Ragnar
I began working on
Ragnar in 1989, a 3D isometric game for the Sinclar ZX Spectrum home computer. Equipped with 48 kB of RAM (including 6 KB for the 256x192 pixels video memory), this popular 8-bit computer housed a Z80 processor running at 3.5 MHz. Coded in pure machine code (Z80 assembler), I did the 3d engine from scratch, creating a buffered solution to reduce animation flicker. Gameplay consisted of navigating the labyrinth, solving puzzles to pass doors. Project was put on hold when I went into the army around 1991.
I commenced working on Ragnar again in 2004. Using the ZX Snap emulator, I redesigned the graphics and rewrote the code base, all using emulated tools on the Spectrum platform. (As in the first version, the blue border is from a cross-stitched thingie my dear grandma once made). I plan to have Ragnar finished when Im 70 something.
Unity games (and grown-up stuff)
Unity is a fantastic framework that works really well with C# - and its very much prepared for a host of different target platforms. Although I am very much a beginner here, slow-cooking two different Unity game projects, my particular interest in Unity is to explore how it potentially could be used in scientific contexts. Apart from my two game projects, I am also exploring how Unity could be used to create immersive network visualizations - e.g. as a mean to navigate and explore relational data using AR/VR googles.
XNA games
Using the now deprecated XNA framework for C#, I have developed a bunch of different games, mostly working prototypes but also playable ones.
Demesteroids is a classic Asteroids clone where I used real-world radar imaging models for the in-game asteroids. For more peaceful gaming, try the relaxing and equally network-educational
CNS XMAS Game.
I also wrote an article series about XNA for Datormagazin, where I guided the reader through the process of producing a simple arcade game. In this case, it was DMZone, where you drive your tank around, avoiding the tanks sent out by the almighty Cute Puppy.
Assorted C# clients
I like C# - which is pretty weird in academia, where most people work in R or Python. But for making stable and easy things that work, it is fantastic.
In the pre-push-era of Mollevangen.net community, I created a little software that resides in the task manager, checking events on the community. For my PhD dissertation party, I created a spring-embedding visualizer for all my guests. And I have created an assortment of various useful tools, ranging from sprite sheet creators to text parsers and data converters.
Prehistoric (ZX Spectrum)
Although Ragnar was my main game project for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, my pre-Z80 and pre-teen years were spent coding sort-of-games in Basic. Applying fairly advanced and innovative spelling and namings, e.g.
Chase Mase,
Race Mase, and the boxing game
Knockers[!], I thoroughly explained the content of the games ("Real name is Pac man but with no ghosts") and explanations on what happens in the game:
Oh! What hapend? Like a big-bang! I don't know! I didn't do the mistake! You did!.
Ah. The days.
