Maze Chaser 3D

Maze Chaser 3D is a 100% free 3D first-person puzzle-platformer game built by John Lenhart of the University of Scranton as his Master’s Thesis project for Software Engineering.

The goal of Maze Chaser 3D is for the player is to reach the end of the level (denoted by a flag) as fast as possible by solving puzzles and avoiding hazards. The puzzles in Maze Chaser 3D are physics based, for example some puzzles are arranging cubes to scale a surface, arranging portals to get to the next room, or tricking enemy AI to knock down walls for you. Some examples of hazards are enemy turrets, enemy AI, and falling into lava or the bottomless void. To aid in this challenge the player may pick up inventory items. These inventory items include weapons and health boosts.

Maze Chaser 3D uses artificial intelligence techniques to make enemy non-player characters (NPCs) behave rationally as defined by the rules of the game. NPCs in Maze Chaser 3D can be in 1 of 5 states which define their overall behavior. The 5 possible states for NPCs are: Attack, Flee, Co-op Attack, Co-op Defend, and Attack-and-Hide.

Maze Chaser 3D also makes use of advanced computer graphics techniques such as particle systems and wave motion simulation to create a realistic environment for the gameplay levels.