Glue-stick needed on the bed surface to catch the fine detail (the clear PLA doesn't seem to stick as well)
30°C bed, no fan (heated bed doesn't seem to make any difference and cooling reduced adhesion)
Recommended head temp for filament (200°C in my case)
0.4mm nozzle, 50mm/s travel, and 0.25mm layers
I haven't managed to find any settings that produce a really nice dense print that appears more 'glassy' though.
As for slicer, I've been using Ultimaker Cura and found the following:
It usually complains about non-manifold models, but still prints ok (unless you see the 'footprint' go crazy sized).
It doesn't place it exactly on the surface, usually slightly below so some of the fine edge feathering gets missed. Turning off 'auto drop to bed' (still does it when first added) and manually lift it a little bit. You can see the intersecting parts as they are darker.
Good question! Yes, it's an ongoing project, which over the last couple of years has been focussed on a Unity plugin version of Apparance. This has been developed in conjunction with two teams that are licensing the technology for their games, one is in early access (Gloomhaven Digital), the other is an unannounced title. Unfortunately, working solo, I haven't had the resources to get a public version of the Unity plugin released yet (requires a lot of polish, support, documentation, etc). In the new year however, I will be starting on the Unreal plugin version (having received an Epic Megagrant) and this will also bring the release of the Unity version closer. Follow myself and Apparance on Twitter for updates and information.
If you meant 'how do I implement this' then that's another question. Probably best to start tinkering in Unity, perhaps with some existing game examples. Move as much of the 'magic numbers' and 'adjustable properties' out to some central place so they can be saved and loaded, then you have a basis to start 'mutating' the games behaviour, or spawning new games (new files) that can be played too
The 'make game' button is a bit of a holy grail, but I could imagine that since many games ideas are highly parameterised you could have a succession of games effectively bred from previous versions by 'mutating' those parameters as you go. Not sure if this could include as large a change as switching genre, without an awful lot of work, but perhaps if the 'engine' was a mixture of types then you could just blend between them as the parameters change. This is along the lines of genetic algorithms and 'breeding' of systems like the Biomorphs in The Blind Watchmaker.
Thank Jupiter! I had been following the videos hoping you would get to mine :) Sorry there was no physics/collision, ran out of time as you say. I'm glad you liked the cakes though :)
Thank you for taking it for a spin. It's good to hear of enticing ideas and experiences. There is lots of potential to create experiences you describe. At the moment there are several areas Apparance lacks before being what i'd call 'game ready'. To move more rapidly in this direction however I'm going to explore Unreal integration of the tech. This should allow combinations of conventional game construction and procedural generation and layout.
Hi, my daughter and I have been trying to play but are stuck in the tutorial. The game doesn't register that we've knocked the picture off the wall. We can get everything else, but the picture just lies on the floor (we can still hit it around). Also, at this point the Quit option in the menu doesn't work so we have to switch out and terminate the program. Any additional information I can give you to help diagnose the problem? My daughter loves the idea and really wants to play.
Thanks,
Sam
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Followup: Looks like it doesn't like being 'installed' in Program Files, and presumably other locations requiring admin rights. Moving it to desktop folder is fine. Thanks!
