Hello everyone,
This’ll be my first time doing the LD. I’m really looking forward to it and hoping I’ll be able to make something cool or weird or new or complete !
Here are the tools I’m going to use:
Programming: HTML5/Javascript with my own framework, the {FM.js(engine);}.
Graphics: GIMP, Inkspace.
Sound and music: bfxr, inudge.net, Freesound.org.
Can’t wait.
Simon
Finally, after 48 hours of work I actually produced something (named Perspectives) and uploaded it on the LD’s web site.This was my first LD and my first time as a one man game developer! You can directly play the game from here.
Perspectives
I can’t say I’m happy with the game I’ve made but I’ve sure spent hell of a good time making it. While the theme did not appealed to me at first I insisted and created a consistent experience I think. I actually wanted the player to explore a world and discover how small it can feel when she has limited movement capabilities. I’m sure the intentions are not met by players since the execution is really shameful but as much unbelievable as it can seem I’m not too disappointed with the end result!
Here are the tools I have used:
I’m pretty satisfied with these tools but I’m still undecided whether to keep using Komodo Edit or to come back to Netbeans or Eclipse. Inkscape and GraphicsGale are really awesome, especially GraphicsGale, even for a beginner it’s very easy to create any animated (or not) sprites. I was really afraid by the idea of creating graphics since this is my first time but I actually liked it and think that this might be the best part of the game! (though I must admit it was not a hard thing to do since the rest of the game is poorly done). Still it’s ironic, I’m supposed to be a programmer and game designer for Christ sake ! I guess I like to learn new stuff, for instance I’m more into music recently, god knows why. Regarding the sound and music it was also pretty easy with bfxr and Otamata but I really could have spent at least one hour on it instead of rushing it in 15 minutes.
Overall, I am completely in love with my new set of tools and feel almost capable of doing anything right now (I name this feeling the post jam disorder).
In the end I believe that working alone in my living room have prevented me from getting motivated enough to achieve everything I wanted. Next time I would really love to work on my game with other Ludum Darers.
In regard of the game I believe that it lacks many things, especially a bigger world and a better level design. Once again I was too lazy to achieve the few modifications that could have improved the game significantly. Another thing is that I was more involved in the programming than in the design of the game. More specifically, the collision and integration of Ogmo Editor took me some time and in fact, I absolutely wanted to use and enhance my JavaScript engine whereas I could have used a typical Flash based game development library (Flixel, Flashpunk). My last game, created for the global game jam 2012, is similar in that regard. Next time I promise I will make a longer and more polished game by using a full featured engine (Construct2 or Unity) or a reliable game development library (Flixel or my thoroughly tested one !)
Anyway it was really great and I’ll make sure to do as many LD as I can.
Thanks for reading,
Simon
Hi everyone,
I found a pitch and started working on the prototype 4 hours ago. It was pretty hard to come up with an idea, the theme is so open. The real difficulty is that I always try to be minimalistic in the way I design games such that when the theme is precisely about minimalism I just feel that I should just make any game and design it the same way I always do.
In the end it helped me go further and reach the fundamental meaning of minimalism, what it really represents. A form of revolution, a way to represent only what needs to be represented, it’s a form of optimization. I tried to create a game where the player has to do exactly that. Hopefully, the intentions will be met!
Anyway I found something and I hope that I will have time to finish it, I’m afraid I’ll have to design a lot of levels whereas I’ve never been able to tell whether I liked that or not. Very few games have proved me that I was a good level designer, so let’s see what happen…
Here is a little screenshot of the soon to be working prototype.
Courage mes amis !
Simon
Hi fellow LD-ers,
I’m very pleased to be able to present you my game that you can play here (on Google Chrome though due to a minor temporary bug with FF).
I’m pretty confident that I’ll be able to complete the game and add the necessary tweaks and polish. I had a blast all day, as I said in an earlier post I’m doing the Ludum Dare with two friends glbs and Anna. Compared to last year where I was alone it is so much easier to get motivated and to work long hours. I think that my game alone is a proof of that, last year at the same time I had almost nothing. I’ll never do the Ludum Dare alone again, it’s so much cooler like this.
