X-Fi 2: Dharma

Yep, seems like I’m really fascinated with programming my new MP3-Player, the Creative Zen X-Fi 2. Strange thing is that I don’t have any ideas for a game on this little gadget, apart from classics like Snake and Tetris. So I’m just spending my time with developing my GUI framework further which should come in handy if I really want to start scripting a real game. I really like developing frameworks, creating whole classes and defining APIs, so other people can hook into and use them.

The framework now consists of several different widgets, slowly growing in size: boxes, images, texts, sliders/progress bars, textboxes – and now even a virtual keyboard with several layouts! I just wish I could actually use the framework for something bigger … Nevertheless, you can grab the code from my GitHub Dharma repo.

Apart from the whole X-Fi 2 stuff, I want to actually update my website. It now merely consists of this blog without all the ‘About me’ and ‘Projects’-sections. Problem is that while Chyrp is an awesome little content management system, it does not have a lot of plugins by default, e.g. for a portfolio-page. Seems like I need to create one on my own, but then I need to figure out its API before I can start. Did I mention that I prefer to write my own frameworks instead of using predefined ones?

Programming the Creative Zen X-Fi 2

A few days ago I bought a new portable media player, the Creative Zen X-Fi 2. I looked for a cheaper alternative than the iPod Touch and came across this one. It features 32 gb of memory, microSD-slot, touchscreen and (woo!) accelerometer. But the best thing is: It can be programmed by using Lua! After I read this, I immediately bought it, because I wanted to apply my Lua knowledge on a far more simple gadget. The WoW API provides an exhaustive GUI framework, but I prefer to write my own frameworks and the Creative Zen only has a few rectangle-, text- and pixel-functions. Really simple stuff.

So I started to create the GUI by providing a core system with classes, called Dharma – I really like Object-oriented Programming. It became more complex and now serves as the base for all my X-Fi 2 applications, handles input events and drawing of widgets.

My recent test, however, goes in another direction: 3D. I already started back in WoW with a simple wireframe 3D engine a few months ago to display coordinates in the world frame, so I just had to copy the code over and adjust it (it’s both Lua after all!). So far, the engine works smooth on the little thing, but I don’t expect solid textures and 3D games, because the CPU is not the fastest.

Anyone got an idea for a good game on a touch-based small device? I don’t know any and it drives me mad that I can’t really use my framework as a basis for something actually useful.