Dragon Panic is an OpenGL demo featuring a flock of small helpless people and a huge serpent-like dragon emerging out of a lava lake, which can spew fire breath and fireballs at the people. Be in control! Scorch those critters and make them run in panic!
Warning: The demo depicts violence in the form of small stick-like men burning and dying. They don't scream though, as there is regrettably no sound.
Note: The demo is not a game. There is no way to "win". It's just about having fun playing around and watching some cool effects. That being said, you can use your imagination and set up your own goals, like killing all the boids as fast as possible, or get all the boids to a specific location without killing any of them.
Get the game here for Windows:
Download dragonpanic.zip ( 4.40 MB )
We wrote a 10 page illustrated paper about the demo:
Open dragonpanic.pdf
The C++ source code is open source under the GNU General Public License:
Download dragonpanic_source.zip ( 3.3 MB )
The demo features a flock of people controlled by a boids algorithm, a fiery and smoky particle system, a dragon neck that dynamically follows your every move, and a landscape with mountains, steep slopes and deadly lava. For lots of technical details, read the paper.
The demo is written in C++ and it requires the OpenGL and GLUT libraries to be installed in order to be build from source.
Credits:
| Programmer | Christian P. V. Christoffersen |
| Programmer | Rune Skovbo Johansen |
| Programmer | Carsten Nørby |
| 3D Artist | Christian Agergaard |
Dragon Panic OpenGL demo was created for a course on computer graphics at the University of Aarhus.
At the 3D panorama
Part of the exercise was to create the demo such that it could run in a 3D panorama facility affiliated with my university. The demo is structured such that it can be built with GLUT in order to run on ordinary desktop machines, or it can be built with VRJuggler, to make it run in the 3D panorama.
The 3D Panorama is a facility at CAVI, The Centre for Advanced Visualization and Interaction, a part of the University of Aarhus with activities within the fields of architecture, design, scientific visualization, art and culture. VRJuggler is a framework designed to run OpenGL virtual reality applications on complex multi-screen systems running on clusters or on high-end workstations and supercomputers. The 3D panorama we worked with is powered by such a cluster connected to three projectors, tracking devices for the wand input controller and synchronization signals sent to all the 3D glasses worn by the audience.
I tell you, seeing this demo in full 3D on a giant screen does not make it any less impressive! Or fun for that matter... :D