don't set your bars too high and don't get too stressed out. Manage your time and submit anyway even if it isnt finished. the theme isn't required if one you don't like wins. just make games and have fun.

I wanna play your games :v:

Once again I will be using my base code that I have built up since LD 26. It is written in JavaScript and can be used to create HTML5/canvas games. You can find the base code on github: https://github.com/ZYXer-/base-code-2d

Features: - a simple game loop - mouse/keyboard input processing - image/sound/webfont preloading - dealing with different screen resolutions

Additional classes for: - playing sounds (using SoundManager2) - loading and displaying PNG fonts - particle systems - pathfinding (using A*) - image processing class to generate 8-bit style graphics - utility functions for procedural map generation - simple one-body physics - a text class that is way more powerful than fillText() - scaling to easily display pixelart at various screen resolutions

I’m distributing the code under the GPL2 license, so feel free to use any part of it for your own project. And please – like always – report any bugs ;)

Tools I’ll be using:

Engine - Unity 2019
IDE - Visual Studio
Art - MagicaVoxel / Photoshop
Sound - BoscaCeoil

Some years ago I loved doing these compos. Learned a lot about different tools and systems. Sadly life happened and had to work very hard on real games.

But now, I try my luck again and write my own crossplatform engine. I expect a lot of improvement during this and several other jams in the next few weeks.

The goal is to have an engine that: - can compile in Visual Studio on Windows, with make on Linux and with Android Studio anywhere - runs on desktop at least imitating Android devices and on Android - uses OpenGL 4 / OpenGL ES 3 - handles basic mouse, keyboard and touch input - can render basic 2D/3D gfx objects and lighting - handles a basic camera - animates/moves stuff - plays mono music/sfx as Android devices are mostly mono - only basic asset file loaders

What will not be the goal on this jam: - no physics - no particles - anything advanced from the above stuff - absolutely no fancy debug displays or logging system - no advanced error handling - no editors - no save feature - no scripting - no multiplayer features nor social media integrations

That is for a first design statement. What I already have is the basic OpenGL hello world triangle example running on Windows and Android without input handling using glfw and glew.

Don't expect me to blog too much..

Wish me luck! Enjoy the jam!

We will be opening our doors at 6 p.m. so you can have a chance for a little meet and greet before we get started. Once the theme is announced we will brainstorm ideas centered on the theme for about one hour and then break up into groups based on the ideas you and other like-minded game designers choose. If you would rather work alone, you can still enjoy the camaraderie of a crazy group of indie game makers who think sleep deprivation is fun! We’ll provide internet access, M&M’s, Mountain Dew, and bean bag chairs. You bring your creativity and your love of games! If you are interested in joing us for a fun weekend, please RSVP at: http://classegames.com/GameJams.html

Just did the Blackthornprod game jam two months ago to practice for this! Can't wait to get started. 48 hours is really intense and I hope everything goes well. Good luck everyone!!

I am a noob game developer that uses Unity. I know some basic programming, audio, and art. I am looking for a coder and an artist. I am fine with my team members being noobs as I am myself a noob. However, these team members should have Unity since I am using Unity. I might have a flexible schedule during the weekend but I will have plenty of time to work on the game. I do value sleep so I will not work on the game for the whole jam period. I want to be the director of the game and manage the project. I might do a little bit of art, sound, and especially coding. I am more likely to code more for the project than to do the art and sound of the game. If you want to see how experienced I am with game making, please see my games here: https://d-studios.itch.io/

If you are interested to work with me, please contact me in Discord. My username is: D-Studios#9881

If you can not contact me in Discord, contact me by email. My email is gamefun7102@gmail.com

Excited to participate in my first Ludum Dare! I'm really excited since I can get more feedback on my games. Although I kinda suck at making games, I'll still try my hardest!

Otto Lilienthal was a pioneer of flight, and developed some of the very first successful flying machines. Of 2000 successful flights he accumulated a total FIVE HOURS of flight time (impressive for the 1890s). But his flying career was cut short when his glider stalled and suddenly nose-dived from 15 meters! Otto's neck was broken, and before he died he exclaimed to his brother, "Sacrifices must be made!"

