Some more reviews would be really appreciated!

OMG only 11 hours left!!

A procedurally animated rhythm game where you scare away a monster with the power of Funk!

Play Funkotron 5000

Any feedback much appreciated. Also tell me if you feel like the audio is lagging behind on your system.

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/39/the-castle

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/39/ludum-dare-simulator-click-and-make-your-own-game-inside-a-game

You can play it here

Only 10 hours left to rate our games!! What a great experience and great community! Thanks so much Ludum Dare! Just a final effort: let's try to reach 50 rates!!

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/39/pepe-the-power-plant

Thank you so much!!

SO GUYS WE'RE ONLY 937 RATINGS AWAY FROM 1000!!! CAN WE REACH 1000 BEFORE THE JAM ENDS???? PLEASE GUYS!!!

Only less than 10 hour left to play and rate Turtle's Quest.. https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/39/turtles-quest

And now time for post-mortem.

What went right: 1. Graphics. We are quite satisfied on how the sprites look (considering we only have limited time and the first day was for brainstorming, level design, and making sprite 2. Game design and level design. 2 mode for turtle (normal and shield mode). And the whole metroidvania-like puzzle platformer concept. 3. Code. Okay, the code is a little messy but at least it wasn't too spaghetti-ish :P

What went wrong: 1. Character controller and colliders (physics). We used rigidbody (unity 2d physics) and ended up with buggy character collisions. This was our first 2d platformer game ever so we learned the hard way of doing the physics wrong xD 2. Balancing. The game seems to be too brutal :o (oops! sorry). 3. UI. UI kinda block the view. And small font :/ 4. Background. A little blurry.

Plan after Ludum Dare: continue developing the game. Add "tutorial" level. Add boss fight, more enemies, more enemies. Add interesting/cute stories. Add more mode for Turtley (ninja, shooting, flying, etc). Turn it into full-fledged metroidvania-like puzzle platformer game :D

I guess that's all... Thanks for all the feedback and rate :)

Hey!

So I've been quite quiet for the past for LDs unfortunately, usually because before, during, or after (or a combination of the three) I've sadly been very busy for one reason or another. The same was true here. I had just returned from Rome and then went to Wales till just yesterday, which was my Birthday!

Now I'm back home and trying to give the game Cameron and I made higher than 26 ratings :) some really awesome entries I've seen so far, and I keep being pleasantly surprised.

Meanwhile, I wonder if perhaps I could interest you in our horror game, REAMS? It's kind of spooky and pretty neat!

You can play it here!

See you tomorrow, on my results post!

Do you wanna play a hard game? lol It is your last chance! :D

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/39/metal-rescue

Due to the lack of time,I could not play many entries this Ludum dare so I don't have many ratings nor time...SO I humbly beg you guys to play and!Surely if I get the time I would play your games as well! :D

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/39/mega-mia

Thanks everyone for making my first game jam such a profoundly awesome experience! This was also my first release as a game artist/designer. It was a close call since I found a team of strangers to work with remotely (across an ocean of time-zones), as I'm sure many jam entries start. Two people quit the first and second days somewhat unexpectedly, slimming a team of 5 down to a team of 3. One programmer, one artist and one composer were left. The composer nearly quit too, since our scope was set up for 5. In the end, the remaining dedication prevailed. There were quite a few things that we left unpolished, and in all reality, untested, because we were making changes to the build up in to the last second! Even with it's set backs, we're extremely proud of our entry. I can't tell you how psyched I am that nearly 100 people rated it and many left amazing feedback.

The remaining team do plan to make this entry into a larger and well polished game that we will spend more then 72 hours on, since the feedback has been so great.

Thanks, Everyone, Could not have done this without you!

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/39/light-switch-crusader

Only 24 hours left to play Wave! (Well, to vote. You can probably play it until the day Itch.io no longer exists)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FA4rYGR6hxI

Thanks everyone for the support so far! Don't forget to check out the Logiraffe Website to get in on the beta for our unrelated multiplayer party game!

