Namuh

This video game project and game engine development spanned over my high-school years, from 2009 to 2013

Namuh followed the idea of adapting multi-player shooter games into a stone-age setting. I wanted to work with the best technology I could get, but in 2009, professional-grade video game engines weren’t available to the public. Consequently, I created a video game engine myself, even though it postponed the implementation of gameplay.

The Namuh video game engine ended up being a C++ collage of diverse technologies. I mostly spent my time developing bespoke systems on top of free middlewares. Among them are libraries like Ogre3D (3D rendering engine), Nvidia PhysX (physics simulation library), and Raknet (network library). 

30 000 lines of custom C++ systems

I’ve created from scratch several systems:

• I revised the Boids algorithm to simulates wildlife, including the simulation of herding behaviors. 


• Namuh’s physics sandbox enables the assembly of wooden logs, rocks, and pelts into player-generated constructions. Intentionally, I made the pelts over-sensitive to air-drag, allowing the crazy creations of sails and wings.


• A custom markup language allows saving to disk the environments and player-generated constructions.


• I’ve built a custom visual debugger, with real-time logging and plotting capabilities. Plotting two arbitrary variables was immensely useful, as Visual Studio 2008 could not do so.

I’ve used ZBrush, 3DS Max, Maya, and others

Namuh was my chance to explore new 3D asset production workflows. Thanks to expert advice, I’ve discovered Autodesk Maya and started digital sculpting. I worked through the entire pipeline, including concept art, hi-poly sculpting, low poly, texturing, etc. I also discovered technical 3D art, with shader development and tricks like billboard impostors to display vast amounts of vegetation.