It's been about three days and all of the pictures on this website are not loading. I thought maybe the server is overwhelmed or something, but I just want to check if the issue is on my end, or maybe the website.
I see that a lot of people are getting picky in their choice of topics. In this case, each vote starts to play a more significant role. And I thought that the most profitable strategy in this case would be the opposite - to increase the number of selected topics. To be precise, not to be too picky, but not to choose everything. That way, there's a better chance that the topics I choose will be selected.
What do you think about it?)
Hello Fellow Game Devs!
Are you learning game art and pixel art is something you are interested in?
Join my individual courses that are designed for YOUR SPECIFIC NEEDS. You can dictate whatever you want to learn, so no time wasting with irrelevant stuff. This is a real time workshop, not a boring school presentation.
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(Please let me know if this is not allowed. I've seen streamers and Youtubers sharing their stuff so I assumed this is in the "game dev spirit" therefore allowed).
Are ASCII games enabled to participate? What is the format to deliver the game? I'm use c# with NET 6 framework.
And where can I read the rules?
Thanks
I hate that people do polls, we can know the theme with almost certainty before the Jam starts. Let's all play along and discover the theme in due time 🤗
I'm unsing the current Firefox version 130 under Windows and I cannot log in with it to the ludum dara website. Has anybody else the same problem or a solution for this? I can log in with Microsoft's Edge. But I don't want to use this.
Do someone can explain to me how i can team up with my friend PLEASE!!
I'm committing engagement
Slaughtering done - went easy this time.
I slaughtered them all...
I have to say it was interesting to see so many people thinking on the same lines. There were several with floating islands, islands, or underwater.
But maybe I'm just hoping to make an exploration game in general. A lot of options for that.
This time, I remembered it is happening, and am prepared to join. I hope I will be able to participate and finish a little PROUDHEART spinoff this time.
I saw this was happening the other day and got really excited. Then today while at work I realized I already agreed to work a wedding next weekend, and I need to film a reshoot for my other project the following day. 🤧😭 Good luck all you jammers! If the theme is good, I may give my thoughts for someone else to iterate on if they want, lol. Or maybe I'll get inspired to start something new in my free time.
First time attending the Ludum Dare game jam! Hopefully everything would go to plan, and hopefully it’s an easy to understand topic… Yeesh. Alright good luck to y’all.
Forgot to post my theme suggestions earlier, but these were mine. This is my first Ludum Dare, so I'm nervous but excited for seeing what the final theme will be~
So glad I'm finally done with the slaughter round 😂, although I'm pretty sure I voted for some duplicates, my eyes were glazing over a bit towards the end.
It's been a while since LD55, huh?
And now, I'm currently putting on the finishing touches to the current game I'm making, which is the first episode for a planned anthology of WLW (women loving women) RPGs titled Lily Adventuresses!
So how does LD56 factor in there?
Of course! Episode 2 -- more specifically, the prologue (because making a full-blown RPG in 5 months for another game jam is no easy task) -- will be released for this season of Ludum Dare! Therefore, the chosen theme will have a great influence on what Episode 2 will be about, as each episode of Lily Adventuresses! will be self-contained stories set in the same world.
So while waiting for Episode 1's full release, I'll get my hands dirty one more.
Greetings!
I been pondering... does anybody else try to make games that have a certain continuity to their previous LD entry? I seen a few people, just curious how widespread it is or why people do or don't do it...
Mainly because I'm starting to find my style of games and designs that add a form of continuity, a lot of tiny projects sometimes matching up to be a longer story type thing, because commiting to a large project is hard if not impossible for me now...
anyways enough yapping, I'm curious about what other people think about LD entries having continuity to a certain degree
Uh-oh, the timing of events might throw a spanner in the works of this Ludum Dare for me. I have friends visiting from overseas during this one, and while their schedule leaves some time for things, it's barely enough to put something together. So this would mean that after 20 consecutive entries, I'll break my participation streak. At least I made it to 20!
Tradition requires this. HD and 4k options available! Link to a zip containing both here.
All that said, if I am struck with an idea of sufficiently small scope (which will be the biggest challenge), and time permits me to execute it, I'll do my best to get something done, as per usual in Twine. Fingers crossed! :fingers_crossed:
Looking forward to seeing what the theme is and participating for the first time.
