Hey guys, I’m in for my first ever Ludum Dare and, for that matter, the first game I’m (hopefully) going to finish.

I have started many projects in the past, but lost interest after a week or two. This time, however, my attention span will probably last long enough.

I’m using GML for coding, not really into better languages yet, and Paint.net for art, which will be 16 or 8 bit, not sure yet. Sounds are still uncertain, but will be declared later.

Wow, a day in and I have actually accomplished something, even though I was gone for half the day..

. is the name of the game. Enlarging kind of ruined the pic, but it’s the best I care to do at this time…

To do list: Make enemies do something & design the wave defense part & implement currency and a shop and maybe a highscore page & animations and music if I get to it

Screenshots:

Wow, this game was a lot of fun for me to make. It was the first game I ever finished, so even though it may seem a bit simple, I’m actually proud of myself. There were some difficulty’s and some smooth roads though, and some features were left out.

Things that went good:

– From the start, I had an idea and stuck with it

-The game works as intended for the most part

-I finished it within my own expected time limit

– I learned a lot not only about using GML and game maker, but also about programming and solving problems you encounter whilst doing it

– I ‘competed’ with a friend of mine, with us updating each other on our games during the entire compo, which was a lot of fun

Things I regret / did not go as planned:

– I wasn’t able to do that much on the saturday, only 4 hours of work

-This resulted in me having to scrap animations and music as the core game takes priority

-I had to take out an element of Tower Defense I had planned, resulting in the game not only being too hard, but also less fun

-There are still a couple of glitches here and there that could have been fixed easily, but in all of my stupidity I entered the game without playtesting it a last time

So for the next LD, I will have learned a lot and, hopefully, I will have more time to create my game. Now all I have to do is play other peoples games, most of which are far better than my accomplishment, and hope my game will be played.

Second Ludum Dare, unlike the first time around I’ll actually pay attention to ‘better’ graphics, at least less low res.

Also I’ll rate more other games so more people will see mine and I actually get a rating this time.

Tools:

Gamemaker 8 pro(Language = GML)

Paint.net

Not sure what I’ll use for music and sound effects yet

I hate work, only just had time to work on the game. Advantage: I had all the time in the world to think of something to work on :). So my game idea is a bullet hell/scrolling shooter kind of thing with several choices and evolutionary paths to take from singulary cell, striving for survival, to sentient being. I’ve sprited and animated the first level as well as coding most of the engine concerning the character and shooting.

Will post a first impression when the enemy’s and first boss work and interact with the PC.

Well, off for food for now, looking forward to continuing ^^

So, in the final 10 hour home stretch, most of my code is completed, my music created and my animations done, even though they are dull. I’ve ultimately decided to create a scrolling shooter, in whith you can choose to be either an animal, a plant or bacterial. You start out as a basic cell but get upgrades and must destroy the first multiple-cell life form, to achieve evolution. I wanted to make the game large but as this is the LD, only one stage containing 3-5 levels will suffice. It’s going to be repetitive, as there are only 3 enemies, but I’ll do my best to keep it interesting.

Well, that was easier than last time. I decided, ultimately, not to include the music as it becomes very repetitive and grates the ears. Finished it all in a total of 16 hours, so the result I’ve managed is ok enough in my opinion. The rest about it is in the description, so please, give it a go and please rate fairly(i.e. please no ‘THIS GAME SUCKS CUZ GRAPHICS AND NO MUSIC : I RATE 0/>9000) and constructive critisism is always welcome, gameplay wise that is.