My Rhythm-Game-Zelda-Esque thing Witchbeat has downloadable versions for Windows, Mac and Linux now. Grab 'em from here!!

I was also gonna do a lengthy post mortem too, buuuuut I forgot to save the draft and lost it all, so here's some Dev Shots with light commentry instead!

Originally I pondered about doing something more Dark Souls than Zelda, but given I was using Pico8, figured it was easier mechanically and aesthetically to do the latter! :p

The end of Day 1 combat system let you target anything nearby, and attacks were distributed randomly to each target. This made it incredibly annoying if you wanted to target an enemy bearing down on you and instead you just attacked some nearby pot, so it was changed to focus on the closest, importantest target!

2 Enemy types didn't make it in since I ran out of time - the Blob was originally going to bounce at you in time with the music and divide into 2 smaller ones. Therewas also going to be an enemy wizard which would fire projectiles at you - that's why there's a bunch of islands in the water with enemies, they were originally going to be firing at you. The boss would also fire projectiles at you too, but instead he's basically a slightly tougher version of the kobold enemy.

Dialog systems are a faff!

Overall I think Witchbeat went pretty well! There's a few issues with how the rhythm mechanics were done in Pico8, which were mostly due to silly technical implementations early on - I've a better idea on how to do this properly if I choose to do something similar in the future. I really liked this LDJam's theme this time round, and hope everyone's having fun playing all these crazy mashups! :D

'Till next time, - D16

The other day I put this GIF of my unfinished prototype for LD41 on twitter and got lots of love and support, so I decided to continue this project!

* Follow me on Twitter to stay updated on the development! 😃 *

I got lots of ideas for this, can't wait to create something unique!

havana24

I know it's silly to make a trailer for a game that you can finish in 5 minutes but we couldn't help it :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhlpSG77MIw

Check out the game here: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/41/toodee-and-topdee

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/41/fire-duck-football play with sound :sound: to feel football atmosphere! :smile:

So I made this game that makes you guide a bunch of crusaders into a cave system, things does not always play out they way they hope. Give it a try! (procedurally generated levels, great gameplay, tiny crusaders etc)

Play the game in the browser

Rate the game maybe?

Well it's been a few days and I have had some great feedback. I have to say it has been received much better than I anticipated as after staring at the same set of planks and walls for 48 hours I thought it was looking and feeling terrible!

I set out originally to create a procedurally generated world and narrative that the player could explore. I started with a very basic idea for corridors and rooms that would spawn upon opening a door. I had big plans for multiple routes, dead ends and item rooms that obviously disappeared when it came to finishing the game in time. The basic building block for the world was this set of planks...

In unreal I generated a single blueprint that contained a single mesh that in the construction script, randomly selected 1 of 4 meshes as its base appearance. It then applied one of five random colours. Using this blueprint I created a second blueprint that had many of these planks as childeren. That was the start of my world that built itself and I was happy that there was this hodge-podge thrown together feel to the wood and walls. It looked rickety and I though about making it fall apart, which would also solve one of my issues with procedural corridors and world... How do you stop corridors looping back on themselves or appearing in each other without more advanced systems than I had time to create? They fall apart! After entering in the wrong Z value, my individual planks started floating upwards! This was a happy accident and I think looked much better than falling off. At this stage my corridors also didn't have ceilings which also solved an issue, as if the gravity had been the right way... they would have cluttered on the floor. So, my dissolving world of wooden corridors was born. I created a series of basic room shapes as below -

The first room was the template that contained a table, a window and an item. The aim of the game was to discover a story that would piece itself together once the items were collected... however I ran out of time so unfortunatly, the procedural narrative was scoped back to be this -

Which as an abstract tale, worked ok and left room for imagination and inference of personal projection. Would have liked to do more though! Threw in 6 objects I made quickly including my trademark "Space Tea" that I put in all my games :)

So with generating rooms that appeared randomly on door openings, I put some basic logic in that ensured every few rooms would be an item room and made the items spawn randomly and remove themselves from an array once taken. This was really the bare bones of the game and once I composed the music and recorded the voices, it seemed to mostly hang together. Discovered some funny things along the way like, if you spawn too many rooms... the physics gives up and all the planks start falling the correct way! Also this happens if you full screen in editor! which was bizzare!

in the last hour I managed to throw together a front end screen by making a logo, putting a single wall behind it and then animating the camera to look "floaty".

