So I took this programming quiz, and here are the results:

"Your programmer personality type is:

DHSB

You're a Doer. You are very quick at getting tasks done. You believe the outcome is the most important part of a task and the faster you can reach that outcome the better. After all, time is money.

You like coding at a High level.
The world is made up of objects and components, you should create your programs in the same way.

You work best in a Solo situation.
The best way to program is by yourself. There's no communication problems, you know every part of the code allowing you to write the best programs possible.

You are a liBeral programmer.
Programming is a complex task and you should use white space and comments as freely as possible to help simplify the task. We're not writing on paper anymore so we can take up as much room as we need."

Spot-on, I'd say.

XNA freaking rocks. Just thought I'd say that. I just followed the first XNA tutorial and I was floored that there's a "Model" class, and sutff like that. I thought it would be a lot harder.

Anyways, Polar Nights may be delayed. There's a medium to strong possibility. In the meantime I'm working on a flash video, a 2D turn-based strategy game for my grandpa, and I'm strongly considering making a 2D version of Animal Crossing. It's a lot.

Especially considering that since I created this blog I've joined TagWorld and Facebook, plus I have my old blog Carol of the Bells and main hub the Temple of Andrex to continually update too. It's almost like my entire personality is being drained out into these five websites as I struggle to continually update them with mountains of content on me.

But then again I think that's what I wanted. I never want to be bored on the internet, and now that I have five giant websites to update frequently, I never will be. That is, until I drop one or more. Until then, I have a lot to do!

This kind of post seems like it should be on Carol of the Bells. x_x I'm confident Polar Nights will be finished eventually. I have a texturer, and I'm both a programmer and modeller (in-training), so for now I have all I need. Thanks MS for such a great programming language and toolkit!

(Check out CB Model Pro, it's free FOR NOW, since it's in Beta. After 15 days you need to register, (for free), but the software is really intuitive.)

Oh yeah, Sonic and the Secret Rings comes out tomorrow! No way I'd miss out on a great new Wii game (especially since this is a drought, Sega new what they were doing releasing it now). Strange that Sonic's return is marked on a Nintendo platform, when his Xbox 360 and PS3 "revivals" bombed on all levels a game can fail at. I'll post a review here after some significant time with it. Check out the latest trailer below.
 

string deck

(

string spadeAce("3", "ace of spades", "false"),

string spadeTwo("2", "two of spades", "false"),

...

);

drawnCard = deck[randomValue];

drawnCard[randomValue[2]] = true;

info.Label = "You drew a " + drawnCard[randomValue[1]];

If I ran Microsoft for a month, I'd make a lot of lasting changes that would mostly unify them in a better way to take on competitors, but not only in the OS market. This is of course ignoring the fact I'd transfer millions of dollars to an untraceable Swiss bank account and shortly disappear thereafter. =P

First, I'd make everything unified. Microsoft's already gone halfway by renaming a lot of things with the Windows moniker. I'd go a few steps further, though. Any MS program has to be "Windows [Program]". Everything. Windows Word, Windows Paint, Windows Studio, etc. Microsoft needs to eliminate it's entire brand name if people are to trust them again. Pathetic, but at this point it's the only thing that would be swiftly effective.

Next is online. Windows Live Search, Windows Live Spaces, etc. are great unifications. But this is the web, not an OS. "Live" is definitely a good title to bestow to any Microsoft-based internet application. But then we have MSN. Sorry MSN, but anything with "Microsoft" has to go, even if it is an acronym that most people don't know what it means. Rename it the "Live Network", and bring Live Search, Live Spaces, Live Studio (a toolkit for web-development, more on that soon), etc. This would already fall in line with the Xbox Live Network. Xbox is named as such because it was originally called the DirectX Box, and DX has built itself it's own niche with products like Direct3D and DirectSound conforming to it's brand name.

Back to Live Studio. Microsoft is so intent on capturing developers, it's even giving away Visual Studio and related products with an attached "Express Edition" name to lure developers to make applications for Windows, the only thing going for it at this time. So if MS is so intent on making websites conform to IE7, why not give them an easier way to do it? An application that automatically sets up design elements, XML, HTML, CSS, and even Java/Ajax would make any web developer's day.

I'd make a Live Terminal program, which is essentially a Windows program that takes news, friends' Space posts, etc., and displays it across the top of the screen like a ticker, and when you click a headline a new tab would open up in IE.

