I am going to automatically downvote any theme that includes "is Key" out of principle, and I encourage everyone else to do the same.

We know it's key. It's the theme. Saying it's key is redundant.

It's like if you want the theme to include music and you suggest the theme, "Music is key and is very important and should be included".

Just say "Music". Simple, concise, effective.

Please, take the few moments to look over your themes, and if any of them include "is key", just delete that part. You're a programmer; you need to learn how to be concise. Start here.

I've started learning Godot, but with LD so close at hand, I'm not confident that I'll be comfortable using it after only two weeks working with it. So I will probably end up still using Unity for LD54.

Alternatively, I'm considering looking for another team to assist, preferably ones with some LD experience. My strengths are in music/sfx and game design (I'm only so-so on the implementation side). I was 2nd place in Audio on the LD45 compo, and have been 3rd place in Mood a few times. My highest Fun ranking was 7th (in LD47 compo).

I had such high hopes. There was only 182 left...

Not a complete redaction, but at least it's better:

https://blog.unity.com/news/open-letter-on-runtime-fee

tl;dr:

• Unity Personal will no longer require splash screen and can be used for up to $200k in revenue (up from $100k previously).
• Revenue share applies only after $1M in revenue over a year's time, and only on projects made with new version of Unity to be released in 2024; older versions will not be charged revenue share as long as it's still using the older version.

This will probably get swallowed up by all the LD54 posts, but "Foxcrate" (made from our LD53 entry of the same name) is now available on Steam!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2598050/Foxcrate/?curator_clanid=4777282

Shelter

Break the cycle...!

...Underground, Strange machines, Paths...

...Signal??

Folklore: Overgrown Sanctuary <-- Salvage

(Reflect: Locks and keys, Keep the light on)

Tiny Creatures, Limited space

...Absorb?

I've completed my compo entry, "Memory". There are a few bugs, but nothing game-breaking.

Choose which memories to save at each milestone of your life, and try to live a positive life overall.

Sorry to interrupt LD54 stuff with this, but this is (technically) LD-related:

Two days ago, I released an update to "Foxcrate", the Steam release of our LD53 entry of the same name. This added a new playable character named Noelle (and had some bug fixes).

I'm having a bit of trouble getting the game noticed however; it only has a handful of sales, and only two reviews (although both of them are positive). I'm trying to hit that magic number of 10 reviews where a game gets an overall rating, but it's been difficult. Hopefully with time.

I recently released "Foxcrate" to Steam, which was an update to our LD53 entry of the same name. Since then, I've updated a few times to fix bugs and add a new playable character (Noelle), with more updates along the way. I'm still having trouble getting the game noticed, although it's up to three reviews (all of which have been positive). If you take a look and it seems interesting, please consider playing it and leaving a review to help support further updates. :)

Today's the last day for getting Foxcrate 50% off on Steam's Autumn Sale! For those that don't know, this game was based on our LD53 entry of the same name.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2598050/Foxcrate/

It only has 4 reviews so far; I want to try and hit that magic number of 10 so that it can get an overall rating.

The Steam version of our LD53 entry, "Foxcrate", is for sale on the Steam Winter Sale! Since release, a bunch of additions have been made, including 3 additional main characters!

We're finding it very difficult to hit that 10 review mark, so if you do play it, please leave a review; it will be very much appreciated!

Foxcrate's steam release is being received positively, but is lagging a bit in reviews; it only has 8 so far, (just two off from that magic number that gives you an overall rating, if I understand it correctly). If you have tried it out, please consider leaving a review. Thanks!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2598050/Foxcrate/

I've done both, but I don't know what to do this time. Most of the time I do these solo, but I occasionally like to find someone to collaborate with.

Are there any teams out there that could use a musician/game designer? My specialty is music, especially dynamic music.

I teamed up with Kamiyoshi again (she did the art for our LD53 game, Foxcrate), and we made "Subpoena Magus"

Summon witnesses and evidence to a trial in progress!

The Good

• Art by Kamiyoshi once again! She previously did the art for our LD53 entry, "Foxcrate", which we later released on Steam as a full roguelike.
• All of the symbol-drawing stuff: the randomized symbols, the visual representations of them on both the court record and when drawing, the sound and visual effects... everything worked out perfectly.
• I did manage to include some dynamic music; we were running out of time, and I was worried I might have to just make a simple loop, but I had enough time to have extra tracks that play whenever evidence or a witness is present.

The Bad

• No real victory or failure screen, just a "Congratulations" or "Game Over" message. There was no time.
• Not much to actually do, other than wait to know which symbol to draw. These waits were also a bit too long; I should have at least made the time lingered on each dialogue bubble to be shorter.
• The HTML5 version is a bit buggy. Sometimes the sound breaks up, or the tracks get slightly out of sync. Most importantly though, the symbol drawing mechanic is supposed to put the mouse directly in the middle when you start drawing (to help prevent accidentally hitting symbols you didn't intend), but in the HTML5 version it doesn't do that.
• I originally made it easy to tweak a lot of the game values (such as the complexity of the symbols or how much time you have to draw them) for the purpose of making different difficulty levels, but ran out of time before they could be implemented.
• I'd like to have written longer music tracks; what we do have is very short.

Future?

• I unfortunately don't really see this as being a good game to expand; there just isn't enough places to go with the base mechanics of the game, so we're more likely to just keep working on more content for the Steam version of "Foxcrate" instead.

• Lots of ways to interpret "Avoid Text", from making a game that doesn't include any text in it, to literal avoidance of books or words
• Having a game that switches between two different genres (not combining them, just alternating), whether it happens once or continuously, could result in a lot of interesting types of games

I am going to automatically downvote any theme that includes “is Key” out of principle, and I encourage everyone else to do the same.

Whatever it is, we know it’s key. It’s the theme. Saying it’s key is redundant.

It’s like if you want the theme to include some element of timing, and you suggest the theme, “Timing is key and is very important and should be used”.

Just say “Timing”. Simple, concise, effective.

Please, take the few moments to look over your themes, and if either of them include “is key”, just delete that part.

You’re a programmer; you need to learn how to be concise.

Start here.

Although this might get swallowed up by LD theme suggestion posts, I wanted to let everyone know about a new series I started called "Dice Dev", where I'm learning Godot by rolling for random game elements and building a game based on what I rolled. There's also a link in the video description that takes you to a free download of the completed game.

(https://youtu.be/KpOqRzvo1Ic?si=Pf4vuTfEpEmJbYv-)

I've entered 30 Ludum Dares so far (my first was 24, I skipped 25-26, and have been part of every LD from 27 onward). The problem is, I recently started a YouTube series called Dice Dev, and I'm working on finishing up the 2nd episode currently. With how busy things are, I'm trying to decide if maybe 30 LD's are enough and I'm done with LD now, or if I should still try to enter another one.

Alternatively, if anyone needs a composer/game designer to join their team, I could still participate that way. (Preference to teams that have had some LD experience in the past.)