First time writing a post mortem. Woohoo.
Before we start, have some pigs.
Times are noted from the start of LD. That means 0:00 would be 4am in my timezone, and 24:00 is 4am the next day.

~ PHASE 1 – THE IDEA ~
I woke up at 5:00 – 2 hours later than planned. What I thought to do is to look up the theme, then take a walk, play some games, relax a bit while thinking of ideas.
Sadly I had to go at 5:15 so everything was in a massive hurry. I managed to get my idea at 5:30 during a car drive – I arrived at 5:35, and finished the sketch at 5:45. So while I was not relaxed at all, I was able to come up with a nice idea.
What went right: Got my idea quickly…
What went wrong: …while being stressed as hell

~ PHASE 2 – THE CODE ~
5:50. I jumped on the closest PC, got Dropbox and grabbed all my stuff. I jumped instantly into it. It all went very well, though I encountered some really wierd glitches. (I should have saved them to showcase them here. Just imagine the ball goes apeshit and that’s about it)
The biggest timewaster happened to me at about 15:00. This is when I started to work on the lava.
Originally, I wanted to make the Lava Minecraft style, expanding block by block, getting quicker with every km (sidenote: km should actually be screens. Every screen is 1 km) you pass.

Dramatization. A death by lava is not that painful. After all, it's pretty quick and your brain is fried pretty early.

Sadly, for some reason, the collision code decided to be evil. The first time the lava source was created, every single tile would think it collides with something, even when it doesn’t – resulting in no spread at all.
The second time the source is created every tile would think it does not collide, resulting in lava flodding into the walls, and massive lag since it wouldn’t check if there is lava already.
At 19:00 I decided to screw it. I made an enourmous picture of lava, almost increasing the filesize 3-fold. It’s an ugly workaround, but it works.
Finally, I have finished the basic gameplay one minute before german midnight – 19:59.
What went right: Most stuff was pretty easy to code…
What went wrong: …and then there was lava

~ PHASE 3a: IMPROVING ~
The next morning, 27:00… switching on my computer. Checking the code.
What happened was the same thing that happened the last two times I participated at the LD:
“*stare* what the fuck did I write? I should use comments next time.”
First thing I did was implement scoring. For that I just counted how many screens you went right, how many you went down, and -pow- done. Then there were two nightmares at once.

~ PHASE 4: MUSIC ~
After the crimes against humanity which I call music in my previous two entires (#19, #20) it was easy to understand I tried my best. Sadly, I had to leave Ubuntu for it and boot into NightmareOS. You might know it under the name of “Windows Vista”. First thing I noticed is that the internet connection didn’t work again. My WLAN stick only works in one of ten cases when starting Vista, needing about 1 hour of fixing every time I want to play something on Steam. I didn’t have the time, so I just started pxtone and planned to save it on my disk instead of Dropboxm then copy it over.
Now, I was in pxtone and started throwing some note bars here and there. The result should never be mentioned again.
I spent half an hour just doing random stuff until I hit the effect window and heard a sound. THE sound. It was exactly the sound I wanted to do in sfxr later. Then then idea hit me like a train. After (ab)using pxtone to make my sounds, I left Windows behind, went into Ubuntu Studio where I used Hydrogen to make two drum loops, one fading in when you get closer to the lava. Huge success!
What went right: Everything!
What went wrong: Nothing! (except having to boot into Windows)

~ PHASE 3b: IMPROVING ~
Back into Ubuntu, I smacked the sound files into my project. It sounded wonderful.Next thing to do was more obstacles, as it was pretty repetitive. After looking at my code for obstacle generation, I knew this would be hell. Thus, I made a level editor. It is included in my source archive, already compiled, in the subfolder “editor”. It’s a bit hard to use though, as the black walls are hardcoded and there are no buttons. D/Right resets everything, S/Down removes blue walls under your cursor and A/Left will put the code into your clipboard to paste it into the game code.

Dramatization. The game is not as friendly as this screenshot suggests. It will eat you alive.

The last things I did was adding online highscore, adding a texture to the lava and a bit of a backdrop. Then I submitted that thing. Done!
What went right: Level Editor! Online Highscores! Had tons of time left after all that was done…
What went wrong: …but wasted it playing Hatsune Miku Project DIVA on my PSP. derp.

