I probably should have posted this some time ago. When I finnally made it GDC this year (woo!) I was mostly there to see the hub-bub about Project DarkStar. Interesting though the technology was, the proof of the pudding as they say is in the eating - so I really wanted to see some games running on it. What did we see?

1) Battle Trolls - undeveloped demo but still up there and running
2) Stomping Grounds - complete game from the masted at Mind Control (think Oasis). Was good but turned based so not really what I was looking for (though it's perfect proof for the sort of thing DarkStar was and is claiming)
3) Cosmic Birdie - now this is where the fun was at!

Cosmic Birdie is a racing game still under development from the guys at IMI (read the Kendalls, mint cake anyone?). Currently you can race around a suitably starry arena, blasting away at each other - reminicent of mario kart - only pepped up on goof balls.

The demo I played at GDC (and subsequently at JavaOne) was great! The graphics left a little to be desired in some areas, though generally pleasent. As I understand it the game is still in development and the graphics will be updated as time goes on. However, fun factor was pretty damn high! Initially the controls were querky, almost annoying. This isn't something you're going to recognise straight off. However, I was playing for about 5 minutes before I was racing around blasting away at various GDC attendees. Awesome stuff!

Gameplay was what kept me at the booth playing around for 20 minutes of my precious 2 hours at GDC this year. It almost gave me that feeling of the first time I played Quake 2 multiplayer - just one more kill - damn he got me! - just one more kill for revenge. You have to understand, to me getting to go to GDC is an increadible treat. I managed to get down there for a total of two hours which most of I spent wandering round the Expo. It was just too easy to get engrossed with Cosmic Birdie and forget where I was and what I was doing. Damn you guys! :)

Still, I hope to be at GDC again next time

Unfortunately the demo that was available at GDC including networking support isn't available yet. However, you can jump in and have fun with the current version which allows you to try some of this stuff out. Development can be followed at the Cosmic Engine Blog