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HWND Hunter
When using Windows API functions such as SendMessage, it is often necessary to locate the HWND of an arbitrary control on an arbitrary window at runtime. HWND Hunter, designed to speed up this process, is a program that generates code to programmatically determine HWNDs using a Spy++ style window finding method. The following function, FindHWND_AIM(), […]
Silicon Foundry
Silicon Foundry is my latest game in the games for engineers series. You play as the new owner of an integrated circuit factory who must produce chips to meet orders from your customers, and use the profit to pay back the loan for the factory. It’s surprisingly complicated, so I’ve forgone written documentation and made […]
Pulse
Pulse, previously titled Ruckingenur: Puzzle, is the second game in my games for engineers series. In it, you must arrange devices on a grid to redirect and filter pulses in order to achieve different objectives, depending on the mission. It’s sort of like the incredible machine, in that you have to assemble pre-created parts to […]
Ruckingenur
I’ve wanted to do something like this for a long time, and finally I’ve been able to. Behold – Ruckingenur! (roughly german for Reverse Engineer, or so the internet tells me.) Combining real life electronics concepts with a few made up technologies (such as iDBG), you can now experience the fun and excitement of hacking […]
Manufactoid
Manufactoid is probably one of my favorite games that I’ve made; in it, you must build a factory to assemble blocks into different products, with each product being a separate puzzle. It’s most definitely a game for engineers, as it requires a you to both think like an engineer and write Lua code to control […]
XVRM Manifesto
What is xVRM? My original plans for virtual reality, code named VRM (virtual reality for the masses), outlined a simple virtual reality system. Featuring a homebrew magnetic tracker and a cheap projection screen, it would allow full virtual reality potential while staying flexible and inexpensive. However, not everything works as planned; the magnetic tracker turned […]
Virtuality Manifesto
Update (02/27/08): It’s been over a year since I wrote this article, and I just stumbled upon the “Virtuality Continuum”, which, described in a research paper authored in 1994, strikes me as being fairly close to what I imagined in the “Barthian Virtuality Gradient”. A brief analysis of the paper leads me to believe that […]
RSVP Abstract
What is Virtuality? I use the term virtuality to differentiate away from the term “virtual reality”, which implies a reality that is somehow fake and separate from “actual reality”. In all actuality, I envision a broader spectrum, with the goal of simply tweaking reality – meshing real, physical things with a virtual environment, or bringing […]
Jedi Trainer
Ever since I found out about the Wii, I wanted one. However, what interested me more than playing the games was making them. Lucky for me, the Wiimote is a fully capable Bluetooth HID device, which the folks at WiiLi have been able to pretty effectively figure out. I was able to actually find a […]
Flight of the Atropos
I’ve always dreamed of creating a fantastic space ship simulation along the lines of what I’ve described in my xVRM Manifesto, something I wrote years ago. In the past month, working alongside Kenneth Bowen and Andrew Armenia for my Experimental Game Design class (taught by RPI’s Professor Ruiz), that dream took shape in a project […]