I’m here for a second stab at this here LudumDare thing.

Like last time art will be made by doodling with a graphics tablet in photoshop, sound will be made by pressing buttons and adjusting sliders in SFXR and music will probably not exist.
Unlike last time I’m not being so careful with regards to language choice… I’m going for a bit of JavaScript via some HTML5. I’ve never even touched the canvas API before, but have been meaning to and I do at least intend to before the start of the competition. We’ll see how this pans out.

Woo, and indeed, hoo, to you all.

Okay! It’s time for me to make my LD0 (Indirect interaction) game. I will spend as much time as I can muster today doing this.

My idea is a game involving the player and their dog. The  only actions the player can take are the move around the map, and issue instructions to their dog (like, come here, sit, fetch, or speak). They have no agency to act on the world, and must overcome all obstacles through the agency of the dog, thus, indirect interaction. Also, the dog isn’t very smart and can’t navigate mazes themselves.

Given the time constraints, I forsee having very simple graphics, probably no sound at all, and only a few levels. I do hope to implement the four commands I noted above at the very least, and come up maps such that each command must be used at least once to complete the game. Other than that, everything is icing.

Here goes!

PS: Ruby, Gosu, Chingu, Pixen, and some basecode stolen from my other projects, same as always.

OK, here goes nothing. I’m starting to make my game (which I will call Minion or Champion or something like that) right NOW.

—
Mikhail Rudoy

Tags: LD #00 - Indirect Interaction - 2002, LD Catch-up

Okay, status update for my LD0 catch-up, since I have to take a break to run some important errands. So far, the game looks like this:

You can move your dude around, and instruct the dog to move towards you or stop. The blue walls, only the dude can cross, the green walls, only the dog can cross. The weird red is supposed to be a door that only opens when both the dude and the dog are standing on the pink area at the same time, but I haven’t coded it yet.

Not 100% sure how I’m going to implement the fetch command, or make it necessary for that matter, but we’ll see. As for ‘speak’, well, I need monsters to scare away. So there’s still quite a bit of work left.

Here’s hoping!

Tags: progress, screenshot

If all goes according to plan, I will compete again this time.

I’d really like to use HTML5/canvas on top of node.js and mongodb to do something web based with persistent content and/or multiplayer. So I will be doing a blog post on the subject of using those things together to make games.

However, if the theme doesn’t suit that set-up, or I have a 3D idea that’s feasible in the timeframe I’ll probably default to OpenGL/Java.

Last time I entered, I used .NET with the SlimDX DirectX wrapper. But that alienated too many people who otherwise might have given it a try. I think I’ve learned my lesson that unless my screenshot looks awesome, people are not going to bother with a download. I probably downloaded only 10% of windows games last time, and played nearly all the web ones.

Tags: Ludum Dare

So, I’m more or less finished with my LD0 catch-up entry: Dog.

I’m too tired to package it up as a proper download right now, but if you want to check it out via source, it’s available here. You’ll need Ruby, Gosu, Chingu and Texplay, too.

I’m also too tired to write proper instructions. The truly adventurous can attempt to figure out how to play by pressing random keystrokes until something happens. Otherwise, I’ll add a Readme tomorrow.

In any case, I will say that I had a lot of fun working on this, and I’m looking forward to LD1: Guardian! Though, I’ll have to take a different tack on it, since I won’t have adequate contiguous time anytime soon.

Tags: final, screenshot

Yes, the Ratking will also be part of the Ludum Dare #20, at least if His other plans will be successful and He will have the time for it.

He then will use Unity3D Pro, because He created His Mini Ludum Dare #23 entry with it and was very pleased with the result. Other tools are not decided yet, but there will probably be no sound. It will be a game for deaf people! Ahem.

Good luck to you all!

Edit: Other than Unity3D I will probably use iTween, Photoshop Elements 9, 3dsmax 2012 (Trial Version).

I have a decision about what I’m going to do for LD20. I will be entering the jam and working on my current project. I will either make an excuse for how it fits the theme or just ignore the theme completely. After all, isn’t that part of the point of the jam?

This LD will be less an “LD compo” for me and more of a “hang out with LD” jam. You can expect food and desk photos, screenshots, and rambling from me all the same, though.

I’ve also got some information about my game together, which comes after the break.

The title of my game is Arrow. It is a shooter about a space marine whose drop-ship is destroyed during a landing on a hostile alien planet, and is then rescued by friendly aliens and fights to Save The Galaxy.

The game will be made in C++ using OpenGL and SDL. I’m using Inkscape for graphics, as3sfxr for sound, and probably LMMS for music. In fact, the LD jam is just for a demo.

It will feature an upgrade/part system where the player will need to collect components and scrap metal to build new parts and upgrade existing ones. It will have a branching mission structure, plenty of side missions, and some other niceness that will have to come post-jam.

I currently have code to load images into OpenGL textures by name, build an image around then, then render the image to the screen.

I also have a very basic scene node with some local/global coordinate conversions that I’m uncertain of and will have to test later. I will hopefully have some kind of scene graph by the jam.

Peace,

— Mr. Dude

So this will be my very first second LD competition. After a more or less bad outcome at my first LD, LD19 that is, I want to at least get a better placement than the last one.