I will be uploading a video of a playthrough soon but will need to capture it somewhere else as my home PC does not cope so well with the engine AND a video capture. All in all, I am quite happy with this one. Would loved to have done more but as always... never enough time!

Thanks for everyone's kind comments and support.

See you next time!

Did you ever fantasize about dating your car? Who didn't, right? Well you're in luck because we made an accurate simulator of exactly that. Check it out: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/41/in-my-car

In our entry "Shake'n'Shoot" i tried myself on a simple AI for the first time. Because i had a few problems with the mp_grid functions in gamemaker before i denounced using pathfinding. This was my approach:

I added waypoints on "strategically important" places of the map. If a robot has vision on the player (the bottomless pit surrounding the level blocks it) it moves directly in his direction. If it looses sight it will continue chasing after the players last seen position, most likely rounding the corner to spot the player again. But if the player is quick, smart or lucky enough so that the robot looses his tracks it will move back to one of the nearest waypoints, switch into a passiv "wandering"-state and wait for the player to cross his sight again (or gets destroyed by a coldblooded shot in the back).

If you want you can play Shake'n'Shoot here

Not everyone likes PC builds, so I've added a web-playable build of Legend of Zoom, my Zelda + Car Combat mashup!

Entry is here if you're interested: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/41/legend-of-zoom

Location design of "Make Up And Drive"

You can see it in our entry https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/41/make-up-and-drive

Later I'll show and tell you how we made the movement of the character and the game camera. Enjoy and vote! :)

Link them here! I want to play some more!

This is mine if, you're interested: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/41/rthm

What?! Puzzle invasion? 😖

Introduction

YEAHHHH, that’s right! 😱 “Zombie” puzzle pieces are trying to set something up by completing that old cardboard puzzle you left in the attic for .. hummmm … 25 years! That is so from the 90’s! Go back to your paper contry!

Let’s put them back in the respective boxes, otherwise they’ll steal our precious time!

Glue them as fast as you can before they reach their destination and step right on the respective colored floor tile to make them DIEEEEEEEE 🔪 …. sorry … but no … caa humm .. this is for educational purposes only, so lets just say they disappear ok?! 💨

Download

We published our little game in https://estacaomarte.itch.io/puzzle-invasion/, please GO CHECK IT OUT!! *Please remember that this game was made from SCRATCHHH during the EVENT. Everything you see started from NOTHING XD

THE "Puzzllerrs" are coming and ...

All the fun is happening here:

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/41/puzzle-invasion

Credits

• André Silva - Programmer/Artist
• Márcia Carvalho - Music/Sound Effects
• Pedro Fortes - UI/Game Logic

#2 - DevLog - Build, build and build!

Yup, everyone gets to play our game now, with fresh new builds for many other platforms :) Go check it out!

• [ADDED] New windows build
• [ADDED] New WebGL build
• [ADDED] Mac build
• [ADDED] Linux build
• [ADDED] Pause menu now shows controls
• [FIXED] Resized UI to work in every environment

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aULC450gtxU

RUNNER + TRIVIA/GAMESHOW

PLAY HERE: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/41/fat-crah

Hi, this is second part of a postmortem for ACCIDENTAL EXISTENTIAL

→ Go to Part 1 - Brainstorm and dramatic cutoff

There are 3 different stories in the game. Each one is unique genres mashup so is visual layout.

I'll tell the story behind art of the one of these mini-games.

