Well, that was a marathon, especially for an old guy like me. I’m frankly amazed how much can get done in 48 hours, particularly during those hours when there are no distractions.

You can play the game on the web (if you have Java) here:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1930531/LD19/eureka/index.html

Windows:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1930531/LD19/eureka/eureka.windows.zip

Mac:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1930531/LD19/eureka/eureka.osx.zip

Linux:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1930531/LD19/eureka/eureka.linux.zip

This is what it looks like.

The end game is fairly close to what I imagined, although it really could do with a lot of polish and balancing. Given that it’s a typing game, I don’t think it’s going to see a port to a phone any time soon, although it’d probably work on a larger tablet or an iPad.

Finally, I would like to thank my wife and daughter for putting up with me, because I haven’t been able to give them much attention, other than the occasional, “please play-test my game!” Tomorrow (or is it today?) I have a day off, and if the weather permits, we’re all going to get out of the house and spend some quality family time together.

I’m in, thanks to my lovely wife of a gazillion years who suggested that I enter and make her proud.

Tools and libraries are likely to consist of:

• Eclipse: http://www.eclipse.org/
• libgdx: http://code.google.com/p/libgdx/
• Artemis: http://gamadu.com/artemis/
• Paint.NET: http://www.getpaint.net/
• Bfxr: http://www.bfxr.net/

…and the most important tools of all,  an A5 notebook, pen and a large helping of obstinacy.

As for the title of this post, I should explain that I’m almost certainly using an Entity System and I’m just reminding myself not to put any logic in the components. Heck, my first job was as a FORTRAN 77 programmer so if I could handle COMMON blocks then I’m sure that I can make my components dumb.

Best of luck to everyone who enters. I’m looking  forward to playing your crazy, inventive, out-there interpretations of whatever theme is announced.

I have two ideas. The first idea is something to do with being inside the bloodstream and defending it from viruses, and the second is more of a management game that would make NimbleBit proud.

The second idea is the more interesting of the two, but I think the first idea is more achievable in the timeframe.

The next hour is critical. If I can get the core mechanic of the management game working on paper or in Excel then I’ll do it. If not, then I fall back to the bloodstream game.

Nouns and Verbs

I’m interpreting the Tiny World theme to mean running a micro-brewery. This picture shows all of the nouns and verbs that will be in the game. Now to make it happen.

Did someone forget to clear up the bullets after a collision. Who knew that they’d act like a fluid.

Too Many Bullets

Tiny Territories has been uploaded. It’s nowhere near done, but you can probably see where I’m going with it.

Now off to the tiny world of bed to get some much-needed, well-earned sleep.

At the end of day one I really don’t have much evolution going on, but I do have a nice diffusion grid. Intrigued? See this paper for more details.

And there you have it. RogueOut is done, at least as much as it is going to be. I had hoped to give it more Rogue-like features, with your character levelling up, using their better weapons and skills to defeat harder monsters, but that’s probably a game for a week-long competition. But the game is certainly very playable and has a feeling of completeness about it. I think this is mostly because I took my wife’s advice and kept myself focused on the features that I’d written down on paper, rather than disappearing down rabbit holes of “wouldn’t it be cool if…”

Enjoy the minimalism of the ASCII graphics and hi-tech, sampled sound.

RogueOut

Thanks to the awesome cross platform power of libgdx, my game RogueOut, the unholy offspring of Rogue and Breakout now has a web port and Android port.

The web port is here. It runs well on the latest versions of Firefox and Chrome.

The Android port is here. It’s a bit rough and ready, but it works.

RogueOut

Tools

To cut a long story short, for this Ludum Dare I shall be using:

• Unity
• C#
• Visual Studio Express 2013 for Desktop (it’s free, and works well with Unity)
• Paint.NET
• Audacity
• bxfr
• Abundant Music

Why Unity?

I’ve entered Ludum Dare a few times and have for the most part used Java and libgdx. I’m very fond of libgdx, as I’ve seen it grow from a small, well-designed Android toolkit into the cross-platform wonder that it is today. The reason that I like it is that it is a toolkit, not a game engine.

“But, Rod, if you like libgdx so much, why are you using Unity this time?” I can hear you asking. Here’s why…

For several years my wife has been patiently pointing out that there are a lot of Ludum Dare entries that start from a higher position because most people would rather make games in 48 hours rather than spending most of that time reinventing the wheel. And I’ve been equally patiently promising that one day I would develop a toolkit based on libgdx and use it for Ludum Dare.

But at some point after #ld28, when I was up to my eyeballs with a work project, my wife persuaded me to look for alternatives. This culminated in a strange weekend in which we sat down together and wrote a Flappy Bird clone using GameMaker Studio. We finished it, and it was eminently playable. I couldn’t deny that GameMaker Studio handled most of the boilerplate that I would have otherwise reinvented. In fact, I could definitely see the attraction and in a slightly more sleep-deprived moment considered the possibility of writing something similar on top of libgdx.

