{"assets": [], "author_link": "author/shahid/", "author_name": "shahid", "cat": "LD #34", "categories": ["LD #34"], "comments": [], "epoch": 1450042500, "event": "LD34", "likes": 6, "metadata": {"p_key": "83280", "p_author": "shahid", "p_authorkey": "0", "p_urlkey": "294018", "p_title": "WordUp", "p_cat": "LD #34", "p_event": "LD34", "p_time": "1450042500", "p_likes": "6", "p_comments": "0", "p_status": "WAYBACK", "us_key": null, "us_name": null, "us_username": null, "event_start": "1449792000", "event_key": "31", "event_name": "LD34"}, "source_url": "2015/12/13/wordup/", "text": "

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I’ve finished a prototype for a game jam for the first time in 33 years in the video games business.

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Since leaving PlayStation, Ludum Dare 34 came at the end of my first week as an independent developer since I was last making games in the early 1990s.  Naturally, despite being rusty, I went for the “hard mode” of the compo.

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WordUp is a simple word game prototype for the Mac using the “growing” theme. I plan on extending it. It’s brutally hard and I’d be staggered (but not surprised!) if anyone scored three figures without cheating!

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In WordUp your aim is to grow a word more than the computer can. The computer places a letter. Then it’s your turn. If the computer can’t continue the word on its turn, you win and get a point for every letter placed. If you choose a letter that creates a word not in the ENABLE word list, you lose and start again with zero points. That’s it.

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I’ve rated the game as mature audiences because the word list contains offensive words and could be chosen by the player or the computer. Future versions might well change this.

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The game prototype for the Mac uses:

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Messy, quick and dirty C++ code, the game written from scratch starting for Ludlum Dare (growing theme) solo in under 48 hours

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The ENABLE word list

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The Cinder Library

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The Apple San Francisco system font

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Tile graphics created in Acorn

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Sound effects created in BFXR

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I plan to continue developing this prototype into a full game. This is the first playable, original game I’ve created since 1988.

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You can download the demo here:

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http://shahidkamal.itch.io/wordup

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I’d love your feedback,

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You can get the source code here:

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https://www.dropbox.com/s/v1t1tg1d9uzu3je/WordUpSource.zip?dl=0

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I made this game alone, from scratch. It’s not much, but I feel great about completing something within the allotted time, and allowed myself time to package and “distribute” it. I can now proudly say that at the end of my first week in a life I chose above a highly successful career at PlayStation, I made and released a simple game prototype from scratch.

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Tags: C++, compo, Growing

", "time": "December 13th, 2015 9:35 pm", "title": "WordUp", "title_was_empty": false}