Setting Fast Node Manager (fnm) for Windows

Here is how to get Fast Node Manager (fnm) working on your Windows machine.

When getting started with Node development, I was frustrated by the incomplete or inaccurate blog posts about how to setup Node with fnm. 

Open Powershell

winget install Schniz.fnm

Open Powershell as Administrator

Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope CurrentUser

Reopen Powershell

Make sure you have a Powershell profile to edit

if (!(Test-Path -Path $PROFILE)) { New-Item -ItemType File -Path $PROFILE -Force }

Open your profile to edit

notepad $profile

Add this line to your profile

Write-Host "Configure fnm - Fast Node Version Manager in Rust"
fnm env --use-on-cd | Out-String | Invoke-Expression

Reopen your shell and install Node 

fnm install --lts

fixing xampp security checkapache no such file or directory workaround

There is a bug in the XAMPP installation security tool for Mac preventing updates to the .htdocs for the dashboard.

By: Quentin Meulepas

There is a bug in the XAMPP installation security tool for Mac.

Seems like they changed the xampp tools from XAMPP/xamppfiles/htdocs/xampp to XAMPP/xamppfiles/htdocs/dashboard and didn’t update the XAMPP/xamppfiles/share/xampp/checkapache file.

I noticed this when I ran the XAMPP/xamppfiles/xampp security utility and noticed it wasn’t making my xampp pages require a password from the browser.

Turns out the command line dumps the error out and I didn’t notice it. Here’s the output (note the “No such file or directory” messages):
Continue reading “fixing xampp security checkapache no such file or directory workaround”

Left/Right Movement with Sprite Flipping in a Unity 2D Platform Game (with JavaScript and C#)

Left/Right Movement with Sprite Flipping in a Unity 2D Platform Game (with JavaScript and C#)

This is part 3 of a series of tutorials for Buiding a 2D Platform Game in Unity.

A character which can jump and double-jump is great, but we need a little more action. In this tutorial, our actor is going to be able to also move left and right. This tutorial shows how to use GetKey to handle the left and right arrow keys for movement. Then we add a function to flip the sprite horizontally, so it appears to face in the expected direction.

This tutorial is presented in two videos: one video each for JavaScript and C# (C-Sharp). I’ve presented both languages, since it’s sometimes not clear how to convert code from the other language when watching a tutorial. The code performs the same functions and produces the same game play, so you only need to watch one.

In this video we…

  • use the JavaScript or C-Sharp (C#) language
  • add left/right movement with arrow keys
  • use GetKey
  • use GetComponent(RigidBody2D)
  • use Vector3
  • add a function to handle sprite flipping, horizontally

JavaScript (Unity Script) version

C# (C-Sharp) version

This tutorial builds on the first project and the GitHub tag for this tutorial is v2

In the next video, I will show how to follow the actor with the camera, and detect death falls.

Be sure to subscribe to the Playlist to get the future updates: Unity 5 2D Platform Game Development (Mac) Playlist

Jumping and Double Jumping in a Unity 2D Platform Game (with JavaScript and C#)

Jumping and Double Jumping in a Unity 2D Platform Game (with JavaScript and C#)

This is part 2 of a series of tutorials for Buiding a 2D Platform Game in Unity.

An essential part of a platform game is the ability to jump. Sometimes you need to jump over barrels, onto mushroom people, or just jump up to the next platform.

Space Panic, released in November 1980, is probably the first platform game, but Donkey Kong introduced the jump mechanic in 1981.

This tutorial is presented in two videos: one video each for JavaScript and C# (C-Sharp). I’ve presented both languages, since it’s sometimes not clear how to convert code from the other language when watching a tutorial. The code performs the same functions and produces the same game play, so you only need to watch one.

In this video we…

  • use the JavaScript or C-Sharp (C#) language
  • add a script component to our actor
  • add jumping with space bar key
  • tag objects as “Ground”
  • use GetKeyDown
  • use GetComponent(RigidBody2D)
  • use Vector2
  • use OnCollisionEnter2D
  • add double jumping
  • refactor code into a function

 

JavaScript (Unity Script) version

C# (C-Sharp) version

 

This tutorial builds on the first project and the GitHub tag for this tutorial is v2

In the next video, I will be showing how to add left/right movement.

