Scenes From A Developer Memory

Building a match 3 game (like Candy Crush) in Unity

2015-02-25T08:24:47Z

If you are in a hurry, you can try the game here and find the source code here . Match 3 games are pretty famous nowadays. From the original Bejeweled to Candy Crush Saga and even Evolve: Hunters Quest , many games are based on the match 3 mechanism while giving bonuses to the user. In this blog post, we’ll try to dissect in what is needed to build such a game, using Unity 3D and Visual Studio. Let’s start with a screenshot of the game running in the Unity Editor We’re using some candy graphics (found...(read more)

Playing music on netduino via a web browser

2015-01-16T22:38:00Z

I was really lucky lately to get my hands on a netduino. I’ve never programmed on such a small device before and I have to confess that it’s really fun and awesome! First, take a look at the video to see what’s going on. Basically, we are instructing the netduino to play a specific set of noted via a web browser on our PC. (Please visit the site to view this video) We’re using a netduino device. For the unaware, it’s a small device that runs a small version of the “big” .NET Framework, called .NET...(read more)

Microsoft Job postings for Software Engineers 2014 -2015

2014-10-22T20:14:00Z

Opportunities If you are ready to ask the big questions, to work to make technology better, and push the edge on innovation, let’s make it happen together. At Microsoft we offer you the opportunity to start your global career. With a presence in 190 countries you have the chance to impact users around the world. Software Engineers at Microsoft are passionate about building technologies that make the world a better place. Work on software applications and services for consumers, gamers, developers,...(read more)

A Tower Defense game in Unity, part 2

2014-09-07T03:16:00Z

If you’re in a hurry, you can find the complete source code on GitHub: https://github.com/dgkanatsios/TowerDefense It is recommended that you read part 1 before proceeding on reading the rest of this tutorial, since it is heavily based on what we described in the first part! Don’t tell me I didn’t warn you!!! This is the second post in 2 post tutorial regarding making a tower defense in Unity. In the first post we described the game scenario and gameplay and we also mentioned the level editor, the...(read more)

A Tower Defense game in Unity, part 1

2014-09-05T02:23:06Z

If you’re in a hurry, you can find the complete source code on GitHub: https://github.com/dgkanatsios/TowerDefense Unless you’ve been living in a cave in the recent years, you surely must have played a Tower Defense style game. Be it Plants vs Zombies, Kingdom Rush, geoDefense, Jelly Defense or any other, I’m sure you’ve spent much quality time setting up your defenses, killing enemies and advancing stages. So, since it’s one of the most common game types you can find on the application stores out...(read more)

Introducing Universal Helpers for Windows Store apps

2014-08-09T03:25:48Z

I’ve been using various small XAML storyboard utilities and behaviors in my latest Window Phone and Windows Store apps. I’ve just packaged them all and released them into GitHub . Universal Helpers may not be that good of a name since the library is pretty small (yet) but I hope to enhance it in the future with more utilities and behaviors. So, let’s jump right in and see what’s under the hood! First of all, there are some Blend Behaviors. I love behaviors! Easy just as a Drag’n’Drop, yet so powerful!...(read more)

Angry Birds Clone in Unity3D (source code included)

2014-07-28T23:35:26Z

Last time I posted something around Angry Birds was 3 years ago, when I blogged about a 5’ creation of Angry Birds with 0 lines of code using XAML, Behaviors and Expression Blend . Well, it wasn’t exactly a clone, but it simulated on how to implement some basic dragging/collision/particles functionality with the Farseer Physics Engine. This blog post serves as an attempt to create a single level (with reusable components, long live the prefab!) of Angry Birds using Unity3D platform. The game features...(read more)

A Flappy Bird Clone in Unity (source code included)

2014-07-02T18:00:00Z

Unless you’ve been living in a cave or visiting outer space for the past months, you have certainly played Flappy Bird , one of the most successful games for mobile devices. Hence, I decided to give it a shot and recreate it using Unity. Needless to mention that all graphics and sounds found in the tutorial are used only for educational purposes and do not intend to harm any intellectual property at all circumstances. The sprite sheet used was found here http://www.spriters-resource.com/mobile_phone/flappybird/sheet/59537/...(read more)

Simple Puzzle Game in Unity (source code provided)

2014-07-01T17:49:17Z

I had blogged in the past about a simple puzzle game in XNA . Nothing better than to recreate it in Unity with a tutorial, of course! To begin with, here’s a screenshot of the game running on the editor The purpose of the game is to tap/click on the pieces next to the empty one so that they exchange positions. It goes on and one until you make the pieces appear as in the original photo. To begin with, we’ll need a photo. The best way to save yourself from copyright issues and not having to read licenses...(read more)

Arkanoid tutorial in Unity (source code included)

2014-06-30T18:20:00Z

Some time ago I did a blog post about the famous Arkanoid game and its adaptation to Windows Phone using XNA. Couple of weeks ago, I attempted to recreate it from scratch using the Unity game engine and, to no surprise, it was pretty a piece of cake. Below you can see a screenshot from the start screen of the game. Let’s do a lap around the project. First of all, we have one and only one scene, the game one. We have a Camera, set to Orthographic projection (most suitable for 2D games) a directional...(read more)

