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[biphenyl]

A penguin with a nervous twitch and the uncontrollable urge to flatten snow drifts -- because they make the ground... uneven.



Update: It's done!
Obsessive Compulsive Penguin Simulator
It's playable in-browser in OS X and Windows.
Note that it will probably play like ass (if at all) on integrated video hardware like the Intel GMA 950 or X3100, as the scene is triangle-heavy.

My brother (and fellow Flashbang cabalist) Adam and I spent a total of about 5 days each on it. He did all the art and some GUI/camera programming, I did the rest of the programming, and the marketing:



This game is dedicated to all those who suffer from this tragic, debilitating disorder -- perhaps even some members of our community. =(

[Massena]

  I am in pure awe.

[biphenyl]

Ok so I spent all Saturday soldering instead of coding. Here's a couple more screens:

Oh dear! Some drifts have begun to form!



NO! One has become far too high!



SQU-SQU-SQUAK! They're everywhere!

[Alec]

I hope you guys manage to finish on time.

Its also cool to see 3D games in the compo this time.

[biphenyl]

We're done! I've updated the original post with a link to the finished game.

[Farbs]

So... I didn't read the whole first post and had to discover the end by myself. It was a pretty cool moment. Are you sure you want to spoil it for people?

[Zaphos]

Neat!  I think I fell through the ground, though 

[biphenyl]

Farbs: This is a good point! I have edited the post accordingly.

Zaphos: Were you noticing any framerate problems? The physics control should all be framerate-independent but there's of course a chance I placed some code in the wrong update loop.

[Zaphos]

Zaphos: Were you noticing any framerate problems? The physics control should all be framerate-independent but there's of course a chance I placed some code in the wrong update loop.

Hadn't been having framerate issues as far as I could tell, no.  Not really sure it even fell through the ground.  It's just one moment my penguin was lost in a snow drift, never to return.

[biphenyl]

curious. Does it happen every time or just the once?

[Steve Swink]

I saw it too - the penguin gets stuck under the snowdrift, somehow getting inside it instead of stomping it down.

[Lazer]

The massive levels of cute in this game made me really happy. I have a pretty good case of OCD (fits of handwashing and lots of counting!) and the whole time I had a huge smile plastered on my face. :D

[superflat]

Love the style and ambience, wasn't totally sure what my goal was though - but I did play for quite a while. The music and soft snowdrifts soothed me after hours of programming decapitations! 

I had never heard of unity, so thanks for introducing me to it, looks really interesting, and far less sluggish than I thought a web-based 3d engine could ever be.  Fascinating!

[Zaphos]

curious. Does it happen every time or just the once?

I think it's very rarely occurring -- I played for way too long before it happened!

[Adam Mechtley]

As far as I can tell, it just happens certain times when he is at the edge of the gameplay area's collider. To quote a great squadron leader: "Hold tight, follow my lead, and stay clear of the walls."

[hyphz]

I had never heard of unity, so thanks for introducing me to it, looks really interesting, and far less sluggish than I thought a web-based 3d engine could ever be.  Fascinating!

Another reminder for me to bang my head on my desk at their bullheaded refusal to make Unity for Windows. *sigh*

[biphenyl]

A Windows version of the Unity development environment is in dev, has been for a bit now. They've not committed to any time frame but they're certainly planning to release one. But really it's so much nicer to work on the mac anyway!

[hyphz]

A Windows version of the Unity development environment is in dev, has been for a bit now. They've not committed to any time frame but they're certainly planning to release one. But really it's so much nicer to work on the mac anyway!

Oh, I have nothing AGAINST the Mac per se.. it's just that there's the cost of getting a Mac, plus the cost of Unity, plus then having to transfer all of the assets you want to use across from the PC (or pay again for Mac licenses for subtools..)

I love how, if you just let the snow build up to maximum, nothing actually happens at all.  Perfect simulation of OCD.

[biphenyl]

Certainly -- we leave it up to the player! You can let the drifts pile up of course, but wouldn't you really like the ground to be nice and even, or the meter to be exaaaaactly in the middle? I think most people would.

[Noyb]

I love the ending! Well, slow realization. You really know how to use the gameplay to manipulate the player's beliefs into what's important. Very clever. :D