-        What are the things need to take in consideration when packaging a website

• W: https://blogs.windows.com/buildingapps/2015/07/06/project-westminster-in-a-nutshell/
• M: https://www.thishereweb.com/manifoldjs-building-simple-hosted-web-apps/
• M: https://www.html5hacks.com/blog/2015/08/06/manifoldjs-quick-start/
• Both: https://channel9.msdn.com/events/Windows/Developers-Guide-to-Windows-10-RTM/Microsoft-Web-Platform
• https://github.com/manifoldjs/ManifoldJS/wiki/Getting-Started

-        How to handle back button

• Both:  can be done in js on page ex. https://github.com/boyofgreen/pixiebob/blob/master/backbutton.js
• https://catalystcode.github.io/case-studies/2015/09/15/Using-ManifoldJS-to-Get-More-Out-of-Web-Sites.html

-        How to handle opening links, that they will open up inside the app and not open up the browser

• W: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/apps/dn705792.aspx
• M: https://github.com/manifoldjs/ManifoldJS/wiki/Access-Rules-in-Windows

-        Hybrid elements, for example using native map component to show positions in the map

• Both: https://microsoftedge.github.io/WebAppsDocs/en-US/win10/HWAfeatures.htm#create-hybrid-apps----packaged-web-apps-vs-hosted-web-apps
• Both: https://rjs.azurewebsites.net/

Also, here are a few examples site to look at that can be easily launched, then pointed to in VS or in Manifoldjs:

https://github.com/manifoldjs/ManifoldJS

https://github.com/boyofgreen/ContosoTravel

https://github.com/boyofgreen/BankOfContoso

https://github.com/boyofgreen/HWAToast

https://github.com/boyofgreen/HostedCortanaDemo

https://github.com/boyofgreen/Win10WebViewCallCSharp

As always, thank you for visiting my blog. Today's post will not be of the usual kind. There will no be talk of virtual reality, no code snippets.

This is an announcement of sorts. I wanted to let you know that I have moved roles within Microsoft. I am still in DX (Developer Experience / Evangelism) but I am now a Program Manager on the Consumer & Media Top Apps team within TED. (if you don't work at Microsoft, these acronyms are probably confusing to you). Basically, I will be working with our gaming streaming partners to build for our platforms. This is super exciting for me, I've seen a fair bit of the game dev world and now I cant wait to learn more about the eSports side of the industry.

That being said, with any big change in life comes the feels and I am still sad to say goodbye to the friends I made here and the place that I called home for the last 2 years. I absolutely loved my time as a Tech Evangelist in Dallas. Being able to pursue my passion for games was one of the many amazing things about this role, not to mention the people that I got to work with along the way. I really appreciate how welcoming the Dallas developer community was, that includes the .NET, startup, game dev folks, and everyone in between. I also had a lot of fun at the university events - seeing the motivation and excitement that students have around technology is heartwarming and I can't wait to see where you go in life. Special shout out to the Microsoft Student Partners that worked with me to put on those events, ya'll are amazing. 

I'm going to cut myself off before I get anymore emotional, lol. At least in this industry time seems to fly and paths tend to have a way of crossing. So I hope that means I will see you soon, at some conference or another, and that we can keep in touch on various forms of social media.
I will continue to blog, but perhaps about some different things.

Thanks for all the support! <3

Nathalie

twitter.com/stopNgoh
nalivorn@microsoft.com 

I've been exploring things in Unity that look especially cool with the Oculus Rift on, and one of my favorite things is when objects appear seemingly out of nowhere. ie you look to the left, you look away, and when you look back there is a new object there. Some people call this "gaze detection".
You can see something like this in Sightline the Chair. I don't know if this is *exactly* how they did it, but if you are interested in how I emulated this effect, check out the script below.

By attaching this script onto your First Person Controller, you can then specify the number of game objects in the inspector and drag in your game objects. Since this is a universal script, you can reuse it and change out the game objects as you'd like, since the array rotates through the public game objects you specify.

