*Old News*

4th November 2001
Version 1.01 of Process Killer is up. This version corrects the position of the process icon that was wrong on some systems.

31st October 2001
As I said yesterday, the new version of Space Fire is up!
New features of this release (0.8):
- speed & weapon bonus
- 2 important bug corrections

30th October 2001
After some debugging, I've found and corrected the problem of the missing enemy ships during the second game..
The next version of Space Fire will also contain different bonus!

28th October 2001
There are two bugs in the current release of Space Fire:
- The second time you enter your name in the Hiscores Table you must press Backspace a few times to get the possibility to input your name.
- The second time you start a game some of the enemy ships are missing (!).

I have already corrected the first one and I'm working on the second. The next release will contain a correction of these and other bugs and also other improvements..

22nd October 2001
Updated Process Killer to version 1.0. The program displays now the icon of the selected process.

17th October 2001
New version of Space Fire available!
New features added:
-Enhanced pattern movement.
-Bigger first level (not yet completed).
-Hiscore table.
-Fixed a problem on Voodoo cards with the menu graphics.

7th October 2001
I've put up a small demo version of Space Fire, you can download it here. Keep in mind that there is only part of level one, no sounds and many features of the final version are missing. The purpose of this Demo is to test compatibility with different hardware (by the way, there is a problem in the menu screen textures on Voodoo cards). The game was also reported to be compatible with Windows 2000 and TnT cards (haven't tested that personally, though..).

If you like the writings of H.P.Lovecraft, you may want to download Fiend, a free complete horror/action game you can find it here, at the Fiend Team Website. Check it out as it is really good!

4th September 2001
A new Space Fire's screenshot:

28th August 2001
Finally I've resolved the problem of the tables that looked bad with Netscape browsers. Now it's all Ok.
New major features added to Space Fire:
- Direct Input 8 keyboard control (no more Win msg system)
- Starfield controlled by the Particle Engine.

Here is the latest screenshot:

22nd August 2001
There's a new Layout! And due to its importance, Space Fire (this is the name of the new project) will a have a new dedicated section. Actually you can only see some photos of a demo version, I'll upload a playable version in a month or two...

7th August 2001
Here's a new screenshot of the game (you can see the explosions implemented using the new particle engine, at which I'm currently working..):

23rd July 2001
I'm back! After 2 weeks of sun & sea, it's time to go back to work... :(

3rd July 2001
For the next 2 weeks I'll be in holiday!! Here is a first screenshot of the new game I'm working on..(game development is only at the beginning, graphics are only placed to help game programming.. there's a lot of work to do...). The look of the final game will be very different, but it gives you an idea of what will it be..

17th June 2001
New article "C++: Where to start?" added and new article's pages layout (to be finished soon...).

9th June 2001
Process Killer 0.9 beta is available for download! It is a Win 95/98 simple application that lists all current processes (more than the ones listed with CTRL-ALT-DEL) and lets you terminate any of them. Take extreme caution not to terminate important Windows tasks, otherwise you'll need to reboot... It is very useful to find out if you are running programs that shouldn't be running (like Trojans) or when Windows has become very unstable (who said quite often? ;-) and you cannot use Ctrl-Alt-Del to terminate programs that aren't responding.
OK, now the technical part: it was programmed in almost a week in pure Win32 (using WinApis directly, no MFC), making it very fast and very small (31KB!) and I've also used STL.... Keep in mind however, that this is a beta version and has only been tested in Windows 98 (it should work on Win95 and WinMe too). It doesn't work on WinNt and Windows2000 due to different WinApis (It was also for me impossible to test on these OS, so I preferred to limit the platform to Win95/98).

7th June 2001
In the next day will be available a beta version of a new simple Windows Application....

29th May 2001
New first page of the site and here are the first screenshots of my work at DbStudios (© 2001 DBStudios):

27th May 2001
New interactive Flash Navbar added to the site! Enjoy it! It could be called "Tears in the rain", an homage to Blade Runner ;-)... I've also removed the news bar...and re-made the initial page...

23rd May 2001
I've updated the links section with new links to web development sites. I've also almost finished the first work with DbStudios.

21st May 2001
OK, the counter is active! There will be some adjustments in the next days, but it is now fully operational...

20th May 2001
I've added an ASP counter for the number of downloads of Unlimited2 Poker... I think it will be fully operative only tomorrow..

15th May 2001
I solved the problem of the main logo of the site, that was not displayed in Netscape Navigator...

3rd May 2001
As I'm also learning ASP, I've added a page in the Projects section that shows all the information about your configuration (browser, platform, IP number...). If you're curious, check it out!

1st May 2001
New article about creating a preloader for a Flash project added to the articles section!

25th April 2001
The two parts of the first article about Flash are finally up! Take a look at them, if you want....