Make sure to check out my game at: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/39/ludum-dare-simulator-click-and-make-your-own-game-inside-a-game ! Thanks ^^

I've choosen a random list of games, which are in danger zone. And I got this list :

Help these games get ranked : - (Beachside battery) Ranked - https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/39/overcharged - https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/39/power-necromancell - https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/39/home-is-dead - (Trump card) Ranked - https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/39/ragoop - (ludum dare simulator click and make your own game inside a game) Ranked - (Destroy your country) Ranked - https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/39/everybody-plays-golf - https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/39/wired-game - https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/39/lost-connection - https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/39/unpowerer - https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/39/running-out-of-butter - https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/39/lightbulb-1 - https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/39/snowstorm

* If you have a game that is under 20 votes, don't forget to add it in the comments *

* This post will be updated if some of these games get ranked *

* GOOD LUCK EVERYONE :heart: *

I used two useful, yet simple, data type tricks in Mr Mayor's Energy Crisis. The first one AnimationCurves for NonAnimations, the second one you're looking at right now.

Events!

There were many of them, 35 to be precise, and they needed to be stored somewhere. In a longer project I might have used JSON, CSV or one of my own custom formats from the past, but for a jam I needed something simpler and most importantly quicker to setup.
:thinking::bulb: Serialized objects!

Object?

C# objects are made out of a class like this one. You should know this.

If you make a public object out of the class, it won't show up in the inspector though.

Trust me, nothing will show up.

What did I tell you!

Serialized?

But if you add the [System.Serializable] attribute to the class, things will change.

Such a little thing

Makes all the difference

What now, boss?

Well, lets make an array of events.

More events!

And add a text variable to the event class with the [TextArea] attribute.

You'll see what the attribute does in the next bit.

Now editing multiple events in the editor is smooth sailing

It expands the text area! Who would have thought!

So ah, how to use this thing?

We need to be able to find events from the database and easily access it. A linear search function will do as a quick and dirty solution for the first issue.

Sometimes a simple for loop is all you need.

The second problem is trickier, but turning the database into a singleton takes care of it.

If you don't know what this means, just wait and see.

And here is how to use the database from any script.

At this point you can do whatever you want with the data in the event object.

Possible improvements?

There are a few: * Use an enum to find events instead of the name string. This cuts down on typo related bugs. * Rather than using linear search you can sort the array at Start() based on the enum and then find events via direct index at O(1) time. Lightning fast, as they say in the industry.

Conclusion

Simple to code, easy to edit. That's about it and here is the code.

Cheers!

Jetpacks are now added to the sequel of my entry! Entry: PowerCrisis

…But this time I'm very very late! I finally managed to add a framed version of my HTML5 entry, to give it a chance to be seen with the intended pixel size. My art was very poor, and I was OK with that. But with the auto-sized version I found it worse. So, if you played it you could want to see it with the intended size. And if you didn't try it yet… You still can rate it for yet few hours! :D

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/39/tax-rebel

With less than a day left, I decided to write a postmortem for my game:

What went wrong?

Bad explanations

The objective in “Robot Invaders” is to recharge the mother computer with the batteries that the enemies left when killed.

But, a lot of people didn’t understand that. The relation between the batteries, the computer, and the time bar wasn’t clear, and the additional effect of the batteries (increment Dave’s power) make the things even more confusing.

This is bad because this mechanic was the more original element of the game. Without it, it is just another “robot that needs energy to move”. If I ended improving this game, the clarification will be the top priority. I think that a simple arrow that points to the computer when the battery is low will do de job.

“Subpart” visuals

When I start this project, I wanted to use all the “juice” tricks of this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fy0aCDmgnxg At the end, I was only able to implement camera shake and the rudimentary animations. Time constraint forces me to leave behind other effects like: - Particles effects like explosions, sparks from batteries… - Shadows for the characters - Afterimages for bullets - Better animations for batteries and the HUD That would have added a lot to the feel of the game.

What went right?

Interesting gameplay

My design philosophy is “gameplay first” and I think that this time I finally nailed it. I was in the right mindset when I the jam started. The previous week was the GMTK Jam that has the theme “dual purpose design”. Even if I couldn’t compete at the end, I extend that weekend thinking about how to design elements with more than one uses.

