We couldn't finish A Short Detour, and yet this small glimpse of a more complete game managed to win some of your hearts. Thank you for an awesome time, and for being the most welcoming community around ☺️

I am excited to announce that the whole Ludum Dare 47 experience has inspired me to continue expanding my entry Universalis. I promised in my Mode Selection that Objective and Sandbox modes would soon be coming. With the latest update, you now have a chance to try it out!

Update Page: https://hawkinberry.itch.io/universalis-update

OBJECTIVE MODE

I have added a taste of what objective mode can look like for Universalis. I have a lot of ideas to implement beyond this, but I would be beyond ecstatic to hear what you think so far!

SANDBOX MODE

I was planning to include a sort of "sandbox" from the start, and some of your ideas have influenced the features now available! Not only can you toy with the gravity and launch settings, but you can enable planet gravity AND play with multi-star systems. In the future, I would like to add more flexibility on the placement of stars, so stay tuned!

Thank you again to everyone who played and rated my entry. Ludum Dare was a whole lot of fun, and I'm excited to be part of this community now.

Best, Hawkin

Just so you little rascals know, ldstats.info now has access to the LD47 data as well.

Edit: As I menitoned in comments:

I didn’t make it tho, I’m just mentioning it, since I was checking it since this LD ended.

Or in other words, ldstats.info is not my creation. Just to be clear. I'm not to take credit for other's work.

He told me to remake his game, and I did here, made this in an hour or so https://www.construct.net/en/free-online-games/outside-loop-ludum-dare-47-18328/play

People played our game live on streams, and we got some great reactions. Check it out!

https://youtu.be/jbj00XWWgTw

GLITCH LOOP is 1st Overall for the Compo!

Congrats all for the amazing entries and thank you very much for the votes! This LD was a lot of fun for me and I'm glad you liked the game :)

Found this amazing website: https://ldstats.info/ (Made by @kuro ?)
So here are some stats there: I thought this time around my team made a much better game than in April, but it seems that it was rated slightly worse even. I think I know what I can improve. Anyway I'll be patiently awaiting 48!

This is a bit crazy. I opened my ldjam account to find that I placed 5th! honestly I played a lot of games that I think are better than mine.. Thank you so much guys! I guess y'all loved my goose

That's amazing!

Thank you everybody that played and enjoyed The Looper's Path! This was one of my best games already made and definitely the best LD entry I did!

If you want to play, go for it: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/47/the-loopers-path

whoops accidentally clicked publish too soon and can't delete the post...

I don't usually post results, but after 10 Jams either as part of a team or by myself we finally achieved a score higher than 4.0, two in fact. Humor makes sense as we were going for that but we were surprised to see theme of all things.

This makes Philosophy on Rails: An Introduction to the Western Canon our best ranked game in most categories compared to our previous entries.

Whenever we participate in a game jam, one of the core aspects people always compliment us on is on polish. During the rating period of Woofice Chair! those compliments came back around and we are very proud of receiving them again! :sparkles:

But what is this dark magical art that people call polish? And what about juice? While both are regarded as something to highlight in jam games, we believe polish is deeply connected with gameplay. Polish not only helps give a game a more complete-feel, but also helps making gameplay more satisfying to the player!

Despite ratings having already closed, I've written a development insight covering some of techniques we've use to give some extra polish and juice to our game! This includes various topics such as using screenshake and smoothing cameras, using trails and particles to give extra oomph to the player's movement and even using FMOD to add extra depth to the audio! :eyes:

While our intention was to originally cross-post this development insight here into Ludum Dare, the final article ended up with over 28 videos, some of them requiring sound. Fully converting each of the individual video into the 4MB limit for GIFs this site asks for would be an enormous time-consuming task for a lesser reading experience.

Therefor, as a first time exception since we've started writing development posts about our Ludum Dare games here on the site, we have to ask you check-out the post in our main website's blog instead! We apologize for inconvenience, but we think this is the most practical way to get around it. :bow:

Click here to read the development insight at Whales And Games!