The team's a lot bigger this time. @Pegasys and I are doing our 7th consecutive dare but with two extra teammates this time. @theoconfidor as a composer and @stolvann as an artist.
We're excited to make something awesome. No longer limited artistically or musically as we have been in previous dares. The sky is the limit.
Random funny draw in the slaughter !
It's with a heavy heart for me to say this...
I had to decide to not partake in this jam... I came across info that threw a wrench into my game jam plans, I don't wanna go into details, I'm really upset, hope I can show up for LD 58 (exams are in april for my class so likely can't partake)
I do hope everyone else makes awesome games and has a lot of fun! I will return when the time comes!
It's been a while since I've done ANY game dev work, even longer since I last did a jam, and I think even longer since my last LD
But hey, here we go again (I'm a little grumpy about having to be up at 8AM for the theme announcement)
With the Round completed, I'm in! I'll most likely do the Jam this year unless the theme really speaks to me for Compo, but we'll see how the next five days turn out.
It really felt like there were a lot of similar themes this year - a lot of people seem to be on the same wavelength.
The last LD I did was 51, not even sure I will do this one considering I would rather make a game that I've thought about for a while, and even then, any more I'd rather spend my free time doing other things because they are easier.
but if the theme is good enough I might give it a go.
to that end, I totally forgot what my second suggestion was, but easily the best theme I saw going through them all was "Contract." Kudos to whoever suggested that if anyone wants to claim it.
I am going to participate in LD for the second time. I would like to ask more experienced participants about some points.
Last time, a week before the jam started, the semi-finals started, where 16 of the 48 themes were chosen. 2 days before the start of the jam started the final, where everyone chose the winner from 16 finalists. Now there are 4 days left until the start and the semifinals have not started yet. Do I understand correctly that this time the principle of selecting the theme is not the same as at the previous jam? And how was the selection procedure at previous jams?
Some Community Manager went scorched earth and is deleting posts, blocking Titanium supporters. The Community Manager is one handedly killing Godot.
Do a search on YouTube for "Godot Community Manager', as the story is growing exponentially.
I guess Asmongold has a pretty good take on this
Hi there ! With 2 friends we are really exited to attempt our first Ludum Dare. We have many things to learn but I'm sure this will be a great experience. If anyone has any tips on how to prepare for and enjoy Ludum Dare, we'd love to hear from you! We can't wait to see the theme and the other teams' games ! Good Luck for everyone :smile:
I think mine was 47 though I can't remember
We are back for our second Jam. A new dev is in our team wich make 3 devs and 1 designer (me).
I guess I will be late for two days and an half before I could say "Ah! Who is laughing now !" and watch them debbug the game while I finish the doritos on the couch.
Right now they are probably talking technical stuff (that I don't understand) while I do my twelves hours/day meditation in anticipation of the weekend.
Stay hydrated, sleep more than usual and make sure you have enough beer for saturday morning.
Also, combo like this would have been goatesque :
Seriously ! Will anybody think of the themes ?
(No actually, that was a real question! :)
Greetings!
I'm thinking about learning a new engine which is partially the reason why I opted out of LD56, but I have no idea what engine I wanna try, I'm looking for something simple for small 3D projects, I know UE5 exists but that engine seems a bit much for me, I also wanna avoid Unity and Godot as I already know those, Any and all suggestions are welcome!
I'm going to be brief, I'm indecisive things are being thrown around me left and right, made some hasty decisions, but I did some reflections, I wanna do this competition, and my classes for Java turned out to be easier, so I can skip the class that was the roadblock, I will make it up during the week...
I just wanna partake, meet awesome people, play cool games, make something, I will be seeing you all this friday, no more posts because it's getting confusing, sorry guys I'm bad at decisions for myself :sweat_smile:
It's been a while since I submitted anything to one of these! I'd like to try exploring board game mechanics some more, even though it didn't work out so well for me last time. There's just something magical about cards and dice...
On the other hand, it might be fun to explore Rust. It seems like a very interesting language and I've heard good things about it as a tool for game development.
My family grew with another member about a week back, although if there is an Extra category still this time around (which I think it is) - I might participate again!
initially i was a bit harsher but after going through the themes I was able to be a little less harsh.
