PONG Clone Completed!!!

It is with great pleasure that I announce I have finally completed a game of my own! There are some obvious improvements that could be made (adding sound, better art, etc.) but it is a fully working game with Artificial Intelligence (AI) for the computer opponent, basic menus, scoring, and clear winning conditions. I'm particularly proud of the ball's motion blur, a subtle effect that makes the game look more polished.

The left paddle is controlled with the W (up) and S (down) keys. Likewise, the right paddle is controlled with the O and L keys.

Download the Game Now!

I would be very appreciative of any feedback; just leave me a comment here on the blog to let me know what you think. I will provide a breakdown of the effort spent on this simple game (done in 24 hours!) in an upcoming post.

Finishing a Game: Pong Update

As I've stated in some older posts, I've been planning to work on a Pong clone for some time now. I was digging through a new book and learning the internals of Direct3D lighting, texturing, blending, meshes, etc. And I've learned a LOT (especially about vertex and pixel shaders) since those older blog posts, but one problem with the book I'm using is that it teaches small bits without building a game project. Even with all of my learning I still had not created a whole game, and I do know that in order to have a decent game career portfolio I will need to have at least one completed game (though probably two or more) to even be considered.

So I took a step back from all the fun advanced 3D stuff for a bit and am proud to say I'm making progress (translation: nearly completed) on my Pong clone. I will post the game itself and implementation details soon!

In other news, my wife and I finally purchased a Nintendo Wii since the retail price came down to $200. Wii Sports and Boom Blox are pretty cool. And just a quick news update in case you missed it- the Unity game engine is now available as a free download (was supposedly $199). Check it out and let's create some awesome games!