SpaceForge Alpha Release 0.06

SpaceForge has now moved to an Open Alpha meaning anyone can sign up. Here is the opt in URL.

https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.assasinsareus.spacegame

We have a number of free copies to give away to anyone with an Android device who is willing to play the game and provide us with some feedback regarding game play, game mechanics, device compatibility etc. If you want a free copy then let me know and I’ll generate a code for you.

Update Build 0.06 Alpha

Smogfield and Starfield Asset updates
Title image update to match Starfield Assets
Android Icon update including HD icons
Bug fixes to Merchant recipe items
Ships, Blocks and Asteroids can now be tagged by touching them
Blocks and Ships now also semi functional energy systems
Firing Guns or Turrets now consumes energy
DB update

SPI to 4 x UART Bridge MULTIUART Project

20150925_164231

The SPI2UART or MULTIUART open source project is designed to provide additional serial ports for communications with multiple embedded modules such as mobile phone network (GSM), Bluetooth, Wifi etc.

A full build guide is now available via instructables at the link below.

http://www.instructables.com/id/SPI-to-4-x-UART-Bridge-MULTIUART/

A number of boards are currently available on sale via eBay.

 

USBeeSPI

USBeeSerial

An Arduino library and Flowcode component are now available to help driver the board.

https://github.com/RowlandTechnology/MULTIUART

Tetris Simulation

I am currently working in my spare time on a pixel coffee table. The hardware is now complete and I will be posting a blog about the build shortly. In the mean time here is a version of Tetris you can play inside the Flowcode 6 simulator.

Screenshot

Simply extract the archive to your computer, open the Flowcode project file and click the play button. Ensure the system panel is open to see the simulation.

Tetris

Controls can be either using the arrow cursor keys, left = left, right = right, up = spin, down = move down. Just click any of the blank space by the flowchart to allow keypresses to work. Or you can simulate the table’s IR sensors by clicking on the pixels on the panel. The touchable control areas are shown by the coloured rectangles shown before the game starts.

A couple of bugs I am aware of with the sim,

1) Music track only plays once but also doesn’t end when you stop the simulation. Sorry about this I did try multiple other methods and couldn’t get it to work, must be doing something wrong.
2) Redraw can occasionally be a bit slow
3) Speed up seems to go from slow to fast too quickly and makes game quite short

The Pong macros are a work in progress…

Surface mount soldering for beginners

Surface mount soldering has changed the electronics industry and allowed computers which were once the size of a large room to be crunched down to be small enough to fit into our pockets. This size reduction has amongst other things been helped along massively with the introduction of surface mount technology.

EBKSM

In this e-book I describe how you can create your own professional surface mount work area for less than £30 as well as tips and tricks to help get you started. Once your up and running I also go into detail about how to improve your technique and allow you to start working with the really small parts.

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