I suppose I should mention the tools I’ll be using. It’s my first LD, and I’m not sure if I’ll be able to get something done on time, but it should be fun to try!
Tools:
Code: Flash Develop + AS3 + Flixel
Graphics: Photoshop
Sounds/Music: Sfxr, Audacity, Musagi or FL Studio
Just putting together a prototype to see if my first idea is any fun at all…
It’s very blocky at the moment… Sprites can come later. 
If it doesn’t work out… I have another idea! Or five.
My map editor is “complete”! I just wrote something that will take a small 20×15 image, and using the color of each pixel, create what I need. Right now I can only create red and blue blocks, but oh well. It’s much faster than writing my own map editor, I can just create levels in photoshop. (I’m using an idea from a previous project, but this time implemented directly in flash rather than PHP). If anyone is curious: http://pastebin.com/EQVU0Aga Very simple, but it will do for now.
Well, only an hour and a half in, and I’ve already scrapped my first idea. Decided that I don’t think I could come up with enough unique ideas for a puzzle game in a short period of time… Goodbye my blocks…
Next up… Something else with blocks. 😀 I’m afraid I’m going to spend the entire first 24 hours scrapping ideas partway through that I won’t get anything done. 
2.5 hours in and my second game prototype is scrapped. Except this one isn’t really scrapped, because I really like the idea. I just don’t think it would fit in well with a competition like this. Definitely going to work on it after the competition though.
Next idea is going to be a tower climbing. Might as well stick to the tried and true formula of entering a platformer.
So after a night of sleep, and some annoying interruptions, I’ve been back to work. I thought I’d update with some screens of the progress I’ve been making. I guess it’s a bit late to turn back now, so the likelihood of me scrapping this and starting over again is very low.
It started with no tiles, then simply creating the same set of tiles over and over, then creating from a set of 2 types, then a few more, then I added in an epilepsy background and alpha to test, and that was all last night. Then this morning I started by updating the graphics, and then by adding in slimes and diamonds.
Making great progress, but there is still so much more to do! Good thing there’s still another 30 hours or so left.
Well, I’m done. It was a long weekend, and I’m incredibly tired, but at least I can say I finished a game in 48 hours. Normally I go years without ever completing anything, so this feels good. And now I present to you, Diamond Hollow (submission coming very soon!):
#gallery-1 { margin: auto; } #gallery-1 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 33%; } #gallery-1 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-1 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */
So I decided to timelapse about 30 seconds before the competition started, so I wasn’t really prepared to do anything cool. However, the video turned out okay for being pretty basic. The beginning is kind of boring because I was working in photoshop on another monitor, which is the most interesting parts. Still interesting to see how the game progressed. I also have timelapse caps of my webcam the entire time, still debating whether I should show that one, lol.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydpMKrwKrUY
You can view the game here:
Been making more progress. It’s going really slow, but I am making some progress. I’ve gotten the upper left part mostly done. I can now start working on the upper right part. The amount of space I had for the map turned out to be smaller than I thought, but I should still be able to do it. I might be able to make it a bit taller, we’ll see…
Tags: codenameshadow
2This entry was posted on Saturday, August 20th, 2011 at 1:56 am and is filed under LD #21. 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.
I’m so close to giving up on this and going with a typical metroid clone… I just don’t know if this is going to be any fun at all, and I can’t seem to get anything to look good. But I guess I will trudge onward for now.
Tags: codenameshadow
Glissaria 2.0
So for the past couple of weeks I’ve been trying to find time to work on my Ludum Dare 21 entry (Glissaria) in order to improve it for a widespread release. I wasn’t able to put all that much time into it, and I’ve often been distracted as there are quite a few projects I am looking forward to working on, but I managed to greatly improve it.
The original release had all the basic elements of gameplay there, but unfortunately there wasn’t any balanced content to actually play. The game started off incredibly hard, and if you managed to survive long enough, took a turn to incredibly easy (and after a certain point it became impossible to lose). Mostly this stems from the fact that I chose to make a game in 48 hours that was way overscoped, which led to me spend every last minute working on features, and not have any time to playtest and balance.
