Zachtronics Industries -

The Future of Ruckingenur

Written by Zach on August 28, 2008 — 5 Comments

So here’s the deal: you all seemed to really like Ruckingenur, but there weren’t enough levels, and that’s a problem. A lot of you have suggested that I release a level editor but, as it currently stands, I don’t think that’s going to happen any time soon. Why? Because almost all of the effort that went into the game was designing, drawing, and implementing the levels – that’s why there are only four. So, in what it would take someone to make a set of decent levels, you could just as easily make a game from scratch. A new game. A better game! So, if anyone is inspired by Ruckingenur, I encourage you to create your own engineering game; we sure as hell could use some more. Be sure to send me a link to anything you make!

In the mean time, I’ll start working on the next installment of Ruckingenur. With more levels!

Thanks, Everyone!

Written by Zach on August 27, 2008 — Leave a Comment

Thank you to everyone who came here from Hackaday – in the past two days, I’ve had over 3000 downloads of Ruckingenur II, along with about a thousand combined downloads of my other games. Your comments have bolstered my spirits and my faith in the notion of Games for Engineers, a niche that I’m happy to serve. I just started a new job, so my life is a little hectic at the moment, but you can most definitely look forward to more Ruckingenur in the near future. While I may be the one making these games, they’re also about you: the people who play them.

If you want to be alerted to new games and products from Zachtronics Industries (which includes more Ruckingenur!), visit this Google Groups page and join the group. You’ll only receive emails on it from me, and only when I release important things that you might care about. Plus, you can unsubscribe whenever you want. It couldn’t be simpler!

If you have any feedback to send my way, such as ideas for new things you’d like to see, feel free to post comments on the relevant page or email me directly at zachbarth@gmail.com. I try to read all comments and respond to most emails, so go ahead and let me know what you’re thinking!

Thanks again, and have fun!

Spah’s Sappin’ Mah Sentry!

Written by Zach on August 15, 2008 — Leave a Comment

My new office is pretty boring and empty, aside from the five computers and their accessories scattered around. Thinking about decorations, it occurred to me that I had just about all the parts I needed to build my very own Electro-Sapper from Team Fortress 2!

It didn’t occur to me until after I started that I didn’t have anything to make the case out of, so I ended up using some leftover foam-core from WWA!, acrylic paint, and crystal clear spray enamel. I was able to print out a new scale for the meter using my laser printer, but couldn’t seem to make it print out an “ELECTRO-SAPPER” label that didn’t look awful. I ended up stenciling the text and the white details on, but didn’t have much more luck with that. As it turned out, I was also out of the components I needed to make a small noise generator to twitch the meter, so I ended up soldering an old battery powered FM radio into the circuit, which does a pretty good job of making static noises and making the meter move.

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World War Failure!

Written by Zach on August 4, 2008 — 6 Comments

I playtested my new tabletop game, World War Awesome!, last night. It wasn’t very satisfying.

It all came together into a fairly complicated and bulky game, which I think would have been okay if playing it resembled having fun. The Superpanzers, the only mechanic that I really liked in the game (and happened to be the only real major gimmick of the game), seemed to be one of the major problems. As I’m currently trying to get ready for work (I start next week), I don’t think I’ll be fixing World War Awesome! any time soon. Which, quite honestly, is perfectly fine by me.

In the meantime, here are the resources I used for the playtest.

Latest Version of the Rules
Frequency Board
Custom Dice Stickers

American Token Sheet
American Tank Board
American Tank Card

Soviet Token Sheet
Soviet Tank Board
Soviet Tank Card

Settling In

Written by Zach on July 28, 2008 — 1 Comment

If you’re privy to details about my real life, you’d already know that I recently moved to Seattle.

If you’re not in the know, I recently moved to Seattle!

It’s been a little hectic with moving stuff from storage and putting together Ikea furniture and playing TF2, but I managed to get some work done on my latest tabletop game, World War Awesome!

If you’re interested, you can read the first version of the rules . (Warning: PDF ahead!)

Ruckingenur II

Written by Zach on July 3, 2008 — 166 Comments

Now available: Ruckingenur II, the latest game in my Games for Engineers series!

In the style of the first Ruckingenur, Ruckingenur II is a game of “rock and roll” reverse engineering of electrical circuits. Unlike the first Ruckingenur, Ruckingenur II is a full game, complete with multiple levels, a soundtrack, and live-action video sequences. Help can be found inside the game. Download link below!

Download Ruckingenur II (38 MB)

It’s worth mentioning that this requires Windows (or something compatible) to play, along with the .NET 2.0 Framework. You should also have the sound on!

Ruckingenur Movie Props

Written by Zach on June 25, 2008 — Leave a Comment

In case it wasn’t apparent from the trailer, I’m currently working on a sequel to Ruckingenur – Ruckingenur Two. I decided to tell the story with video cutscenes, so I needed to make some props!

They’re most definitely just stacked cardboard with art from the game glued on top, but they seem to work pretty well.

Coming Soon, Summer 2008

Written by Zach on June 12, 2008 — 1 Comment

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Rebar Knife

Written by Zach on May 28, 2008 — Leave a Comment

I made this a while ago, but never actually got around to posting it. I was trying to make a “sword” out of a continuous piece of rebar, but the handle ended up melting off in the fire. Oops. So, I flattened the bottom out and punched some holes through with a pointy steel rod, allowing me to carve out and attach a piece of a fallen tree branch to create a handle, which I carved smooth and applied some sort of wood sealant to. While it’s probably the best blade I’ve made so far, it’s sort of a moot point, as it was hastily made out of junk steel.