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IM Mysteries
A potential art-house release, IM Mysteries would combine multiple
Eliza chat bots with a hidden agenda to create an engrossing
and convincing story. Someone is going around murdering these
online friends, and you have to find out who, why, and how to
stop them. You have only your AOL instant messenger client and
whatever information you can piece together from these character
bots to save them. Some players might never even know they are
playing a game.
Sad
"Sad" is another potential art-house release, exploring the relationship between distant individuals struggling to connect over the internet and suicidal thoughts. Culled from real life transcripts of suicidal people, the player would have to talk Sadie out of killing themselves through forging deeper connections and exploring their messed up life. Again, this would happen entirely through an online chat client, with an Eliza chat bot "Sadie" on the other end. Players will have to be their own judges of success, based upon how many days / months / years they managed to stabilize this sad girl, before she takes her own life.
The technology to do this project exists today, if someone out there has the mindset and time.
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Skybound
Skybound is a short duration game exploiting the Game Boy Advance's
2 mode 7 backgrounds and scaling sprites to create an immersive
skydiving experience.
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Bridges
Bridges is based around a combination of Twixt and Qwix, a two
player bridge-building competition where bridges are constantly
building themselves. Place your next piece carefully to create
maximum chaos with your opponent's line, or try and build your
own. Stretch too far, and your opponent will slide something
in. Build to close, and you waste your opportunity. All of this,
of course, can disappear in a single bomb.
An experimental text version of this game is available for download.
It is not feature-complete, not realtime, and the AI is very
easy to defeat. It does, however show the chaotic nature of the
gameplay pretty well.
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TI-92 Enigma and MindSweep
These are both basically straight ports of the old Master Mind
and Mine Sweep games. They were created on a TI-92 graphing calculator,
using the built in TI-basic editor.
Enigma and MindSweep were mostly programming exercises. Handling
the expanding search spaces found in MindSweep pushed the 68000's
poor little interpreter to the limits, but some heavily optimized
code made the game enjoyably playable.
To play these, you will need either a TI-92
calculator, or an emulator.
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Scripts: |
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Keep Awake
Ever wanted
to go away from you keyboard without going AFK? This little
script moves your mouse around the screen randomly, so that
you can go get dinner without losing your place in line for
a raid (or what not). Also an Auto
Hot Key script.
I'm actually
most happy with the action of the cursor movement. It's a simple
spring system with a target that teleports randomly every 4
seconds. Sometimes I leave it running all on it's own, just
to watch it move.
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Skellie Alert
( for YoHoHo Puzzle Pirates )
A little script
which automates the process of alerting interested players of
the MMOPG Puzzle Pirates when Skellies (a
particularly nasty form of enemy) have been found. First the
script goes to the YPP Wiki, downloads the list of players who
have signed
up to be Skellie Hunters (in HTML format). It then takes
control of the Puzzle Pirates client, parsing the list and sending
out text messages to the users describing the location of the
Skellies. Simple.
Written using
the excellent and open source Auto
Hot Key.
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Nightmare Creatures Passcode System
I'm still rather proud of the Nightmare Creatures passcode system.
It took a fun weekend to crack the system, it worked perfectly
and well, and people still send e-mail about it. It also helped
me to break into the industry, as I got my first job in QA based
upon the strength of this sleuthing.
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Levels:
Quake 3 |
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The Abyss
A series of Jousting bridges, surrounded on one side by an open,
visceral cathedral and on the other by a fatal plunge into a descending
elevator. The spiritual predecessor to Subterranean
Caverns, The Abyss combines linear level sensibilities
with competitive multiplayer gameplay.
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Subterranean Caverns
Subterranian Caverns is an enjoyable level with much memorable
geometry. Based around a series of centralized walkways, the functional
gameplay element is one of using that which you are walking upon
as an offensive platform as well as a sheild. It, and and other
levels, are available from www.planetquake.com/lvl/beta.html.
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Geometry Test
What started out as a simple test of the Quake 3 engine quickly
became a fun little level full of eye candy.
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Levels:
Other |
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Botched Defection
Ghosts never
escape the battlefield, as Raynor is finding out in this story-driven
snippet from a larger potential game arch. The cost of nonviolence
is explored in this large but time-limited level.
-Requires Brood Wars Expansion
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The Arena
Dictionary.com
defines an arena as an enclosed area for the presentation of
sports events and spectacles. This Arena is exactly that - a
carefully constructed combat space for two players to test their
skills with a gamut of creatures and implements. Scripted for simple
unit balancing.
-Requires Brood Wars Expansion
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Tenchu 2
Tenchu 2 was
one of the most enjoyable stealth games for the benevolent old PS1,
and one of the most enjoyable games to ship with a level editor.
Images copyright Acclaim.
-Requires
PS1, Tenchu 2, and Dex Drive
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Websites: |
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Chris Canfield.net
You're looking at it. Chris Canfield.net has undergone many revisions
over the past few years. Originally it had monocolor ovals for navigation
along the left hand side, and lacked the distinctive background
and angular styling that are the hallmark of this site. At one point
I had even experimented with a metallic scythe in purple and orange
before settling on the current "Magic Hour" style. Where
does it get the name "Magic Hour?" From it's inspiration:
the Sushi level in Bust-A-Groove 2
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The Story Game Initiative
After a frustrated attempt to capture the essence of story-based
gaming in a turn-of-the-century modernist motif, I turned to the
muted colors of Japanese stationary for inspiration. What came out
the other side is a site distinctly different from most. Much like
the game, it eschews bright colors for passive subtlety, but fills
all available space with story, if one were to look hard enough.
Currently, the game on hold, with one of the site's founders heading
off to get his masters degree in fleshing out what The Story Game
Initiative is. This project may never bear product, but it has
already bore fruit in the form of ideas and directions for all
of those involved.
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Quiet Computer Consulting
Quiet Computer Consulting was designed with one thing in mind:
Quiet simplicity. Using a color palette Google would have been proud
of, the site instilled a sense of peace and professionalism in visitors.
As I am currently employed and not looking for further work, the
quietcc.com currently points to this address. However, we have saved
a screenshot of the welcome screen for your perusal.
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The Bureau of Mandatory Police Communication
A site designed in IBM green and white, the Bureau
of Mandatory Police Communication was a small spoof site created
in response to the increasing legal requirements for civilians
to report any and all suspicious activity or else. It may sound
quaint now, but the big thing about this design was the offset
between the menu buttons and the background, making them appear
to "extrude" or "tab" outwards towards the
content. It was 1997, that was a revolutionary idea back then.
The image on the front page was actually being pulled directly
from the FBI's servers, a petty little jab that never drew the
desired cease-and-desist letter.
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Miscellaneous: |
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Thailand Screensaver
Images taken from a recent voyage to Thailand, in convienient
screensaver format. They say Thailand is a combination of the
old and the modern, but what they mean is that it
is an interesting juxtoposition of the
very, very old and the just recently old.
Drag
to your Windows folder to install. |
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Cambridge ScreenSavers
Not strictly gaming related, but fun nonetheless. Included are
images taken from and around the Cambridge, Massachusetts area
in convienient screensaver format. Just double-click on the setup
application to install.
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Gamer Pride T-Shirt
Gaming still carries negative connotations in this country, and
those who follow it frequently are looked upon as freaks and geeks.
This, my favorite T-shirt design is a small mesaure intended to
counteract that. Complete with messianic and very analog NES D-Pad,
it is intended for a photolithographic transfer to silk screen.
In other words a cheap, low volume printing of a high quality that
your local crafts store can show you how to do. Click on the image
for the full PSD file. Free for all non-commercial printings. |
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