Saturday, December 20, 2008

Graphviz


We're working with some complicated one-way branch logic at work recently, and I thought it'd be nice to visualize that as a flow chart.
Fortunately, someone's already done the hard work for me by making a program called Graphviz.

The script on the left produces the chart on the right.
Very handy!
www.graphviz.org

Also a weird coincidence that this comic was posted the same day... http://www.xkcd.com/518/

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Love Triangles, the game

The Love Triangles game. If the arrow keys don't work, you may have to click on it once to get keyboard focus.
This game is an experiment; it is an expression of the problems of dating in game form. Most "dating" games that exist now give you a limited (say 10) set of potential matches, and the game is answering questions the right way and doing the right thing to impress one of those 10. I wanted to explore the concept of "lots of fish in the sea" by creating a world with 2500 randomly generated potential matches. You simply don't have the time to evaluate all possible candidates.
Thoughts? Play Love Triangles Now!



Play Love Triangles Now!


Yes, I know the HTML link target is scary, but it's necessary to get Java applets on this blog without using your computer's resources until it's needed. If the link target looks like
http://www.adrive.com/home/downloadfile/4615a76783e767806957487c5324c1d86b54264f5e6cec36c9a3cbe1e9592b8d, then you're OK.

Bowser's Living Space

The assignment is: Pick an existing character from literature, movies, or games, and create a convincing living space for him/her. I chose Bowser, the villain of the Super Mario series of video games.

Each of these images is larger than appears here, click on them to see the full-size image.

Here's a mood board of prior material to give you a general sense of the character:

And here's my interpretation:A view from the throne:The requisite bridge over lava (notice the axe by the end) After crossing the bridge you come to the office and bedroom (that's Mario on the dartboard)And a fly-through (the music is from Super Mario World, the Super Nintendo game):

Hello World

This blog follows the life and times (and projects) of the eponymous blogger.

Coming soon:
  • Bowser's 3D rendered living space
  • Love Triangles browser game - A geometric expression of the dating game
  • Various soapbox postings on game design
  • Various soapbox postings on religion