Although I'm just saying, +2/-2 buttons when? Some themes are so atrocious they really need to option to double-downvote these days...
also not sure what's up with the label that lets us know that Ritual was the theme from GGJ 2016 but that made it an easy one to downvote lol, i come here for LD themes not castoffs from other jams
Does anyone else feel like the themes are just... not as good as prior jams, a lot of single definition themes, repeats, and themes that I just can't see making anything good with.
This will be my 10th time in a row participating in Ludum Dare (LD)! Our team plans to join the 3-week category both for better scheduling and to hopefully get player feedback before the deadline is up. I look forward to streaming Tuesdays to try others' games and share constructive feedback so we can boost each other up.
Some of our favorite open source tools are Godot and git for code, plus bfxr and PxTone if we go for retro sounds. Last LD I composed marching band music in Finale for the background music, I enjoy the peppy side of music. What are you all looking forward to for LD56?
I love game jams. I love the camaraderie and the way people defy expectations. But man, the themes this go around are....interesting. Which theme are you excited for the most? (I'm kinda team echo.)
If you want music/sfx, please shout! :)
they're all pretty simple but i can work with any of these.
Going to squeeze in as much time as possible this weekend!
today is also my brithday
Kinda ironic, isn't it?
Hello!
I am a bit confused on when the Jam actually starts xD. It says 12 am CEST which would be 10 am UTC. I believe that's wrong. It has never been that late before, but I have no way to fact check this. If you know the real time in UTC or CEST, then please tell me! 🙏🤷♂️😭
Love conception themes, has more space to create. No content-depending themes.
Greetings!
I'm here to throw an interesting idea for how themes work, because I see people say that the themes are repeating and are simple, and truthfully some of the themes listed are not part of the slaughter, now I'm new to the jam so if you knew this before you can let me know, but my hypothesis is that every theme that was kept in via the slaughter rounds from previous Jams are randomly selected back into the next theme vote to give them a chance too, which is great but yeah it can lead to repeats, as for the simple 1 word themes... yeah I don't really like them either but so many slaughter round themes were just 1 word that it's really hard to avoid them...
But remember guys! It's not about the themes, it's about having fun with other game devs!
Earlier this year, I decided to set off on my own and try to turn our LD51 entry, which got #1 fun, #1 innovative, and #6 overall, into a full game. I launched it on September 12th (iOS, Android), and yesterday, I received a text from a friend that his girlfriend noticed it was featured in the Apple App Store, right next to the great Balatro!
You can find the original here: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/51/machine-yearning
Honestly, mind blown.
For the first time in five years, I'm attending Ludum Dare! The last time was in 2019 (45th jam) and I made B4 This after that I've planned on attending the jam so many times but something has always come up or I've just forgotten about it :laughing:
I've seen many people complain about the themes (as always) but I think this year's options for a theme seem interesting! We'll see if I totally blank out on any ideas though when the theme is chosen :grin:
I can't wait to see what you all come up with this time :3
Download here: https://imgur.com/a/sSXl66L
It's my first time participating in LD, so I don't understand, will Compo and Jam be on the same date (this weekend)? Or can I participate in both?
Hey just a reminder. If you think the theme we end up with is good, then you're wrong, it's actually the worst theme ever. If you think the theme is terrible then you're wrong, there's so many ways to interpret it. This has been a public service announcement
Whoops the power is out (jokes aside made myself some PNGs for the upcoming LD stream)
Hey All :wave:
Please for the Love of all that is fun, please won't you vote for Orbiting please please please
I have a special attachment to this theme - A, I think I suggested it and B, I've written two Space Based games with Orbital mechanics in previous LD events (See my games, Orbitum Scaterum)
I would love, love love love to have another try at Orbitum Scaterum
Since the last LD I invested time in learning Web Assembly, more math, more art and generally just more skills. And I feel like I'm so close to being able to make a really good Orbital game.
If you don't like space, but are still willing to vote for the theme, here are some ideas how the word can relate to other systems:
I know it's a stretch to ask people to vote for a theme, but please :pray:
Made a duck "game" last time, let's see if I can even finish something this weekend. I have a flight smack dab in the middle of the jam, so I'll have to get creative and see if I can get something done offline :D
Here's to hoping Alchemy is not selected as a theme, though... another, recent, game jam got me hating on it lmao.
Xp here. Good to see all of you again, and some for the first time :)
This time I decided that instead of polishing the game for 2 weeks after the game making period ends, I should probably come prepared instead. So as the Jam rules allow it, I am currently in the process of making the base code. Surely most of the game is still going to be made during the allocated time, but at least I'll sleep peacefully after it concludes knowing no updates are needed and I can redirect my energy back to the main project.
As I know exactly what I am after, my theme voting was governed by it (see image below)
But that's not telling of the themes I really liked which are: 1. Under pressure - best, very open to interpretation. I can imagine many things, both narratively and in design; 2. Pathways - mostly narratively, I am very into non-linear stories; 3. Mistakes are Permanent - hardcore platformer (YEZ), but also story of unalterable consequences to support it; 4. Folklore - yeah, someone has to make a john wick game and you know it (baba yaga goes brrrr); 5. Tiny Creatures - wouldn't mind making a "micro world" type of game. Elves maybe (mythologically correct ones)
Even though I am a game-designer professionally, I'm more of a narrative-driven type when it comes to indie gamedev and I think that will explain my choices well.
And what are these?! + Ritual - what is this, a sequel to Ludum Dare 55? + Echo - funny enough echo echo has a duplicate ate. Don't really dislike like it, but had to mention it somewhere where
I didn't plan to write so much, but it's late and I guess I gave in to the impulse :laughing: I will go take that time to rest while I still can. If you stay up late as well I suggest you do the same.
P.S. also I am gonna stream most of the development this time and as my new tradition goes - I will play your games until the jam ends.
See you all soon!
~ Yours, XpMonster
For the first time in a while, it's looking like I might actually be able to make a real effort at a Ludum Dare game.
I can't promise I will actually have the time and energy to do it, but I am sad that I haven't made a "reasonably finished" game in quite a while, and this seems like the best opportunity to try.
Will be using Godot, maybe Godot 4. I still want to one day write a game for Ludum Dare using a custom language, and I have made progress on that front... but not enough to actually do it this time. At least this summer I was able to implement a compiler for Bob Nystrom's Lox language, which was a fun project and very instructive.
I am also, at the moment, on a reasonably low power Linux laptop. It will be interesting to see how many playable games there are in this case. I know I have been a bad citizen about making Linux builds sometimes, so I guess karma comes around sometimes.
I have ended up in a sort of Slay the Spire addiction once again. So, I might try to force another card game. Maybe a less-directly-copied-from-Slay-the-Spire one this time, though.
If I make it, see ya'll this weekend!
:thinking: :thinking: :thinking: :thinking: :thinking:
literally? Legitimately? Bring back 3 theme suggestions, I know it's more work but like more options means less garbage lol...
Is it just an echo of last voting, or did I just see a Déjà vu?
There were actually a couple of good ones in this round...
Ludum again. But in unusual circumstances.
This is my first experience in self-development, without any caretakers, curators or help from experienced developers in the gaming industry. That's because I graduated from college 4 months ago. All this time, I didn't want to develop anything because of burnout. But here is favorite ludum, which inspired me to develop.
I wonder what will happen...
I plan to develop the game alone. I will work with the Roblox game engine. And yes, this time, I remember the localization.
Good luck to everyone, strong nerves and excellent results!!!
I voted on things that seemed to work together so whatever came up I already had an idea. ... Salvaging parts from a fire creature, or exploring the depths of some crypt. What is the fire creatures required delving down into the earth?
I haven't participated since a while now Hoping to have time to actually enjoy the jam :D
It's nice to take a break from work once in a while and enjoy collaborating with different people!
First ludum dare jam - looking forward!!
We got echo twice in round 1, and now déjà vu twice for round 2.
They've got to be doing this on purpose, lol.
