I love these LD simulators … it actually fits very well the theme, you have to start with nothing and make a game really nice idea

Thanks @velvetlobster, i just finished playing "When Nothing Came", it was very innovative - thanks for playing!

I somehow enjoyed the painting mini-game... That was a lot of fun :D Thought it was simple, it had me I could have played this for quite a while :)

Nice concept. Congratulations.

Interesting idea, but in my opinion Code puzzles are too tedious right now. Searching for some sort of misspelling just with your eyes, without even a compiler error (except the message that you haven't done it right) is not a fun experience. And also more readable font for the code would be great :smile: On the other hand, puzzles with the SQL queries could be interesting. And the art-module was quite fun too.

Great concept! You managed to make me feel stressed out all over again as soon as that clock started. Enjoyed this quite a bit, though that clock was going waaaay too fast! But I guess that's the point :D

@fictions thanks, i think the artwork challenge was the most simple but turned out really well (considering the time i had), if i get chance i would like to add a bigger grid, more colours and some more complicated frames.

thanks @tohubohu, yeah there was supposed to be more focus on that timer and to make you feel like you are fighting against it but i didn't have enough time to create more complex time consuming challenges so i had the timer spread over a few minutes, this was also the idea behind the energy levels too (not really implemented..), to pull you away from what you are doing (a little maintenance). i'm glad you enjoyed it, thanks for checking it out!

Cool idea, very meta. I got stuck early on the programming part, I wish there was an easier method for people to solve it or even just have the solution there so players don't have to worry too much about thinking too much.

I played your game for a few minutes and got frustrated early on in the programming part. I have no experience with SQL and found it way too hard to find any errors. I still like the idea behind the game, I just wish there was more of a tutorial or any kind of hints.
Also, I don't know if that is a bug, but my energy bar (I suppose that was the purple bar at the top of the programming screen) always dropped to the lowest bar, no matter how much energy I had in the beginning.

@cdunham the coding puzzles (at the moment) are snippets for SQL queries, so it is a case of finding out which table_name, field_name(s) are needed to be queried (from the clues and help button), checking for any spelling mistakes and replacing the code (like bug fixes). I didn't want to make it too complex or to lean to any particular programming language so i chose SQL.

an example of the solution for **Code Challenge #1**:

** string sql = "SELECT item_name FROM Inventory WHERE item_type = 'weapon' "; **

In the original idea i wanted to have more modules and much more challenges within them, and the ludum dare timer making it very difficult to finish everything 100%, so players could choose which modules to focus their time on.

Thanks for playing!

@jonas-michael sorry you got frustrated, there is a help button in the top right that hints towards what the query is supposed to achieve but i suppose there could be a little more explanation of how the puzzle works.

Yes, the energy depletion (snacks/sleeping and crashing out) unfortunately i didn't have enough time to finish.
Thanks for checking out the game!

@cybersoftuk Dang, that was actually what I was thinking to do but I forgot the syntax for how to do it lol

Ok ok ok.
WHAT THE HECK IS THE CODE FOR THE FIRST PUZZLE.

I really liked the use of theme and a making a game jam game about making a game jam game is awesome.

The two puzzle ideas are awsome, but my god what the hell is the answer.

@nick-parry

ok, i will try to explain it better, it's simply a case of reading the code (and the hints in the bottom left of the screen, plus the hints in the help button - top right) and modifying the code on the screen to fix the bug:

** ORIGINAL CODE **

** ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ **

```
CONN.OPEN();

LIST<STRING> WEAPONS_LIST = NEW LIST<STRING>();

STRING SQL = "SELECT BLANK FROM INVENTORRRRY WHERE SOMETHING = 'SOMETHING_ELSE' ";

USING (SQLITEDATAREADER READER = CMD.EXECUTEREADER())
{
WHILE (READER.READ())
{
WEAPONS_LIST.ADD( READER["ITEM_NAME"].TOSTRING());
}
}

CONN.CLOSE();
```

** ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ **

Pay attention to this part of the code:

STRING SQL = "SELECT **BLANK** FROM **INVENTORRRRY** WHERE **SOMETHING** = '**SOMETHING_ELSE**' ";

An SQL SELECT statement is designed to query a database and the main structure is:

** SELECT FIELD_NAME FROM TABLE_NAME WHERE FIELD_NAME = 'some_text' **

e.g ** SELECT PRODUCT_NAME FROM STORE_PRODUCTS WHERE PRODUCT_TYPE = 'HAT' **
this should select all the hats from the database and return the name of the product for them.