Art

One of the ideas was adult game but for kids. I didn't had much time because I threw most of the assets away, so I decided to make it different. Fast and childish like a kids drawing.

Assets for this layout. Mostly done in one take :)

Paper texture made with old vynil record.

Artstyle like that isn't that time consuming and (more importantly) perfectly contrasts with the heavy adult theme behind it!

Also there is a visual contrast with two other stories that has more grayish realistic look so the game gets an interesting visual rythm as well.

Jam Conclusion - Goals

It was the first time when I purposely tried to communicate not a single message with the game, but a space of ideas to interpret.

*And it worked! *

I can't explain how happy I was after reading first reviews. You guys got it and in a such different ways! Some see it straight and heavy, some get it very personal, some read dark humour or ironic meta on life and industry.

Mind shift

This is a mind shift for me personaly. All of my life before I was sure that piece of art should be about clear message or experience communication.

Before I'd rather be upset if players won't get it the way I put it there. And now it's just amazing to see what players will build with this forms and how personal they will make it.

This is no longer a dictate of the meaning but the real co-creation. It requires more effort from both dev and the player but it totaly pays off.

Thank you :)

→ PLAY ACCIDENTAL EXISTENTIAL

You will enjoy it.

Click here : https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/41/rackety-rekt

or here : https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/41/rackety-rekt

Quick description of the game: Infinite Checkers is a Ludum Dare 41 Submission for the “2 Incompatible Genre” theme. The game combines the fast-paced gameplay of an Infinite runner with a mind-bending twist of checkers.

Music is often seen as a post-production asset when it comes to developing video games. As a sound designer, this is something I often find myself at odds with when it comes to working on projects. Luckily, the man who did all of the development of our project for Ludum Dare 41 reached out to me a week before we started asking if I would come on and do audio.

But enough about that, let's talk about what I did for the music for the project. I spent 14 hours on this track on the Sunday before submission. That's 14 hours from conception to polish. Some of you might be thinking that that's a long time to spend on one piece of music. Well, keep reading to find out why I spent so much time on it. If you haven't heard the music yet, check it out on my SoundCloud account:

https://soundcloud.com/c-blake-smith/endless-checkers

The music for Infinite Checkers is inspired by early 20th Century Impressionism, with a more modern addition of an electric drum kit. For those who don't know what Impressionism is, I would like to recommend the following video as a good audio reference.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvFH_6DNRCY

If you don't want to watch a YouTube video, Impressionism is the idea of painting an image via sounds. They accomplish this by incorporating harmonies that aren't traditionally used in popular music. There's a lot more to it than that, but I don't think anyone is here to learn about the intricacies of music history.

So, why would I use a musical style that's older than pretty much everyone who's currently alive? Well, because that style is great to use when you want to lull the listener into a sense of focus. Despite the fact that the music uses complex harmonies, it is very easy on the ears. The next harmony that the harp plays isn't always one that your ear expects, but it isn't jarring. In fact, it's somewhat more smooth than what a lot of people listen to. Additionally, the way the harp treats the harmony almost gives the music an auditory illusion of a constant rise that makes it seem like it goes on forever. This helps add to the endless runner genre be also never sounding like it's over.

Quite honestly, creating the harmony is what took up 10 of the 14 hours. It's complex as heck. If anyone who enjoys music theory wants to know what progression I used, feel free to hit me up and I'll send you my analysis of it.

The music also uses a solo bassoon, oboe, and a full string section. The bassoon and oboe play a melody back and forth. The melody is simple in structure and gives the sensation of playfulness. When the oboe and bassoon come in playing the longer notes, those are also reflections of the melody. The strings also carry the melody briefly, but more often serve as an accompanying role in the music.

I worked off of my 2017 MacBook Pro, using LogicPro X. The harp and drum kit were part of the basic kit that came with LogicPro X. The bassoon and oboe samples came from the Kontakt 5 library, and the strings were pulled from Spitfire's Albion One collection.

