Tags: final round, LD28, voting

Being on GMT +1 means seeing the theme later then everyone else*. So I wake up, make myself some coffee and check the theme.

You only get one.

It takes me some time to recover. “That’s not a theme, ” I shout** “That’s a mechanic!”. It’s just like last time, with those ten seconds! Darn it all to heck!

One espresso later, I sit back and think again. What did I do last time? I took the theme and had an enormous amount of fun with it. I scroll through the posts of people’s progress and feel the usual mix of admiration and stomach-churning jealousy. They already got awesome graphics. Someone made a chicken with a gun. People are creating awesome games and having fun!

Having fun. I had a great time last LD. And the one before that. I took the theme and rolled with it and had an awesome weekend where I created something I am really proud of. And that’s just it. Who cares if the theme is a theme or not. Who cares if it’s cool or whatever? Just have fun.

So off to Joror’s I go for a weekend of awesome game creation! I leave everyone with a motivational picture of a penguin!

*Alright, not necessarily, but I like to at least pretend I have a normal sleep-rythm before LD starts. 

** Slight dramatization. Didn’t shout. It’s earlyon a Saturday and I don’t want to bother the neighbours.

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 14th, 2013 at 12:48 am and is filed under LD #28. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Two hours in and I haven’t touched started Ren’Py yet. This is a good thing, I think. I’ve planned things out, how I want them to work. Assigned priority to the different things I want to do. Still not feeling a 100% in control, but I will quote Mario Andretti on this one:

If you’re feeling in control, you’re not going fast enough.

The game is pretty much going to be set in a GrimDark future where the player is an assassin dropped deep behind enemy lines, sent to take out the most vital part of the enemy’s command structure: the Emperor General. The catch? It’s so hard to get behind enemy lines, you only get one piece of equipment to bring with you. The rest you will have to acquire on site.

I will leave you with a screenshot of my beautiful Trello board and a youtube link to the music that’s helping me create.

TRELLO:

MUSIC:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsRUE_tzHjo

Tags: design, LD28, music, Ren'Py, trello

Right, progress to report! I am pleased.

The game is pretty much about a Space Assassin sent to end the war for the greater glory of Empire Earth. You only get to bring one piece of kit with you, though. Will it be a knife, or a stealth cloak? Or maybe you’d prefer a pack of cigarettes?

So far I have the introduction, the main planning screen, an inventory system, stats as well as imagemaps generated from dictionaries.

I am very pleased with Ren’pys screen language. It is awesome.

Right. New attempt at posting screenshots:

Title screen

You only get one

Main planning screen

Tags: LD #28, LD28, progress, Ren'Py

Good morning from GMT+1!

After waking up after seven hours of sleep (I believe it’s important to get some rest) had some breakfast with Joror, who described it better than I did:

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/2013/12/15/gooood-morning-viet-uhm-ludum-darians/

Looked back at what I did. Mostly mechanics and layout. Decided to make a little animated gif to give you guys a peak at the (placeholder) intro. Couldn’t help but reference W40K.
(EDIT: Apparently uploading animated gifs to WordPress is Not Cool. Right, imgur to the rescue!)

Right. I have too much things to do. There´s a few layout issues I need to tackle. After that it´s content, content, content! Both writing, icons and music. Gah.

Right, werkze!

No time for a big update, so just a screenshot!

The dreaded Imperial Penguin Guards!

Tags: LD28, penguins, Ren'Py

Dear god, that was grueling. But the game is finished!

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-28/?action=preview&uid=20442

I am pleased that I have:

-Finished the game

-Added music to the game

-Checked if the game can actually be finished.

-Learned a lot about Ren’Py screen language.

-Some pretty cool graphics.

I am not pleased that I have:

-No sound effects.

-A lot of pictures which I did not used.

-Had no time for quality control. Again.

Right. It’s 5 AM. Time for some sleep!  I’ll leave you with a screenshot:

Due to family obligations I am only joining this dare now!  This is going to be an awesome mini-dare, time to get creative!

Insert inspirational quote:

If you always put limit on everything you do, physical or anything else. It will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them.

-Bruce Lee

Tags: bruce lee, ld29, mini-dare, t-minus 14

I managed to combine Nuclear Submarines (Valiant class) and After Eights in my game. These were fourteen hours well spent.

Right, back to the end stretch!

