IRWatcher
This was an experiment into using more advanced JavaScript concepts and developing with Node.js. It lead me to cloud PaaS deployment and integration - namely Redhat OpenShift. Node.js is lightweight, powerful, damn fast and actually quite easy to use.
The application watches interest rates at ANZ bank, records those rates over time and alerts when a change is detected via email. Often the interest rate on your high-interest-savings-account goes down without you knowing - the bank doesn't tell you like they would if it was a home loan. Or maybe you want to watch the interest rates of term deposits and wait for it to go up before you invest. Perhaps you just want to keep an eye on home loan rates. This application is capable of doing all of these things and can be custom configured to do so. I thought this a worthy experiment with Node.js as it utilises the networking strengths of Node and a lot of the power of working with JSON natively.
The application uses Bootstrap 3 for a responsive UI, Express on Node.js for MVC and the Jade template engine for HTML output.
Source => http://github.com/retroburst/IRWatcher
Project Page => http://retroburst.github.io/IRWatcher.html
Tower of Debt
This started as a simple kata in a few different languages - calculating when a loan will be paid off. I wanted to experiment with using Unity as an interface to some kind of computational code rather than a game. This is the result: a visual representation of your debt, see how far it stretches into the sky! Each level of the tower represents a month it will take you to remove yourself from the bank's manacles. Climb the tower, if just to see how far it really goes, then look down again - can you still see the mountains? Unity as an interface was a little clunky and somewhat immature, though it got the job done with a little code to plumb it together.
Source => http://github.com/retroburst/Kata/tree/master/Unity/Kata.LoanPrediction.Unity
Project Page => http://retroburst.github.io/TowerOfDebt.Unity.3D.html
Shinto Mon 神道門
Shinto Mon is a simple game written in C# with Unity. It takes much influence from the shrine gate that stands near the shore of Lake Biwa in Shiga Prefecture, Japan. The game is based on classic breakout games of the 80's, you must grant all the wishes by collecting all the ema with bouncing orbs. Ema are wishes written by ordinary people on wooden (and sometimes gold) tablets at Shinto and Buddhist shrines all over Japan. The game environment attempts to provide a calm atmosphere and gaming experience, moving away from the challenging and exciting spectrum. The goal was not to make the game-play very difficult, although some levels will be quite challenging, but instead to provide enjoyable game-play in short stints.
Source => http://github.com/retroburst/ShintoMon.Unity.3D
Project Page => http://retroburst.github.io/ShintoMon.Unity.3D.html
Jewel Mine
Jewel Mine is a simple game written in C# with Unity. It is reminiscent of Columns on the Sega GameGear. It was written as an exercise to flex skills, try my hand at a small game and learn some Unity. It is a port of the original JewelMine game to Unity. This version uses the engine from the original game (written in C# with Windows Forms) largely intact.