But with the latest enhanced version, that has changed. There is now an 8 chapter story mode (with an in game tutorial to help ease up the learning curve), and an endless mode where you can try to survive as long as possible. There are also a set of achievements to give you something to work towards, even if you just want to play around. I’ve added new tower types, new gem types, new enemies, improved graphics, and a greatly improved user interface. I’ve also managed to improve a ton of small things that just made the game less fun than it could be.
Before release though, I would like to get one last round of feedback from anyone who has some spare time (which I know is hard to come by around here with all these games to judge!) I don’t plan on making any large scale changes, simply because I am transitioning what I am working on rather quickly, but anything you guys think of that could improve the game (especially around balance and bugs), please let me know, as I will take it into account for any last tweaks before release!
The improved interface and graphics
Thanks for your time! Click here to play the enhanced version of the game. If you want to play the original competition version of the game, view the competition entry page here. But as always, remember to vote based on the competition version.
12This entry was posted on Monday, September 5th, 2011 at 9:51 pm and is filed under LD #21. 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.
I’m in for my third Ludum Dare. The last two have been incredibly fun, so I don’t want to miss this one! For LD 20 my entry was Diamond Hollow and for LD21 I made Glissaria. Each time I’ve made sure to create a timelapse, and this one will be no different. However, I also plan to stream my progress live this time right over here. Also, I’ll keep updates on Twitter, so feel free to follow me if that’s your thing. And finally, I have a circle of LD people on g+, so add me there so I can stick you in my ever growing circle!
I’m going to stick to my strengths with pixel art and flash. Going to try to brush up on music this time, so I can at least have something listenable. I might try to find a music generation program simpler than Fruity Loops due to me being musically challenged. More formally, the tools I will be using are:
Programming: AS3 (Flash) via FlashBuilder (Eclipse)
Library: Modified Flixel (extra plugins such as a flixel bitmap font library, etc)
Graphics: Photoshop
Music: FruityLoops (unless I find something better)
Sounds: As3sfxr + Audacity
Other: Fast food, sleep, cats, alcohol
Last time I was overambitious, writing 3 games in 1, most of which I had no experience with. This time I’m going to play the safe route and make a platformer. It’s something I have experience with, is easier to make art for, and will hopefully mean I can create a full game in the alotted time. Let’s just hope the theme lends itself to a platformer. Also, if kittens wins I will cry because I can’t draw a cat to save my life.
One Of Two Partners In Crime
Good luck all. =]
Tags: as3, as3sfxr, audacity, cats, flash, flashbuilder, Flixel, fruityloops, photoshop
It’s been a few hours and I’ve been hard at work. Arzea went from being some art in photoshop to a working basic platformer. World building, running, jumping, collision, and casting a couple different spells is working so far. Currently it looks like:
Currently my biggest worry is not being able to finish it on time, and not being able to make the character not look so lame when he moves. Also I haven’t even begun thinking about HUD, menus, and the like. But I got a few more hours in me before I sleep I think. 
I’ll continue streaming all weekend while I’m not sleeping, so check it out at http://www.twitch.tv/iarkeus if that’s your kind of thing! Thanks!
Or more precisely, mid-afternoon. I didn’t get much sleep, but I’m ready to go. Also, my boxers have penguins on them so I’m pretty sure I can’t fail now.
Breakfast of champions:
And something more related to Arzea:
Continuing to make progress. I am almost to the part where you can play through the game start to “finish”. It still has no story, no menus, no HUD, no dying, and no last boss/ending yet… But we’re getting there! Not to mention the lack of sound, music, title screen, saving, loading, etc etc etc. I should probably shut up now or I’ll quit out of frustration that there’s not enough time to finish it all…
But here’s a bit of a different environment and a different spell, since I realized all the screenshots were of the grassy area and the fireball spell. I still need to fix the lava against the sides/corners!
This entry was posted on Sunday, December 18th, 2011 at 2:25 am and is filed under LD #22. 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.
I’m exhausted, but Arzea has been submitted. I’m planning to do a general writeup (including things like design decisions), a timelapse (soon!), and a full postem. Watch for those! 
Play or download the source here:
http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-22/?action=preview&uid=4155
Now I take some much needed rest and maybe see a movie or something.
So we’re slowly closing on the halfway point, and I feel far behind. But I’m making some progress. Got some enemies in, and most the spells work. Going to need to add lots of particle effects to make them great though. I really want to have randomized item and inventory, though I’m not sure if time will permit. I guess we’ll see how today goes!