Phew! Very relieved I made it in 14 hours. It was totally crazy.

Game can be found here.

Some things I noticed are written down below, but first some screenshots!

• A lot of activity happens in the first eight hours. I am amazed at the amount of stuff I managed to do when compared to when I have two full days. I’m guessing that there’s just a lot of activity in the beginning and a lot of the effort in the ‘normal’, later days are spread out over more time.
• Ren’Py styling is awesome.
• Ren’Py screen-language is awesome.
• Ren’Py animation-language is awesome.
• Also regarding Ren’Py: if you put an init python block somwhere it doesn’t matter where, it just goes off. This explains why your custom end-of-game main menu screen ends up in the build. *grumbl*
• I read quite a bit of submarine stories. Also on why and how they malfunction. Nuclear submarines are cool but also a bit scary.
• I need to follow some tutorials on photo-manipulation with GIMP so I know what I’m doing better.
• I need to follow some tutorials on FL Studio.

But most importantly:

• I love making games and I love LD48 for pushing me to make games every single time.

That’s it. Off to bed.

Competing in the Mini Ludum Dare #53 this year. Daan and I decided to work together on this one, keeping to Jam rules in Compo time.

Check out his first post here! It includes sketches and pictures of sandwiches!

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/2014/07/19/minild53-team-joda-kicks-off/

Tags: mld53

Just a quick report. Despite almost melting, we are still creating a game! We took a quick break next to the Spaarne, which kept us from melting. I don’t mind the heat, but trying to work in it is really taxing!

So far working together is turning out to be fun, but it does require a lot of communication! I can’t wait to see the moment where our work comes together and turns into a game!

I’ll leave you with a quick screenshot of the story in progress.

Tags: mld53, progress

Some progress to report:

• Simulation of world powers is running.  Needs some tweaking and initial values, but it runs. Excellent work by Daan.
• Graphical representation of the state of the world with regards to the largest powers (Russia, China, Europe and America) works and is a surprising amount of fun.
• Main storyline is written except for the endings.
• Story events and outcomes written. Needs tweaking after being run through the simulator.
• Some simulation events written.
• Graphical interface to show event-outcomes still needs to be done. Fingers crossed!
• Ctulhu is surprisingly cute.
• It is a lot cooler today. Thank god. Back to work!

Maps! Controlled countries!

Tags: miniLD53, mld53, progress

Woke up over here in Holland, drove over to my buddy Jorror and brought some breakfast. I am so in!

Love the theme (all the themes, really!) this time around and got rather inspired. Worked out several theme ideas and tried writing them down and now I have to decide!

Here’s how I organize my thoughts.

Right, back to work!

Oh, I’ll be working with Ren’py, Paint.net, FL Studio, Inkscape, Notepad and the camera on my new S4.

I hope everyone has a great time and enjoys the thrills of Ludum Dare!

Tags: design, LD30, Ren'Py, thoughts

So, got some progress. My letter-writing simulator is moving along slowly but surely. In this game, the hero desperately tries to keep his girlfriend who immigrated to Mars. In the background there’s an independence war, a lonely Christmas and a douchebag called Ron.

The letter-writing interface:

Tags: LD30, letters, mars, Ren'Py

Beer and carbs, it’s what’s for dinner!

So far so good, pretty pleased with limiting myself to realistic ideas and game mechanics. Feeling a little worried about the actual ‘fun’ presented in the game, but we’ll just have to see!

Dev on!

Tags: dinner, food, LD30, Ren'Py

Heya,

If you’re like me and you’re running around like an idiot recording messages with your phone you might want to edit them a little bit. There’s a neat little site that can help:

http://mp3cut.net/

Just thought I’d leave this here for those who want it.

Tags: LD30, mp3, sfx

I love Ludum Dare. I have just made a swimlane chart with three columns named time, relationship and politics to get a handle on my storyline. I just finished creating the fictional /r/mars in my game and I am legitimately using the term ‘Snugglebuns’ in the introduction.

This is awesome. Also, I should be tired but am not.

Good morning everyone! Second day and getting psyched at seeing what I managed to do yesterday! Also dealing with some of the wreckage of stupid late-night decisions, but that’s nothing new for my Sunday mornings :).

Tags: breakfast, LD30

Got my starting screen. This always makes me happy :). Yay for crappy Paint.Net skills!

Tags: LD30, Ren'Py, starting screen