R.I.P. Otto Lilienthal 1848-1896

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Lilienthal

I failed last time but gonna try again for EXPERIENCE

Hi! Wow, is it really that time again already? Lets-a go! :postal_horn:

Final Round Theme Voting has started. Go over here and cast your vote:

:ballot_box: /events/ludum-dare/43/theme

For rules and other info, visit the event page:

:trophy: /events/ludum-dare/43

For those new to Ludum Dare, the website will become slow/unusable during the minutes leading up to the Theme Announcement, so we highly recommend you follow our Twitter account for the reveal:

https://twitter.com/ludumdare

The theme will be announced when the clock at the top this page reaches zero.

Busy-busy, site-work, Twitch

My apologies for being so quiet these past few months. Earlier this year I had to pick up some work, and lately we've been crunching, and we finally soft-launched a game a few weeks ago (heh). But as many of you know, the work doesn't end as soon as the game is released, and it's been keeping me busy... too busy. :sweatsmile: :sweatdrops:

Either way, I have 2 big things I'm working to fix before we kick-off on Friday.

1. Many of you will remember the downtime/poor uptime we had last event. Fortunately I've been knee deep in server work at work, exactly the kind-of stuff we need to survive a Ludum Dare weekend (high availability, clustering, etc). Unfortunately I don't have enough time to rebuild the entire setup (learned this the hard way weeks ago), but I'm shooting to at least get the database clustered, failing over, and running more smoothly.

2. Recently Twitch broke how we used their website (hence the endless spinner in the sidebar). I'll be doing my best to get that up and running again before Friday. The video aggregation used to be part of an esports aggregation project I was working on (privately), but if there's time I want to make that code public alongside the Ludum Dare sources.

That's the plan. ~~There might be a little bit of downtime tomorrow as I switch-over the severs, and eventually the video plugin will just work again.~~ EDIT: Servers upgraded... though not exactly as I wanted.

UPDATE: Oh! Well it seems Twitch's new structure is quite broken if you're an event like ours that needs multiple categories (art, "science"/code, audio, etc), so it's time for plan B: ~~Everyone, set your game to Ludum Dare.~~

The Ludum Dare "game" directory can be found here:

~~https://www.twitch.tv/directory/game/Ludum%20Dare~~

I've updated the sidebar as well, since the communities feature is now very dead. :sweat_smile:

UPDATE 2: I stand corrected. You can search by tags on Twitch, you just need the UUID. So, if you include a Ludum Dare tag on your stream, you will show up here.

https://www.twitch.tv/directory/all/tags/c8d6d6ee-3b02-4ae7-81e9-4c0f434941cc

I've again updated the sidebar to point here.

HOWEVER, the sidebar widget only shows the top 3 streams with their game set to Ludum Dare, so feel free to do that too. :wink:

Keynote, hosted by Christina Neofotistou (@christina-antoinette-neofotistou)

Keynoting our 43rd event is Christina Neofotistou, also known as castpixel over on the Twitters. I've been a fan of her pixel artwork for many years, and I was thrilled when she volunteered to do a keynote for us. For this keynote she designed a game, and collected a bunch of tips and tricks along the way, and compiled them in to a video. Check it out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B52QmMbiq3E

That's it for now. Final vote time!

... You know, if nothing else... the real reason I wonder why this theme got so far is basically that it's using its words wrong. The game doesn't have a player in it, it has bots, objects, characters, and barriers. The player is the guy sitting at his desk pressing buttons to make the game do things. You are the player, the thing you typically control is not called that. I'd still be shocked if this theme was called "control the environment, not the protagonist"/"avatar", but it could have at least said what it wanted to say properly. It's unsettling how difficult it would be to work with such a confusingly-phrased theme for people who understand this.

This will be my third Ludum Dare, started with LD41 which means I will do all 2018 LDs if I don't fail this one!

Here are my quick views on the themes. I really want to play a bit more with 3D and character controllers this weekend, so my voting was heavily biased towards 'can I make a 3D game with a controlable character in this theme'.

Automation 0: no strong feeling for this one, I have some ideas I could make within the span of the weekend, but it doesn't fit my learning goals too much.

Break the cycle 0: this theme is nice because it can be either mechanics or story driven, but I don't have a clever idea yet, only cheesy ones.

