2015-12 summary

Across December 2015 recordings, Daniel works on a survival game (managing hunger, warmth, energy, happiness, crafting, combat, and planned marketplace/quest/relationship features) and rewrites its statistics code, while also referencing two previously completed and published App Store games.

Two videos cover Daniel's dissatisfaction with a Sony 16mm f/2.8 lens due to shaky handheld footage from lacking image stabilization, his consideration of reselling it despite an eBay ban and slower Amazon turnover, and his decision to keep his current camera rather than upgrade, alongside unrelated remarks about pond decor and lost privacy from tree removal near a property.

Two tutorial recordings show Daniel building a platformer game in Xcode using Objective-C: first implementing jumping and floor-collision logic with NSTimer and CGRectIntersectsRect, then adding left/right movement controls with button touch events, fixing a drag-off movement bug, and planning to add an obstacle next.

Several points remain unresolved across the month, including whether the new survival game contains bugs, why rewriting the statistics code fixed prior issues, uncertainty about eBay/Amazon resale dynamics for the lens, the reason for tree removal near the pond, and whether the lens footage was genuinely very shaky.

Development of a survival game in Xcode, covering mechanics, planned features, and code rewrites.

Evaluation of and dissatisfaction with a Sony 16mm f/2.8 lens, including stabilization issues and resale considerations.

Tutorial series on building a platformer game in Xcode using Objective-C, covering jumping, collision, and movement mechanics.

Daniel is developing a survival game (currently rendered with red blocks) focused on managing energy, hunger, warmth, and happiness across multiple in-game days, with plans for game-over conditions, a marketplace, quests, extra furniture, and pub marriage mechanics; he notes two previously completed games released on the App Store.

Survival game mechanics include sleeping to advance days, building beds and fireplaces, a house door affecting warmth loss and outdoor crop regrowth, resource gathering and combat in the woods, and cooking food, with troubleshooting of fireplace/chimney smoke animation.

Daniel deleted and rewrote most of the statistics code for the survival game to fix earlier issues, and separately notes he has completed and published two prior games on the App Store.

Daniel expresses regret over purchasing a Sony 16mm f/2.8 lens because it lacks optical image stabilization, causing noticeable handheld video shake compared to his kit lens; he considers reselling it but faces obstacles including an eBay selling ban, slower turnover expected on Amazon, and difficulty finding a dedicated lens-buying website.

Daniel compares his Sony camera system's lack of in-body stabilization to Olympus E-PL Pen cameras, and weighs eBay, Amazon, and dedicated trade-in sites for reselling the lens.

In a lens test video, Daniel discusses pond decoration ideas (a boat or large rubber duck) and notes a loss of privacy after nearby trees were removed; he evaluates the Sony 16mm f/2.8 lens for background blur, lack of optical zoom, autofocus speed, close-focus ability, and handheld shake, deciding to keep his current camera for one or two years rather than buy an expensive stabilized body.

In a tutorial, Daniel builds a jumping character in an Objective-C Xcode Single View iPhone application, configuring landscape orientation, adding floor and character image views and a jump button, wiring IBOutlets, an NSTimer, a jumpValue integer, and implementing fall/collision logic via CGRectIntersectsRect, with plans to add left/right movement next.

In a follow-up tutorial, Daniel adds left and right movement controls using buttons, NSTimer instances, IBOutlets, and IBAction handlers, wiring Touch Down, Touch Up Inside, and Touch Up Outside events to fix a bug where the character kept moving after a finger dragged off a button; an initial test crashed due to a missing StopLeft handler; he plans to add a jumpable obstacle in the next session.

Open questions about the survival game include whether it currently has bugs, what additional buildable items will be added, why chimney smoke initially failed to appear, the specifics of future quest and pub relationship mechanics, and why rewriting the statistics code resolved earlier issues.

Uncertainty remains over whether buyers would trust a new zero-feedback eBay account and whether slower Amazon sales stem from lower platform usage or buyer preference for new items.

Unresolved questions include pond decoration plans, the cause of tree removal and resulting privacy loss, actual severity of lens shakiness, identity of filmed plants, and whether autofocus at f/2.8 is genuinely or only perceptually faster.

During the jumping tutorial, uncertainty existed over whether the character would move up or down due to sign confusion, the correct offset for floor placement, and whether a jumpValue of 50 was appropriate before testing.

During the movement tutorial, Daniel was initially unsure how many void methods and actions were needed and could not recall which touch event previously fixed the drag-off bug.