Of course, if you have any comments, questions or things that you'd like to add, feel free to do them through the comments here!

Just two days ago we made a post about our results this time around, and we're very happy with the ratings that we've got! While our artist has already congratulated everyone of you in his post, I'd like to future reiterate his words! Congratulations to everyone that participated this time around, and we hope that you keep it up for future jams! :muscle:

We'll certainly keep an eye out for some of the folks we've highlighted this year, and we look forward to participating again! Cheers! :whale:

Hey there humans!

Here are our results! We are so glad to have been part of this, created Time To Dance!, got the opportunity to be part of this community and play so many kewl games made with such love and haste.

Putting aside the ranking which doesn’t really matter, here’s what really stoked us:

• We got over 100 people to play and rate our game! Over 60 left us priceless feedback, advice and encouragements.
• We scored a 4-or-above in every category!! That is so heartwarming and we interpret it as something like “the game is very good as is, and can become excellent if we work on the aspects mentioned in the feedback”!
• We scored especially great in innovation and that’s the core of the kind of games we want to make in the future.

The great thing is that, thanks to the awesome reception and feedback, we are now working on a Post-Jam version which will be available very soon. We’ll address the main issues that surfaced, include many players ideas and add other things we thought would be cool... favourite choreography contest & leaderboard, boss-fight, increased difficulty, new levels and music, etc etc!

Follow us onTwitter, itch.io, or join our discord if you want to keep contributing to it!

Stay tuned!

Much love.

VV

Second Ludum Dare in the books! I'm absolutely overwhelmed by the response. Thank you so much to everyone who played Splines 'n Shapes! For me, finishing a game in 48 hours counts as a huge success. I didn't even consider these results to be a possibility going into this jam:

I'll try to go over the process of making Splines 'n Shapes, as well as learnings, thoughts and next steps. It might get a bit long and ramble-y so feel free to skim this or just skip it entirely.

Game Description

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/47/splines-n-shapes

Splines 'n Shapes is an abstract puzzle game where you adjust loops and collect shapes. Loops are adjusted by repositioning control points and shapes must be collected in order (tri -> square -> pentagon -> etc) as well as in a single loop cycle. (Also... you must make a full revolution and collect the first triangle again :sweat_smile:)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieoemXV6vnc

Development Timeline

Initial Ideation

Whenever the theme of a jam is announced, I spend the first couple hours brainstorming ideas. I usually do this by taking a walk, away from my phone, my computer, or any distractions of that sort. I've heard that being in a calm, diffuse mode of thinking is better for creativity than a focused, active mode of thought. I find that walking and removing distractions helps put me into that diffuse state.

Having said all that, I didn't really brainstorm anything too interesting :sweatsmile: :sweatsmile: :sweat_smile:. Initial ideas included: 1. trying to escape a recursive function / for/while loop 2. nascar game w/ left turns? 3. something something hyperloop elon musk 4. some sort of paper plane game where you control how the plane loops 5. a game where you repeatedly throw and catch a boomerang in place.

Ending up going with option 5. I envisioned some sort of topdown view of a seated guy throwing a boomerang where the player could adjust the trajectory of the throw. The idea was still hazy, but it was time to start implementing.

Initial Implementation and Salvaging the Design

My initial implementation was for the boomerang throw to follow a Bezier curve where the two endpoints of the curve are at a single static position (explanation of Bezier curves). The two inner control points are adjusted with WASD and arrow keys or gamepad sticks:

I found this control scheme to be pretty bad for a couple reasons: 1. Reorienting the curve into a new direction (e.g. north to south, east to west) took an unacceptably long time. This wouldn't work for any sort of semi-realtime game. 2. It's pretty easy to get the control points mixed up. For example, if WASD control the initial left point and arrow keys control the initial right point, things could get mixed up if the initial left point was moved to the right of the initial right point.

It became pretty clear to me that if I was going to continue in this curve route, I'd need to switch to a click and drag interface. And I'd need to spice things up a bit.

Enter Splines

I recalled the term "Spline" and that it was related somehow to Bezier curves. Google led me to this document explaining them. Here's my shitty layman's summary of it (images taken/modified from the doc itself):

Splines are essentially a bunch of polynomial curves glued together. However, if you simply match the end values of these curves, there can be irregularities and kinks in the spline:

(C0 is a cubic bezier curve defined by control point sequence <P0, P1, P2, S>. C1 is defined by <S, Q1, Q2, Q3>)

There's a special set of splines called relaxed uniformed cubic B-splines. These splines are made up of Bezier curves glued together such that the spline remains smooth when moving from curve to curve. We can do this by setting anchor points, and then determining control points of each Bezier curve such that the slope and curvature at each matching end point is equal. The following image and algorithm might help explain:

• First we must place our anchor points (denoted by the points B_i above).
• We then trisect each line segment between B_i and B_(i+1) in order to obtain the inner control points P_i,0 and P_i,1 for Bezier curve C_i
• We then find matching endpoint S_i as the midpoints between P_(i-1),1 and P_i,0. S_i is the endpoint of curve C_(i-1) and the start point of curve C_i.
  • also note that the start point of C_0 is S_0 which equals B_0. the end point of C_(n-1) is S_n which equals B_n. (n is the number of anchor points in the spline)

Hooray we have now have a relaxed uniformed cubic B-spline (I'm gunna call these B-splines from now on):

(The reasoning for why this algorithm works is in the paper linked above.)

In order to make this B-spline a loop, we add an additional curve between B_n and B_0. Like in the above steps, we must trisect the line segment to get our inner control points, and then update S_0 and S_n based on these inner control points:

ayyy! check out our B-Spline loop! The small gray points are our anchor points (our B points). The calculated S and P points are hidden. Looks pretty ugly though, so I resized/rethickened the shapes and loop, and used a 3 color gradient that I cycled to turn it into this:

The shapes and loop are all rendered with Freya Holmér's Shapes Library. This asset is a godsend in jams, especially for the artistically challenged like myself.

At this point, I had a pretty fun toy to play around with. Now I just needed to turn it into a game. I had some thoughts spinning in my mind. The main idea I had was for the revolving orb to hit a sequence of targets on the screen. The targets would need to be hit in a particular order, and these ordered targets would be represented by regular polygons (triangle, square, pentagon, etc). But by now I was about 13 hours into the jam, it was super late at night, and I fell asleep.

However, I woke up after only like 3 hours of sleep. Wasn't intentional. I think I was a bit anxious and excited about all the things I needed to implement, so I had trouble falling back asleep. In my groggy haze, I started to implement sounds.

Sounds

Decided to go with synth sound effects for this game, mostly because it's within my current skillset (I'm about 3/4 of the way through Syntorial...that's about it :sweat_smile:) and because I felt some influence from Mini Metro.

The sound effects I knew I needed were: - orb properly hitting a target - orb incorrectly hitting a target - selecting/deselecting an anchor point

I played around with Synth1 in Reaper and came up with a basic patch that sounded pretty soothing. Main properties include: - sine and triangle waveforms for osc1 and 2. - Low Pass filter at about half cutoff. - High amp release - Chorus - a bunch of reverb from stock plugins

(also had some minor variances between the orb hit patch and the anchor selected patch. 'Orb hit' has some FM w/ osc2 pitched at 28 semitones (FM amount is modulated with an envelope). This gives it a bit of a bell-like quality. 'Anchor selected' has zero amp sustain and osc2 pitched at 31 semis above)

The Synth1 patches are available to download on my itch page: https://sharkwithlasers.itch.io/splines-n-shapes

