With the announcement of the theme of Ludum Dare 29, “Beneath the Surface”, I find myself filled with apprehension. “Should I have not joined ‘officially’ and just made a game for myself in the background?” is a thought that is coming to mind now. I have not done much development of anything besides my website in a very long while.

Regardless, I am excited. I already have a git repository set up for the event and I am starting to think of a few ideas for my game. The first thing that came to mind when I saw the theme was the personalities that we have beneath the surface of our physical being. We interact in so many different ways with people on a regular basis. Combining that with timed dialogue events like Anna Anthropy’s I think something interesting could come out of it. Possibly forcing the player to wear many masks to continue through the game in search of some ‘intrinsic’ goal… it is something I can work on.

I have seen a few other ideas out there that I did not even think of till seeing them. It is amusing how the mind works. Even something as simple as a ‘mining’ game did not come to mind. I love mining games, by the way. There is something a bit relaxing about hording materials.

Anyway, my goals! I think I will be using HTML. Unfortunately, I have not kept up with any of the helpful tools that have been getting more and more popular, like Game Maker Studio or Unity. I also have not been keeping myself proficient in C++ for a few years now. I think after this jam I will try to focus on that.

For now, though, I will be designing a game based on interaction between the player and their environment. What that entails is entirely subject to viewpoint. It will be text-based, I fear, but I will probably find a way to add some graphics as well. I will probably be using Twine or simply using the things I already know with HTML to design this. SFXR and Bosca Ceoil will be for sounds. GIMP for graphics.

I know I have come somewhat ill-equipped to LD29, but I really want to get back into designing again. I am hoping this helps somewhat. It sure has me wanting to learn how to use some more tools!