Blog for Jason Bakker at GarageGames.com

All Done!

Jason Bakker — 2006-11-19T13:24:02+00:00

Well, we've got Cataclysm handed in - it's been a long road, and while it isn't everything we imagined, it's a lot more than some people were expecting, and a pretty fun game too ;)

Here's what it ended up looking like:

If you're interested in seeing a Cataclysm in action, you can download a short clip of me playing it here. (requires DivX 6.4.0 Codec)

This might be my last post for a couple of months, as I don't have any Torque related projects coming up in the near future; feel free to drop me a line at jason.bakker@gmail.com if you'd like any more information on the project or myself; if you'd like to contact Rachel Wu, our 3D and Graphic Artist, or the team's Lead Programmer Zaid Crouch, just let me know and I'll forward their emails - alternately, you can check out their websites at raimagination.com and zaid-crouch.com.

/salute!

Cataclysm Gui Update

Jason Bakker — 2006-10-04T15:07:12+00:00

It's me again!

In our group, I'm primarily concerned with the programming (and some of the art) behind the GUIs - including the HUD, controls, and pretty much everything else in the client folder ;) Anyway, I've been working on this for quite a while - it uses quite a few new controls that I created (which I had had plans on releasing to the community, but which are far too buggy and finicky to do so), as well as a modified guiAnimBitmapCtrl.

Anyway, this is what it looks like at the moment!

It probably seems a little strange when not in context of the game itself, but anyway should look interesting ;) It's mid-explosion, after the exit button has been clicked, causing a chain reaction. Creating the 2D "particle emitter" (and by particle emitter I mean, random .png spitter) was an interesting endeavour, but one that I don't think I'd like to repeat ;)

Oh, in case anyone was wondering how I was able to get it to take a screenshot mid-explosion without it looking all choppy - I created an infinitely recursive function, then scheduled it to happen at a strategic time - and had a two second window in which to snap away :D (I called it "deathCoil()" - guess who plays too much WoW.)

That's it, pretty much. In a couple of weeks we've got presentation and handin, and we have a LOT to do before then. So I'd better get cracking!

Cataclysm Screenie

Jason Bakker — 2006-07-30T05:40:33+00:00

As promised, our fledgling puzzle game in action! And yes, we haven't got our own particle effects yet ><

Not much to look at yet, but we're getting there.

ed:

Hrm, apparently my first post was eaten or something. Anyway, this is a uni project that I'm doing this year with a couple of friends; culled from our Project Proposal:

"In Cataclysm, your goal is to create the biggest explosions possible, by combining radioactive isotopes into reactions and making them as strong as possible before they reach critical mass and detonate! You play as Hector, an oddball whose job it is to run around grabbing these isotopes and throwing them into piles, until they fuse and start reacting. As you throw more isotopes onto the reaction, it gets more powerful, but be careful: if you're too close to the explosion, you'll become part of it!

Fast, frenetic and with a strategic bent, Cataclysm is a game for everyone who enjoys action puzzles and competitive gaming."

We've just entered our second semester of work on it, and are at the development phase where we pretty much take our prototype and make a game out of it. Wish us luck! ;)