Another inconsistency is the Menu Bar in Windows Vista. In some apps it's there, in others it's not. Then pressing Alt brings it back. That bar was really useful, so I'd bring it back if it was possible. If it's not, make another graphic bar along the lines of IE7 with at least these commands: New [Whatever], Save, Save As, Copy, Cut, Paste, and Help all with consistent, glossy graphics, with a check-list option of removing any one you want.

I'd also rebrand Visual Studio and .NET. As I've said, Visual Studio would become Windows Studio, and it would include C++, J#, C#, VB#, etc. Basically, anything ".NET" is now "Sharp". ".NET" is bad because it's also a generic top-level domain name, which could lead to confusion, and adding a period to the beggining of anything, (and capitalizing it), is horribly outdated.

Touching on VS, MSDN needs a Web 2.0 upgrade like no other website I've ever seen. It's that bad. Searching for a specific method or video can take hours. I'd decide how to design it when I got there, but there would be some sort of side-bar for each language under the two headers Live Studio and Windows Studio. From there, a sub-system would open for Downloads, Tutorials, Videos, FAQ, Language Specs, etc. in line with the Windows hierarchy. MSDN might not have to be renamed, but if I did it, it would be called the "Windows + Live Developers Network".

Lastly, I'd completely transform the way Zune operates. It's hardware is great. It's PC software... isn't. I'd completely ditch the Zune Software and Marketplace, instead integrating a "Zune" tab into Windows Media Player, and opening up a "Live Store". The Live Store would be the place to download movies, music, and Xbox 360/Zune Demos/Arcade games. What I mean by the last part is that some Arcade games, like Uno, would be perfect for the Zune, because it can connect through Wi-Fi to the internet for some portable, online card-game fun. Zune already has a D-Pad and three buttons, (Back would be Start, the center button would be A, Play/Pause would be B), so some casual games-on-the-go would surely net MS some more of the cash it dearly desires. I'd make accessing the store via Zune's built-in Wi-Fi a main feature. Finally, I'd port some version of Sharp to the Zune and add a "Games and Applications" folder to the interface so some aspiring developers, (which we've confirmed Microsoft has a hard-on for), can make awesome games and apps like the calculator community already does. To further compete with Apple's iPhone, a small microphone periphiral would be released that plugs into the bottom and includes some bunled VOIP. It's not a perfect solution, and future models would have that and a touch-screen built-in, but at least combined the Zune and microphone wouldn't cost $500, and it would still have all that nice space. =)

So after my month, Microsoft's products would be divided into these categories:
-Windows OSs (Vista, Longhorn Server, Vienna)
-Windows Applications (Windows Media Player, Windows Studio, Windows Word)
-Live Network (Live Spaces, Live Store, Live Network)
-Live Applications (Live Studio)
-Zune (WMP Zune Tab, Zune Sharp, Zune Games)

Basically, unifying Microsoft on three fronts: Desktop (Windows), Internet (Live), Hardware (Direct_), and Portable (Zune). I haven't included their PDA market because it's fine. Windows Mobile needs the Start Button and program tray mapped to the bottom, a desktop with icons to play around with, and some sort of Vista Sidebar-esque updater, but for business stuff, but it's OK as-is. Hopefully MS will take some hints and unify itself, because having to remember three dozen frickin' brand names for their products is confusing as the chicken and the egg for most of their users and install base. Don't get me wrong. I love Microsoft. I want to see these changes. I want Microsoft to have a familiar brand like Apple, YouTube, and Google do. I don't want to see them end up like AOL. So that is precisely why I wrote this, to maybe have a 0.00000000000000001% impact, if even that. But any changes like these are a step in the right direction, in opinion. What's yours?

First, I'm pleased to announce my first C# program has run successfully, without any copy and past. Thank you, thank you. I have to say Microsoft's Visual C# Express is much more than I hoped for. I haven't tried XNA yet, but it seems that Visual C# has yoinked stuff from it already, as I've ran the demo game included with XNA through Visual C#. I'm very impressed with the language so far, it's much more refined than Java in my opinion. I still prefer VB6 though. =P

My first copy of game developer Magazine came, and I'm very impressed. The magazine was split evenly across PC and console platforms, and it was gearing up for GDC in a few weeks. The magazine was also very impressed with Visual Studio, C#, and especially XNA, so it seems I might have chosen a good toolkit for game development.

