Tag: Oslo

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Overgrowth – Sonen GameJam Fall 2015

Overgrowth Sceenshot

Overgrowth is my game for the Sonen GameJam at University of Oslo in Fall 2015.
The Theme was “Abandoned”. It is a JavaScript HTML 5 game that can be played in the browser.

Synopsis: The map is wasteland like, that has been left and abandoned after some sort of catastrophe (let it be a nuclear disaster). The green stuff is kind of radiation empowered fauna. It grows quickly and aggressively. Your task is to reclaim the area, by activating the “Degenerator”.

Gameplay: You have towers (boxes with T inside) that can shoot lasers to remove the overgrowth. Those towers have an energy pool that gets drained when shooting the laser. The energy is replenished by connected generators (smaller boxes with G inside). When a building is covered by the green stuff up to a certain percentage, it stops working. So don’t forget to clean your buildings regularly. In the top right corner are three “skills”. The first one is the ordinary laser. The second and third one are construction skills, to place new towers and generators. Towers can be placed anywhere on the map (i think there is a but near the edges of the map). But remember that they are inactive when covered by green. Generators must be placed within a certain range to towers and automatically connect to the nearest tower.

Task: You main goal is to clean the “Degenerator” so it gets activated. It does not need any generators. When activated it starts working and clears the wasteland. You loose if your last tower is deactivated by the overgrowth.

The game can be played in the browser here: http://gamejam.julianloehr.de/sonen-15/
The source code is available on Github: https://github.com/jloehr/SonenGameJam-2015

 

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My first impressions of Norway and Oslo

After two weeks here now, it’s time for some impressions and strange things about Norway, that i had not expected.

  1. Hotdogs at IKEA are cheaper than in Germany, but do not come with pickles and roasted onions.
  2. There seem to be more Döner Kebab bars than Hotdog bars. Moreover Döner Kebab all over the city (but not so much like in Berlin).
  3. Securitas! Securitas everywhere! Be it the security guard in the student dorm, security for office buildings, almost every residential house has a Securitas sticker. Even the ticket inspectors on the bus are Securitas people.
  4. NFC public transport tickets. Get a card at a ticket machine, charge it, and then activate your ticket by holding it to an terminal when entering the bus. Neat!
  5. Tickets at the bus driver are more expensive.
  6. Chilled, calm and friendly bus drivers. Never seen one in a hurry or furiously shouting. They are happily waiting for running people that want to catch that very bus.
  7. Very friendly car drivers. They wait very calmly on every zebra-cross, let public buses merge into roundabouts. Never heard a car honking yet.
  8. Overall a lot of roundabouts all over the place, feels a little bit like Britain. Only in the inner city are traffic lights.
  9. Same goes for zebra crossing/crosswalks. No pedestrian lights on the outer skirts, only in the inner city.
  10. Frozen mashed potatoes. We don’t have such in Germany.
  11. Free Bus Shuttles to IKEA with free WiFi.
  12. Free WiFi all over the place. Airplane, Metro, Museum, etc.
  13. Jogger, Cyclist and people in sports/jogging leggings everywhere. I mean i’ve heard they are very sporty, but that’s more than i expected.
  14. Norwegians seem to like Pizza and American Restaurants/Food.
  15. Lots of foreigners in Oslo.
  16. Plenty beggars. At almost every convenience store and every bigger train station. And they are quite active as they approach everyone.
  17. Fast Food restaurants like McDonalds and Burgerking have different prices depending on whether you eat there or take it away.
  18. Norway’s nature is much more beautiful than on pictures.
  19. Moreover the nature begins immediately behind the city boundary. Just one step from your house and you are in a forest.
  20. Stores on a shopping promenade have loudspeakers outside blasting music on the street.
  21. Digital price tags in convenience store.
  22. Separate streets for bicycles and pedestrians only. I’ve seen a bicycle four way intersection.
IMG_1089
Bicycle street in Oslo