So, when I come with the “original” idea of “a robot that collects batteries to keep himself alive”, instead of doing the obvious, I started thinking about different uses for the batteries. This mechanic went through several iterations (like use the batteries to buy power-ups and turrets) but at the end, the batteries serve to charge the computer, power up yourself and power up the enemies. This combination of uses creates situations where the player has to make interesting decisions (like “should I went now to the base, or try to keep the power boost a little longer to prevent the enemies from picking the batteries)

At the end, even if I am still thinking how to add turrets, the battery system is the strongest point of the game and I am very proud of it.

Solid code

I know that in the game jam scene, code quickly is more important than coding well. I’m not very good at keeping the code clean. But this time, with some effort and the lessons learned in previous jams, I was able to write my cleanest code.

That helped a lot. The animations and the day one fixes wouldn’t have been possible if I had decided to write the code like in my previous projects. It wasn’t perfect either, but it was maintainable.

The music

In all my previous game jams, I ended tired of the music. Except for this time, this time I love the music.

I don’t know exactly why, I have even use a song that I have previously used in another project, but I think that the fact that all the music were made by the same author has helped.

Anyway, thank you very much Fox Synergy, this game wouldn’t be the same without your music.

What have I learn from the experience?

How to make some visual effects

Even if I ended not implemented them, I have studied particles, afterimages, “realistic” shadows and more before and after the jam.

The limits of my GM knowledge

Apart of how to implement the visual effects previously mentioned, I also realized how limited Is my knowledge in the sound aspect of the game development. More things to study, I think.

That you need 10 points in reddit to publish in the Webgame subreddit

I learn that by the hard way…

So, that's all. If you want, please try Robots Invaders and leave your ratings and comments.

Yesterday concluded Ludum Dare 39, a global game jam in which thousands of participants come together to pair up or fly solo to create a game from scratch. There are two different modes you can decide from: the compo (48 hours, solo) or the jam (72 hours, solo/team). For the 39th Ludum Dare, my good friend Daniel, artist/composer came to stay with me over the weekend (I went to see him on the 38th Ludum Dare). Meanwhile, our lead programmer was staying at his home.

Weeks Before LD39

The weeks leading up to the event were torturous for me because of the excitement and anticipation of the announcement of the themes. For every event a theme is announced and the timer starts, but beforehand community members can submit their own themes which are then judged by others in the community. After three rounds of judging, the final round begins. The final round consisted of 16 themes, one of which would be announced the theme of the LD39. If there was one thing that I learn from LD38, it was that preparation was absolutely imperative to the success of the weekend.

Days Before LD39

The hardest thing about Ludum Dare is finding a good idea for interesting/feasible game mechanics and story. To help this process along I decided that I would look at each of the 16 themes that could end up being the one and create a "mind-map" for each them. [Mind-mapping] (http://www.mindmapping.com/) is an effective technique to have in your arsenal when you exploring the idea of something. I decided I would time-box my approach dedicating 5 minutes to each theme and scribbling down any thoughts or images that came to me during those 5 minutes. By the end of the exercise I had two pages of notes to pull from when the time came to design the game we wanted to make.

My second item of preparation was preparing the workspace, which was the dining room table where Dan and I could both comfortably work. I also cleaned up around the house, doing laundry, dishes, dusting,...etc. so that our surroundings were pristine.

Most importantly was gathering food and drinks for the weekend so that we always had snacks and meals on hand. A big thanks to my girlfriend for preparing most of these meals for us over the weekend!

Now that all the preparations were in order it was time to begin the jam.

Day 1

Of course the theme that was chosen was one of the ones I had the least amount of notes and good ideas for. The theme was "Running Out of Power." We went back and forth on a few ideas and then we came around full circle to and idea. This wasn't good. It was the same exact pattern of LD38, where we damn near scraped the entire project of day 2 and started over. Luckily, I remembered something that had resonated with me from a video I found on YouTube, where concept artist, Matt Rhodes discusses the importance of [knowing the story of a character] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2BRl1hWnnY&t=2612s) when drawing it. I think it's really the same kind of thing for game design. I think things tend to work better when you first start with the character instead of the setting. So I told Dan, the artist, to shut up and just draw the first thing that came to his mind. The result was this little service robot.

