For Ludum Dare 46 I set out to make a game with no engine, just raw WebGL and web APIs using Rust compiled to WebAssembly.

Finally I've written down the chaotic technical and creative process of making the game for LD46. Read about it here: https://ianjk.com/rust-gamejam/

I uploaded a much improved version of my LD46 entry Keep It Going! It's my first mobile game on Google Play!

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.PatAle.KeepItGoing

Newgrounds : https://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/760488

Itch.io : https://patale.itch.io/keep-it-going

Original Entry: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/46/keep-it-going

tl;dr:
I wrote this post about how to approach writing AI players for board games, and how I did a unique player to play Alchemize. Check it out!

Two years ago @stavu and @jakier made Alchemize - a completely original strategy board game for two players. It was their entry for Ludum Dare 42 - “Running out of Space”.

Recently we released a new version of Alchemize, with the ability to play against AI, in 4 different difficulty levels.

I wrote a post about how I wrote Alchemize AI Algorithm, explaining the challenges of creating AI for a unique board game. I describe the solutions I chose, taking into account strategy, speed and player experience.

Read Post about Alchemize AI

Play Alchemize vs AI

Or just sit back and see how Insane AI (blue) beats the crap out of Hard AI (red): https://youtu.be/faTwYKsK7v8

The recent LD46 was quite good, so after a while @daniel_michaeloudis and I picked up the demo we made during the event. We've posted 5 new updates, and we post new ones every few days. I like the way it's going, and it's already progressed far past it's origional standards. Here's the link: https://arcus.itch.io/peculiar-farming

Since I created Cold Heart to Ludum Dare 46 I've never stopped to work on it.

Always alone, I've decided to make an Android version, remaking everything.

I have not finished yet, but the project is very advanced, with Skill system, RPG-like progression, scenario selector, upgrades and much more.

Really hard work alone, but very funny at all.

I'm trying to make a different type of mobile game who gives the player the sensation tô play hack n slash games

Coming soon with news! Thanks for the support :D 💙

for a game, and that no one will replace it with a copyright-free one, without any explanation. That's all for now... (It didn't happened with my music... yet. They already had a musician, so I made sounds. I tried hard, but my generated [+ somewhat modified] sounds lost to some sounds found by my team. But I really hope that I will not experience something like this, again... Thank you!)

A very long time ago, I made a game for Ludum Dare 31. And I wanted to finish it properly, and publish it. After 6 years of doubt, issues, bit of procrastination, it is finally done.

You can find it here : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.okkoInc.Squareon Give it a try, it's free !

I have been making games for about a decade now and basically wanted to make the tutorial series that I wish existed when I started.

These videos are aimed at people with little to no previous knowledge, so they might be too basic for most of you. But I figured that it might help someone :)

Specially if you are looking to learn a new framework / language for the next LD. Löve is a popular choice among the top 100 ranking games every jam. All of the entries that I have been a part of have been made with Löve.

There are 6 episodes in total. The plan is to continue with more complex tutorials down the road. I am really new at the whole "making videos"-thing. So I appreciate all feedback! :)

E1 - Introduction and setup

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQCky-_Ad5Y

E2 - Crash course in Lua (+ a bit of Löve)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRKIIV4-cfk

E3 - Pong, creating the player

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qA267wyXHeU

E4 - Pong, creating the ball

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CRIhC_2wTI

E5 - Pong, creating an AI opponent

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

E6 - Pong, adding assets

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRdxvYTl34Q

I made a game for another jam recently and wanted to share it here!

Fated is a small game about struggling against and overcoming your own fate. It's a hectic bullet-hell-style game and has deeper strategy than first meets the eye.

Get the game for Windows and try to change your fate!

How can it be done? with shader and particles or some kind of fluid simulation?

I haven't participated or updated this app in a while, but I just now added LD 44 through 46 and generally brought into the current year my

• instantly searchable
• instantly filterable

games browser. Looking for something specific like an author or just for some keywords, find it immediately. In addition, it has a full archive of LD games going back to LD 15.

Find More LD Games to Play!

I recently participated in LOWREZJAM2020, where you have to make a game in 64x64px -resolution!

It was quite an interesting experience. I'm surprised my story-driven approach worked so well even in such strict limits.

My entry is playable on browser on itch.io if someone wants to to try it out.

And yeah, it was really about time for me to finally make an ITCH-profile.

I'll be making a catalogue of my past LD-entries there to be playable on browser for easy access.

My LD45 COMPO-entry Tabula Rasa is already up there if someone wants to revisit it.

After the Lowrez-endeavour I feel a bit exhausted, so it remains to be seen if I have the time and energy to participate in LD47.

Until then!

Hello my dear friends. Since the latest LudumDare session, I continue to develop my entry which was named Keep The Faith. Now it became a full new game with another gameplay and other features. If you like puzzle games, I guess that you could like it. Take a look at Artefaktum on Itch.io

Artefaktum is a puzzle game with cubes and colored tiles. You have to find the right movements/path in order to reach the goal. This project is under development, but you have in this first release all the mechanics which Artefaktum uses. Controls and gameplay are easy to use, but hard to master.

For those who develop games under Unity, this game does not use any light, texture, rigidbody, raycast or collider - all physics are generated by code and all levels are created procedurally (also the hive behind). The main aesthetic uses an unique material shader which has been inspired by Monument Valley and Manifold Garden games. Playing in inspector, you have more or less 20/30 drawcalls - no more...

