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Man designs video game based on oil spill [The Sun, Port Charlotte, Fla.](Sun (Port Charlotte, FL) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) May 28--PORT CHARLOTTE -- Rob Rega didn't have the means to make a trip and personally help clean up the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, so he did what he felt was the next best thing -- a virtual cleanup. The 41-year-old Port Charlotte resident and computer programmer designed and released a free video game allowing users to control a Coast Guard ship and suck up oil pouring into the Gulf. The game, "Spillville2: Burn Baby Burn," is a spoof on the popular Facebook game "Farmville," mixed with the 2008 Republican chant "drill, baby, drill." Rega said the game wasn't meant to poke fun at the situation, but more at people's careless attitude toward offshore drilling. "I thought it could be a pretty cool game to make, something topical," he said. "I just can't believe I had enough time to write this game and the oil spill is still going. There's no pleasure to be taken in the situation itself." Rega has toyed with video game programming since he was a kid, but the oil-spill game was the first he's designed from scratch, start to finish. He crafted the game's first version over a weekend as a joke but decided to spend more time molding it into a real application. The entire game took him just longer than three weeks to complete. He even created its original music. Rega now hopes to land an online corporate sponsor that would like to use the free video game as a tool to direct traffic to its website. "With (designing) games you can really get creative, and I love the challenge," he said. "I have never taken it to the level where I could put something out to the public before. This is sort of a career change for me and what I really want to do." The game allows players to control a Coast Guard ship with vacuuming ability that can be upgraded as it progresses. The ship also comes complete with missiles, allowing it to burn oil floating on the surface of the water. The game can be found online at www.kongregate.com/games/Sputnik5/spillville2-burn-baby-burn. It's free to play and will run in the browser of any Mac or PC. To see more of the The Sun -- including its homes, jobs, cars and other classified listings -- or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to www.sunnewspapers.net. Copyright (c) 2010, The Sun, Port Charlotte, Fla. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |