Just please don't be 'shoot for the moon'. I absolutely hate space themed games and I don't want to have to play hundreds of identical games about rockets.

I'm really worried about the jam theme (BTW this is my first jam) I'm really bad at coming up with ideas in a short amount of time like it takes me at least 3-5 months to get a decent idea so I'm really scared if I cant come up with something for the theme. if i couldn't come up with an idea crippling self doubt especially that I'm new to game development... well, thanks for taking the time to read this.

Finished with the voting.This is my first time here and I'm really excited.

Hey fellas. I'm back for another Ludum Dare, I wasn't able to participate in 46 and 47, but hopefully I'll be able to put something out for 48! I'm already used to work eating up some of my time and I learned how to be more efficient, and also a friend of mine decided to join me and help me out, we're making a game! All in all this seems promising, good luck to everyone else~!

Fragile is a theme for:

30% - hardcore delivery simulators, when you break cargo with any non-precise moves and restart. Meh.

30% - arcade/platformers with 1-life main character/1-life item in hands. Meh.

20% - drama about broken hearts. So so deep, so so philosophical. Meh.

15% - total destruction. May be actually fun, depends on implementation.

5% - interesting and innovative games.

Fragile is a terrible theme. Think about games you are going to play for weeks.

Who are all exited about this Game Jam like me!

This is very exciting! This will be my eighth LD, my fourth time trying the Compo (I say "trying" because of two years where I had to abort, because making games is hard!). Last time I did the compo, I spent most of my productive time figuring out how to properly use Godot, and while I'm happy with the result, that's mostly due to the art and the music, because the game itself is very simple and very janky. Therefore, this time I'll be using a workflow that I'm used to, which is to say HTML5 canvas, TypeScript, building my own engine, possibly using Tiled if it ends up being that kind of a game.

Curious to see the other votes

First time I plan to participate.

Seems that everyone is complaining about themes, but the so called "bad themes" of one grumpy appear to be the "good themes" of another. And vice versa. I like this. :rofl:

Anyway, that's gonna be fun, no matter the choosen theme.

We had enough Ouroboros games in last LD to be honest...

Hi, I'm Ned, I've 'attempted' every ludum dare since ludum dare 28. I make my own engines from scratch, and mainly use the ludum dare to experiment, I've never really seen it as a competition, and have never scored particularly well :laughing:

This Ludum Dare in 5 days is is the weekend before my first week of University exams in my 3rd year, also my dissertation submission is due on the 28th to make everything more stressful.

Like I said, I've attempted every ld since ld28, most attempts have been fairly full-on, apart from the last one in which I had covid, started a game, then just slept through the whole thing. I did make Infection (https://nedboulter.itch.io/infection) as part of a Uni jam shortly after though.

The plan:

So, I want to do something. My dissertation involves making a path-tracer using Vulkan (+ RTX extensions), so I might be able to extrapolate some of the Vulkan engine for the LD game.

Overall, I don't want to spend more than 10 hours on the game (5 hours Saturday, 5 hours Sunday), so it'll be a very cut down Ludum Dare, and I'll be very surprised if I have something submittable.

I'm basically aiming to do enough, so that I can say I tried for this one :) It's a shame that this one is so close to exams, especially after the last one being such a mess, and they're less common now too (only twice a year), which is very sad.

Happy Daring,

Ned

For anyone looking at these themes and worried about coming up with a game--first off, I recommend joining a group (like the LD discord) of people who might brainstorm publicly. If you draw a blank, they'll have some different idea combos to spark something.

Second, I usually take the final round of voting and draft an idea for each option to bounce off of as soon as I'm done despairing at whichever one wins.

My ideas are limited to things that don't really involve mechanics because uh I don't have those skills; each jam, I've been slowly building visual novel frameworks to the point of functioning at all. So my first ideas are more likely to be melodramatic before I can carve it down to comedy. But obviously you could consider more movements and user interactions depending on the kind of game you're attempting.