Hello everyone. My first LudumDare event had been the 27th - so eleven years ago. Since this LD, I am always with you - two or three times by year. However, for the first time, I will far from home - something like 3000 kilometers from Luxembourg. So I was searching a good place near my hotel because I would like to participate again - as usual. I guess that I found a little spot on the beach - a quiet tavern. I have my old computer, an internet connection (not the best which I have hever seen, but not the least), my own template on GitHub and fresh cocktails. So I can say with confidence that I'm in! I wish you the best. Stay safe and enjoy the next LudumDare. See you later, my dear friends. Bye ++
Hello all
Man have I missed this feeling of excitement and wanted to make something! I think it is 4-5 years ago now since I last made anything for a Ludum Dare due to having no excess energi to do side project, stress and mental issues. But at lass this time I felt a bit more energized. It is just such a shame I was hit with Covid last weekend and now I am seriously doubting in my self again as all I want is sleep every 4 hours, such a shame it had to hit when i did, but hopefully come Friday I'll feel renewed!
If anyone have some great tricks or miracle cures against covid I'd be happy to hear them.
I'm back after a 6 years hiatus, my last one was Ludum Dare 43 in 2018. Have managed to always either be double booked or just remembering that its coming up about a week after the jam. But now me an two buddies are in, and I'm super excited to finally be back in a game jam.
Would be nice to make something about a pig on a salvaged ship, and pig aren't supposed to be there, and at first it consumes, but then transcends and can directly absorb food to fight limited energy caused by some pig parasite...
Greetings!
I really wanna make a boss, along with my usual story tomfoolery, not sure I can get it done in the 48 hours compo (really can't afford to go into Jam this time) but I'm really hopeful!
Now for some engagement have you guys made any bosses for a LD? how did it turn out?
I can't believe this will be my 8th Ludum Dare! Every edition is a challenge (3 failed attempts so far: LD 33, LD 36, LD 50) and a blast, and I’m feeling super excited to dive in again. Although, I’ll admit—I feel a bit rusty after some time off. To prepare, I’ve been revisiting my old entries and cleaning up everything to make sure they’re still playable and ready for anyone who wants to try them out.
For those interested, I am in the process of creating my website, and for the first content I’ve made a dedicated page for each of my previous Ludum Dare games. If you have a moment, I’d love for you to check them out! Play them again, leave feedback, and maybe even star the repositories if you liked them! 🌟 (Ok, I am fishing for stars)
Since I’m also a researcher, I decided to take the extra step of making my projects citable (adding a CITATION.cff to the repositories, and creating a DOI)—just a fun experiment in making software more referencable!. Feedback on the site and games would be super appreciated since it’s brand new.
Can’t wait to see what we all create this time, the review phase is one of my favorite part of Ludum Dare (drop your name if you plan to make game that I can play on a Macbook (web-based mostly))!
Good Jam Everyone! 🎮👾
I'm itching to get started. Missed April by a few days. Last year I came pretty close to getting something published, but decided it ultimately wasn't very fun. I want to give it another go, and so far I'm liking the possibilities in these themes.
I've entered 30 Ludum Dares so far (my first was 24, I skipped 25-26, and have been part of every LD from 27 onward). The problem is, I recently started a YouTube series called Dice Dev, and I'm working on finishing up the 2nd episode currently. With how busy things are, I'm trying to decide if maybe 30 LD's are enough and I'm done with LD now, or if I should still try to enter another one.
Alternatively, if anyone needs a composer/game designer to join their team, I could still participate that way. (Preference to teams that have had some LD experience in the past.)
I'm super pumped to be diving back into Ludum Dare with my two awesome friends! We’ve really hit our stride working together—team synergy, anyone? The time zones are aligning nicely so we can have someone coding and crushing it practically around the clock! We tried this approach last time, and it worked out amazing—total game dev magic.
Last Ludum Dare pushed me out of my comfort zone a bit (okay, a lot), but the end result was something I was incredibly proud of. It just goes to show that pushing boundaries is where the real growth happens!
This will be my fourth Ludum Dare. So far, I’ve made “asteroids with a twist,” “space—err, seagull invaders,” and a visual novel with multiple endings! I'm equal parts nervous and hyped to see what we’ll bring to life in 72 hours of Godot magic this time around!
Now, let’s hear from the amazing team members who are jumping back in to share this adventure!
First up, a word from our Graphics & Sound Wizard:
Wise words from Bizzybee! Employing the KISS principle I have found to be very helpful as well.
Next we will have words from fellow programmer, Ludum Dare veteran and best friend of NamedMoose:
We’re steering away from visual novels and text-based games this time. Time to explore a whole new side of Godot!