The game has changed a bit during development, it got simpler and interactions have already been modified a few times to be more intuitive. I still feel that something is not right but I’m too tired to even think about it. I’ll let you see for yourself. Do not hesitate to give me your feedback 
Enjoy!
Simon
Hello everyone,
So excited about this weekend ! I’ll be doing the Ludum Dare for the third time. First time on December though.
I’ll share a room with two friends but we plan on working separately on our own game. It worked pretty well last time.
Anyway, I’ll be using Unity and Monodevelop if I want to make something a bit complex, otherwise I’ll use my own JavaScript engine coupled with Netbeans.
For graphics I’ll mostly use Inkscape, GraphicsGale and Paint.net. Sounds will be a mix of LMMS and Bfxr.
Best of luck to you all!
Simon
Hi fellow Ludum Darers,
It’s already my fourth time participating and I’m still excited as this was the first time.
As always I will be sharing space, food and drinks with some friends doing the LD too. But we are all participating in the compo.
I will be using Inkscape, Paint.Net, The Gimp, LMMS and bfxr for art stuff. Depending on the game I wanna make I’ll choose between Unity3D or my own JavaScript engine: {FM.js(engine);}. I also often use Tiled Map Editor when doing JavaScript games. And of course all my code will be available on GitHub during and after the LD. I’ll also try and post stuff on my Twitter. If you wanna check the games I made for other LDs you can find them here or on my GitHub.
I wish you all a great LD, can’t wait to play your games!
Simon
This is it, on day passed, it’s almost 5am in France. Time to sleep a bit.
I managed to do most of the coding. Here is a little place holders filled screenshot. This a kind of top down shooter with a (I hope) a little twist beyond the obvious goal of the game
Hi everyone,
I’m joining the 31st Ludum Dare. It’s the 4th time in a row that I’m joining and the 6th time overall! It’s ridiculous how much I love doing the Ludum Dare. Sometimes I wonder why because I don’t think that I’m really good at making games in a short time frame but the pressure and motivation to actually make something good in 48h is so strong that I just can’t live without it. I live for the thrill. LOL, I’m kidding, in fact it’s because I get to spend the whole weekend with my friends. In the end it reminds me of the gaming weekends I used to spend with friends when I was a kid.
SO, yes, glbs, Anna and Marcellus will be there too and we’ll each be joining the compo.
We’ll probably be using an additional constraint such as a genre or a technical limitation as well as the theme of course. We feel like we could do better with stronger constraints
My choice of tools will include:
I wish you all the best of luck and hope we all make very cool games!
Simon
I put my game, The Rose Processor on itch.io.
Hello everyone, I rated a lot of games, couldn’t help it
Here are some of my favorite games so far:
Core by MrSun.
Screen Mover by Sh1rogane.
Pixel Trapper by Vanatoth.
Break The Limits! by Volute.
Rainbow Maze by FrozenCow.
A cool french blogger has written about my game, The Rose Processor : http://oujevipo.fr/general/3898-the-rose-processor/
Hi everyone,
Am I the only having a hard time finding Compo entries to rate?
On the main page of ratings: http://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-31/ there are always way more jam entries than compos. I don’t like rating jams, I don’t feel it’s the same competition and I often feel like it’s gonna change my expectations, like expect more from games that were actually made by one person. Anyway, my question is: is there anything that displays only compo/jam games? I kinda remember a time where it was possible but I might be mistaken…
Thanks!
Hello everyone!
If any of you uses OS/X or Linux I would be very happy if you could tell me if my game works on those OS: http://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-31/?action=preview&uid=9596
I never had a chance to actually test the builds I made for Linux and OS/X and maybe something is missing or I should give instructions or anything.
Thanks
Hi everyone,
Hope you enjoyed the great games made during this LD!
Here is mine updated so that the final form of the rose can actually be reached
See you in four months!
We agreed on an additional theme: a poem by Philippe Jaccottet.
I raised my eyes.
Behind the window,
amidst the light,
images anyhow pass.
Shuttles or angels of being,
they repair space.
My game: The Landscape Processor.
