More Python - From web servers to machine learning

I have an idea for building something with python that uses machine learning.  It also involves the web.  I have been working towards getting this all to work.

I started with the machine learning parts.  I am using the scikit learn library.  I have also looked into the tensor flow library that Google made.  I decided to stay with scikit learn for now.  It looks like you can transition pretty easily if it turns out I need to.

To test some parts of my idea I needed a web server.  I created one in python.  It took a bit of reading and several iterations before I got something that I liked.  It is now setup so that it will serve any files in a folder or allow me to do things with any custom urls that I want.

I'll try to post more about this soon.  Maybe I'll post some code.  Probably not.  I never have time for that anymore.

Learning python

I've started learning python.  I started looking into it because we may be doing some things with it at work if we move away from coldfusion.

In a previous post I mentioned the Unity3d terrain editor and the ability to import and export the terrain height data.  I decided to try to create one of those height map images using python.   I found a Perlin noise library for python and started working on it.  I haven't quite got it right yet, but I was able to generate a file that can be imported.

I will try to post more about this with some actual code when I get it working.

Unity 3d terrain

I started a new 3d unity project to play around with terrain creation.  You can add a terrain object and then they have tools for raising and lowering the ground.  There are also tools for changing textures and quickly adding trees.

You can also import and expory the terrain height data.  I am thinking it would be cool to use random noise, which I have posted about before, to generate this height data.

Continuing with Unity

I came up with an idea for a simple game using mostly the sample assets.  I created a red crate using the pink crate.  Then I made a prefab called a finish zone.  Pushing the red crate into the finish zone gets you to the next level.

I made a couple other robots that walk back and forth between barriers or edges.  One is blue and doesn't hurt you.  The other one is red and kills you if you touch it.

With those pieces I made a few levels.  I'm thinking of changing the graphics and turning it into a kids game.

It is pretty cool how simple it is to get a complete game.  I also made a simple menu.  One thing I haven't figured out yet is a nice way to size the controls and menu items for different screens.

Unity 3d 2d project

I continued working on my 2d project today.  I was able to get some other npc characters to animate.  I added one of the pre-made killzone objects to them so if my character touches them the game restarts.

I was also able to add mobile controls and build an apk and play it on my phone.  It is really hard to play with the pre-made controls and default settings.  The character moves really fast.  It has all been very easy to do so far.

I watched part of a video about sprites and animators to help get started.

Unity 3d exploration

I tried playing around with Unity 3d today.  This was the second time I have played with it.  Last time I made a 3d project and played around with some of the assets we have.  It was pretty cool and pretty easy to get a car setup that I could drive around.  

This time I tried a 2d project.  It was even easier.  They have some sample assets that let you build a game with a little robot guy that can jump on platforms.   I will hopefully be able to create a whole game sometime.

Maybe someday I'll actually finish one of these things I keep posting about.

Progress on Replacing iAds with Admob

I was able to get the first app working with Admob.  It was like I mentioned in the previous post, I had to create the adunit in code.  I was able to find a simple example on Stack Overflow and mostly just use it as is.  I had to create a header file to go along with the example file that was provided and then call that in my viewDidSomethingSomething function.  I don't have it open right now so I can't remember what that is called.

I had it all in place and everything would build and run, but then I was getting an exception.  It turned out I had messed something up by trying to drag things around in some area of XCode where you can graphically see your app.  I reverted a mainwindow.xib file back to what I had started with and everything started working.

I have to do a little more testing to see how it looks in the different simulators and make sure I have my adunit id correct but then I think it is finished.  Then we just have to submit it and get it re-approved by Apple.  That is always a fun process.