Ludum Dare 48 will be my first.

I will use Unity and I'll try to make my own game art.

All the themes are very inspiring, but we just have 48 hours.

Once the jam begins, a lot of people always struggle with the theme. Personally, I enjoy that part of the compo or jam a lot as well (... usually). What better way to say 'I'm in' then to share some of my tips, specifically for dealing with the Theme? :slight_smile:

• Interpretation -- Are there different ways to interpret the theme? What does the theme mean literally versus figuratively? Can it work as a setting, something the player can manipulate, does it work as a goal? What if you could pick it up and throw it around?
• Narrowing -- If the theme seems too broad: What other restrictions can be applied? Try to apply a fun set of expected and unexpected genres and see what applies! What if it also had to incorporate sound in a meaningful way?
• Multi-Word -- If the theme seems to narrow already: Focus on one word or part of the sentence. What can be done with this? Can this be tied back to the rest of the theme?
• Subversion -- What would it mean for this theme to be subverted? Does that make a fun game?
• Meta-Textual -- What if the game itself was .....? (Automated, A Delivery, a Power Source, has Generations, etc.)
• 'Inspiration' -- What existing games already fit the mold? How would you (like to) change/alter them?
• Plan B -- Remember, the theme is optional! Just do what you want to. Then, if a good idea strikes (or if there's time), tie it back to the theme. Use it as a setting only. Make some gameplay and then try to weave it into the story. Side Note: You might get a bit of a lower score, and sure, it also works as anti-cheat ... but a honour system is a honour system. If you say it's made within the time-frame, the burden of proof is on me, not on you!)

Do you have any of your own? Or have some remarks on mine? Well, that's what the comment section is for! :slight_smile:

After going off into the weeds with the last one, going way to big with scope on the first day, I'll keep it simple this time, so I have more time for polish / gameplay etc.

I've been doing a bit more 3d stuff since the last compo, and even got a machine that can run Unity at a decent speed, however I might just stick to the old tried and tested Construct 2, given it's now being retired this year and I won't be able to use it for the next jam!

As is tradition, I'm posting this to officially announce I'm in while also providing a low-quality wallpaper I made in an hour. Hope my game won't suck.

4K Download link

As you can see not many of them have really made my brain tick, or at least not for now :P

I'm just waiting, hoping to make a normal game, haha

Last Ludum Dare, I made a game called Goop Loop, which looked like this during the jam:

Since then, I've spent a few months iterating on the assets, extending the level, adding new content, more puns, and lots of other stuff, and now it looks like this:

It's out on Steam in early access and is just about to move on to a full release, so I'm ready to start a new project this Ludum Dare. Hoping to make something else that's really fun!

I am so hyped for LD! This was the jam that skyrocketed my game dev skills! Here is a list of what I'll be using:

Game engine: I'll be using Construct 3 for this jam. I would be using Godot but a kind person gifted my a C3 license for free! I'll be using either pygame or godot next time!

Music: I'll be using LMMS or Beepbox for music, I learned some new music skills so I'm excited to try those out

Art: I recently got aseprite so I'll be using that! I might use Krita for the thumbnail

I just wanted to write the obligatory "we are in" post, because WE ARE IN!

This will be my 10th attempted, and hopefully 8th completed LD. This one is special, because it's the first for OUR TEAM! We are a new (and completely UNfamous) indie team from Hungary, working on a super-secret project, but I've managed to convince everyone on the team that Ludum Dare is the very best thing. To my surprise, EVERYONE was super hyped about getting up at 3:00 AM to make a game in 72 hours!

Let me introduce everyone:

• First off, we have @macibacsi56, our writer and glorious leader
• We have two wonderful 2D artists: @littlemaow and @ringabell. They will be responsible for dropping all of your jaws with sprites, backgrounds and anything that requires painting, drawing or animation.
• @zoolee-art is also joining to create the most amazing 3D models. He is an absolute pro when it comes to assets.
• And finally myself to make the code that turns all of this into an interactive experience

See you around, and have fun during this weekend! :)

Here is my choice of score distribution. Kinda disappointed by the themes actually..

Nevertheless, everybody happy LD48 and good luck <3

Beginning of April last year, I started learning Game Development with no previous programming experience. I was already obsessed with Ludum Dare devlogs and could only wonder fascinated at whether I’d be able to do the same one day.

One year later and I’m now joining my second LD, for the historic 48th edition nonetheless! It’s an incredible milestone for this jam, but also for me as an individual... to see how far I’ve come during this year, to see if I can now call myself a gamedev without feeling like an imposter.

Ludum Dare holds a special place in my heart as far as game jams are concerned. There’s just nothing quite like it, especially the COMPO. During LD47, I ended up having to really stretch my game design ability to compensate for my lack of art and development skills. And it was exhilarating. I ended up making a fantasy twitter game that I’m still incredibly proud of to this day (devlog below for the curious).

https://youtu.be/OGrVEIOr_NA

Maybe this weekend I’ll manage to have enough time to make music. Maybe. One can dream! What I know though is that whatever happens, I’ll make a game. I’ll finish it and submit it at any cost, even if I have to scrap half of my plans last minute. I’ll cut down the scope brutally and ruthlessly. What counts to me is delivering a complete experience by the end of the 48h. It might not be a great experience for sure, might be ridiculously short, yes, but it’ll be complete. What about you, what are you aiming for?

Stay safe and beautiful lovelies. I’ll see you on the other side.

Tools: - Unity - Krita - Ableton Live - Audacity

This is my first time, I have half started doing my own jam with no official post and I have snooped around in the back ground for too long, this time I wanted to give this a proper go. I still need to be away to do real life things but lets see where this goes.

Heres my theme votes as that seems to be a thing :)

For now at least. But it's overwhelming so far.

I gave it a zero so I don't know what to think. Not really my stronger theme.

Hey everyone! This will be my first Jam and I'm really excited! I know it's last minute but I had a question regarding the compo.

I use Game Maker Studio 2 and a plugin called GM Live which I paid for. The compo requires that I share the source code but if GM Live is part of that I think people might be able to copy the GM Live code. It's a development tool, so I could just probably just remove the plugin before uploading the source code, but it would add extra work because I would need to make sure to remove any references to the code as well. If that's what I have to do then that's fine, but I was curious if anyone had any tips for this sort of thing.

Deeper and deeper - Mining game with some unique mechanic.

Leave something behind - Rougelite/Dungeon crawler where you can only hold a small number of items, so must leave some behind to pick others up.

Parasite - You play as a parasite that must latch on to other creatures and mind-control them to progress.

Shelter - You're a vampire that must carry a shelter wherever you go to protect yourself from the sun. - The zombie apocalypse has come, but your home is falling apart, you must keep repairing it to survive.

Expansion - Demolition game where you must make space for an expansion for your house. (ok, I might have got that idea from Teardown...) - Everything you touch starts slowly expanding/growing, and you must escape before you get trapped and squashed.

Hidden world - Platformer where you reveal hidden platforms with your mouse.

Delivery - Get X from A to B using some strange control mechanic.

You are the power source - Puzzle game where you power/activate certain things by standing next to them. - Shooter game with a weapon that draws it's power from the player's health.

Generations - Some evolution game? (really I can't think of anything for this one...)

One tool, many uses - You have some magic goo that can be shaped into anything you can think of, use it to overcome obstacles, as a key to a puzzle, or as a weapon.

Automation - You work in a automated factory, and need to program the robots to complete their tasks.

Lost signal - Your internet stopped working and you must find a way to fix it.

One time use - Shooter where every gun can only be used once before it falls apart.

Containment - Game where you herd animals/creatures into some particular area. - You must contain a corrosive liquid in a container by patching um the holes it creates.

Split in two - Puzzle game where you duplicate things by clicking them. - You control two identical characters at the same time, but in different places, you need to make sure both can get to the end without getting hurt.

Summoning - You play as a wizard and can summon monsters to fight for you. (yeah, not much creativity here...)

Last year, in April, for LD 46, I made a "visual experience"/"dark narrative" with Godot and Blender, inspired by Silent Hill, FFVII and more, Kaoamaru Kaiju.

I recorded everything and yesterday, one year later, I released a mini-documentary (it's not just a timelapse) - right now it's only in Portuguese, but if I see enough visitors from other languages, I'll add English subtitles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcnoxfp1FdY