We spent a lot more time on the brainstorming this time around, mostly because we weren't particularly inspired by the theme and had a hard time coming up with an idea we could all get behind. That said, we're all really proud of how this one turned out!
Give it a try and let us know your thoughts!
You can try it in your browser on Itch.io!
Play our Game!
Got a set of desktop builds in under the wire! "Fantasy Lawyer: Thou Hast Been Served!" (https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/55/fantasy-lawyer-thou-hast-been-served) is in for the Jam! (Had trouble getting the web export working from Godot, even with the embedding suggestions—let me know if you've figured that one out.)
I had originally wanted to build for the Compo, but I couldn't because I found myself not working alone... my kid was so interested in what I was doing that they joined my "team" and started drawing character designs and level maps with their markers. Not only did I not have the heart to not let them join in, their work was really inspirational and fun. Definitely a valued contributor!!
"Ears (for goblens)"
Plans B and C, adding a moat and bridge.
I woke up from my sleep, sweating, because I dreamt that I had forgotten to write the dialogue for the duck-president character in my game before publishing it.
In reality, there is no dialogue, ducks or presidents in my game.
Ludum Dare has done irreparable damage to my brain.
Whew, LD55 was a tough one for our team! We lucked out early on with kinart, our designer, coming up with a spin on the theme in the form of jury duty, but as a fighting game. We had ambitious plans that - as with any game jam - fell markedly short. But that's not to say we aren't proud of our efforts!
Godot build and programming by me, art by kinart, and a debut by jesslur on sound effects, with special voiceover work by guest Thomas Mueller (thanks Tom!).
You can play the game here.
The game is short and simple - and I apologize for the awful CPU opponent behavior! Additionally, I wanted to show off some of the awesome character designs that were meant for the game, but unfortunately didn't make it in due to the time constraints.
The player and opponent, respectively. Redd is the starting player character. They're not excited to be summoned to jury duty, but little do they know that Judge Fury presides over a court of brawl.
A straight-laced lawyer who has achieved control over his ki.
A sword cane wielding grandmother who spent her life studying the blade.
An influencer whose high-heeled boots were made for spin kicks.
A punk with a heart of gold ready to break chains - and bones.
Check our space shooter tower defense game where you summon alien cats with different abilities! You can also throw them away if you'd like lol
see what score you can get!
I was so dang close to actually getting to making content for my jam game I decided to keep tinkering on it for a while post jam and re-write it in a less hacky way.
Got the title screen polished up a bit tonight
Vs what it was at end of jam
Quite disappointing. This is the first jam that I have had all three days in years and I also had a friend helping for a bit so I had really high hopes to finally break my streak of unfinished failed games...
But alas. A combination of just creative block and burnout and some complications with that extra help have led to me once again failing to complete anything.
I think the biggest kicker is just that I have to wait 6 months to try again haha :)
Ludum Dare is really special to me and I eagerly await the next one. There were many times this weekend I just didn't focus out of protest or felt I was wasting my weekend - I knew all along my idea wasn't going to pan out, or at least some part of me did.
Anyway, I'm bummed that I tried really hard this LD and still couldn't produce something but there's always next LD and I'm determined to actually focus on gameplay and keeping it simple in October.
It just is a pain to put so much effort and focus and time in and not produce anything :/
Alas it is always a nice experience - I am realising now that LD has become more than just a jam for me, it is a whole experience. From re-watching @philstrahl 's LD documentaries in the week leading up to it every single time, to the music I listen to, to the software I use and the theme always sucking. LD has become a twice yearly time capsule of my life where nothing changes. I feel more connected to myself from ~5 years ago during LD then any other time, for great reason too. LD is just always the same for me (in a positive way) while everything else changes.
So I may not have had a fun idea that filled me with motivation and that I got to drive across the finish line in a last minute crunch. But I still got a nice weekend and I eagerly await the next.
My biggest thing is I will not be so driven to play any games because of this, though there were a number of cool ones I want to check out regardless.
I realised that I have gotten the 'unofficial ludum dare theme song' stuck in my head randomly in the off months of the jam. I quote random bits of Pixel Prophecy's post-mortems ('thats the dumbest thing I've ever heard') and I probably know the scenes in those documentaries better than the back of my hand. And I think that is what makes Ludum Dare special.
Still I will see all of you cool folks later.
Or maybe the theme just sucks.
I learned about Ludum Dare about 2 weeks ago and had no idea it was this weekend until 3 hours before the event started. I didn't do a ton of the development side of things, but man is it cool to see my artwork come to life in a game. I'll definitely be doing this again in the future.
We made a game about summoning enemies but SUMMING up dice! By far our best Jam game. All the practice from converting our other jam game Undeliverable to a full release on Steam wishlist has paid off!
Is your room dead like mine? Bring it to life today!!
Our first Ludum Dare. This guy runs to watch what happened:
It's been a long and tiring 72 hours. I wasn't able to get everything I wanted in my game, but I did the best I could to make a finished product. This game was based on a previous Ludum Dare game that I failed to meet in time. I wanted to make an attempt at a sad story that can resonate with some people, and now it out for people to play. I fixed out some bugs that caused the game to not work, and I later added a WebGL version.
Anyways, if you want to check out my game, the link is below.
I'm gonna go get a good night's rest.
https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/55/the-ghost-of-leo
I was so close to not even making a game because of the theme, but I got there in the end. I hope you have fun playing Diner Dash :)
First LDJam went great! I got to work with a couple really good friends, and it's my fifth game jam overall. We were lucky enough to get our idea down within the first hour or two, so we had a lot of time to develope and polish it up. The 3 day time limit was really nice, being used to 2 day jams! Very fun and very proud of what we made.
You're a summoner for hire, and you need to create makeshift summoning sigils out of whatever's in the room, because you forgot your chalk.
https://coffe789.itch.io/out-of-chalk
First LDJam went great! I got to work with a couple really good friends, and it's my fifth game jam overall. We were lucky enough to get our idea down within the first hour or two, so we had a lot of time to develope and polish it up. The 3 day time limit was really nice, being used to 2 day jams! Super fun and super proud of what we made ^^
You're a summoner for hire, and you need to create makeshift summoning sigils out of whatever's in the room, because you forgot your chalk.