What I’m gonna do will mostly depend on the theme, but I am like 90ish percent sure that this time it will NOT be a shmup. Too much shmups on my hand right now. Plus I really dig to at least once be making a decent platformer.

So the lang will most likely be SDL, C++ with no other frameworks. Wait, if I manage to finish my simple framework then it will be this one. If not, then it’ll be everything from scratch. And if i really use my framework it will definitely be released in source here too, obeying the rules for the competition.

On tools it will be Gimp and Inkscape for graphics, CLI for compiling and for taking screenshots for my timelapse, and my smartphone for taking food shots. Hope I’ll make it on my brand new MacBook pro.

As I still had no experience with sounds and music in games it will most likely be a quite game. Maybe I’ll get a flash though and start with musagi and sfxr before the competition, then it could get some sounds. But that is not likely.

So yeah… looking forward.

I have the game engine finished. Now I just have to make zooming and scrolling around the map, make all the title/instruction screens, name the damn thing, and design and implement all the puzzles (levels). And there’s no sound at all. Oh boy.

Anyway, here’s what the game sort of looks like right now:

As you can see, my drawing skills are not that good.

—
Mikhail Rudoy

P.S. I might make a level editor. Very tentative here, but I might.

Tags: LD #00 - Indirect Interaction - 2002, LD Catch-up

I am VERY happy with how the scrolling and zooming came out. Now various screens, fixing 1 bug (how do I get the thing to work without me having to click on it beforehand), and then the actual puzzle design. (And yes, that means I’m not going to make sounds). And since this isn’t the real thing, it can wait. I am almost certainly not finishing this by tomorrow, but you will probably see it before next Monday.

—
Mikhail Rudoy

Tags: LD #00 - Indirect Interaction - 2002, LD Catch-up

I have but one before LD 20: hack a glow effect into a flixel sprite. That is all. The original goal was to get #lunarium re-released with prettier graphics and a bit more content. But that’s not happening. So, why you ask? Because it isn’t a default option, other people have done it, I have a downloaded engine that does it (mind you, the engine is made of as3 parts, so that’s why it works). I just want to get it working in a single sprite instance. And that is all.

Going to participate for the second time !

The tools are going to be pretty much the same as last time, except :

• Pygame is going to be replaced by pyglet;
• I learned how to use PyInstaller (so yeah, real binary packages this time around);
• I have a concept in mind that would make me use panda3D… We’ll see if that fits with the theme…

That is all, I’m stoked !

For the first time, I going to participate to a LD.
I’m going to code my game in Python (the Best Langage in the World … Tribute) with pyglet or pygame (I don’t know yet).
My brain is in boiling… I’m so impatient…

LD20’s coming up and once again I’ll do my part.
Tell your friends so we can beat both the contestant-count as well as the finished-games record.

I for my part will be using Flashpunk for the code,
Ableton Live and/or OpenMPT for the Music,
Wavosaur and bfxr for Sounds
and Paint.Net + GraphicsGale for (you might have guessed it) graphics.
I might be using some prepeared AS3-classes for Networking. Depending on the game/theme and if I’m able to finish them before LD20 starts.

I’ve organized a small meetup at the northern Finland. Hopefully next time i can arrange a bigger space so we can fit more participants under the same roof.

From what I can see now we’ll be forming up at least one jamming team and the rest will work on their own games and I’m sure we’ll have a blast! 😀

Our facebook group can be found at https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=208730485819891 and if you’re not using Facebook you can contact me and we can look if we can fit more people to come in.

Hope to see some amazing games again!

– Mika

Hi !

I stumbled upon LD this morning, so I decided I would enter the next one and see what I could do. I’ll use Flash and AS3; only thing bothering me is that I suck at sound and music. If any of you guys have some tips, that would be awesome !

The rules say

Base code and personal code libraries are allowed, but should be declared and shared with the community prior to beginning your entry. To do this, make a blog post.

So that’s what I’m doing. I’m using an engine/framework called LÖVE and I’ve collected some base code, which serves as a helper/organisational library, over a few projects. The relationship between my library and LÖVE I liken to using FlashPunk and Flash, so I’m assuming it’s fine, nevertheless I’ll leave it here.

You can download the library from my DropBox here: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/22660566/Love/love-lib.zip

The core folder contains the core classes, some helper stuff in there like tweens, easing functions, extensions to the API, etc. The ds folder contains two data structures, Vector (x/y vector) and SpecialLinkedList (a linked list with values as the nodes). The lib folder contains a small OOP library called MiddleClass, which allows me to create classes and the like in Lua.

Thanks guys!

I’ve been trying to convert to linux lately, and i set up .net framework under WINE and FlashDevelop installed fine, but wont run. I need an alternative as3 IDE for linux, or even just an as3 editor for linux. Any suggestions?

Whoa, it’s Ludum Dare already! Time to put Minecraft and Portal 2 aside and get our hands sore from coding!

I’ll probably stay with the same tools of the last time – Game Maker, FL Studio, bfxr, Photoshop, you know the drill. Now I have a Wacom tablet, so I might be using it as well. I’m trying to learn how to use FlashPunk, but I still don’t feel confident that I’ll be able to use it this time.

Pretty nice to see so many newcomers. Good luck to ya all, looking forward to the next week!

– Leonardo Millan