Games
In 2002, I began programming accessible Windows computer games. My early work was available at BSCGames (now defunct, cause-and-effect open to interpretation). We began with Troopanum, a classic shoot-the-ships-before-they-kill-you arcade game. The game was very well-received, being one of the first audio classic arcade games for Windows. The game, in concert with enhanced availability of and interest in audio games for windows, spawned the creation of quite a number of similar arcade titles. The game went through several versions, culminating in a large overhaul in 2004 with version 2.0. Interleaved with Troopanum releases, we created a couple versions of a less traditional, though still successful, game called Pipe. Pipe version 2.0 combines several game elements, including time-based puzzles and side-scrolling levels. Download at your own risk, but the Audio Game archive is hosting these abandoned games.
In 2004, I started DanZGames.com, the vestiges of which can be found right here. My most successful solo project was a game developed in 2005 called Super Deekout (Registration Patch; extract into Super Deekout program folder), a defense-based though deceptively addicting arcade game. The idea is Pacman-ish: avoid bad guys while collecting coins that enable you to complete the level. The innovation (or lack of innovation, perhaps) in the game was to dispense with the idea that you were facing a specific direction (used in other audio games), and instead to use the arrow keys to move in their corresponding cardinal directions. This permitted extremely fast gameplay -- no compensatory slowdown for awkward directional navigation. The game was my first to use 3D sound: a suitable four-speaker setup would allow you to hear the enemies along both axes. Two-speaker setups were also supported through use of volume to indicate absolute distance on the y-axis.
DanZGames.com also included some smaller games:
- Chainlink (Registration Patch): connect words based on their commanalities (stole this idea from an old game show)
- Search Party (Registration Patch): generate and complete word search puzzles (stole this idea from an old program I used to generate word searches for school)
- Maze Craze: can you escape the maze? (Stole this idea from ... TBA)
- DanZ Memory: memorize and repeat patterns
And here is some even older game-related stuff, the legacy of my youngest programming days: