Hello, and welcome to my website. The games here have been created in whole or part by Zach Shapiro. All of the student works are free to download and enjoy. If you have questions about any of the games or are interested in future projects, please email me at zakirus2000@yahoo.com
PROFESSIONAL:
Order Up! | Platform: Wii | Release: 22 July 2008 | Screens | Videos |
Order Up! is a delicious blend of frantic kitchen cooking and restaurant empire building. Chop, roll, slice and dice your way to culinary stardom. Along the way you will face picky patrons, snobby food critics, one grouchy health inspector and more.
This was the first Wii game for the company, so a lot of my initial work on the game involved implementing lower level wii functionality within the studio's existing engine. This included setting up their ui interface to work with a pointer based cursor system(previously it was all D-Pad based) as well as reading the wii remote's pointer data and accelerometer/orientation and implementing an interace for its force feedback functionality. I was also responsible for getting LiveMove up and running for gesture recognition. I was the primary programmer for all of the major aspects of gameplay within the restaurant. This includes all progression with in the level, customers, waiters, level ui interface, and, most importantly, food preparation.
"This is how you make a casual Wii game" ...IGN.com
Luxor: Pharaoh's Challenge | Platform: Wii-PS2-PSP-DS | Release: 22 December 2006 | Screens |
This is an Egyptian-themed puzzle game that I helped develop across most major platforms at the time. Based off the hit online Luxor franchise by Mumbo Jumbo, Pharaoh's Challenge features an all new storyline as well as five new scarabs, upgradeable power-ups, 13 new blessings, and a Story Mode and an Endless Mode for different styles of game play are also new.
My main responsibility for this project was to rewrite the entire Luxor game in a platform-independant manner so that it could be ported to multiple systems simultaneously. This included creating an abstract layer for all of the gameplay and a messaging system which each platform-dependant layer interacted with. I also set up configurable data scripts that could modify screen aspect ratios, game entity position offsets, and input modes(touch screen, mouse, etc.) which essentially allowed designers to test out each platform version on PC.
Platypus | Platform: PSP | Release: 15 November 2006 | Screens |
Check out the online version HERE! Platypus is in the traditionally hardcore genre of side-scrolling 2D shooters. Platypus has its own unique visual style in that the graphics are made entirely of clay. It is also wifi compatible offering 2 player co-op mode.
Some of the things that I worked on include implementing all enemy units and 4 out of 5 final bosses. This included handling unit
synchronization across network for mulitplayer.
CakeMania | Platform: DS | Release: January 2007 | Screens | Videos |
This DS version is based on the hit online game from Sandlot Games. Help Jill save the day by opening a bakery, and earn enough money to re-open her grandparents' shop in this beautiful, fast-paced adventure. Upgrade your equipment and set up 4 different bakeries in exotic locales. Serve up seasonal confectionary delights to a variety of customers
I was the sole programmer up to the project's 1st Playable demo. Being the only programmer at the company during this time, this included research and development with using Nintendo DS sdk tools and hardware. As such, I was responsible for developing the core Game Engine and Software Architecture in C++ as well as implementing most of the main functionality of the game.
Nominated for best casual game of the year by BAFTA
PERSONAL/ACADEMIC:
Booty Duty - 93MB download | Release: 15 December 05 | Screens |
Check out our sweet WEBSITE! "ARGH!! Follow the map by any measure, and ye will find the pirate treasure. Booty Duty is a 3D action/adventure pirate game with puzzle solving aspects. This was my final project that I made along with team Dream Sandwich during a five month development cycle. DreamSandwich is: Zach Shapiro, Jeff Smith, Mike Milson, Matt Milson, Wade Tyler, Adam Hebert, and Matt Pavlinsky.
Chrono's Retribution - 43MB download | Released 28 February 05 |
This is a retake on the classic Chrono Trigger RPG combined with a battle system similar to Kingdom Hearts. Created in two months by a group of four, this game includes a huge 2D maze, an item shop, radar, side-scroller mini-game, and a killer final boss that you can go to at any time.
TurboWar - 7.6MB download | Release 07 December 04 |
Turbo War is an action packed,top down,shooterfest in the spirit of arcade shooter classics such as 1942, GigaWing, and Mars Matrix. Created in two weeks, I can't say that it is terribly revolutionary or genre defining. However, I am pleased with the look and feel of the game. The game moves quite quickly and the enemies are semi-inelligent, some move together in a flocking algorithm, and all fire in your general direction. The game is 3 levels long with a surpsise level at the end. All in all you can beat the level in about 6 minutes.
UnderWater Demo - 2.8 MB download | Screens |
Underwater demo was a hobby project I did in my spare time. You can swim through the world as a shark and even jump out of the water. Chase some fish around that are using flock AI.
I made extensive use of HLSL shaders for various visual effects including normal mapping, water reflecion, waves and fog. The ground also displays some nice water caustics Overall, I was very pleased with the project and I hope to expand on it in the future.
AI Demo - 2.8 MB download | Released 29 May 05
This was a project I did for my AI class using the Renderware SDK. You can run through the world as a robot follows you
and destroys any other people in the world. AI demo features A* pathfinding and nav meshes, terrain following and multiple camera views. It's not much of a game, just a small tech demo.
All assets were provided by the Renderware SDK