 It should look something like this. If you want the scripts and the whole project, you can download them here

Here it is in Sightline if you don't know what i'm talking about.

assets/ovr/scripts/util/ovrmainmenu.cs(252,43); error CS0117;unityengine.rendermode does not contain a definition for 'worldspace'

i tried several things. uninstalling and reinstalling the runtime, many reboots, examining the scripts etc. i also couldn't seem to find the answer online. the fix ended up being to update to Unity 4.6.1

once Unity 4.6.1 opened, the worldspace error was gone but i now had an error that said 

unauthorizedAccessException: Access to the path "Library\Unity\Assemblies\UnityEngine.xml" is denied
System.IO.File.Delete(System.String.path) (at /Users/builduser/buildslave/mono-runtime-and-classlibs/build/mcs/class/corlib/System.IO/File.cs:1

the fix to this is to close Visual Studio

sidenote: while researching these errors, i read that if you are having the worldspace error with Unity 5 you need to comment that out in the script causing the error.

hope this helps someone out there =)

First things first you need a Xbox360 controller for Windows. this is the one I have.

You will want to plug that in and make sure that your computer has recognized it by checking in Device Settings

Success. Moving on.

Open Unity project

Edit -> Project Settings -> Input

InputManager should look like this in the inspector

For reference, these are the axes we are going to be referencing when we start changing settings

Let's start with the Mouse X. Expand that tab

Change Type to Joystick Axis

Change Axis to 4th Axis

For Mouse Y

Change Type to Joystick Axis

Change Axis to 5th Axis

WHAT ABOUT ALL THESE OTHER VALUES? We will come back to that.

Next is Horizontal and Vertical. You will note that there are 2 sets of Horizontal and Vertical tabs. WE ARE DOING THE FIRST ONE FIRST.

Change Type to Joystick Axis
Horizontal Axis to X Axis
Vertical Axis to Y Axis

Now the SECOND SET OF HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL SETTINGS

Change Horizontal to Joystick Axis and X Axis

Leave Vertical as Key or Mouse Button

Now to handle the "jump" button. 

Change Positive Button to "joystick button 0". It would have said "space" before that. 
Button 0 is the "A" button on Xbox 360 controller.

Now that we have all the basic input settings handled, we can go back and look at some of those values.

the Unity documentation sums them up pretty well.

The one I found most important was "Dead" meaning '"deadband value" and is used to prevent drift if a joystick is slightly off center while in rest.

I found there to be a LOT of drift with the right joystick, the one controlling 4th and 5th axis. 
The values above are what work decently for my game, but it does take some fiddling with depending on your game and controller.
However, if you are going to be using the Oculus Rift or some other HMD to handle looking around, you may not want to spend a ton of time on those settings.
The drift was not bad for my horizontal and vertical movement on the x and y axis, but I did change the settings a little bit there.

Resources:
https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/class-InputManager.html
https://wiki.unity3d.com/index.php?title=Xbox360Controller 

Thoughts? Questions? Comment below or tweet at me @stopNgoh

Happy Rifting!

So when I first plug in the DK2, my computer did not pick it up at all. I went into Display and also OculusConfigUtil. It wasnt till I went right to 'Project to Second Screen' that my computer recognized the device.

I extended to second monitor (the DK2). Then, you then have to change the second screep to Orientation : Landscape (flipped). 

It should now pick up the Rift when you go back into OculusConfiUtil

good resources:

https://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/2ga8cx/oculus_only_shows_orange_light/

https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/oculus-rift-development-kit-2-review-giveaway/

Here it is step by step.

Step 0: Open up your game in Unity

Step 1: Disable your First Person Controller in the Hierarchy

Step 2: Assets -> Import Package -> Custom Package -> Oculus Unity Integration (which you should have downloaded already, see my previous post on what you need to download)

You should see the OVR folder now showing up in your Projects area

Step 3: Expand the OVR folder -> Prefabs

Step 4: Drag the OVR Player Controller (found in Prefabs) into your scene. Make sure that it is somewhere in your scene, not off randomly in space. You'd want to put it where you would have had your main camera, or somewhere in that realm at least.