So we can see that in the original code above, the SELECT statement is missing some information and there is one misspelling:

- ** BLANK ** = ITEM_NAME (as the help tells you we want a list of weapon names and is also included at the bottom of the code when it's being added to the list from the search results)
- ** INVENTORRRRY ** = INVENTORY
- ** SOMETHING ** = ITEM_TYPE (listed in the help description)
- ** SOMETHING_ELSE ** = 'WEAPON'

So, select the item_name(s) from the inventory table where the item_type is listed as a 'weapon' (or select all weapons from the the inventory table and list their names i.e sword, crossbow, hammer etc..)

so the code to solve the challenge would be:


** --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **
```
CONN.OPEN();

LIST<STRING> WEAPONS_LIST = NEW LIST<STRING>();

STRING SQL = "SELECT ITEM_NAME FROM INVENTORY WHERE ITEM_TYPE = 'WEAPON' ";

USING (SQLITEDATAREADER READER = CMD.EXECUTEREADER())
{
WHILE (READER.READ())
{
WEAPONS_LIST.ADD( READER["ITEM_NAME"].TOSTRING());
}
}

CONN.CLOSE();
```
** --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **

Sorry if it's confusing!

Thanks for playing!

The theme is well respected, graphics are quite nice though the code is a bit tedious to read. Coding puzzles may be a bit complicated or I did not properly understood the given hints (my knowledge of sql is a bit superficial...) but overall it was fun, congrats !

Wow nice game! It really suits the theme! And I love that you even have to solve a code puzzle hahaha, good job!!!

Wow, that is cool! This game is pretty hard and unforgiving for the code challenges, but, well, balancing and tweaking these things is never easy, especially with limited time. It fits nicely in the theme, and executed well. I wonder what gameplay will be for music making and devlog posting :)

*Vietnam Flashbacks*
Realy cool game that's realy suits the theme. I love this game.

Wow cool concept. I'm not a coder but could be a fun way to learn. Love the user interface as well. Would have liked to have heard some music, if you need any int he future let me know!

It's an entertainingly therapeutic way to deal with the trauma of staying awake for 60 hours straight and missing 5 meals.

This is a cool meta game.
This is the first game in which I ever needed to write SQL in a game. I'm not sure why anyone would use a database to make a game, but I guess sql was the easiest language to use for a simple coding exercise.

nice idea ! :D

I love the idea of the game, but it's a bit tricky, I got stuck on the first screen trying to think of a name for ages, extremely accurate of real life! :laughing:
For the code challenge, not everyone who does LD is a programmer, those who are programmers not all of them will know SQL, and even then without error messages and such could get stuck. I don't know SQL (maybe I should learn it!) so I ended up copying your solution in and it still wasn't right, turns out I missed out a semi-colon :face_palm: I would suggest keeping it real simple (for loops/while loops stuff like that) or simple pseudocode. Also consider using rich text, that way you could have variables be one colour, functions another etc like an IDE would have.
The art challenge is well executed and works perfectly, I like the graphics and the idea is really fun!

Nice concept, great graphics! I managed to complete code and artwork to 100%, but the music option was grayed out for me. The energy level also constantly stayed at 80%. Could be a fun tool to learn stuff, nice job :)

Awesome concept. Funny to play but I got stuck on the code for quite a time also. I did the graphics, came back to the code and finally solved the first code puzzle but too late to do the next one.

This was an interesting game for sure ! I also got stuck at the programming part (yeah maybe it's because it's late and I didn't really wanted to try hard lol), but the concept is really nice. Keep up the good work !

@psiv
Thanks for the feedback, yes, i realise not everyone here is programmer but i wanted the modules (mini-games) to feel like something very similar to the work you would be doing on that section in a real game jam (rather than just clicking) and if coding was not the players strong suit they could work on the other modules as the original plan was not to allow the player enough time to finish all modules (like a real game jam) and they would have to decide what to focus on, sadly the time constraints meant i only had a few quick puzzles to throw in and the energy levels and countdown timer isn't 100% so that doesn't really come across.

Syntax highlighting would be a great idea and someone also suggested a clearer font which in hindsight would have been better for the code challenges.