Bubble Breaker in Unity

2014-06-29T20:04:17Z

About 4 years ago I had blogged about the creation of the classic Bubble Breaker game in XNA . Since I’ve recently started to get acquainted with the Unity3D game engine, one of the first things that crossed my mind was to try and recreate it using Unity. Why did I choose Unity? Well, one of the reasons is that it supports my favorite programming language C# plus games can be exported to my favorite platform, Windows Phone. Conversion from XNA was not that straightforward (well, I expected that,...(read more)

Animating a SpriteSheet in a Windows Store app using XAML and C#

2013-02-12T05:35:00Z

[well, it’s been sometime since I wrote a technical blog post, hope you like it] Today I tried to find out how to animate a spritesheet in a Windows Store app. Turns out that it was much easier than expected! I used the spritesheet found here http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5812752/spritesheet-in-silverlight and some ObjectAnimationUsingKeyFrames code and it worked like a charm. Some explaining regarding the attached code 1. We’re using a Rectangle and an ImageBrush to display the spritesheet’s...(read more)

Θέλετε να εργαστείτε στη Microsoft ως προγραμματιστής;

2013-02-11T19:51:00Z

[ImagineCup] Αν έχετε μια ενδιαφέρουσα ιδέα για ένα καινοτόμο project, μην διστάσετε να δηλώσετε συμμετοχή για τους ελληνικούς τελικούς του Imagine Cup ! Μεγάλα δώρα σας περιμένουν! Για πληροφορίες δείτε εδώ [/ImagineCup] Θέλετε να γίνετε μέλη των ομάδων ανάπτυξης κάποιου εκ των Skype, Windows Phone, Windows, Office; Αν ναι, διαβάστε παρακάτω! Microsoft is Hiring for New Graduate and Intern positions in the US and Europe! Software Development Engineer Software Development Engineer in Test Apply NOW...(read more)

Windows 8 App Design templates

2013-01-09T02:59:15Z

Templates για κατασκευή εφαρμογών για Windows 8 από τη Microsoft Ινδίας (original post: https://www.meetmyapp.in/meetmyapp/windows_8_build.aspx ) Template Name: Blocks Styled Colored Blocks Styled Colored template will help if you want to build an app which has asymmetric display of blocks in the hub page Template Name: Drawing Template The Drawing template is an emulation of a Painting app with placeholders for Drawing area, Color selection and Tool Box. Template Name: Blocks Template Blocks template...(read more)

Ελληνικοί τελικοί Imagine Cup 2012–Recap

2012-04-25T05:52:25Z

Σήμερα διεξήχθησαν οι ελληνικοί τελικοί του Imagine Cup 2012 στα γραφεία της Microsoft Ελλάς στην Αθήνα! Οι 6 καλύτερες ομάδες παρουσίασαν τα projects τους και στο τέλος ανακοινώθηκε η τριάδα των νικητών. To project Symbiosis ανακηρύχθηκε μεγάλος νικητής και θα εκπροσωπήσει τη χώρα μας στους Παγκόσμιους Τελικούς στην Αυστραλία, τον Ιούλιο. Αξίζει να σημειωθεί ότι ένας εκ των 40 κριτών στους Παγκόσμιους Τελικούς θα είναι ο κ. Διομήδης Σπινέλλης, ο οποίος ήταν μέλος και στην κριτική επιτροπή για τους...(read more)

Τα Windows 8 Consumer Preview είναι εδώ!

2012-03-01T03:10:12Z

Μπορείτε να κατεβάσετε και να δοκιμάσετε εντελώς δωρεάν τα Windows 8 από εδώ: http://preview.windows.com Για πληροφορίες δείτε εδώ: http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/presskits/windows/ Διαβάστε περισσότερα »...(read more)

Έφτασε η BETA του Visual Studio 11!

2012-03-01T02:41:00Z

Κατεβάστε το εδώ ! Από σήμερα είναι διαθέσιμη η δοκιμαστική έκδοση του Visual Studio 11, την οποία μπορείτε να κατεβάσετε και να δοκιμάσετε για να δείτε τα νέα χαρακτηριστικά και αν θέλετε, να μας δώσετε το feedback σας για την τελική έκδοση! Συνοπτικά λοιπόν τα νέα χαρακτηριστικά: Κατασκευή εφαρμογών για Windows Βελτιώσεις στην παραγωγικότητα · .NET Framework 4.5 · Τα Productivity Power Tools είναι ενσωματωμένα · Συμβατότητα με παλιά projects · Ενσωματωμένη δυνατότητα για packaging εφαρμογών · Πλήρης...(read more)