Be sure to subscribe to the Playlist to get the future updates: Unity 5 2D Platform Game Development (Mac) Playlist

Unity 5 2D Platform Game Tutorial on GitHub

I uploaded the Unity 5 source code and project for the 2D Platformer being built in the Unity 5 2D Platform Game Tutorial, to GitHub.

Unity 5 2D Platformer Demo on GitHub

Here is the link to the Unity 5 2D Platformer Demo on GitHub
Using GitHub to fork and clone a repo is easy enough.
Project Tags 
The project steps are checked in with tags. To work with any particular tutorial version, just checkout the tag for that tutorial.
Once you’ve cloned the project, you can create a branch of the tagged version like this:

git checkout -b branchname tagname

Simplify OBS .flv video conversion to .mp4

If you use OBS to make your desktop recordings on your Mac, you’ll notice it creates .flv files by default. But .flv files aren’t playable in QuickTime.

There are ways to change the settings to create .mp4 files, but there are really good reasons to use .flv.

A better approach is to record in .flv and convert to .mp4 afterward using ffmpeg and a little shell script to make the commands easier.

By: phsymyst

Continue reading “Simplify OBS .flv video conversion to .mp4”

Install ffmpeg on a Mac

Installation instructions for getting ffmpeg on your Mac, which donn’t assume you know how to use Terminal or how to execute commands. Every step is outlined below with screenshots and some explanations of what the commands are, for the curious.

To convert video file formats on your Mac, you’re going to want a great piece of open source software called “ffmpeg”. But, once you have it, it may not be clear how to get it working in your Mac. Here are the steps to get ffmpeg downloaded, placed into a folder so your system can find them, and how to make them executable and usable.

By: GotCredit

Continue reading “Install ffmpeg on a Mac”

How to setup a Unity 5 project and add Kenney’s “Platformer Tiles”

This is the first video in my Unity 5 2D Platform Game Development Tutorial series.

Many of the existing 2D Platformer tutorial videos are outdated with Unity 5, and the C# (c-sharp) and UnityScript (JavaScript) files need to be updated. Also, many of the tutorials are for either C# or UnityScript, but not both. You may like C#, but the tutorial you need may be in UnityScript. Or vice, versa.

I will run through building a 2D Platformer in Unity 5 and I’ll be showing how to do the steps in both scripting languages (both C# and UnityScript/JavaScript).

Unity 5 2D Platform Game Development (Mac), Part 01 Sprites Collision RigidBody2D
Unity 5 2D Platform Game Development (Mac), Part 01

In this first video, I introduce Unity 5 and show how we are going to set up the project for the future steps. We also download an import public domain art assets from Kenney, using OpenGameArt.org.

Some of the highlights:

In this video, we …

  • download Unity
  • create a new project with Scenes and Sprites folders
  • save the first Scene
  • import Kenney’s art
  • create a player actor
  • create a ground block
  • add collision components
  • add gravity
  • preview the game
Here is the video:

This tutorial starts with a fresh project, but the completed GitHub tag for this tutorial is v1.2 (See this link about the 2 Platformer GitHub source and tags)

In the next video, I will be showing how to get keyboard input working to control jumping and left/right movement.

Be sure to subscribe to the Playlist to get the future updates: Unity 5 2D Platform Game Development (Mac) Playlist

Disable iPhoto opening automatically

Every time I connected my iPhone or iPad to my Mac, iPhoto popped up with an import dialog. Then I figured it how to disable it for good.

Every time I connect my iPhone to my Mac, iPhoto pops up with an import dialog. I tried turning it off, but it keeps coming up every time my iPhone or iPad is connected. Then I figured it how to disable it for good.

iPhoto automatic import iPhone and iPad
By: Sean MacEntee

Continue reading “Disable iPhoto opening automatically”