But this causes problems with Polar Nights. I've heard DarkBasic has weak online multiplayer support. And in order to generate an EXE and have the watermark removed, I'll have to get the non-trial version. Which is fine because I'll get it if it's worth it. If I progress in DB and it can store data on a server and send/receive packets, execute them, and then receive/send back the info, it could be all I need. But C# is my main language right now and if I progress with it I can see it becoming Polar Nights' new foundation. But the dealine's already been (secretly) extended to November. Learning an entire new language will take at least until July. I'm afraid Polar Nights may get a February 2008 release, which makes me upset because it's a Christmas game, there are people who want it, and I keep letting them down. We'll see how this goes.

Come straight out of Mac World is news that Apple's releasing the iPhone, after tons of speculation and scutiny, even down to the name. What do I think of it? I think it sucks. It makes some improvements over the iPod like wireless, touch screen, and a full (hardly) OS included. What's so bad? $600. Including a two-year contract with Cingular. And here's the real kicker: it's 8 GB! WOW! Wait, weren't they supposed to have a super-HDD? Guess that was scrapped. While I wait for IE, touch functionality, and phone capabilities to come to my Zune, I'm quite joyful in the thought that I can always fall back on firmware updates. Lately though, the software side has been crapping out on me; not loading videos, then music, not displaying playlists, and not even recognizing a connected Zune. So I obliterated it from my machine with the intent to download and install the latest version from Zune.net. I manage to download the patch, but about 70% through installing, it chokes. I'll eventually get it. If I was head of the Zune project, I'd scrap the Zune software entirely and have it use Media Player, which is standard on every PC, and syncing would be through Windows Explorer. It would be much easier and bug-free.

Second on today's list of corperate chopping blocks is Sony, who flat-out lied about winning an award for their PS3 controller, the Sucksasses. Oops, I mean Sixaxis. This comes days after the world finally began to trust Sony, who had kept their mouths shut successfully for a few months. Way to blow that up fellas! What, did they think we wouldn't find out? That annoys me, that they didn't think that the Wiimote would be better for the award if motion-sensing and innovation was the case. Gargh! >_<

Finally, I'm moving along in C#, having finally installed Microsoft Visual C# and the XNA Game Studio Express. I've printed out and am reading Wikibook's net-book on C Sharp Programming, and am up to Basics > Variables. I still expect Polar Nights to be written in DarkBasic, but if I learn C# quickly enough and get enough support, an early-switch would still be smooth. The transferrable things are the hardest to make: models, textures, plans, maps, sounds, plot, etc. The only non-portable thing would be code. In that case, the original source can act as some really good pseudocode, (but that may not be efficient). I'll make a decision soon.

It seems that, apart from the Temple of Andrex, my other blog Carol of the Bells, and the website for my Christmas MMORPG Polar Nights, whenever I start a website it fails. Actually I have no idea why I made this. Maybe because I wanted a MySpace without the crappy UI, crappy users, and crappy overrated-ness. I want to document some of my more technical programming ventures while still belonging to a community.

I've come to realize in the past week or so, that I love Microsoft. I've always been hesitant about them because they seemed so split across many different fronts: Windows, MSN, .NET, Xbox, Zune. However, they've been rebranding almost all their assets under the Windows brand name. Windows Vista, Windows Live, Games for Windows... It's all coming together, finally. Unification is one of the things Apple's pulled off right for decades. But back to my original statement: I'm starting to love Microsoft. I love my Zune, I love Vista, I love DirectX, I love XNA, I love .NET, I love C#, and I'd probably love the Xbox 360 if I wasn't such a die-hard Nintendo fanboy.

Currently, I'm working on my afformentioned free 3D Christmas MMORPG, Polar Nights. It started last August as a 2D VBORPG with high ambitions. Before I released it I wanted to add a lot more features, so I delayed it. I then scrapped the engine completely and added the 3rd Dimension. As of right now it's written in DarkBasic and being released in August. However, I've been hearing DBClassic doesn't support online all that well, so I might switch it to something else, preferrably something written in C# if I learn it as fast as I want. That way I could eventually port it to XNA and release it on the 360. I can dream. =) The deadline is August, but it may be pushed back as far as late-November if I'm to make this game as succesful as I want it. I'll definitely be dropping hints about the game mechanics and its plot, that is, if this place survives.