ANTIVERSE

Click here to download the demo (for Windows).

Antiverse is a game (currently only a concept) where there are two players. It is a 2D game in black and white graphics -- somewhat early '80s arcade style. Each player is represented on the screen by a gun on a trolley.

The screen is divided into two (initially equal) areas: one black, and one white. One player exists in the white area (or universe) and the other player exists in the black area (or 2nd universe) of the screen. Each player has a gun on a trolley which is represented by an outline drawing on the screen in each player's respective screen areas. The player in the white area has his/her 'gun on a trolley' drawn in a black outline on the white back-ground, and the other player has their gun drawn in a white outline on the black back-ground.

Each player's trolley rests on, or travels along, the divide between the black and the white areas.
So in a very simple example of the screen being split equally with white at the top half and black at the bottom half, and the divide being horizontal, then the white (black outlined) trolley will be the normal way up with its wheels resting on top of the horizontal divide... the black (white outlined) trolley will however be upside down with it's wheels resting on the horizontal divide from undernether as if gravity is upside down for the black trolley.

Each player cannot travel into the other's area -- it's not possible because they are in different and opposing universes.

When the player fires their gun it fires a projectile which falls down in the direction of gravity. When the projectile hits the divide between the two areas it will explode and erode some of the other player's area making the divide become irregular. Each player can sculpt the divide to their advantage (for example to trap the other player). If a projectile hits the divide where the other player is (directly on the other side) then the other player is destroyed and the player that fired the gun is the winner.

When the divide becomes irregular between the two universes then the travel of each player's trolley is no longer as simple as in the above original example. Each trolley still adheres to the divide. Each trolley has two wheels which try to remain touching with the divide as best as possible.

The direction of gravity (to which the projectiles fall) is determined by the orientation of the trolley when the projectile was fired.
Geometrically speaking: a line is drawn between the two axles of the trolley and the centre of this line is found. From the centre of this line another line is projected down towards the divide perpendicularly to the line between the axles and this second line forms the gravity vector. A proportion of this gravity vector is added to the vector of the path of the projectile every frame to bring it 'down to earth', or as in this game: 'towards the divide'.

The travel of the trolley *and* the direction and firing of the gun are controlled by just two keys on the keyboard (or by two buttons on the mouse). One key moves the trolley to its left and the other to its right. When pressing a key, before the trolley starts to move however, the gun is progressively pointed in the direction the trolley is to travel, and once the gun is fully pointed in the direction of the proposed travel then the trolley will begin to travel. They player can stop pressing the key when the gun is pointed in a desired direction (before the trolley starts moving) -- and hence the gun direction is able to be controlled without moving the trolley. The gun is fired by pressing both keys at the same time.