Windows Phone Hackathon Day 1 Recap

2012-02-18T07:48:13Z

cross posted in http://blogs.msdn.com/b/devhellas/archive/2012/02/17/windows-phone-hackathon-day-1-recap.aspx Πρώτη μέρα του Windows Phone Hackathon σήμερα στη Microsoft Ελλάς! Τι μας έμεινε (random order): - πάνω από 100 developers - 3 αίθουσες, συμμετοχή σε ομάδες για κατασκευή εφαρμογών - ευχάριστο γεγονός η απρόσμενη συμμετοχή πολλών game developers! - οι developers που ήρθανε από κάθε γωνιά της Ελλάδος (Λάρισα, Καστοριά, Λευκάδα, Πάτρα, Θεσσαλονίκη κ.α.) - οι δυνατές παρουσιάσεις των ομιλητών,...(read more)

Background Agents Overview for Windows Phone

2012-02-17T05:18:20Z

I’ve gathered some links and samples to allow anyone to get started quickly and easily with background agents and alarms/reminders on Windows Phone! Here are they are: Background Agents Overview for Windows Phone How to: Implement Background Agents for Windows Phone Background Agent Best Practices for Windows Phone Unsupported APIs for Background Agents for Windows Phone Background Transfer Service in the "Tidy" application Adding Multitasking to Your Application http://www.jeffblankenburg.com/2011/11/25/31-days-of-mango-day-25-background-agents/...(read more)

Δημιουργώντας ελληνικές εφαρμογές στο Windows Phone

2011-11-09T05:46:12Z

Σήμερα μου ανέφερε ένας γνωστός ότι η ελληνική του εφαρμογή “κόπηκε” λόγω γλώσσας κατά τη διαδικασία του ελέγχου από την ομάδα του Windows Phone marketplace, παρότι είχε επιλέξει να γίνει publish μόνο στο ελληνικό marketplace, είχε βάλει ελληνική περιγραφή, ελληνικό user interface κ.λ.π. Τι συνέβη; Ο λόγος που κόπηκε είναι γιατί το default language της εφαρμογής του ήταν Αγγλικά. Για να το αλλάξετε αυτό, θα πρέπει να κάνετε δεξί κλικ στο project, properties, assembly information στην καρτέλα application...(read more)

[Tutorial + Video] Creating a small Angry Birds clone for Windows Phone in 5 minutes

2011-10-17T00:19:00Z

In this post, we are going to show hot to create a small Angry Birds clone for Windows Phone 7 in 5 minutes using Expression Blend and zero (yes, zero) lines of code. Of course, the game that we will create is far from finished but it can serve as a start for your new awesome game. Check the video explaining the tutorial (Please visit the site to view this video) We will use Windows Phone developer tools (they include Expression Blend for Windows Phone) which you can download from http://create.msdn.com...(read more)

Creating a ringtone in Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango)

2011-10-11T21:40:07Z

So, you just updated your beautiful Windows Phone device with Mango and you want to create a custom ringtone. Well, you can use any music file you want, if it fits the following requirements 39 seconds or shorter smaller than 1 megabyte (MB) saved in MP3 or WMA format not copy-protected (i.e. DRM free) Of course, your favorite songs are over 39 seconds. I found this great online service (no need to download anything to your PC) to cut an mp3 file. It’s called “MP3 cut” and it’s URL is http://mp3cut.net/...(read more)

First Words: Learning Animals at Elearning Expo 2011

2011-10-10T02:53:00Z

Today I had the pleasure to present at Elearning Expo 2011, the premium conference/exhibition for e-learning in Greece. I presented at a session titled "Interactive Games" and the presentation was about the game I have codeveloped with Anlock Ltd, "First Words: Learning Animals" . People really liked our game and wished us good luck! Worth to mention here is that Greek and Spanish version will hit the Windows Phone marketplace in a few days, whereas "Vehicles" version...(read more)

How to deal with payout setup on the Windows Phone Marketplace (Getting a Tax Identification Number (TIN) and Submitting the W-8 form)

2011-10-08T00:08:00Z

[This is a guest post from George Karavias of Anlock Ltd. creators of the Windows Phone 7 educational game First Words: Learning Animals ] So you’ve gotten over the hoopla of Geotrust and you have been registered as a Windows Phone developer. You are anxious to start submitting your applications. Hoping that Nokia and Microsoft get it together in the meantime and start selling smartphones, so the money starts rolling in! One thing is left though, filling out your “payout setup” … And that is when...(read more)

Μαθήματα για Windows Phone, προγραμματισμό παιχνιδιών, cloud computing κ.α.

2011-09-28T09:08:46Z

Phone · Windows Phone Programming in C# 8 lessons including labs, ppt, demos, & notes · Windows Phone 7 Sensors and XNA 5 lessons · Windows Phone 7 Developer Training Kit 3 lessons includes manual, source files to complete exercises, and links to videos · Designing for Windows Phone 7 lectures 7 lessons includes PDF file · Game Development with XNA using C# and XNA Framework Part 1 6 lessons includes roadmap, lesson plans, demo projects, video tutorials, lab assignments with solutions,...(read more)