My first LD. I wasn’t sure if I could participate but there was a change of plans which means free weekend. Goal is to have something finished, even if it’s not the greatest thing out there. I’ll be using:

• LibGDX
• Eclipse
• Paint.net
• sfxr

I don’t have high hopes of getting my desired theme (Parallel Worlds), so these few hours of preparation that I have left I’ll use for thinking about what to do with other themes. I’ve set up a stream channel and might stream some of the process or just record it all to document as a timelapse. Since my artist isn’t available for the jam I’ll have to do compo with some crappy programmer art. Either way, success or failure, I’m positive that this’ll be a lot of fun! 😀

Been at it for 12h and my 8×8 pixel potato didn’t pass quality check because it looks like a slab of cheese! Other than that, player movement, level structure and collisions (mostly) done. Need to work on some enemies, items and scrolling “camera” system (half-done). I keep having problems focusing on one task. Jumping around working on various different things. I chose “minimalistic” art style with 8×8 sprites hoping it’d hide some of my crappy coder art and the game will be a generic platformer. Hoping to finish most of the major coding tasks today (2-4h more) or early tomorrow. After that, concentrating on making manu, adding levels and ironing out the details. First LD48 and I just hope I have enough time to finish this game in time.

12h status update screenshot

Thought I’d post a screenshot of our progress. There is basic platforming, one enemy type with basic AI and two abilities for the player character (to stun enemies and then devour them to absorb their abilities).

Now, back to work!

“Otherworld” was our second attempt at LD since the first time(LD29) we were not able to complete our entry, but this time we were successful! Unfortunately the scope of the project was too large and complicated to complete in 72 hours, so there was very little time to balance the game and the difficulty is quite high. But if you like 2D side scroller shooter, do give it a go and rate it!

An evil presence lingers in the forest your tribe calls home. As a shaman, you are able to travel between the connected worlds of the living and the dead and cleanse the forest of the evil within. However, make sure you guard your body well, else you might find yourself trapped in the spirit world for eternity.

What went right:

• We finished the game, yay!
• Despite time constraints we managed to put in the core mechanics and features that we had planned from the start, though it would have been great if we had the time to balance and polish them as well.
• Pretty happy with the visuals and how they came together.

What went wrong:

Time management was our biggest issue and many problems derived from it:

• We wanted to have one full day reserved for play testing, balancing and polishing the game, but ended up having the build ready only a few minutes before deadline.

• Difficulty is too high and it’s hard to even beat the first phase. There’s some bugs and the game lacks polish.

• No time to ease the player into the game, making them understand the controls and objectives of the game.

Overall it was a very positive learning experience and we had a lot of fun doing it, despite the lack of sleep. We might tweak the build at a later time, balance the gameplay and fix bugs.

Team Cosy Cave:

Programming: Anssi Lappalainen / Art: Catarina Sarmento

Tags: LD30, postmortem