For the fun of it...

Work continues forward as usual at Ardor Labs, most recently with various interesting projects in Animation and other areas related to Ardor3D.  As a side project though, I've been spending some time with my three brothers knocking together a remake of the old Lode Runner game.  For my brothers (I'm the eldest) I hope it's an interesting experience in game design and programming.  For me, it's been a nice way to relax as well as a good exercise for seeing through a project using Ardor3D from conception to realization.  It's a 2D game, so it doesn't stress the tech much, but it has revealed a few rough edges I'd like to smooth out.

Together we've probably managed to put in about 4-5 solid days total over the past month between hashing out the design, tasks, and some programming and basic art.  We have a nice XML-based map format and loader, as well as pluggable visual themes, a solid game state system, map visualizer and player control.  When time permits, next tasks will include adding in digging (very important), treasures, and enemies.

I'll throw up a screen-shot for posterity sake. :)  None of us are artists, so if you'd like to contribute your art skills, drop me a line.