@bootak
Thanks, I was thinking of a dope sheet style mini game for the music where you have a reference piece of music, a bunch of sounds and you have have to slot them into the right place for the right amount of time, starting and finishing, to re-create the sound (e.g the sound that might be in your head when you brainstorm music ideas for your game)

The idea behind the dev log posts was about getting a higher audience score when your game is uploaded (i.e more exposure) but it would come at a sacrifice of time (like sleeping was supposed to..)

@wojciech-bruski
haha - yeah i still haven't calmed down since the jam ended!

@flying-dog-fish
exactly - that is why i chose the SQL as it was the easiest to implement (basically strip down and compare to a master string) rather than having to write an interpreter, so an SQL SELECT came to mind as it is a small one liner where you fill in the missing blanks.

Thanks to everyone who has checked out the game so far!

@harksa Thanks

"Impressive game, Very cool concepts. I left wishing that there is more.
Had a lot of fun "

Very original concept.

Very fun and meta little game. Good job!

I feel myself on real Ludum Dare while editing code.

Very nice! You should look into a proper lexer/parser thing for your programming interpretation. I got stuck trying to guess your "gold file" at the second coding challenge - trying several "valid" solutions.
I any case, cool idea! Love it!

Did you see your counterpart? 😉
https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/45/ludum-dare-simulator

@pixamentory @jihem @solah @asfdfdfd Thanks very much for your feedback!

@lars-erik I was hoping to implement a better way of doing the whole coding mini-game that would allow players to write their own code and as long as the solution matches the desired result it would pass but i really didn't have time for that, although thanks for the lexer/parser idea.

I did see the other entry, it seems to have done very well, it had the end result i wanted with the scoring for the players project.

Thanks!

I think this idea was good and fit the theme well. I've been programming for years and I still wish the programming minigame was different. It should've been more puzzle-like rather than typing something into a whole chunk of code (even if it is like a fill in the blank if you get into it). Most people are not going to get past this part, and will get confused the second they see the code. But I see you have acknowledged that. I enjoyed the other mini games and for that I enjoyed your submission :)

P.S. Your title broke my computer (lol)

I was so lost on what to do in the code part. I knew it was C# but I tried to write a loop to fill a list of weapon names, but that didn't seem to work. Maybe use flowcharts or something to simplify the design process instead of using code? Otherwise this is a fun minigame like entry that's pretty charming. :)

Things I didn't like:
* The game tells me that I'm hungry but I couldn't find how to eat some pizza =(
* It doesn't let me work on the music if I don't complete the other modules and I couldn't manage to complete the code part, I guess because I was hungry and needed food, but couldn't find food...
* I think the bar that tells me my energy level is bugged, it stays on 80%, I only knew that I was at 10% energy at the sleep menu

Things I liked:
* The art module is very fun!
* The timer fits the jam theme and makes the game very challenging! It makes me want to keep retrying until I get it, it's fun.
* The graphics set the mood nicely, well done!

The meta-idea to do a game about the jam process is awesome, I think if you had managed to complete all the features or at least make the game able to be finished it would definitely be a 5/5 game!

@eduardo-yukio Thanks for the feedback, the things you didn't like were things that i tried to get finished within the time limits but ran out (nature of the game jam) but i am actually working on a post jam version, as and when i can. The food is now available (in the form of sandwiches) and the energy levels are now fully implemented (you are right about the progress/percentage bars - but they now work)

The music module i held off on as i wanted to go with a better idea than i had at the time so that screen as well as the LD posts were deliberately blanked off.

It's great to hear you liked the rest of the game and the main concept - thanks!

very cool concept for the theme and very cool game idea. of course there are parts to be improved but all in all good job. I think you can develop this further and if you can simplified the coding part maybe instead of writing with using word blocks this could be a great educational game for kids.

I love the concept of the game. The artwork and the environment are really cool. I had a lot of fun playing the game. Even though I had a bit of trouble passing the coding part XD. Congrats

Unless a simulation is what you're going for, I think the mini-games could be a bit more fun. Human Resource Machine is a game that handles coding in a fun way. Currently they felt too much like actual work (for my taste).
I'm not sure what the purple bar at the top is displaying when you're in the code/art screen either.

I did not expect to be using actual sql in a game jam game lol. It's a neat little game, a little buggy at times but that's fine. I do think the coding challenges were more "difficult" than they were fun as it's more about figuring out what you named the variables rather than actually working out the solution, and anyone who doesn't know how to use SQL could be very lost there. I enjoyed the game, but thats certainly a problem point. Good work otherwise!