~ PHASE 5: POST-COMPO ~
I was flattered by the feedback. “Oooh this is a nice game! Sounds, music and everything!” – “Amazing, just amazing.” – “The most fun LD game I’ve tried so far.” First thing I did that morning was celebrate that occasion. By playing some more PSP. Then I went back to coding.
After the compo, it didn’t change much things. I added a glow to the lava, a preloader, and fixed a GFX glitch with the motion blur. Then I submitted the game to Newgrounds, where it had a “GREAT” entry rank and has a current score of 3.33. Weee!

And that concludes my tale of my third Ludum Dare, and I hope I will get even better by next time!
Although honestly, you know what makes everything better? Bacon. (I bet you thought I was going to say “taco”.)

This post has just been made better with bacon.

Thank you for reading!

Tags: postmortem

Ohai internets. How’s your coding life?

Well, it’s time for this again. After the results from last time (Innovation: Rank 37/599; Fun: Rank 66/599; Overall: Rank 93/599) I’m pretty motivated so, let’s see what kind of wierd stuff I come up with this LD.

My team is the same as last year:
– On the offense, ActionScript 3, FLEX and FlashPunk
– The middle row: GIMP, my crappy drawing tablet, pxTone and Hydrogen Drum Sequencer
– And in the back, to defend me from losing motivation: Chiptune, Vocaloid, orange juice and sandwiches

LET’S DO THIS

EDIT: Almost forgot the obligatory desk photo

It’s pretty tidy compared to my other LD desks (only useless thing on my desk I can spot is the package of Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA extend. Why do I even keep it on my desk), also dual monitor, for double work speed! Or working and distraction at once. Or double distraction.

Double Distraction it is.

Tags: deskphoto

>> LD23 edition
<< LD21 edition

So yeah, let’s have this post again because it’s quite fun.

My playlist did not really change much. The focus is still on Chiptune, some Game Soundtracks here and there (by the way, the Humble Indie Bundle 4 just added soundtracks of all the games. Spoilers: BIT.TRIP RUNNER soundtrack is amazing) and a bit of Vocaloid.

So what are you listening to?

First off, breakfast! Scrambled eggs, woo!

Then whiteboard! Horrible writing, woo!

Now, Git and code! Woo! https://github.com/Superyoshi/Ludum-Dare-22

So I was coding when suddenly my music player played one of my favorite songs, “End of Solitude” by Kagamine Rin. Have a look at this part of the lyrics…

Ah, a mirage at the end of this solitude
The moon that is blue is caught in the back of here
Ah, At the end of repeats, I can only see
I see, the moon is gently dreaming right now

Waste the property and then forget and leave
It disappears like that because it has no form

Now compare to my whiteboard ideas: http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/2011/12/17/here-we-go-again-9/
“Waste the property and then forget and leave” -> “upgrades by destroying”
“Ah, At the end of repeats, I can only see” -> “repeats”
“The moon that is blue is caught in the back of here” -> “goal: blue spheres”

I can’t tell if this is a coincidence or I subconsciously wrote that down. Well, while I’m at it, I might as well take more ideas. A game based on a song, woo!

Now I should really get going and add gameplay, also maybe optimize a bit…

…but there’s not really much going on here. Meh, here you have a screenie of the collectables.

It’s midnight, and about time I go sleep. I got the levels done, and the title screen too. Tomorrow: Ending, fancy graphics, music!

You can play what I have right now: https://github.com/Superyoshi/Ludum-Dare-22/blob/master/Main.swf?raw=true
(note the blue hole is there for debugging, you can still play – just don’t touch it)

I finished the levels, and now I’m working on the ending.

Spoilers: It won’t be as happy as it looks.

Next up is a bit of effects, then sounds and the *gulps* music…

There.

When your ship crashes on a lonely planet and your survive, you try to find others…

Left,Right / A,D: Move
Up / W: Jump
Down / S: Upgrade

Collect all blues to see another ending.

This was my fourth Ludum Dare – and I have to say, my worst yet.

In the other LDs, I had a lot of motivation. I liked my idea, and I worked on them until the last minute, putting details and fixes for insanely rare bugs in. Especially last time, where I couldn’t stop playing my own damn game sometimes.
This time? Nothing of that.

