13, LOW);    // sets the LED off

  delay(100);

  //dah

  digitalWrite(13, HIGH);   // sets the LED on

  delay(400);

  digitalWrite(13, LOW);    // sets the LED off

  delay(100);

  //dah

  digitalWrite(13, HIGH);   // sets the LED on

  delay(400);
  //word break

  digitalWrite(13, LOW);    // sets the LED off

  delay(1600);
  //W

  //dit

  digitalWrite(13, HIGH);   // sets the LED on

  delay(200);

  digitalWrite(13, LOW);    // sets the LED off

  delay(100);

  //dah

  digitalWrite(13, HIGH);   // sets the LED on

  delay(400);

  digitalWrite(13, LOW);    // sets the LED off

  delay(100);

  //dah

  digitalWrite(13, HIGH);   // sets the LED on

  delay(400);
  //break

  digitalWrite(13, LOW);    // sets the LED off

  delay(400);
  //O

  //dah

  digitalWrite(13, HIGH);   // sets the LED on

  delay(400);

  digitalWrite(13, LOW);    // sets the LED off

  delay(100);

  //dah

  digitalWrite(13, HIGH);   // sets the LED on

  delay(400);

  digitalWrite(13, LOW);    // sets the LED off

  delay(100);

  //dah

  digitalWrite(13, HIGH);   // sets the LED on

  delay(400);
  //break

  digitalWrite(13, LOW);    // sets the LED off

  delay(400);
  //R

  //dit

  digitalWrite(13, HIGH);   // sets the LED on

  delay(200);

  digitalWrite(13, LOW);    // sets the LED off

  delay(100);

  //dah

  digitalWrite(13, HIGH);   // sets the LED on

  delay(400);

  digitalWrite(13, LOW);    // sets the LED off

  delay(100);

  //dit

  digitalWrite(13, HIGH);   // sets the LED on

  delay(200);
  //break

  digitalWrite(13, LOW);    // sets the LED off

  delay(400);
   //L

  //dit

  digitalWrite(13, HIGH);   // sets the LED on

  delay(200);

  digitalWrite(13, LOW);    // sets the LED off

  delay(100);

  //dah

  digitalWrite(13, HIGH);   // sets the LED on

  delay(400);

  digitalWrite(13, LOW);    // sets the LED off

  delay(100);

  //dit

  digitalWrite(13, HIGH);   // sets the LED on

  delay(200);

  digitalWrite(13, LOW);    // sets the LED off

  delay(100);

  //dit

  digitalWrite(13, HIGH);   // sets the LED on

  delay(200);
  //break

  digitalWrite(13, LOW);    // sets the LED off

  delay(400);
  //D

  //dah

  digitalWrite(13, HIGH);   // sets the LED on

  delay(400);

  digitalWrite(13, LOW);    // sets the LED off

  delay(100);

   //dit

  digitalWrite(13, HIGH);   // sets the LED on

  delay(200);

  digitalWrite(13, LOW);    // sets the LED off

  delay(100);

  //dit

  digitalWrite(13, HIGH);   // sets the LED on

  delay(200);

  //final break

  digitalWrite(13, LOW);    // sets the LED off

  delay(3200);

}

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Carnival Coaster of Carnage VR on Steam Greenlight

keving — Sun, 02 Oct 2016 10:08:06 +0000

Coaster of Carnage now on Steam Greenlight

This Halloween take a true thrill ride on a deserted roller coaster through a spooky carnival! Coaster of Carnage is a short virtual reality roller coaster ride with a Halloween horror theme. Guts and gore, clowns and cadavers, blood and bones, and a cohort of Satans rejects! What could be more fun? Not intended for the faint of heart.

If you want to help Coaster of Carnage get the Greenlight from Steam, please check it out here and give it a like, a share, or a comment!

Coaster of Carnage will be available for Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and a mobile version for GearVR, and Google Cardboard.

Special thanks to the following for donating assets to the project:
Timbre, TheSubber13, tweedledee3, sironboy, ivolipa, Jaylew1987, dheming, thefaceless and djol! Without you guys donating to the community, indie games like this wouldn’t be possible! Thanks again!

Edit: Release has been pushed back to 2017 so that we can launch the Cardboard, GearVR, Rift and Vive version all at the same time! Make sure you give us a thumbs up on the Greenlight submission so that Valve picks it up in time this time around

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Altspace Now a Platform for Live Entertainment

keving — Thu, 15 Sep 2016 10:00:01 +0000

Live Events in Virtual Reality!

We all knew it was coming, but how well do these events fare?