Now I need some feedback please. Thank you. See you later ++

Apparently chrome is having some certificate issues with the site and refusing to connect, had to travel into the past to get the site to load

This will be my 8th time participating. I've decided to offer advice on some things I learned the hard way. For this post I'll focus on stuff to consider before the jam even starts. Anyone can feel free to chime in with advice or questions:

Get a head start: But isn’t that against the rules? No, actually (at least not for the Compo). The rules state that you’re allowed to start with any base-code you may have. At the very least, create your profile on LDJam.com and a placeholder for your project on itch.io (or wherever you’ll share it), so you’re not rushing at the end. Basic reusable mechanics (ie a platform character controller) are fair game. I also like to prep some quality-of-life stuff like a pause menu, blank title screen, and quit button.

Avoid too many cooks: I've worked solo, with a partner, and with teams of 3-7 people. Small teams with segregated responsibilities are okay, but too many people tend to just get in each other's ways.

Start brainstorming: We don't know the theme yet, but voting has started. Copy the possible themes to a text file and start typing up ideas of games you'd make for each of them. You might find the same idea works with multiple themes, will little to no tweaking.

Scope your projects accordingly: I've had to bail on a couple jams, because I bit off more than I can chew. My new rule of thumb is to plan a game that will take 1/3 the time I have allotted. I figure I'll hit unexpected snags that will make it take twice as long, and the extra 1/3 of the time is great for bug fixes and polish.

Consider quick and easy games: There's thousands of submissions and you'll be lucky if anyone plays your game more than a minute or two, so make that as impactful as possible. They should be able to experience the entire game, so make the controls and mechanics as simple as possible.

Be healthy: Don't plan to stay up the whole time, and live off junk food. Treat it like an ideal work day. Eat healthy, get rest. Neither you or your game will benefit from burning yourself out.

One of todays actions was adding Post Processing. Before:

After:

Oh no! One of your coworkers has misplaced her feline compatriots! If you decide to go down the Receptionist route in 'Office Dating Simulator 2020,' you'll be tasked with finding and bringing these cats home.

This is only one task out of our 6 romance-able routes in the game (each with their own ending too!), so we hope you'll check the game out and discover a true office romance!

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/47/office-dating-simulator-2020

Introduction

Compositing a music for a Jam is not the same as compositing music when you have more than 72 hours.

That's why they are some technics and tips to produce a music in a short time.

Who I am ?

I am phd student in computer science but I love composing music in my free times. I have already composed music to @pndaa before the LD-47 Jam. Stand On Dignity Good Fighter Lost Goblins

And I composed a music for the game Lost Woods. Take a look and don't forget to rate and comment :)

To conclude, I am not a professional musician and my blog is for intermediate music compositer.

Tools

You could use the tool you want. But train you before the Jam of course. It could be a bit complicated to use interface.

Some tools free or not :

• LMMS(free)
• FL Studio (prices)
• Reaper (free or prices)
• LogicPro (prices)
• Protools (prices), ...

Personally, I use Reaper for more complex piece of music.

I recommend to take time to choose virtual instrument (vst, aax,etc,...) and test it. A lot of them are free. free vst

For free orchestral instruments I recommend : vsco-community or virtual playing orchestra.

You can buy vst if you prefere of course...

To Start

You should take a paper and a pen and write the emotion of the music and context.

For our game, Lost Woods : Because the story of the game is a little boy lost in the forest stuck in a time loop. He must find a way to break the loop but the forest is little scary for a child.

• I want a music that sound like "smooth" or dreamy. Because, the hero is a child.
• I want a music that sound a little scary. Not to much.
• I want a time sound. For the time loop counter...

After that, you could choose the kind of instrument. Because it's fantasy I prefer to use orchestral instruments (classic but efficient).

A select of small set of instrument :

• Violin Solo : For the melody. It's cliché but efficient. You don't compose a masterpiece, for this, you need more time.
• Violons : To repeat the melody but with more "space".
• Piano : Piano is a good choice for smooth and dreamy music.
• Harp : For me harp is a great instrument and he is associate with forest.
• Sound of mechanic toy : It's to remind the child. But, because of scary movies, it's sound a little creepy. I used it like a percussion.
• Sounf of clock : Just for the time loop counter. It gives an other ambiance. I have used it like a percussion too.

Now with the feeling of the music and the list of instruments, you could start to produce music.

Writing Music

Usually we start producing music by writing melody and make harmonization. Personnaly I use this method now because I am more familiar with it.

But it's a quite technical if you don't know music theory very well. And it could slowdown the process...

That's why, I advice you a different process...

Pattern : it's a small part of your composition with only music notes. You can duplicate it on the global music.

1. You should compose the accompaniment. (create pattern and duplicate it to create the base)
2. Compose the melody
3. Use the melody on different instruments
4. Create variations when you duplicate a pattern
5. Compose the rythm.

So, this process is not the only one and it's not the best. But it's efficient in term of times and results. A beginner or intermediate can use this method easily. Good enough for a LD Jam.

Conclusion

Music composition is not easy. But you can follow this method and try. Experiences give you a better result. Don't be afraid to compose. :)

I hope this article will help you ! If you want more articles or videos on the subject (composing music for jam),talk to me in comments :)

My soundcloud playlist LDJam

So they say a game is really fun to play if juicy enough, so in the post-jam version you can drink a lot of it!

Disclaimer: this is not an alcoholic beverage (at least not yet, a side effect on the gameplay is planned, along with maximum health points)

You can play the game here: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/47/ace-of-rope