Boldai Blog

Boldai awarded 300,000 SEK in VINN NU

11 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0000

I’m happy to announce that Boldai was awarded the VINN NU grant of 300,000 SEK from the Swedish government agency of innovation, Vinnova!

Me and Magnus were interviewed on stage

Receiving the diploma

Wall hugging

25 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0000

As part of our work on a Unity integration of our Brain Builder tool we made this maze demo:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OW7G5OWRaQc

Brain Builder for LEGO Mindstorms

20 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Martin and Magnus use Boldai’s Brain Builder tool to develop behaviors for a LEGO Mindstorms battle tank. Their plans for world domination through a robot army are foiled when the robot turns on its creators, starts attacking them, and scares the neighbor’s dog.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-fLYhKvYJU

Simple Obstacle Avoidance Rules

29 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Little simulated people run around trying to avoid giant cubes dropping from the sky.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10m2tub0wPg

Brain Builder - A new take on visual scripting

13 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Hi all! We just released a public beta of our visual scripting tool Brain Builder.

It’s based on if-then rules that you create through a unique (patent pending) drag and drop interface. Rules are quick to build, easy to understand, and result in a much cleaner workspace compared to graph based tools.

We’d love to hear what you think and are grateful for all feedback. If you want to try it out you can download the Unity package and view information on how to get started.

Please note that this is a (free) beta, and your opinions can help make it even better. We plan to release new updates every week or two. Features currently in the works include:

Undo
Integrated documentation
Drag and drop game objects directly from the scene into rules
A “recently used blocks” group in the left panel

Don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions. Cheers, Martin.

Racing puzzle game for iPad/iPhone/Android with zero lines of code

14 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0000

We’re using Brain Builder to create an iPad/iPhone/Android game. No programming or scripting required!

The game is a racing-physics-puzzler (new genre?). You drive a little yellow car over jumps and into obstacles. Complete levels by razing towers of blocks so that the red block ends up on the floor.

The third public beta of Brain Builder is out

26 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Thank you for the feedback you’ve given us! It really warms our hearts and helps us improve.

Speaking of improvements, the third public beta of Brain Builder is out! Installation is automatic if you have the previous version. Just reopen the Brain Builder window, wait for the new version to pop up, and click download and install. Otherwise just download and import the Unity package.

We have focused on improving documentation:

Explanations and examples while hovering over items in the palette (left panel)
Answers to questions at answers.boldai.com now include screen shots
An introductory manual available at boldai.com/manual

but also added new functionality:

Access other brains’ slots
Indexing operators
Bugfixes

and some convenience features:

Resize palette
Recently used blocks folder
Double-click and type strings and numbers directly in your rules

Here’s a teaser screenshot from the obstacle avoidance brain I’m working on:

Again, all feedback is greatly appreciated!

Brain Builder for sale in the Asset Store

4 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Brain Builder is now for sale in the Asset Store for $95!

The new release includes numerous improvements, bugfixes, and features. Some of the most important are:

Undo!
A brain is created automatically for you
Adding additional brains is a single tick of a checkbox
Achievements panel tracks which Brain Builder features you have explored

We have also included a lot more useful material with the Asset Store package:

Beginners Blocks that makes it easy to get started
Behavior Bundles, which are ready-made brains for common behaviors (more bundles are in the works!)
Example scenes and brains that you can learn from

Our front page now explains the three basic Brain Builder actions:

Drag building blocks to the canvas
Drop values on variable blocks
Snap blocks together into rules

And did you notice the big red “Buy” button? ;)

New Features in Brain Builder 1.2

23 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +0000

I’d like to start by thanking everyone who bought Brain Builder. THANK YOU! We know it’s a significant investment for many of you. The fact that you bought it means the world to us. It really does! It’s incredibly rewarding to see you guys appreciate all the hard work we are putting into this product. Also, big THANKS to you who wrote reviews in the Asset Store!

Now go to the Asset Store and get Brain Builder version 1.2. In addition to many bug fixes we have some great new features for you:

Basic Blocks

Brain Builder now ships with a complete set of “Basic Blocks” (left panel). These are ready-made building blocks for many common situations such as clicking an object (works on mobile!). And, as you can see, the popup-on-hover documentation includes examples with graphics:

Block Folders

We have sorted the many new basic blocks into folders. This keeps the list of blocks neat. You can even create your own folders and sort your own blocks the way you want them by clicking “Organizer.”

Friendly Block Names

Block names are now fully customizable, including the order and position of variables. We have used this to improve readability, e.g.:

Cut’n’Paste

Copy, cut, and paste blocks and rules in and between brains. You can even copy examples from our web page and paste them right into your Unity project brains!

As always, all feedback is greatly appreciated! Help us make Brain Builder better :)

Svenskt kreativt spel gör succé i San Francisco

28 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Linköpingsföretaget Boldai gör det möjligt att bygga spel utan att vara programmerare bara man tycker det är roligt att skapa. Nu har de premiärvisat sin kreativa spelvärld Blocksworld på Game Developers Conference (GDC) i San Francisco.

Med Boldai’s Blocksworld kan man på ett enkelt sätt kombinera olika block med egenskaper och skapa egna spel och världar. Det nyskapade spelet kan sedan delas med andra användare.

Blocksworld är en blandning av LEGO, Minecraft och Facebook fast enklare, säger Tomas Ahlström, affärsutvecklare och grundare av Boldai. Essensen i Blocksworld ligger i skapandet och att själv hitta egna lösningar och kombinationer, där endast fantasin sätter gränser.

På GDC träffade företagets representanter media, förläggare och ledande aktörer inom spelbranschen för att verifiera potentialen hos sin produkt samt knyta strategiska allianser med potentiella affärspartners.

Responsen var väldigt positiv och vi skapade stor uppmärksamhet. Spel som går ut på att skapa och lära sig är stort just nu. Det handlar inte bara om förströelse utan om lek och personlig utveckling, säger Martin Magnusson, VD och forskaren som ligger bakom konceptet.

Boldai förhandlar nu med ledande förläggare och distributörer. Lanseringen av Blocksworld sker senare under året.

För ytterligare information kontakta:

Martin Magnusson, VD Boldai, Tel 0730-44 28 87

Tomas Ahlström, affärsutvecklare Boldai, Tel 073-460 75 40