20th April 2001
I've uploaded the first article in Italian about creating a scroll text similar to the one you see on the top-left of this page with Flash 5. In the next few days I should translate it in English...

17th April 2001
New Flash navigation bar and new animated logo added to the site..
Lionhead's Black & White is finally out! More informations here.

5th April 2001
I'm still implementing the new site layout and also experimenting with Flash movies... I like especially the new buttons, I think they're cool! :)

29th March 2001

Uff... A long time has passed since the last update! The good news: new site layout (to be enhanced soon..) and the fact that I'm currently working on a multimedia project for DB Studios.
I have a lot of ideas regarding the next months, for example a series of articles about c++ programming and Macromedia Director. See ya soon!

I forgot to mention the Stanley Cup I won today with NHL2001 ;-) Go AVS!

15th January 2001

Version 0.8 of Unlimited2 Poker is the FINAL release (at least at the moment). I wanted to add new features to the game, but it's time for something new! I'm already working on a new project (top secret :-) ). For a couple of months there will be no new downloads, sorry...

6th December 2000

Version 0.8 beta is available! (0.7 has been skipped :-) ). The timing of the game is now performed with the high-res timer via QueryPerformanceCounter() and QueryPerformanceFrequency(), more reliable than the previous GetThickCount(). The frame lock is also gone. If your computer can display the game at 200 fps, the game will no more lock himself at 100 (as in previous versions); all the calculations regarding time are now made relative to the cpu speed. The most important add-ons of this version are the ending animation (one for each level of difficulty). At least there is a reason to play the game... The good news are that the next version will be the *FINAL* release of the game with the possibility to play in full-screen or in a window. Then I'll be working on something completely new (don't know exactly yet, maybe a new game, probably a Windows app).

30th November 2000

UNLIMITED2 POKER 0.6 beta is available for download! Enhancements of this version: 3 levels of difficulty (Easy, Normal, Hard), possibility to decide the starting money of the players and the initial ante. Cpu is now dropping the cards before or after the player following his turn. You can find the new screenshots of the game in the GAMES section. And remember to give some feedback (if you like the game or not, if it is working correctly.. )

23rd November 2000

While I was working on the AI enhancements of the game I found and corrected a bug: the player's money and total bet were calculated wrongly after a player's raise. The version 0.5b beta has no more this problem.

22nd November 2000

UNLIMITED2 POKER 0.5 beta is up! You can download it in the GAMES section. Next week I'll release the newest version with major AI enhancements (or so I hope..). In the future I'm also going to implement the possibility to play the game in a window.

21st November 2000

Tomorrow the new version will be available for download! I've added a Font Engine to draw graphic fonts and a better-looking console background.

15th November 2000

There was a bug in version 0.4 beta that caused the in-game menu's buttons to be checked in main-menu although they were not visible. The problem is now gone in version 0.4a beta. I have also added the background graphic for the Main Menu and the mouse shape changes when the left mouse button is pressed. The intro logo is now animated, but the work isn't finished yet..

14th November 2000

UNLIMITED2 POKER 0.4 beta is available for download in the GAMES section! The new version has a better mouse handling (with Direct Input) and the time for displaying each card at the beginning of a new game is calculated in real-time. (It means that the time doesn't vary with the speed of the processor you have installed, so the time will be the same at 100 fps or 50 fps or whatever frame per second. It is the same technique used in multiplayer games to keep track of the time and position of the players).

12th November 2000

I've created and added the background graphics for the game. The next step is to add mouse support with Direct Input (actually I use the standard Windows message system) and then the version 0.4 beta of UNLIMITED2 POKER will be available for download. You can find a screenshot of the new release in the GAMES section.

11th November 2000

The cpu cards are no more displayed at the end of the game if the player/computer drops. I've also implemented the corrected behavior in case of a tie game (very rare).

10th November 2000

Today I've added the game-window that asks for confirmation before exiting the game. The newest version will be available next week for download, since I'm working on other refinements.

8th November 2000

The in-game menu is now working! I also have corrected some problems with the surfaces of the buttons when alt-tabbing out of the game. There is also a better error-checking when loading buttons graphics. The new version is available for download in the games section.

7th November 2000

The version 0.3beta of UNLIMITED2 POKER is available for download in the GAMES section! There is still a lot of work to do, the latest enhancement is the possibility to Alt-Tab out of the game and reenter without problems. The next beta will have a working in-game menu. I'm still searching a graphic artist!

4th November 2000

I'm searching a graphic artist to make the player characters and the backgrounds of UNLIMITED2 POKER. If you are interested, drop a mail to my mail address with a sample of your work.

30th October 2000

The site is up! There isn't much to show yet, since my first game is under development. In the GAMES section you can read more about UNLIMITED2 POKER (yes, a poker game..) and in the future see the game screenshots and download a game demo.

In the LINKS section you can find useful links to programming and game programming related sites.