Link to the video (YouTube)
Link to the download page (Itch.io)
Olafur is a grid-based pseudo 3D game running solely on the CPU and written in C. It means that a 2D map is translated into 3D using a technique called raycasting. Rays are casted from the camera until walls are hit, which tells us how far away they are. Knowing the distance allows us to draw the walls: far makes them small, and close makes them big. An example of such a game is Wolfenstein 3D.
The libraries in use are:
- the C standard library,
- OpenGL (Open Graphics Library) for the graphics,
- GLFW (OpenGL Framework) for the windowing and input handling,
- and OpenAL (Open Audio Library) for the audio.
I intend to specialize in Unreal Engine, so why was I even working on a low level project? Because it's fun. Moving on... No seriously, I've always wanted to work on such a project, so it was a joy to nibble at this from time to time. The aim wasn't to make it a commercial project. It was to experiment and scratch my low level itch.
Now, I am ready to move on from this one project. That is not to say I won't ever go back to low level dev someday. I might embark on another raycasting project with more complex techniques, inspired from Doom or even Duke Nukem. I'm pretty stoked about discovering other techniques, although this is not part of my current priorities. In any case, this decision led to a name change. The project used to be called "Cimmerian" and is now "Olafur", to be the same as the demo level. This leaves the name of "Cimmerian" available for this potential future project.
Give a specific *.map file as argument to the program, or don't give any to
default to the first map of the assets/maps/ folder.
-
assets/maps/test/*:
The Test level is where I develop features. -
assets/maps/olafur/*(recommended entry_mus.map):
The Olafur level is a museum where each painting leads to another mini-world. It has been designed by Hellchauffo (Figma and GitHub), a friend of mine. She is behind the concept, the map layouts, the sprites, the textures and the choice of music tracks. This has been quite the undertaking and I thank her for this work. This level was designed in the context of a school project we worked on together, a grid-based pseudo 3D game as well, and she allowed me to keep the level for my personal project. This comes in quite handy, as I now have a level to showcase what the game is capable of. As for my contribution to the level, I've picked the elevator music, the sound effects, and added an easter egg accessible from the elevator (and through your keyboard).
| Action | Control |
|---|---|
| Move forward | W or ↑ (Up Arrow) |
| Move backward | S or ↓ (Down Arrow) |
| Rotate left | A or ← (Left Arrow) |
| Rotate right | D or → (Right Arrow) |
| Move left | Q |
| Move right | E |
| Speed | Hold Shift to run, release to walk |
| Zoom minimap in/out | Mouse scroll wheel |
| Quit | Click the window close (X) button, Alt + F4, or Esc |
| Reset player position and rotation | F5 |
| Toggle VSync (on by default) | F10 |
| Toggle fullscreen | F11 |
| Toggle VSync status + FPS counter | F12 |