So here we are, a diverse, multinational team ready to create something unforgettable and, of course, to play through all of your incredible creations too!
Good luck, everyone! Let’s make this Ludum Dare legendary!
Hey All :wave:
Please for the Love of all that is fun, please won't you vote for Orbiting please please please
I have a special attachment to this theme - A, I think I suggested it and B, I've written two Space Based games with Orbital mechanics in previous LD events (See my games, Orbitum Scaterum)
I would love, love love love to have another try at Orbitum Scaterum
Since the last LD I invested time in learning Web Assembly, more math, more art and generally just more skills. And I feel like I'm so close to being able to make a really good Orbital game.
If you don't like space, but are still willing to vote for the theme, here are some ideas how the word can relate to other systems:
I know it's a stretch to ask people to vote for a theme, but please :pray:
Will be doing the compo as usual, using my custom engine, GLOV.js, and probably 1BITDRAGON for audio again.
Also, did I mention I've got some big news! A full and expanded version of my LD54 entry is coming to Steam as QuantumPulse 2A. If you didn't get a chance to play it during the jam (or did, and want more content!), add it to your wishlist now!
(then forget u were gonna post about it until 0123412)
We're only two days away from the jam... 1day 21hrs, but it's Wednesday here so 2 days, and I'm starting to get excited, I've spent the past 2 years developing my first releasable game, and it all started with Ludum Dare, I had an idea and started working on it but really had no where to go with it, so i took a break from tutorials and trials and worked on my first jam game "rain, sleet, Zombies" the theme was delivery, you had to take a cure for a zombie virus to the other side of town as a mail carrier.
after that things really started to develop for my game, I was able to do more and understood how the engine worked, how animations worked, texturing was still beyond me lol, when the next jam came about I dove head first, spent the day before completely clearing my desk, nuked my "office" clean and ensured I had my generic scripts set up, audio manager, and movement controller.
What came out of that is actually a very solid base for it's own game that I will eventually get back to and finish, but after that things were on fire I had more than a prototype working the game was finally starting to feel like a playable game, bugs galore however and I ended up taking a 6 month break due to not understanding saving to Json or any other system.
weirdly enough my team at work has these "action weeks" where you can do whatever you want so long as it develops a skill you use in work, or improves a system for work, being a game company I set out to treat it like a jam, spent 3 of the 5 days studying tutorials and learning all I could from Udemy, and then spent 2 days making a game, at this point im 1 1/2 years if not a bit more into actually developing my own game so my confidence was pretty high, i burnt out a prototype in a couple hours then started working on the actual game, threw in a giant floating eye ball enemy with particle effects and animation and 3D sounds so you can hear them coming, it was super cool.
my team was pretty impressed that I was able to make something like that in such a short time, and i realized then just how far I had come from "Rain Sleet, Zombies", I figured out Json saving not long after and have been developing nonstop on my main game.
and here we are again, another Ludum Dare, another Jam for me to learn and develop my skills, I'm getting very excited to see what I can come up with and what everyone else will be able to create.
so let's get excited, we're only 2 days out from the jam.
We are back! Woo woo! :train:
Also, happy spooky month! We're finally doing an October event in October! :ghost:
Please excuse the mess, any little glitches you may notice here and on https://ludumdare.com. :sweat:
Is that an echo I hear? Perhaps I'm having deja vu?
Final Round Theme Voting has kicked off! Cast your votes here:
https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/56/theme
If you're new and you don't yet have an account, use the activation code Welcome2LD56 during sign-up. Join us! :smile:
Dates for Ludum Dare 57 (April 2025) and 58 (October 2025) to be announced soon. :trophy:
Hi uh, hello! :sweat_smile:
As some folks know I started a company a couple years back (Interactive Snacks Limited), then pivoted that company into something focused on supporting Ludum Dare, all in an attempt to make running things a bit more sustainable. This was during the early COVID-19 lockdowns, some months after I left my previous job at "Tiny Titan Studios". At the time I'd intended to "get out" of video game development, but when all of my work leads started drying up due to impending lockdowns, it made sense to me to just "do my own thing" in lieu of finding a stable paycheck.