After getting a general sense of how the synth patches would sound, I noodled around on the keyboard to figure out note sequences that sounded nice. (for when an orb properly hits a sequence of targets)

I arbitrarily decided to play notes in the key of Bflat major (because C major is basic AF). And came up with ascending note sequences based on the number of targets that would need to be hit for a particular level:

number of notes | Note sequence (in scale degrees!) | Actual notes --------------- | --------------------------------- | --- 2 | 1, 3 | Bb, D 3 | 1, 2, 5 | Bb, C, F 4 | 1, 3, 5, 6 | Bb, D, F, G 5 | 1, 2, 3, 5, 7 | Bb, C, D, F, A 6 | 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9 | Bb, C, D, F, A, C 7 | 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10 | Bb, C, D, F, A, Bb, D

There wasn't too much rhyme or reason to how I came up with these. I kinda just followed my ear. I think I reduced the potential cheesiness by: - avoiding long runs of the major scale (nothing longer than 3 notes here) - avoiding outlining the I chord (I do this in the 4 note sequence though :slight_frown: ) - ending the longer note sequences on chord extensions of the I chord. (gives it a little bit of spice?) - (and perhaps ending on the 3 and 5 in the first sequences helps establish the key? maybe?)

For the "Anchor point selected" notes, I would randomly choose a note in the scale degrees {1, 2, 3, 4} (and ensure no repeates). The "anchor point deselected" note would be a perfect fifth below the "selected" note. This pairing of notes felt pretty smooth and consonant.

For the "Target improperly hit" note, I landed on using Eb (perfect fourth above Bb). I experimented with using dissonances like the tritone, but these sounds clashed with the chill mood that my game was headed in. The perfect fourth seemed like the perfect balance of consonance and dissonance for this sound.

In order to get these sounds into Unity, I rendered the notes at Bb, then modified the pitches at runtime with Unity's AudioSource. These didn't sound as nice as when I was playing in Reaper, though. Going forward, I'll probably render each note separately in Reaper and dynamically play the correct audio clip in Unity.

Design and Game Feel Iteration

If I remember correctly, I spent the next portion of the jam working on polish and finalizing the small details of the gameplay loop.

One thing I find pretty neat about game jams is that I start with a hazy initial idea, and through the process of iterating through many micro design decisions, end up with a totally different, but concrete result. These micro decisions sculpt and shape the game into a product I would have never thought of during the initial brainstorm. I think that's pretty cool.

Some of the many decisions I had to make included: - deciding that the shapes must be collected in order - capping the number of shapes in a level to 6 (it's hard to distinguish shapes once you go beyond 8 sides) - deciding that all shapes must be collected within a single revolution - deciding that this single revolution starts when you hit the first shape (triangle) - deciding that you could still adjust the loop while the shapes are being hit / validated - deciding that the orb must finish it's cycle and hit the triangle again. - increasing the speed of the orb when it hits the first shape (to discourage loop adjustments during validation)

I'm not sure if all of these decisions were correct, but overall, I think it led to interesting puzzles where the player is not punished for experimenting.

For game feel / polish, I basically follow some lessons from the great Juice it or Lose it talk. Primarily, for any object/player interaction, there should be visual and/or audio feedback.

Some interactions (and feedback) in the game included: - shape getting hit (shape flashes and enlarges, orb gets larger, loop thickens, audio) - hovering over, selecting, and deselecting anchor points (enlarging the points on hover and select, shrinking on deselect, aura radiates from point, audio) - revolution passes that is invalid (all shapes darken and then reset, audio) - anchor point added/removed (during level transitions) - shape added/removed - ...

I mainly used DOTween to handle the visual feedback. Tweening is dope.

After this, I had to work on structing my code to have a level sequence, and properly transition between levels. This took a while and was pretty messy, so I'm just going to leave it at that. At the time of completion of all of this, I had about 3 or 4 hours left to design levels. (I think I snuck in a 3 hour nap in there somewhere. Unintentional once again, I think the anxiety of the jam made it hard for me to fall back asleep).