It’s not fun for me.

The last times, I always had great ideas. They jumped in my head and I instantly took them. This one was used because I had no other idea.
I wanted to go a lot farther when I discovered something, but I lacked motivation. In the end, this just ended up as in incredibly short 2D platformer.

Full postmortem and timelapse coming whenever I feel like it, I’m going to play Cave Story+ and Team Fortress 2 now~ :3

Weeeee

Tags: timelapse

This will be my 5th Ludum Dare, and I hope to be a successful as I was in LD #21, where I really liked the theme, got a great and simple idea and managed to finish 66th in the Fun category.

My weapons of choice:
– FlashPunk and FLEX
– GIMP
– sfxr, pxTone and Hydrogen Drum Sequencer

Let’s have another go at it!

Good morning, LDers! I just work up two hours ago, got an idea:

But sadly it took me an hour to tidy up my desk so I can actually do work. But I think the result looks good.

Now, let’s have a go at it!

Now Listening To: World’s End Dancehall – wowaka [Unhappy Refrain]

Tags: deskphoto, idea

I shall open the first day of coding with my favorite scrambled eggs on toast!

Also, I made a GUI mockup. I always do these not just for a first look, but also so I can choose an area and quickly get both the coordinates and sizes, which helps a lot when writing the drawing code.

Now Listening To: Strange Comfort – Bit Shifter [BIT.TRIP FLUX OST]

Tags: foodphoto, gui

<< LD22 edition
LD25 edition >>

It’s time for this again! What do you fabulous folks listen to to get you in the mood?

I’m still having my massive list of Game Soundtracks, Chiptune and other stuff, and recently I imported some stuff from Japan which is added to the list, too.
So yeah, just a wild mix of any genre possible, with a focus on Games and Chiptune.

Also, you might have noticed me adding these “Now Listening To” lines at the end of some of my posts. If you feel like it, join in, maybe we can afterwards make some kind of script to look though all posts for these lines and make a “Ludum Dare Playlist” or something. I don’t know if anyone would actually listen to it, but it would be interesting, at least.

So what are you listening to?

Now Listening To: Unhappy Refrain – wowaka [Unhappy Refrain]

I can pick up atoms in the queues now and drop them on the grid. Woo!

Now Listening To: Lullaby of Open Eyes – NicolArmarfi & CplCrud [Katawa Shoujo Enigmatic Box of Sound]

As in, you can click stuff.

By the way, all of these are valid combinations in the final game. Can you find out which color represent which number of binds?

Now Listening To: the Fate of Outcast – roriP

The atoms now have visible bindings! Place them next to each other, watch them combine at create wierd molecules – for science!

Want to give it a try? http://www.greencouchgames.net/games/ludum/023_tiny/21-04-12_12-24.swf
Space: Add Atoms into Queue
Mouse: Pick up atoms; Drop atoms; Bind atoms

Atoms will only bind once when you drop them, if you want multiple bidings click one of the atoms. You can do up to three bindings beetween the same atoms.

Now Listening To: Grey Zone Ni Te – wowaka [Unhappy Refrain]

Now you finally have some kind of goal!

If you finish a molecule, it will disappear and you will score. Create massive molecules and combos for massive points!
Also fixed some bugs where atoms of the grid would bind with those in the queue, and you could place them outside the grid.

Here you go: http://www.greencouchgames.net/games/ludum/023_tiny/21-04-12_13-27.swf
Space: Add Atoms into Queue
Mouse: Pick up atoms; Drop atoms; Bind atoms

Next update: GUI and losing conditions!

Now Listening To: Shining Ray – 164

Let’s do some science!

Now you can lose. This is endless mode, so you can play until both your queues are full – then the game fades to a game over screen where you can retry! Also, automatic atom dropping (it also becomes faster and faster)!

Play it: http://www.greencouchgames.net/games/ludum/023_tiny/21-04-12_14-55.swf
Pick up and drop atoms with mouseclicks. Do create multi bindings, click one of the atoms again.
Create molecules where no atom has any electrons left to make it disappear and score.
Protip: Don’t press Space. It’s a debug function I left in. ._.

Now I will be taking a break, then I’ll go get some graphics done.

Now Listening To: Rolling Girl – NicoNico Chorus