Just to start with, ‘I’m im’ for this Ludum Dare and will be using:

• Unity 3D 5
• Visual Studio
• Photoshop
• Blender
• Audacity
• Maybe BFXR
• Audiotool

So with that sorted, I would like to say that I know my entries to other Ludum Dares aren’t very good but I have learned from them.

My first entry was for Ludum Dare 30 and I made a basic first person jumping game which turned out to be difficult to control and had horrible music (because of which I have changed how I make music for my games). I also discovered that making levels by hand is difficult, especially when your trying to code game mechanics at the same time. The last thing I’ve found (but not learned) is that I need to give more instructions on how to play the game and what is happening with the UI.

My next game was for Ludum Dare 31 and actually had a bit of slightly useful UI in it (the Unity default UI that is) but was still difficult to know what was going on and was extremely buggy. There where also mechanics in it which where not needed, like path finding  and probably lots more. This was the only game where I did a bit more to it after Ludum Dare and managed to use fewer lines of code and added some mechanics I hadn’t managed to do during Ludum Dare, this version was then put up for sale with me being very hopeful that I could start my career in game development … and got no sales, which looking back on it should have been expected. This game also had some music(sounds) but this still wasn’t very good.

My latest game was (as expected) for Ludum Dare 32 this was definitely my best game so far and used Unity 3D, 2D physics and the new UI system meaning that the UI was cleaner and meaning that there wasn’t enough of it and so lots of people struggled to work out what was happening (I said I hadn’t learned from my first game). This game had some mechanics I was really happy with, except for the upgrade system which didn’t end up the way I wanted it to be, however there was no aim to the game, well there was but the goal was added in the last 2 hours of Ludum Dare and I’m still not happy with it, nor did the game link with the theme very well. This game had no music and basically no sounds at all as I ran out of time. But I do like the vaguely correct physics and the look of them game (ignoring most of the temporary graphics).

So how does this link with this Ludum Dare, well I’m hoping that I can learn from my mistakes so here is a list of things I need to do better:

• UI – I see myself as a programmer so this normally ends up getting ignored
• Music – Again this gets done last and so isn’t done properly, I’ve also found Audiotool (link at the top) which means that I might make some actual music for this game.
• Tutorial – Often I run out of time and rush the last things, like telling people how to play my game (which apparently is important)
• Complicated Features – I always make too many things which are too complicated and so don’t add them properly or at all
• AI – This is a bit of a challenge for me, I haven’t managed to get any AI in my games so I want to try to do this

So that was a bit of a ramble but good luck to everyone who enters and people who are unsure about doing it, you should give it a go.

Have fun and I look forward to playing your games.

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