Monday, December 8, 2008
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Game: Freedom
My art game is called "Freedom." The goal is to reach the opposite side of the tunnel. Use the right arrow key to move. When the tunnel changes colors, you change direction and speed.

Download: Windows
Linux
Following the lead of other artists, I have also written an analysis of my game (though it is pretty short).
Freedom represents the journey of a nation as it struggles to remain free in an imperfect world. On the path to freedom, obstacles can cause the people to lose sight of the real goal (to go backwards). There are two ways to reach freedom. Either "stay the course" (hold right) and keep moving in whatever direction seems to be forward, or try to adapt to the rest of the world; when something goes wrong, pull out quickly and wait for the situation to resolve itself before moving forward again (press and release right as the color changes).
However, this analysis merely skims the surface of a deeper meaning. Strangely, the bitmap responsible for holding the numbers used in displaying the final score is located in the root directory instead of in the "bmp" folder. Additionally, it seems as if the images for "4" and "7" have been removed and replaced with hasty mspaint scribbles. No matter what the end result, there is always the potential for capitalism, which is supposed to enforce individuality, to corrupt the system as a whole.
One might argue that the numbers 4 and 7 were chosen at random; however, a closer look reveals that 4 and 7 were the two numbers of the "system" font that did not adapt well to the modified font used in the game. This reveals the exact nature of the capitalist corruption. Those things which do not fit, rather than being carefully (and expensively) repaired are replaced with cheaper, lower quality components.
Additionally, the hexadecimal number 47 represents the letter "G" in ASCII. If "G" is taken to means "GAMES" or "GAMEPLAY," it can be said that the corruption of hex 47 represents the state of the commercial games industry. the gameplay is cheap filler that creates simple context for beautiful graphics and the occasional "GIMMICK."
Etc.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Game: Cells
Cells is a simple puzzle game. The player is presented with a grid of cells each containing a value and a mathemetical operation. By observing changes in value, the player must determine the operation of each cell.

Status: Complete, though the tutorial might not be very good (suggestions welcome).
Download (Windows): Cells
Game: X-Treme Linear Hotplate Simulator
XLHS is a simple game about the nature of the universe and curvature of space. It places the player in the role of a metal bug on a unique hotplate; the hotplate is cold in the center and hot at the edges. As the bug moves to different areas, it does not notice the different temperatures and corresponding changes in its own size. For the bug, the shortest distance between two points on opposite sides of the hotplate (a straight line) is a curved path.
The title screen is a bit old. Just imaging that it says "Second Law Games" instead of "Macrosoft Etheration."
Add"church.mp3" for music. Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden has a nice one.
Status: Complete
Download (Windows): XLHS
Game: Bullet Hell and PlatClimber
The first is a bullet hell platformer with unlimited double-jumps. The goal is to survive. You get more points-per-second for maintaining a higher elevation and an extra 1000 points for touching the ceiling. The final score is found in stdout.txt
The second is a simple platformer inspired by Mole's Quest. The goal is to climb falling platforms to the top of the room in the shortest time possible.
Status: Complete
Download (Windows): Gravity Hell, Platclimber


