This is a simple snippet to make a fixed third person camera in the newly released Unreal Development Kit (UDK). Found in this thread.

class RPGController extends UTPlayerController;


//Camera Calculations

var vector LastViewLoc;

var vector CameraOffset;

var vector CameraOffset2;


//Force third-person

function SetBehindView( bool bNewBehindView )

{

	super.SetBehindView( true );

}


// RPG Camera (based on Third-Person Camera)

simulated event GetPlayerViewPoint( out vector POVLocation, out Rotator POVRotation )

{	

	if ( ViewTarget != none )

	{

		LastViewLoc = ViewTarget.Location;

		bCollideWorld = true;

		

	}

	

	POVLocation = LastViewLoc + CameraOffset2;

	POVRotation = rotator( -CameraOffset );

	

	StopViewShaking();

	

	if ( CameraEffect != none )

		CameraEffect.UpdateLocation( POVLocation, POVRotation, GetFOVAngle( ) );

}


// Allows the mouse to still aim weapons

function rotator GetAdjustedAimFor(Weapon W, vector StartFireLoc)

{

     return Pawn.Rotation;

}


defaultproperties

{

	//Camera

	bBehindView=true;

	CameraOffset=(X=1,Y=1,Z=1)

	CameraOffset2=(X=200,Y=200,Z=300)

}

Someone should pony up $2955, so I can get this PCI graphics card with 8 monitor connections and 6 more monitors.

Please?

I created this API in the hopes of running a nice fansite or so behind it. But now I've quit Aion and don't really have any use for it. So I figure I'll just release what I have. I'm sure someone out there will find this useful.

Go to the Aion API project page for more information, examples and a download link.

I am no longer developing this, so I will not be updating it any further. But if you have a question, leave a comment and I might be able to help.

Ever since the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) announced that domain names will be allowed to include non-Latin characters come 2010, the internet has been in a flurry of joy, speculation and hate.

Some domain owners are now slightly confused though. Through the use of Punycode some people have been under the impression that they actually owned non-Latin domain names. Come 2010, however, they will notice their domain names will no longer work as they originally thought.

For example, http://天进。com looks like a domain name made out of non-Latin characters. Instead, a browser that understands Punycode converts those non-Latin characters into a UTF-8 equivalent. That means that the domain above is actually registered as http://xn--rssu68j.com.

When browsers are finally updated to use the non-Latin characters instead of Punycode, whoever registered a domain name using Punycode will no longer get the traffic they wanted.

P.S. www.faceböök.com anyone?

Out of the kindness of my heart I have added the ability to comment.

Hooray.

Now all I need to do is wait a few days for the bot spam to commence. Then I can start adding anti-bot measures. Can I get a "woo-hoo"?

On an unrelated note I think I'm going to start posting regular news. Not news about me, but random news that interests me.

Stay tuned.

That's right folks, I went and redesigned the website again.

Not that anyone is keeping score, but this is the 23rd version of my personal website, and it is the 7th version to reside on this domain. That may sound like a lot, but my first website went up in 2003. Which means, on average, I redesign my website a little less then 4 times a year.

Ok, maybe that is a lot.

Instead of making a whole bunch of new promises (like making every link work before I redesign the site again), I'm just going to end this entry right here.

Well, I had to fix my Steam ID app. Turns out I fail at even the simplest of math (also I should test more then one Steam ID).

The app worked find with even Steam IDs and Community IDs, but broke with the odd ones. Stupid error on my part, but it's fixed now.

I've added an "Apps" page for small webapps. Check out the (small) list of webapps. Who knows, you might find one of them useful.

I plan to add a few more apps later, but it's nice to get the architecture in place with a few already launched.

There are currently two apps: str2md5 converts a given string to MD5, and Steam ID and Community ID is a useful tool for finding IDs that Steam uses if you have one of the other. Great for server admins who want to ban previous players found in the playerlist.