Once we all saw the service robot, a very fuzzy outline of a story started coming to light. This was enough to get us started and work on art assets, the main game play system, and the menu UI began. It was just after 1AM Saturday morning when we all decided to go to bed and get back to work at 8AM.

Day 2

I spent most of my morning watching Unity menu tutorials because I'll be the first to admit: I don't know WTF I'm doing in Unity. This project was the second time I had really ever even opened [Unity] (https://unity3d.com/) much less actually use it. Lunch time came around and Jordan wasn't feeling well and had to go lay down, Dan and I decided to go take a break and get some tacos from the new local place that just opened up near my house in Knoxville, TN. Once we got back I pretty much finished the UI layout, after much cursing and screaming because I'd thought I'd be a baller and animate between the menu screen. The animation of the camera was extremely frustrating but I'm glad I went through that pain because it turned out pretty nice at the end. I found myself in the evening kind of just sitting there without anything to do, which on one hand I guess its a good thing because I wasn't still trying to build the menu like last time. I got a build from Jordan and started play testing it into the night. Then it was off to bed again.

Day 3

I woke up and decided I was going to start writing a story about what had happened to the power plant and why the robot was in there. Dan woke up from a dream that morning and he told me in that dream he had decided the name of the power company in our game was named "Sunflower." Really for no other reason than it sounded pretty good. I opened up a text pad and the story just dumped right onto the page. I highly doubt I would had been able to come up with anything comparable had it not been for the "sunflower" word. Dan was furiously working on the last of the art assets and beginning to write music. Jordan was wiring up all the game mechanics and I was trying to fix all the grammar and misspellings I did in the dialogue of the game. (Yes, there were plenty of mistakes found in our release build.)

Day 4

I pretty much idled all day. Went over the dialogue again. Missed all the mistakes I had made again. I gave my menu scene to Jordan to integrate. "What the fuck, man?" was the response I heard when he opened it up. See he had forced the game to play in 832 x 832 resolution whereas I had mine set to full-screen. So to fix that I had to change the canvas sizes and shuffle my UI elements around about 15 minutes later Jordan had integrated my menu to the rest of the game. There was one other slight issue. I had written my UI scripts in JavaScript, mainly because I wanted to sharpen my JavaScript skills to help me out at work. Jordan however has been writing all his scripts in C#, which is the more common approach in Unity. In hindsight, using JavaScript to interact with GameObjects is kind of stupid and it just feels wrong. Maybe that's the object oriented programmer in me speaking but damn it just feels wrong. So Jordan was able to convert my JavaScript to C# in about 15 minutes, which I think speaks to both of our skills, Jordan being a excellent programmer in C# and me having writing understandable JavaScript. The rest of the afternoon was spent idle watching all the art and music assets getting loaded in until we got a build of the game and began play-testing. I think we ended up with 3 or 4 build before we got the release candidate, which we then submitted as our entry.

Overall, this was a very enjoyable weekend and I had a lot of fun. I also learned a lot of lessons and was able to used what I experience from the last LD to our advantage for LD39. If you feel so inclined you can check out our game at these links below:

Now on [itch.io] (https://unibear-studio.itch.io/fizzle)!

You can also check out Unibear Studio!

I've choosen a random list of games, which are in danger zone. And I got this list :

Help these games get ranked : - (Overcharge) Ranked - (Power necromancell) Ranked - (Home is dead) Ranked - RagooP - Everybody plays golf - Wired game - (Lost Connection) Ranked - (Unpowerer) Ranked - Running out of butter - Lightbulb - (Snow Storm) Ranked - Doctor duck and the pitiful power production - Scrap Metal

* If you have a game that is under 20 votes, don't forget to add it in the comments *

* This post will be updated if some of these games get ranked *

* GOOD LUCK EVERYONE :heart: *