Most importantly, context is key here. Be sure to check out our game with the music playing and let me know what you think of it all!

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/41/infinite-checkers

Ludum Dare page

Play in browser

Website

Source code (HTML5, JavaScript, no library)

Silent Tower Games Twitter

BONUS: The map editor I made

Typical Ludum Dare play&rate session takes 5-10 minutes. Such a small amount of time to explore all the mechanics in a game. Especially, if the game itself has no tutorial or requires a lot of time to understand the basics.

Does your game have a self-explonatory mechanics or in-game tutorial?

Well... ours doesn't have one :smiley: But we have a help section! Which might be useful I guess (no it's not).

And still there are a lot of tiny things that could be unclear. For instance:

1. The Devil doesn't burn in lava. (is this even obvious?)

2. The Wizard could heal an ally by hitting him with the ball. (all games should have this feature)

3. And The Biggy is able to reach the ball in 2 cells radius with his special ability (his stick is just too long)

Now you know more!

Play on Web

Submission Page

Disclaimer: I'm not quite sure how to do post-mortems, so I guess I'll just say everything that happened, like in the videos!

By: Shark Editing Co.

-Limits- a Post-Mortem

If you want, you can play it here!

DAY 1: FRIDAY

So, 20:30 I was hyped. I was closing down other applications and opening Unity and VS.

When 21:00 came around and I spammed reload for the last time, I saw that I got the theme I wanted! Yay! I know what you're thinking, you wanted that theme?!?! Well, a turn-based racing game sounded cool to me, and I knew that people would make some cool stuff from the theme! I couldn't wait to see what people made!

21:30 I had my basic Idea! :) I'm pretty lucky with getting my ideas for LDS!

22:00 I went to bed. I know. Early. But I wanted some sleep. Coding on 0 energy is worst then spamming the keyboard! :p

DAY 2: SATURDAY

6:12 I started my project. I decided to go 3D. That was a big mistake. That destroyed all my ideas and made for a bad incomplete game I'm not happy with. Noted for next year. DON'T GO CHANGING your dimension. (e.x. 2D, 3D, VR)!

THE REST OF THE DAY I did level design think ing of my concept and did (a little) bit of scripting. At the end of the day, I had the whole map finished :)

DAY 3: SUNDAY

6:23 - 10:00 I did ALL the scripting for the game. All the text all the colliders, you know the main scripting!

15:03 I submitted my game to LD! Yay! :) With about 5 hours to spare on the compo!

# SUMMARY

I had a lot to do, (outside of ld) and lost half of my time on those :( I watched Literal Games do their ld! You should check them out there awesome! :) I listened to a lot of music on Youtube! Mostly songs by Aron Fraser Nash! I also Binged Stranger Things for the 4th time! :P

Tell me your thoughts!

What did you think? Were you wishing (Like me) That Ludum Dare happened every week, or still recovering from the lack of sleep for the last one?! I wish it happened every week! But if it did I guess It wouldn't be so special! I hope everyone enjoyed this Ludum Dare!

I don't know what else to say! This is my first Post-Mortem!

Takeaway

• Don't go into 3D if you don't think it fits your game idea/theme or if you're going for a larger game where it might be harder to work in 3D space!
• Make sure you THINK YOUR IDEA THROUGH! If you just improvise as I always do, things won't go well...
• A plan for how you're going to do things, e.x. Coding Day 1 and modeling Day 2 and stuff will definitely help!
• Of course, don't have too large of a scope!
• # Have fun! (:

Checklist:

• [x] Keep scope low!
• [ ] Think idea through!
• [ ] Plan!

Hopefully, something in this helped you! This will probably be my last post until Ludum Dare 42!! I can't wait!!!!

I think I did well this time! Last time I didn't even finish, so although my game is short and lacks polish I think I did great this year! I hope you all did well as well! That's it for me!

-Sharks 2018, Ludum Dare #41

We would love to try out your games. Come visit us on our twitch stream.