Screen capture of Reggie Watts, live on Altspace

Last night Reggie Watts performed a 1 hour standup live on Altspace for hundreds of viewers utilizing a new addition to Altspace that they are calling “Front Row”. Now a lot of you know that I was creating a live social platform in VR at the same time as Altspace (Multiplayer VR) but Altspace has taken my idea to a new level and I commend them for the work they’ve done, they are doing a fantastic job!

Altspace, for everyone!

Altspace can be ran on the Oculus Rift, the HTC Vive, and even GearVR and Cardboard! For this reason Altspace is currently the best option for a social experience in VR, because of the broad spectrum of hmd’s supported, which includes over 90% of VR users. One of the reasons I am discontinuing support for Multiplayer VR (besides the fact that it only runs with legacy pre 0.6 sdk) is that there were not enough Oculus Rift users alone to populate the rooms enough to be entertaining.

Some of you who haven’t been to a live event in VR, or have yet to use Altspace may be wondering how such an thing works? in my opinion it is much like going to an event in reality. At the Reggie Watts event there were people in the back of the room, away from the stage, having conversations. People up front nearest the monitors (the audio source for the live audio feed) bobbing their heads and dancing to the music, and of course just people watching the entertainment!

Connect with me on Altspace: KevinGulling.com

Also big thanks @reggiewatts for being one of the first celebs with some vision of the future! It was great meeting you, funny as hell! Come back to VR soon!

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Top 10 Free SteamVR Apps

keving — Sun, 31 Jul 2016 20:35:57 +0000

10 Free SteamVR Apps

After shelling out close to a thousand dollars on the Vive, you might find yourself a little light on funds for new games. Fortunately there are quite a few titles available for free. As of July 2016, here are some of my favorite free Steam VR apps:

1. The Lab

Valve’s “the Lab” is a compilation of mini-games.

Download the Lab

2. NightCafe

Originally released for Oculus Rift in 2015, NightCafe is now available on SteamVR!

Download NightCafe

3. The Cubicle

I almost didn’t download this. That would have been a mistake!

Download the Cubicle

4. Waltz of the Wizard

Tons of magic to play with!
Download Waltz of the Wizard

5. VR Funhouse

Want to play carnival games without paying two bucks a throw? Nvidia shows off their debut VR experience.

Download VR Funhouse

6. Abe VR

Another Oculus Rift adaptation for the Vive.

Download Abe VR

7. The Foo Show

If you are a fan of Will Smith, you have to check out the Foo show featuring Will Smith.

Download The Foo Show

8. The Rose and I

This is a VR short film.

Download The Rose and I

9. Broomball

Download Broomball

10. Ikea VR Experience

Download Ikea VR Experience

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Install a Cardboard or Gear VR apk on your Samsung s6, s7 or note5

keving — Thu, 05 May 2016 07:49:28 +0000

How to Install a GearVR or Cardboard App

Recently I have been developing an abundance of Cardboard and Gear VR apps for clients. I am commonly asked “How do I install a Gear VR apk?” or “How to install a Cardboard apk?”. Installing a GearVR .apk or Cardboard .apk (an apk is the file type for an Android application) on your Samsung s6, s7 or note 5 without downloading it from the Samsung Store or Play Store using a PC takes just a few easy steps.

You will need:

Compatible Samsung Phone
PC
Micro USB cable (like the one pictured below)
a Gear VR or Cardboard to use App
If you are installing an apk for Gear VR, you will need to make sure that your developer adds your osig to the app.

Step 1 – Enable Developer Mode

Enable developer mode on your phone by opening the settings and tapping “About”. Then locate the section called “Build Number” and tap it 7 times. (See image below)

Step 2 – Samsung USB Drivers

Go to Samsung’s website and download the USB drivers for your specific phone (See image below). Install these drivers.

This is a screenshot of Samsung’s website as of May 2016

Step 3 – Connect Phone to PC

Plug your phone into your PC with your micro USB cable. If the Samsung USB drivers were successfully downloaded and installed, your computer will recognize that your device has been plugged in and your phone will ask to give permission for access. Tap allow Your phone will now show up as a removable storage drive on your computer..

Step 4 – Transfer Cardboard or Gear VR .apk

Open windows explorer and navigate to your phones drive. Create a folder inside your phone called “My Apps” or anything you want. Drag your .apk file from your computer into the folder you just created on your phones drive.

Step 5 – Install Cardboard or Gear VR apk

Open the file explorer app (default file explorer is called “My Files”) on your phone and navigate to Device Storage > My Apps. You should see your apk listed. Tap this and then select “Install”. After installation you can open this app any time just like any app you downloaded from the store!

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