This post was published 3 years 9 months 22 days ago and as such probably does not reflect my current opinions, knowledge or ability.Inferno was created as a piece of coursework for my second year in University. The task was to create a pseudo-3d Playstation 2 game using 2D sprites, such as Super Hang On or Space Harrier. I opted to take this a step further and create a software pipeline and camera which would allow me to create 3D scenes from 2D primitives. If you heard me mention an insane project before I mysteriously disappeared – this was it.
I had never attempted something along these lines before but I had a fair understanding of the maths that would be required. After hundreds of pages of scribblings in my notebook and many experimental programs I was in a position where I could generate a textured crate correctly in the middle of space on screen. After several problems, some minor and some that had me pulling my hair out, I managed to get rectangular rooms or random dimensions which I could move within working correctly.
I used this as a base to create a hack ‘n’ slash adventure where you travel through a series of rooms, defeating the enemies in one to move onto the next. There are many ways I would like to expand the game but most of all I am looking forward to experiencing working in 3D on the PS2 next year. I found developing for the PS2 to be more challenging than for the PC – there are far more constraints and it is not hard to crash the whole system. However, I learned a lot about the direct relationship between hardware and software which I hope I can expand upon in future.
This game also won me a prize from Sony which I was both surprised and of course very pleased about.
Unfortunately the game will only run on a PS2 with a hard drive and Linux kit installed. If you have this please email me and I would be happy to send you the application. I will hopefully be able to put a video of the game here in the near future.