Level Design

For some reason, I always leave the designing of levels/puzzles until the end of the jam. I think a reason for this is because level design is such an open ended subject. In any case, I didn't have much time, so I followed these general principles: - Convey the mechanics of the game through the sequence of puzzles (I'm not a fan of tutorialization) - Show interesting, unique properties of B-Splines through these puzzles

The way I found interesting mechanics of B-Splines was by toying around with them in a sandbox, noticing an interesting loop/property, and then sprinkling shapes along the loop to turn it into a puzzle. It was a bit of a rushed process, but by the end of the jam, I had about 20 levels! Hooray!

Made a build, made a page, submitted. slept.

After the Jam

Over the past weeks, I've been playtesting the game with friends and streamers. The feedback I've gotten has been incredibly helpful and supportive! And it's been great getting to know people in the LD community!

(There are a ton of improvements that I could add to this game. Some low-hanging fruit, as well as design decisions that don't have a clear answer. (maybe I'll list some here later))

Because of the external support, as well as the fact that the aesthetic fits my limited art and audio skills, I plan on expanding this into my first full project. There's so much to do / think about! - What should the scope of the game be? - Should I limit the curves to just B-Spline loops? - What kind of gameplay do I want players to experience (casual and chill, or stimulating puzzles)? - What mechanics/extensions should I add to this game to keep it interesting? - Can I jam a narrative into this? - What should the game teach the player? (interesting shapes? interesting abstract properties of curves?) - ...

It's pretty exciting, yet daunting to think about. It seems like these questions can only be answered by doing the work and iterating.

So, it's time to get to work! I might post updates on my twitter if you are interested.

Thank you for the wonderful jam experience!

Hey, we just wanted to say big thanks to all who voted and commented our game! (the cat also expresses gratitude)

Wow, during theme voting, gamedev, and ratings we never had a period where there were no posts for four hours!

Sorry about the delay, winners, work is getting in the way of making your celebratory artworks! I'll get to them later when work isn't an issue. Stay tuned!

After I draw some celebratory artworks for the winners as I promised, anyone want their own artwork inspired by their game?

Acceleration has increased. The sprite of the aircraft has changed. The music has changed.

It is easier to play.

https://hikokyoujurou.itch.io/swing-by

1. Assign some random games to each user (10-15, for example).
2. These games would be mandatory to rate in order to be able to get a score.
3. You would be still be able to rate any other game you wish.
4. This way we would help everyone gets a score.

BTW, thank you all for rating my game. I made it to get a score on my first LD :smile:

Thank you to everyone that played Tip of My Tongue!

Here are my results:

Based on feedback, I was hopeful that I would place within the top 10 of humor, and I am so happy to have placed 3rd! My first trophy! Thank you all so much.

I expected that my placement would show a bump in browser plays over the last couple days, and it did. What I didn't expect was that the day after the jam ended, 17 people downloaded the PC build of the game. That's more downloads than the entire rating period. Strange!

Congrats to everyone that finished a game this go-around! And thanks again for playing Tip of My Tongue!

See you next jam?

AZTEC RIDE IS ON MOBILE!

🎢 PLAY & RATE on the Play Store

Originally made in 72 hours during Ludum Dare 47, we released a new, polished version to MOBILE!

Keep the roller coaster alive by giving your Aztec community a nice thrill, but be careful not to lose them!

New features

Gameplay

• The game now features procedurally generated levels.
• You fail a level if you lose all of your people, or if you run out of fuel and don't manage to reach the end of the track.
• Added a settings menu.
• There are three input methods:
  • Two buttons
  • Throttle
  • Analog stick
• Added tutorial.
• Updated physics behavior.

Graphics

• Updated UI graphics.
• Updated camera behavior.
• New art and animations.
• Added Anti-Aliasing.

🎢 PLAY & RATE on the Play Store