Well, not really, but I'd forgotten how assignment vs copy works in Java so that caused a lot of headaches with entire naval fleets magically dying all at once... :thinking: :scream:

I've started this way too late (Sunday), but here was my thinking...

A small system of little worlds, where each world creates it's own procedural spacefleets. The ship designs are all procedural, always different... and their abilities too. Their abilities are balanced against others, so a fast ship may have a low hull, or a ship with a low turnspeed may have more firepower.

So far it works, but I don't have time to actually add the player in, nor even switch to the JAM as I'm working tomorrow... so I'll just upload it as a fun sandbox.

It's 11.30 on a work night so I have to accept defeat here.

Player facilities aren't in yet, so basically you watch some little worlds launching proceduraly designed fleets against other little worlds and taking them over.

I'll upload the Gradle sources before compo finishes and the Win/Mac/HTML bundled versions when time allows.

Hope you've all had a good one! :robot:

"... they drag me back in again!"

Back to LD after a long break. Using Unity3D, which I'll have to re-learn having used UnrealEngine for such a long time now. But Unity3D is still great for LD and, I feel, a little easier for others to just load up your game and get going.

• Unity3D (or possibly LibGDX)
• Cubase 9.5
• Photoshop

Woke up, read the theme and spent a good few minutes over coffee thinking about the theme. It's going to involve a monk in a Roman empire. As usual, I'll get carried away with the visuals and not spend enough time on the game itself. Oh Blender, why are you such a tease?!?!

Basic gist of the game is to convert towns, but be prepared to sacrifice a few followers to gain mana which can be used to cast more powerful spells.

Very slow progress at the moment, mostly because I can't remember how Unity/C# does derived classes...

Player is a pawn at the moment, both visually and metaphorically...

It's that part of LudumDare I so fondly relish. Where pressure builds and good standards just go to hell in a handbasket.

Every GIT commit simply says: "MORE UPDATES" :nerd:

... and DARNIT... make ALL THE VARIABLES PUBLIC!!! :biohazard: :oncomingpolicecar:

Well hurrah, the basic game kinda works. You can convert towns, and the soldiers try and take them back. However, the sacrifice bit still isn't in the game... which is kinda important. :wink:

https://youtu.be/oJefXEG01Hc

The game... has a name.

Here it is! Verily, I am exhausted. Time for a good snooze and look forward to playing through your awesome entries tomorrow! Goodnight all!

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/43/the-m-o-n-k

Here's a trailer video for my game "The MONK".

Playable here: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/43/the-m-o-n-k

https://youtu.be/37CjGNxjfRE

On the whole, the game turned out pretty well, particularly for the Compo time limit. As always, there's things I would change. However, I now think I'll develop this into a more complete title based on the feedback received, which is really exciting.

You can play M.O.N.K. here: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/43/the-m-o-n-k

So what went RIGHT?

• Asset usage and Simplification. Originally, the game was going to be in colour, with lots of buildings. I ended up just using the same asset rotated and scaled to create variety. Keeping it mostly monochrome I felt added to the atmosphere a little.
• Animation. This anim was the quickest to make, and I like it more than the others combined. :laughing:

So what went WRONG?

• Conveying the concept. It seems a few people misunderstood the core game, responsibility for which lies firmly with the developer, not the player. You gain MANA when your converted followers are killed. I could have easily solved the problem by giving NO mana for converting, then players would have understood this mechanic more clearly.
• Caves. These allow your player to hide from danger, but there were too many. It would have been better if new ones were revealed as a reward for converting towns.
• Rushing the end game. Gain enough MANA for spell 3 (Armageddon) and you win the level if you cast it next to the Fortress. However, there's a CAVE outside the Fortress, so there's absolutely no danger getting there.
• KNOW YOUR TOOLS. Having not used Unity for a long time, I had plenty of opportunity to get back up to speed. I wasted several hours trying to understand the Audio Mixer component and Audio Snapshots, before abandoning them entirely and going back to the simple AudioSource component scripting approach.

Conclusions

I'm sad I left it so long between this and my last LD (which was unfinished). Particularly because so much time was spent re-learning Unity and dealing with some of it's quirks.

I find that time pressures can really be beneficial and help developers and content creators simplify and concentrate more on the game.

And finally, I'll be back for the next Ludum Dare!

A sort of anti-Populous, where you gain mana from your followers sacrifice rather than their growth.

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/43/the-m-o-n-k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37CjGNxjfRE

Well, I got up at 2pm today and already off to a slow start. Have totally forgotten how UI/Canvas and 2D works in Unity3D. At least Aseprite still loves me...

This is a game about the frustrations of making a game from nothing in Ludum Dare.