The DirectX 9.0 SDK Update - (Summer 2004)  aka DirectX 9.0c is now availible here...

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/downloads/list/directx.asp

Wow! Where the heck did the last 12 months go! Were already downloading a second year of directx "summer update" SDK's

I am probably going to be upgrading my account over at http://www.brinkster.com/ from a "instant web site package" to a "developer package" that should allow me to do much more with this site as well as add more content to my site. Right now I only have about 1mb left. (Kinda why I have not uploaded any content lately) Hopfully then I will not have to keep posting my works on other sites like PSC, gotdotnet etc, and will be able to host them myself.

Although I probably will not be doing the upgrade for another few months.

I am thinking I should create a new section when the  new site is setup, where people can submit there desktop screen capture videos for a particular topic like Direct3D, or gaming. Kind of a community TV station.

Well as mentioned in my prev post I have successfully got a Scent tracking AI up and running. Basicly the principle is this. As the player moves around the world they leave scent molecules behind. Each scent molecule has a decay rate so that there scent strength is reduced over time until it completly dissapates. 

As for the enemy AI, I gave the enemies 2 scent detectors. One on each side of it's body that extend foward. When a scent detector detecs a scent molecule the enemy will turn in the direction that it's scent detector was facing and move in that direction. I was caught compleatly off guard by how simple the code is to get the enemies to track your characters scent.

I was going to try and do a video screen capture but the screen capture software is unable to capture the AI at work. But I will keep trying.

So why did I try my hand at coding some scent tracking AI you ask? Well first off for gamming, but also it can be a cool feature to have in games like RPG's where you could have a pack of wild dogs or monsters that will catch your scent and start fallowing you!

Once I have played around with the code some more I intend to add additional AI both for vision and sound tracking.

One problem is that the Scent tracker AI is written in VB.NET 2005 express beta 1 and requires the .NET framework v2.0 beta in order to compile and run. So I won't be uploading the code just yet. Not until .NET 2.0 and VB.NET 2005 are offically availible.  But if someone wants the code anyway, I can provide it to them, just contact me at contact.createdbyx.com.

I just had a breakthrough with a Scent tracking AI program I am developing. It's getting late so I'll tell you all about it tomorrow, with video demonstration (if possible) It's COOOL!

I'm so lame. And a slacker! Look at all those "Did not run." entries, sheesh. Lazy! Lazy! :p

Here is some updated stats for my running times...

June 23, 2004	2.42km		12m29s	11.6kh		With no breaks
June 24, 2004	2.42km		12m50s	11.2kh		With no breaks
June 25, 2004						Did not run. Climbed up to terrace mountian rock bluff.
June 26, 2004			14m44s			Took cassie dog for a run
June 27, 2004						Did not run.
June 28, 2004						Did not run.
June 29, 2004	2.42km		13m22s	10.9kh		With no breaks
June 30, 2004						Did not run.
July 1, 2004						Did not run. Did yard work. Rode bike around ferry island.
July 2, 2004						Did not run. Did yard work. 
July 3, 2004	2.42km		12m34s	11.6kh		With no breaks. Rode to town also.
July 4, 2004						Did not run.
July 5, 2004						Did not run.
July 6, 2004						Did not run.
July 7, 2004						Did not run.
July 8, 2004						Did 30min bike ride up to airport to see bomb shelter.
July 9, 2004						Did not run.
July 10, 2004						DId 30min bike ride up to airport to see bomb shelter.
July 11, 2004						Did not run.
July 12, 2004						Did not run.
July 13, 2004						Went to town. Did Yard work.

That little fat kid on South Park is crazy. lol ...

This clean install crap is a pain in the ass! Unfortunatly it was getting around that time of year when I do yet another fresh install of windows.

Have not got much done the last few days on my tutorial series, but at least my fresh install of windows allowed me to identify a serious bug in my WamPosterCL app. I have uploaded the fixed code.

Goto webcam page!  <link no longer availible>

I have been trying out VB.NET 2005 Express the last few days, all I can say is Wuhoooo, Weeeeeee, YeeeeHaaaaa and oh ya, DOH! I will be making a blog entry about it soon so stay tuned!

It's been a slow week, have not got much done, did some more work on my tutorial series, was reviewing some of the old code I downloaded, and now I find myself pondering the god awful experience of doing a clean sweep and fresh install of my operating system. :( Yep. Slooooow week.

Just thought you should know. :p I guess I should mention I will probably be moving in the next 1 to 3 weeks, so heads up, I may be unavailible for a few days. :o)