For example, this took me a couple hours on and off (hopefully a few make it to the last to save me time on Friday :sweat_smile: ), but if these were the final round it would be a less time-pressed mental warmup than suddenly thinking about the theme when it's announced:

• Delivery storks? pizza? tone of voice: conflict resolution through dialogue choice? viewpoint of a singing telegram associate who's decided to build or burn bridges for their clients without technically breaking contract

• One time use plastic wrap? "don't wear out my name:" balancing the advice to use someone's name an unnatural amount to make them like you? fixing (an analogue of) the tragic AI ending? interactive fiction equivalent of a side scroller; no loops or retries?

• Momentum extending spaceship arms to slow rotation, or similar, like performing a large scale slingshot maneuver to avoid destruction? frick politeness guide to getting out of social pressure situations? fighting executive dysfunction (post-apocalypse / in space / other fantastic setting for reasons not to fall back on other people and make it less boring--could combine with first thought)

• Rain rein reign -- foiling a mad monarch's plans with your weather machine? finding the leak in your roof/pipes? "when it rains it pours:" a terrible horrible no good very bad day?

• Something is missing a foodie vampire in search of an alternative to garlic (while their acquaintances keep noticing they aren't visible in mirrors, photos, sunny garden parties, etc)?

• Split in two magician's assistant is secretly slime girl? (split screen showing different perspectives?)

• Fragile burgeoning horror villain discovers he needs to consider the rationality of his responses to perceived slights? sheltering luggage from various hazards in travel (eventually revealed to be either kittens or symbolic baggage that the protag has to carry without the cover after it cracks)?

• Leave something behind the above baggage idea might fit? or similarly "deep:" attempts from a parental figure hero/criminal to ditch a sidekick on their way to a dangerous job, before explaining that the sidekick's safety is more important than their legacy? or a polaroid horror story thing that keeps coming up as an idea for different almost-themes the last few jams, but requires either more programming or more unusual logic.

• Expansion house of leaves rip off? nervous, self-conscious person slowly opening up and getting more options for who to talk to (as we also see further) as they relax (in time to delegate crisis response when something unexpected happens? or just in time to give a presentation they were dreading)? dressing an incongruous character from several expansion packs who then has to act like everything's normal in game?

• Out of bounds escapee sportsball? the thoughts that pass through a character's mind as they fall eternally (existential crisis resulting in a rogue mc once they get reloaded)?

• Instructions unclear "take care of them, if you catch my drift:" a fixer does exactly what he thinks his job description entails? trying to jack your assassin's time machine whose controls are exclusively marked with icons, symbols, and sound cues?

• Shoot for the moon setting up the photoshoot for the first lunar colony's promotional material?

• Playing both sides you're the gadget person assigned to give a known double agent tools that can't be used against you? drama mask allusion: trying to build a cover story for something embarrassing that isn't too funny or too dramatic so it doesn't spread far enough to reach people who know better?

• Clockwork yeah I sure hope it does (things happen on schedule, but maybe the clock on screen is broken?)

• You are what you eat the one eyed one horned flying purple people eater questions the specificity and morality of her diet (she started this on advice from a magazine in order to fit into her itty bitty teeny weeny yellow polkadot bikini--and it's worked, but she's hungry, and she needs to come out of the water)?

• Lost signal ugly duckling a la Lilo and Stitch (literally calls for help by saying "I'm lost")? looking for your drone based on the content of the last transmissions? sending up flares from in front of like...the sun--figuring out a way to signal for help that won't be overwhelmed by an extreme environment?

Note I don't necessarily have more or better ideas on the ones I voted for; though occasionally the brainstorming convinces me to bump a negative vote up to neutral when I think of more paths everyone can take with it.

(Edit: you'd never guess I was planning a jam novel from how many words I throw at a screen for fun, would you?)

I don't know if I can participate, but I'll try! :smile: I'll be using PICO-8 for this jam, so it'll be a challenge. 😬

I haven't been able to participate since LD 43, and I am so excited to be back. This will be my first time making a game since going through proper developer training. Letsgooooooooooo!!! (Time to see if any of my friends want to join me) :)

and i cant spell XD

Hopefully I'll have something a little more polished this time...