Control the environment, not the player -1: I want to control the player.

Each playthrough builds on the last +1: This is a really good gamejam theme, open-ended enough to let devs make game in almost any genre/gameplay style, and also promotes coming up with one solid idea.

Everything grows +1: Hey I make incremental games, +1 for the home boys.

It only changes when you aren't looking 0: This is an interesting idea, but I feel many games (including mine) would be kinda same-y, yet the basic idea fits my learning goals to the point so I wouldn't feel any motivation to come up with something more clever.

Sacrifices must be made +1: Fits my idea of a good theme, simple, open-ended, focused. This can be anything from really mechanics-focused, to completely story-driven game. Gives guidance and enough limitations, without alienating any devs.

Absorb your enemies 0: I like 'you are what you eat' better.

Darkness is your friend -1: A worse 'It only changes when you aren't looking'

Don't trust the game -1: A bit gimmicky, I may end up changing that to 0, the more I think about it the more I accept it as a possible theme.

Magic, but at what cost? +1: Not the strongest +1 on the list, but it mostly meets my criteria of a good gamejam theme.

Making connections 0: A better 'Two connected worlds'

One item, many uses +1: I feel like most of my +1s are similar, we are playing with choices, consequences and permanence this weekend!

Take one, leave one +1: Opposite of previous theme, equally good.

Two connected worlds -1: A worse 'Making connections'

Evolve 0: This is close to +1 for me, but I felt it's a bit more vague then other themes I like.

Gonna try to keep it simple this time! In my first two jams I was able to finish and submit games, but since then I've been too ambitious and ended up unable to finish in time. SO this time around my goal is to make something simple, solid and FINISHED. I hope you'll play it when it's done :)

I really like the one item one, as well as the automation one, actually. I can work with just about all of these, so I sure hope you all can too! Good luck, we have less than 2 days until we go!

IT IS JUST A BAD VERSION OF LUDUM DARE 30 CONNECTED WORLDS.

thx.

Fortunately the themes that made it to the final round weren't all horrible; however, I was much more critical of them so as to give my top choices a better chance.

Automation -1 - Less open to interpretation than I originally thought.

Break the cycle +1 - Although it may conclude with a lot of games of blowing up two-wheeled vehicles, it could be fun.

Control the environment, not the player -1 - I only downvoted this because it didn't have a chance of winning anyway and if I downvoted it it would give the other themes a slightly better chance or something.

Each playthrough builds on the last +1 - By the final round, I have quite a few ideas on how this could work.

Everything grows -1 - Would be better if something grew but not everything

It only changes when you aren't looking -1 - This is just not a very good theme.

Sacrifices must be made -1 - Way too vague; describes maybe 40% of all games.

Absorb your enemies 0 - This would be rather amusing to play around with.

Darkness is your friend -1 - "Darkness" means exactly two things: "The partial or total absence of light" or "Wickedness or evil."

Don't trust the game -1 - Leads to a lot of cheesy gimmicks in which the instructions tell you something that you specifically need to not do.

Magic, but at what cost? -1 - Basically just "Magic" but slightly better.

Making connections - FREAKING +1 - My personal favorite theme overall due to the massive versatility of it.

One item, many uses +1 - My second favorite theme next to the above; the said item can be a vast number of things and it has an equally vast number of uses.

Take one, leave one -1 - I would have rated this higher but it's not nearly as good as some of the other themes.

Two connected worlds -1 - Basically "Making Connections" except confusing and much more limiting.

Evolve +1 - In the screenshot I accidentally had this marked at [0]; this is actually a really powerful theme.

Hi this is my first Ludum Dare, I just hope that i can actually get at least 1 part of a game.

THIRD TIMES THE CHARM!!

The last two game jams I've done ended the exact same way, only about 50% finished by the end of the jam. Since the last jam I've participated in I've worked fairly hard on prototyping and ideating, so I feel like I can definitely get something out quickly this time.

THE TOOLS I SHALL USE: - Love2D - Aesprite (My trust steed @Dozabro is busy with crazy school stuff, so I may be doing my own art for the first time) - Photoshop - Some sorta music stuff (Beepbox maybe?) - My creative spirit

I am super determined to get something done this weekend, good luck to everybody!