Fantastic particle simulator

The other day, I was given a link to an online Java applet called Powder Game by Dan-Ball. I had played a really similar game before, but I don’t think it was made by the same person (though I could be wrong). It’s a great little Java applet – it simulates a variety of particles, each with their own unique behaviour and properties. The way different ‘elements’ interact is what makes it interesting – Fire and magma will slowly burn through oil but cause sticks of c-4 and fireworks to explode violently. If you drop some oil into a pool of water it’ll happily sit on top of it, but denser materials such as stone will sink straight to the bottom.

Stargate eat your heart out.

As well as an abundance of different particles at your disposal, you can also conjure little stickmen, boxes, bubbles, fans and spinning wheels, all of which interact with the environment you make for them.

Particle sims are pretty common (I even made one myself a while ago), but what really makes powder game stand out is its simulation of air pressure. As you pump air into a region (or have a fan do it for you), the pressure will increase. Particles will always try their best to move into a region with lower pressure, and as a result will swish around quite elegantly until they find a comfortable spot to settle. Filling an enclosed space with air and then watching it explosively decompress as you erase a chunk of the wall, hurling asunder person and particle alike, is particularly fun.

The rapture! The rapture!

Being a computer geek, the first thing I thought when I ran this applet was, ‘I wonder if I can make a computer out of this?‘. I tried, and ultimately failed, to replicate a water integrator using water particles and a spinning wheel. I’ve yet to find an reliable alternative way to flip back and forth between two states, but I’m sure one must exist so I’ll keep looking.

Links:

Powder game (http://dan-ball.jp/en/javagame/dust)

Uni projects: Brainvaders

This project was, by far, the most enjoyable one I’ve ever undertaken at university. The assignment was simple, as they often were – we had to remake Space Invaders using Blitz Basic. As it was the third and final assignment on my Computer Games Development module, I decided to pull out all of the stops and spend a solid month or so (I’m sad like that) creating what you see here.

Brainvaders juggles the Space Invaders formula around a bit. Instead of being stuck with the same old boring ‘pchoo rifle‘, you’re given the ability to upgrade your alien-blaster to a choice of four other weapons (rapid fire, double shot, triple shot and homing). You can also upgrade your shields to withstand more damage, and buy a few nifty extras like a tractor beam and ‘orbiters’, which help with the alien blasting. Upgrades can be purchased in exchange for alien brains (which are favoured for their mild creamy taste. Great on toast!), which must first be seperated from their original owners.

Brainvaders follow the typical Invaderesque style of movement (Drop down! Increase speed! Reverse direction!) with the added freedom of being able to swoop down to get a bit close and personal whenever they feel like it. This will happen more often as you kill more of them, so don’t stay still for too long…

As you dispose of waves of enemies, new ones will arrive that are slightly stronger and more aggressive. If you die, the game won’t actually end, you’ll just lose around half of your points. Thus, you’ll be able to keep playing until you get bored.

All of the content was made by me except the sound effects which were all made by my good friend, Matt Griffith, whose voice acting abilities are almost godlike.

Links:

• Source code & exe

Uni projects: Stick Tennis

Recently, I’ve been busier than ever. I’ve had no less than four projects to juggle, two of which are now – thankfully – complete. I’ve been working on the other two almost incessantly, but during my brief breaks I’ve been writing a computing article that should hopefully interest. For now, I’m just going to post the remainder of my university projects from last year. These ones are a bit more exciting!

The first is Stick Tennis. This is the first graphical game I got to make in university, and made a nice change from Interactive Fiction!. The assignment specification was incredibly simple: make a Pong game. Beyond that we had free rein, as long as it didn’t stray too far from the original concept.

The rules of Stick Tennis differ slightly to those of the original Pong. The scoring system is a dumbed-down version of tennis (each successive point is worth 15, 30, 40, etc) and the playing field is a lot longer than it is wide. I was actually quite lucky to pass this assignment with the score that I got (85%+) because I neglected one of the fundamental rules of Pong – that the ball should be able to bounce off the top and bottom of the field. Luckily, my lecturer overlooked this.

If you find it difficult to hit the ball, don’t worry – for a pong game it’s insanely difficult to control! You’ll probably get bored and stop playing before winning against the computer anyway. It’s not the exactly the most exciting game in the world, but it might keep you entertained for a few minutes while you watch the ridiculous budget stickman animations in action (which I’m actually really proud of).

I’ve included the source code for anyone interested in taking a peek. It’s in Blitz Basic format (.bb)

Links:

Source code & exe

Uni projects: School’s Out

In my first year of university, I made the mistake of taking Computer Games Technology as a result of my pipe dream to become a profesional games developer. I’ve had a little sense smacked into me since then, but in the time that I did spend on the course, I made three games which I’m releasing for all to play.

The first game is an interactive fiction (text adventure) game called School’s Out in which you play a school kid who manages to get himself locked in school at the beginning of the mid-term break. Using the objects lying around the school, and your own wits, you need to find your own way out before you die of boredom (or your own stupidity).

It was made using Inform 6, which is a functional but limited language (I’ve heard 7 is much better, but we couldn’t use that). To run the .z5 file you’ll need a z-machine interpreter; I recommend Frotz.

School’s Out was a collaborative effort by myself and two others in my group, Stuart Hayes and Ben Holland. We wrote out a walkthrough as part of the specification, but none of us seem to have it any more! I still remember how to complete it, though, so if you’re stuck, just post a comment or something and I can help.

Links:

Source code & .z5 file

Retro Game Awards

Modern games owe a hell of a lot to their predecessors – almost every game stands on the shoulders of those created before it. Modern first-person shooter games have a lot to thank Wolfenstein for, and without Populous, the entire genre of ‘god games’ may not even exist today.

As well as being forerunners for the incredibly popular games industry, retro games are some of the most innovative and fun ever produced. That’s why I want to pay homeage to some of those games. I’m a big fan of the Megadrive (aka Genesis) and SNES – I grew up with them – so a lot of the games in this article will be titles from those consoles (although quite a few old PC titles will probably find their way in).

So, without further adieu, the first lucky game in the Retro Game Awards is…