Step 5: If there is anything you had on the Main Camera that you still want in your game, drag it onto the OVR Player Controller. In my case, I still wanted my gun scripts to work. And Audio

Now for Settings..

Step 6: Edit -> Project Settings -> Quality

Step 7: Set Anti Aliasing setting to 4x

Step 8: Disable shadows

Step 9: Edit -> Project Setings -> Player Settings -> Resolution (look over to Inspector now) -> PC, Mac, Linux Standalone 

Optional Step: Uncheck "Default is Native" and select 1920 x 1080

Step 10: Check "Run in Background"

Step 11: Support Aspect Ratios 16:9 and 16:10

Step 12: Edit -> Preferences -> Oculus VR -> Check Optimize Builds for Rift

Step 13: Build your game out as you normally would. It should create a "DirectToRift" build which you can run with your Oculus Rift headset hooked up. 

What settings does YOUR game use? Comment below, or tweet at me! @stopNgoh

Setting up the Headset

1. Remove the headset from the box. It comes with an around-the-head strap already, but you may want to add on the over-the-head strap that it comes with too. Most people do this, as it stays on better that way. Make the necessary adjustments to the strap so that it sits comfortably on your noggin.
2. You can adjust the distances of the lenses and screen from your face by using a coin to turn the screws on the side. They don't recommend wearing glasses with the Oculus, since it might scratch the lenses. So if you have miserable eyesight like I do, you will probably have to wear contacts when using the Oculus
   (or just remain in a state of doubt about whether it is the quality of your game that sucks, or your eyes.)
3. Three different pairs of lenses come with the development kit. The A cups are for those blessed with 20/20 perfect vision, or farsighted vision. If you are going to be using contact lenses with the Oculus, you should use the A cups. The B cups are kind of a happy medium and a safe bet to go with if you are going to be letting random people use your headset to play your game. I go with the C cups (if I am not wearing contacts) as those are for the very nearsighted.

Setting up the Control Box

1. The control box is that square that is attached to the cord coming out of your Oculus Rift. The are four connectors on the control box:
   -HDMI
   -DVI
   -USB
   -Power
2. Connect the USB to the control box and your computer
3. Pick ONE of the two video cable options (DVI or HDMI)
4. Plug the power cord into an outlet, and the other end into the control box
5. There are some buttons on the top of the control box to adjust brightness and contrast of the headset display. I didn't really mess with these.
6. There is also a power button on the control box. Turn it on!

Setting up your computer with the Oculus

1. Go to Oculus VR Developer Center: https://developer.oculus.com/
2. Sign up for a developer account. It bugged out when I tried to make an account as an individual, so I ended up making an organizational one. You may have to describe the project you are working on.
3. Go to the 'Downloads' tab (the one to the right of Dashboard..) where you will need 3 things:
   -Oculus Runtime for Windows
   -Oculus SDK for Windows
   -Unity Integration
   -(Optional) Oculus Unity Tuscany Demo
   [if you're a Mac user, then fine, get those ones…]
   
   
   
    
4. Go through the installs for those
5. Go into your Display Settings. You will want to set the Oculus up like you would a second monitor and extend the displays (note that the set up is totally different for the DK2, so I was serious about this just being for the DK1)
6. Then open OculusConfigUtil (it came with the download). If you've done everything right up till this point, your Oculus should be detected and you can open the demo scene and also go ahead and configure your profile. If your headset isn't being detected, you may want to double checked that you plugged things in properly, or that you really downloaded the Runtime and the SDK.
7. Once you've seen the demo scene and set up your profile, you will be ready to hop on over to Unity! Stay tuned for my next post: Integrating the Oculus Rift with your Unity game. *cliffhanger*