Reaching a point where we would officially accept sponsorships was so incredibly nerve wracking, we'd gone nearly 20 years without it, keeping the lights on via the generous support from my Patreon backers and Paypal donors. Special nod to Tom Fulp and Markus for their especially generous contributions. :heart:
Nerves be damned, we finally did it! Ludum Dare accepted its first sponsors for the October 2022 event! :fireworks:
Lifestyle wise this was a big deal, as the company could now offer my wife and I (my fiance at the time) health benefits. Not to bore you with politics, but in Canada, while it's true we have "universal healthcare", dental and many medications do still need to be paid for out of pocket. There's often talk about widening the benefits offered to Canadians, but these things move at the speed of politics, so the average Canadian is in a better place with additional health coverage (AKA benefits).
Now that I was effectively paying for benefits (well, the company was paying for them), I felt obligated to use them. Most importantly my wife pushed me to seek treatment for my ADHD, among other things. In hindsight, I only regret not doing it sooner. :sweat_smile:
How am I doing? Mental health wise today, really great, but that's an even longer story. :slight_smile:
What's not doing well however is the company, and honestly that's okay.
Frankly I'm awful at asking for money. Despite it being obvious to some, I struggle to see what I do here as "worth paying to sponsor", so I feel super uncomfortable reaching out to companies. Of course I've done it a few times, successfully I might add, but I die a little inside every time I do it. I tell myself that once I fix items X, Y, and Z from the infinite todo-list, that I'll feel better about it, but I forgot about item "W" and I need to drop everything and focus on that. :sweat:
I make stuff, and I'm happiest when I'm making. If you're a regular, you're probably the same. Doing paperwork and networking is the last thing most of want to spend our time doing.
So earlier in the year, the company ran out of money. This wasn't the fault of anyone but my own. I was extremely unhappy playing the "beg for money game", so I let it happen. I'd never tried it, but funny thing, if you stop paying your bills, things stop working. :sweat_smile:
While I've resolved most of the issues, if you're curious why the Twitch streaming widget in the sidebar is broken, that's why: CloudFlare nuked our DNS configuration once the domain defaulted. Similarly, Ludum Dare's Mastodon server went dark when the credit card payments started bouncing. :sweat:
Luckily, without ever mentioning things with the company were in trouble, GameMaker swooped in and offered us a really easy sponsorship. Not only did I love that they were shaking up their business model, that deal gave us more than enough to pay off the companies outstanding debts. All that's left is to properly shutter the company, gut the mentions and references from the Ludum Dare websites, and to decide what I do next.
Weirdly, there's not really any reason for me to stop running events, so yes Ludum Dare will continue into 2025! I have some tentative dates for our April and October events, but I need to double/triple check them first, and I'm juggling a few different things right now.
One of those things is finding work for myself.
As mentioned I've been looking to "get away" from game development, but to clarify I'm looking to find work outside of the trenches building games. Working in tools/middleware is something I'd be happy to do. That's actually my professional niche anyway: Low level, system and workflow/toolchain development, Linux stuff, etc. Hearing the news that the Godot foundation was hiring, I'll admit that was something we pursued. Alas, it was a tricky situation, as even though I'm interested I'm almost disgustingly overqualified. They honestly do have a fair budget to hire someone, but I'm an elder in these spaces at 44 (sorry for the call-out fellow olds), having jumped from risky venture to risky venture without a financial win, having burned through my savings, that frankly I do need to choose gigs that pay well enough I can save for retirement (buying a house is out of the question now, thanks a lot Ford).
At the moment I'm doing a small graphic design gig for a friend :slight_smile:, one I'm hoping to wrap-up next week so I can get back to applying for interesting jobs as a weirdo overqualified systems nerd. :yum:
So that's where I'm at, why things are a little messy here. :slight_smile:
The fact that so many of you keep coming back, keep sharing your stories and successes warms my heart. It's a thrill and my honour to continue to keep this olde bucket kicking, even if all it does is kick. :blush:
Thanks for reading, and indulging the writer in me once again. :smile:
If you haven't done so already, go vote in the Final Round Theme Vote!! :ballot_box:
PS: My sincerest apologies for the mentions of things like "See Twitter for announcements" and invitation codes spread across the website. The Brazil thing happened a bit too recently, but if you need an invite code code, read above!