I’ll make making something for Ludum Dare! I’ve been meaning to for long enough so might as well get around to it.
I’ll be using Flixel to make the game, sfxr for sound effects, Chronolaspe to make a timelaspe video and coffee to get it all done in time.
So this game is going to be a simple platformer rougelie thing where you have to dive (dig?) down. I’ve made some caves using perlin noise. I’m going to run out of time probably.
No screenshot, just telling the void that I’ve got a moving player character now. Still can’t make them not spawn into solid rock right now however. Will need to dig out a little room for them and then give the player the ability to mine.
Poorly hacked player mining into something that vaugly works. Time for cake. Also, I should be twittering as I go but I forgot. Sorry.
It’s pretty much a real game now! It’s turned into an action packed digging cave thing.
You now have enemies that chase you down when you steal a gem. The more gems you steal, the more enemies that spawn. You can bank the points from gems and kill all the enemies by taking the gems to your start point and you get more points the more gems you hand in at once. Which means that there is a nice little risk reward mechanic in there.
I’d like to throw them roguelike elements into the mix if I have the time. Maybe you can find stairs that you can take to get to new levels to find more gems? Maybe allow the player to buy things if they find some stairs?
I now have a title screen! Also, I’ve improved the enemy spawn code so that they appear at a random point that is 200 pixels away from you. Which means that it’s a lot easier for them to surround you. Always fun.
Who wouldn’t want better ghost stunning?
It’s a pretty bad ending, but it’s something at least. If you clear 7 levels, then you get a whole sentence telling you that you are great.
The ghosts are now animated! 
I’ve added sound, added a new enemy (a floating eye that can travel through walls and fires webs at you to slow you down and block your path. In other words, the total opposite of the ghost which chases you down and tears apart any walls in it’s way) It might make more sense as a spider, I’ll redo the graphics if I have time) and a general polish.
It’s currently 2 in the morning and I’m not sure if I should crack open another Relentless and crack on or get some sleep.
I’ve just replaced the green square player character with an animated green guy. It’s a terrible sprite but I can do a better one tomorrow after a good nights sleep.
Right, I now what I’m doing now instead of making random changes to the code. I just dare not look at the code I have produced in my sleep deprived state!
I’m going to change the way player digging works so that you can dig by bumping into the terrain and I will also improve the way the ghost stunner handles. Then I’ll add random items to the shop. I think I might also change the player characteer back into a green square. My attempt at spriting was terrible. :/
I’ve changed the level flow a bit. Before you could keep getting gems after you unlocked the stairs, allowing a decent player to keep farming the same level for ages, which isn’t what I want to encourage because it’s dull. So now I’ve changes things up a bit. When you get enough gems to clear the level, all the remaining gems are turned into gold, which gives the player an instant cash boost when collected! However, unlike gems you cannot take them back to the portal to exocise the ghosts, so you have to balance the extra income with the need to flee before you are killed by the ghosts.
I’ve also updated the shop.
Right, I’ve just polished it a bit and entered it into the compo! I just needed need change some text sizes and that. It could do with a bit more work but I’ve running out of time, I’m going home for Xmas tomorrow and have got to pack up my stuff and that.
I’ll see if I can crank out an update or two. Maybe I’ll add a boss enemy for the final level or something. I’m allowed to add to my entry before time runs out right?
8 hours left and Ive just started on this guy who should be the last big thing I add.
I hope I’ve not made it too hard.
The end of game boss now works! Just a few graphical bits to add now.
Ok, it’s done. I’ll use my last 4 hour to give it a bit of a bug test and then release the finished copy.
I’ve finished my action rougelike thing! 😀 It’s a Flash game so it should be cross-platform already (barring issues with other browsers which I haven’t tested at all)