At the start of 2009 I created a simple puzzle game called Efficiency. Despite being a simple project that I put together in a few weeks it turned out to be much more popular than I ever expected.

Over time I got lots of people asking me to fix It's biggest failing. A total lack of functionality on Windows 7.

So here by popular demand, is a new and marginally improved version of Efficiency (which to celebrate I've added a ' + ' to). It should work fine on windows 7, it's got much nicer procedurally generated music and it's even got a few added bits and little fixes.

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Having completed Ferrari Challenge to such a high standard, we got the opportunity to include all the other exciting high performance cars that don't feature a prancing horse on their bonnet.

Supercar Challenge was basically all the bits that never made it into Ferrari, plus lots of new stuff. Lots more cars, more tracks, better multiplayer, better renderer, more game modes, more downloadable content and crucially (for me) better visual effects

As a bit of a departure from the high saturation colour schemes and arcade physics of the game we'd been working on upto this point, Ferrari Challenge was a real racing simulation. All licenced cars and tracks, with the added bonus of the vehicles being smashable and damagable (a first from a car manufacturer I think).

By now I'd really settled into my role as lead visual effects programmer. I had lots of code and systems written and the trust of production management to get on with stuff and do what ever I could to make everything look better. I think visually the game is definitly the best looking I'd worked on to date.

My game engine code base has really matured over the last year as it's feature set has had to match the needs of iO during it's development. Finally I can really play with concepts as they pop into my head.

So, while I was finishing off the game progression aspects of iO a simple game idea occurred to me, and for the first time ever I could quickly throw that idea together into a game. After about 2 weeks of occasional spare time writing it and doing the simple artwork, Efficiency is the product of that idea.

It's just a 'beat the high score' sort of game with a few elements you might find familiar if you've ever played Chu Chu Rocket. I think it could most easily be described as a puzzle game involving sliding blocks. Play it and see.

Note: Sadly this version contains a bug that prevents it from running on Windows 7. I'm in the process of fixing it as time permits. However, the bug is basically the entire sound system so it might be a while.

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The Hotwheels game was basically a re-imagining of the concepts used in Cartoon Network Racing; only this time we had the chance to get all next-gen with our ideas.

Extra weapons replace the special powers and now we had tracks with loops and stunts. Again I got free reign over the special effects and on this occasion I could really go to town on the shiny next-gen platforms. Cue the HDR and bloom effects for the explosions and lightning.

Sadly my best efforts in the effects department did not translate to a great game and so, once again, the press mauled it.