Steam Link Set Top Box, want a preview?

Valve is poised to shake things up in the latter half of this year when it seems they plan to release a number of game changing devices (take this as literally as you like). One of these is the Steam Link set top box which will allow you to use in-home streaming in your living room. This allows you to play all your games on steam from your couch, with potentially all the bells and whistles as the Steam Link has 3 USB ports for keyboard, mouse and controller input.

 

Unfortunately at this stage, only Windows PCs can be hosts for in-home streaming, so someone like myself with an iMac (yes, I'm one of those... whatever they are to you :) ) as my primary computer will have to use Boot Camp (or on other OSes dual boot with your favourite boot loader) and boot into Windows. I'm actually a little surprised that Microsoft hasn't capitalised on this sort of concept with the advantage they have across their ecosystem with Windows and extending the Windows gaming experience in support of the Xbox One and 360 as some sort of living room end-point. Although someone at Microsoft might argue it'll have adverse effects on the bottom line of Xbox, you could equally argue more people would buy the thing as this adds a useful feature. Even Apple could get in on the act if they took the Apple TV a little more seriously and enabled it for peripherals (MFi Game Controllers, like the SteelSeries Peripherals), really beyond gimmicks like the ATV3 setup and bluetooth keyboard, it doesn't offer anything else.

 

Now if you want a little preview of what this could be like, which is no doubt the reason you're here, am I right? You're going to need an Android Set Top Box that has a bit of grunt, Google Play and an nVidia GF series card that supports GameStream, and some compatible games. Keep in mind your mileage may vary, there are almost as many different Android STBs as there are dog breeds, and if you've gone cheap on your network hardware, that may cause you headaches. The app you want to make this happen is called Limelight, you can get it here if you're rooted, or here if you're not.

 

To make life easy, from this point on I've copied and pasted the instructions for you, if you have any issues, there are some troubleshooting tips on the store pages for both versions of the app.

 

Instructions:
1. Make sure GeForce Experience is installed, updated, and that you've scanned for games.
2. In most cases, your PC will show up automatically in the PC list. Click the entry in the PC list to start pairing.
3. On your PC, enter the PIN displayed on the Android device and accept the pairing dialog.
4. Choose your PC in the PC list and the app list will be displayed where you can select a game to stream.

How The Rise of the Mobile Device has Challenged Traditional Dominance

Screenshot from Epic Citadel on iOS, based on Unreal Engine

The release of the iPhone changed a game, but it wasn't a game mere mortals were playing. Big changes in the game space came from the releasing the SDKs for the various mobile platforms allowing even start-ups to get up and running in app development very quickly. Even then apps were initially fairly limited, and it wasn't until it was possible to use technologies like Open GL ES 1.0 and now 2.0 that we've started to see mobile devices like the Samsung Galaxy and the iPhone putting games in the hands of whole new audiences and I'm not talking Sudoku. People who had never played games before are definately playing them now, on the bus, on the train or even at home.

It wasn't too long ago that the dominant powers in gaming were Microsoft and Sony, between PCs and their respective consoles. Fast forward to 2012 and there were more iOS and Android devices sold globally than PCs and consoles, and more of the same is expected for 2013. Couple this with the lacklustre performance of Windows 8 both tablet and desktop and you've got Open GL running toward an open goal, with not even the keeper to beat because he's too busy trying to figure out what "metro" really means. Regardless of whether you're looking at Core Profile or Embedded Open GL, the reality is for indie devs it makes more and more sense.

Beyond this the next stage has to be the lounge room, I've been saying for a while that all I want is games on my Apple TV. Unfortunately the closest I can get to this is OUYA, initially a stupidly successful kickstarter project, it is basically an Apple TV with balls, or really a different focus. Sure with Apple TV you can airplay from your iDevice to your TV screen, but a purely touch interface in this environment is somewhat clumsy, like feeling around in the dark for a switch except all you can feel is glass. There are examples where this works and works well, but they're the exception and not the rule. The Ouya is geared towards the casual gamers, the price point is definately appealing against even the current generation consoles and there are set to be a good number of ports of successful titles from other Android devices and possibly iOS.

Ouya Console and Controller

The only problem I see with the Ouya as a developer is that I have yet another hardware spec to support, but it's one that should be supported for the sake of the Super Meat Boys of this world. Having said all of that I am still keen to see what may come from the Apple corner, and unlike many I don't hope for a TV as I've already got a few of them of the Samsung and Sony variety. I really don't see the need for a "smart TV" if it's already connected to smarter things, if I really want a crippled web browser on my TV screen I'll just use my X360 and the Internet Explorer app and despite having bought into Apple's ecosystem, I'm not a fan of a big chunk of glass forcing me into either UPnP or Zeroconf.

I'm more interested in the current STB, the Apple TV and whether it'll have apps and by extension games. I know even the ATV2 is capable of running OpenGL ES 2.0, the only thing absent from the picture is gaming peripherals, and even then you could do the old Fifa-like phone app to control the big screen action. Of course if you're a developer, all this is just a jailbreak away with the Apple TV 2 and a little effort. I believe the big winner of the next console war will closely align itself to mobile devices from integrating the devices themselves, to direct ports and an app store style approach where the next Angry Birds can be bought for 99 cents.

A Quick Look at ArmA 3 and DayZ

Introduction
ArmA 3 is the next generation Military Simulation from Bohemia Interactive Studio. On March 5th this year they released an Alpha of the game to their pre-purchase customers to assist in the testing phase. The plan is to incrementally release the different capabilities ArmA is known for, starting with Infantry, then progressing to wheeled and tracked vehicles and then finally air vehicles. This approach allows fans of the series to keep a close eye on the development of the product and while Infantry is the primary focus right now, some vehicles are already available.

New Feature - Clouds!
Well, not a new feature, they've suddenly become interesting. On the whole the graphics aren't too different from what ArmA 2 is capable of with a few config tweaks here and there, having said that they have overhauled the cloud system, no longer are they 2D objects rolling through the sky in the same direction, they actually look quite real as the video below shows. In addition they appear to have tweaked the atmospheric lighting to work with the clouds quite well.

New Feature - Infantry Stance

The single biggest enhancement at this stage is the stance system, no longer are you limited to prone, crouched and standing (yes CoD warriors, real people have more than two choices here!), in fact you can go all the way from prone to a seated static position, different levels of crouched and kneeling all the way up to a high stance to peek over stuff, and that's just scratching the surface. For a more detailed look, see this comprehensive video (content from: YouTube: Dyslexci): 

Future of Mods
At this stage it appears mods for the game will have a strong future as there is already a lot of work going on in this space with some users porting islands from ArmA2 and previous games. As for the scripting, the SQF language survives and it's quite possible the native code extensions will make a return to support the backend features seen in mod turned standalone game DayZ, there is also suggestion from the devs that they intend to support object-oriented scripting through Java.

If you haven't seen ArmA II, you can pick up a copy by clicking the image above, the game has recently seen a surge in popularity thanks to the hugely popular zombie survival mod, DayZ. As mentioned before it has now become a standalone developed by BI.

The Only Mod Worth Buying - DayZ

Normally I'm an excessively keen pure first person shooter player, have been since the original Counter-Strike days. The Walking Dead has probably contributed a little to the success of DayZ, as in my personal circumstances I started playing the mod after watching an episode of the show as there was something appealing about attempting to survive a zombie apocalypse in a massive open world with other live people. Whether you team up with others or go it alone the game experience has been quite rewarding and if anything I wish I had more time to play it. Fortunately, if you already own a copy of ArmA 2, you can currently get the mod for free via Play withSIX, which allows you to easily manage mods and other custom content, as well as browsing for servers.

DayZ Blog

Installing JSAF on Fedora 16

I'll freely admit I am a newbie when it comes to JSAF, we recently received a copy and I had the task of attempting to install it under Fedora 16. I assure you it can be done successfully, and to save you a little head scratching here's a few simple steps:

1. Install OpenMotif via the RPM package suitable for your distro (ignore the fact it says fc12, it works!): i686 x86_64
2. At a terminal prompt, sudo yum install xorg-x11-fonts*

The second step will install a number of fonts JSAF depends on, plus a handful it doesn't. You could comb through the font packages and weed out a lot of fluff for a lean and mean VM appliance build, but for my purposes a blanket approach worked just fine. After you've followed these steps, follow the JSAF install instructions provided and you should be good to go.

Keep in mind this is by no means a definitive guide, it's just what I needed to do to get JSAF working for me.

Jamie

VBS2 Amphib Video Pacific 2012

NB: This video may show features not currently available to any customer.

Text from BISim:

This scenario demonstrates the ability of simulation to provide a valuable training asset within the ARG and the Royal Australian Navy in conducting realistic mission rehearsals of operations in a federated environment. Training scenarios using VBS2 are conducted in other Allied Navies worldwide.

Naval training and its specialities, is of key focus for VBS2 2.0. In particular the new release, due to be delivered to the USMC in March 2012, provides excellent support for below waterline, scuba capability, replication of tides and sea states and radar support. An increased demand from BISim's customers has identified these capabilities, amongst others, to be delivered in support of Naval customers worldwide.