Joseph Mahon
Here are some of my hobby programming projects. Some have source available on GitLab or GitHub, but if not its likely because the code is a bit messy. If you are interested in something where the source isn't public let me know and I can likely neaten it up enough to share!
- 🎮🕹️ - Frog Game
- 🎨🐦 - "Procedural Birds" Twitter bot
- 🎮🕹️ - "Foxes and Chickens" game
- 🎮🕹️ - "Lander Larry" game
- 🎮🕹️ - "Space Cowboy" game (made in <48h for LDJAM)
- 📊📈 - "Pub Crime" A web database with crime types/rates near UK pubs
- 💡❓ -Other small miscellaneous prototypes and projects
Frog Game
Current project, an as-yet untitled game about a frog. Platforming and RPG elements, and inspired by PlayStation 1 era games like Tomba and Klonoa. A short gameplay video of the intro is below, where the frog character is woken up by an earthquake and wants to go and check on the inhabitants of the nearby town, but loses his gate key down the well. (Still includes lots of placeholder objects/music/dialog)
"Procedural Birds" Twitter bot
I am interested in procedural generation and generative art, where images are created using systems and rules defined in code. I wrote a program which generates simple, stylised images of birds. Each image is created from scratch and is completely unique. Every line, angle, colour is decided using randomness within defined limits.
The birds are built line by line, starting at the right-most foot, drawing the neck length and angle based on the reasonable approximations of the possible angles that a bird's neck may have. The head is a random percentage of a full circle between two limits. The beak can attach at numerous points on the head and have variable thicknesses and colours. The angle of the back varies, and can result birds ranging in appearance from from a long-necked goose-like bird to stumpy quails. The tail angle, thickness, colour, number of feathers is all computed and drawn. The leg length and angle is chosen based on the approximate center of gravity of the bird, so that it doesn't look like it will topple over! The colours are chosen from colour schemes defined in code, and there is a probability that the bird may have different coloured wings or tail or both.
The program also generates names for the birds based on their features. For example, a bird where the tail has been drawn with short lines may have the prefix 'short-tailed' or 'stub-tailed'. Birds with larger angles between the lines on their back may have the prefix 'hump-backed'. The colours are also used as descriptors, with ornithological sounding additions, e.g. 'golden-tailed', 'candy winged', 'bronze-feathered'.
I stuck the program onto a Raspberry Pi and wrote a small Twitter bot which generates a new bird every hour, names it based on its features and posts the image on Twitter.
Lander Larry
This is the first Android game I developed. The player controls a space ship and navigates from the start of the level to a landing pad at the end of the level. There are obstacles along the way including moving lava, gravitational anomalies and falling rocks. The game is free and there are no ads or in-app-purchases. Google Play Store
Foxes and Chickens
This is the second Android game that I published. It is a family-friendly puzzle game, where the aim of the game is to move your chickens into their coops using a limited number of moves (and without getting eaten by foxes!). Levels can be completed in 4, 5 or 6 moves depending on difficulty. There are 60 levels and there is only a single solution to each level which adds to the challenge. The game is free and there are no ads or in-app-purchases. Google Play Store
Space Cowboy (LDJAM47 Entry)
Ludum Dare (LDJAM) is a twice-yearly game jam, with a challenge to create a game from scratch in 48 hours which fits a set theme. I entered the 47th LDJAM, where the theme was 'stuck in a loop'. I made a game called Space Cowboy, where where you play as as farmer on an alien planet, lassoing the different alien farmyard creatures.
There were 800 entries, and I came 309th overall, and 103rd in the 'Innovation' category which I was pretty happy about. Source code is available on GitHub and you can play the game in your browser here
Pub Crime site
Combines the "Open Pubs" dataset and crime data from data.police.uk. Crimes within 100m radius of a pub are displayed. You can search for a pub or look at pubs where crimes of different types is highest. Pub Crime
Miscellaneous
Here are some other bits and bobs that I have made. Most were never completed and only left as prototypes or half finished
Plane Game
Top-down WWI air combat game. Flying a Sopwith Camel and shooting down Albatros D.III fighters, Gotha G.V bombers and Zeppelins. Enemy planes follow different paths and can drop health when destroyed. Didn't finish this, maybe some day.
Strategy Game
Isometric turn-based strategy game with tanks and infantry. Some basic movement and attacking completed but thats about it. Might refactor and complete some day.