So, did I decide GameMaker Studio was the greatest thing since sliced bread? No, not quite. Even with such a small project, I found myself bumping up against annoyances, asking questions such as, “Why did they stop there? Why not expose that in an inspector like Unity does?” I hadn’t touched Unity for a few years, but I’d heard good things about the 2D in the latest version and decided to give it a try with the same Flappy Bird clone. The results more than surpassed my expectations, not least because I ended up with something that I could play on my phone. Besides, I got to write some C#, which I hadn’t done for a while.

And that’s why I will be using Unity.

The generation game

My daughter entered #ld28. She says she is entering #ld29 too, although she has to cope with the additional demands of homework and constraints imposed by evil parents who don’t let her stay up all night. I suspect that she’ll be using Scratch and will be taking over my main development PC while I’ll be relegated to a venerable laptop, a pair of headphones and Google Play Music to keep me sane.

I’m in for the 48 hour compo, as is my daughter. As ever, I can’t wait to see what she comes up with as she has far more imagination than I do.

Here are the tools that I plan to use:

• Programming: JavaScript, Phaser
• IDE: WebStorm
• Graphics: paint.net
• Sound: bfxr, Pulseboy, Abundant Music
• Level Design: tiled (if necessary)

I am really looking forward to this, and I’m rather glad that it’s a public holiday on Monday otherwise I’d be getting up before 6am to go to work about 4 hours after the competition closes. I’m old and I need my sleep.

It’s pretty much the end of day 1. I’ve gone for a 4 colour theme, somewhat off the back of #gbjam which I never quite got around to entering. What do I have so far? A flying saucer with a tractor beam, lots of pigs, some crates and some parallax scrolling.

Intrigued? Wondering why it’s called “Bacon Installer”? Concerned that old age is finally catching up with me and that I’ve lost the plot? Tune in again tomorrow to find out.

Out of the 101 games I played so far, 15 stand out. Click on the pictures to try the games.

1. Heart Star (AdventureIslands)

What it is: Retro, balanced, polished and complete with fantastic pixel graphics and short, compelling puzzles.

Why I like it: There is something nostalgic about it.

This is the one game I saw which could be sellable as is.

Heart Star (AdventureIslands)

2. Planetary Marriage Counseling (WeaselZone)

What it is: A hilarious game where you and your spouse are chained together and go on dates.   Works well as a two player co-op game.

Why I like it: It’s fun even when things are going wrong. Epic when things are going right.

It made me divorce my wife over and over again….for the fun of it.

Planetary Marriage Counseling (WeaselZone)

3. Dino Bolt (GeorgeBroussard)

What it is: An endless runner where dinosaurs are escaping a zoo helicopter.

Why I like it: It is fun and addictive. It shows you don’t need a complex idea to make a great game.

I lost time playing it.

Dino Bolt (GeorgeBroussard)

4. Mammoth Monkey Mole (ehtd)

What it is: A puzzler where different creatures have different abilities.

Why I like it: The sounds are hilarious and the puzzles have a good learning curve where you never feel it is too difficult.

You get to play a mammoth, a monkey and a mole. Need I say more.

Mammoth Monkey Mole (ehtd)

5. Hop Hop Planet (SnoutUp)

What it is: A 2-d take on Super Mario Galaxy.

Why I like it: It has great look, with lots of variety and a good replay factor.

All the things that can kill you look friendly, but looks can be deceiving.

Hop Hop Planet (SnoutUp)

6. Space Breakers (DJWizardCop)

What it is: Breakout with a Space Invader twist.

Why I like it: My wife will kill me if I don’t.

My wife wouldn’t give the keyboard back and she did the same when my daughter was rating it.   In fact she is probably still playing it now (I’m hungry – she hasn’t fed me this week).

Space Breakers (DJWizardCop)

7. Red Thread (NickZangus)

What it is: Two linked characters have to negotiate obstacles to reach each other.

Why I like it: The looks that the characters give each other when they die – it’s those little attentions to detail and some wicked, mean puzzles that make this game.

It’s cute and deadly.

Red Thread (NickZangus)

8. Galactic Bonding (alvarop)

What it is: You are a baby planet copying your dad planet’s facial expressions.

Why I like it: It’s short, hilarious and could be played by a toddler.

My daughter (not a toddler) keeps following me around trying to copy my facial expressions.

Galactic Bonding (alvarop)

9. Stanley Squeaks and the Emerald Burrito (Two Scoop Games)

What it is: A puzzle platformer where you play a hungry hamster.

Why I like it:  Cute as hell, and a great game mechanic.

I kept killing the hamster just to hear its death scream.

Stanley Squeaks and the Emerald Burrito (Two Scoop Games)

10. Lethal Reflection (Steve)

What it is: Geometry Wars.

Why I like it: Geometry Wars.

By the guy who wrote Geometry Wars. Need I say more.

Lethal Reflection (Steve)

11. Space Train (SupSuper)

What it is: Snake on a train…. in space.

Why I like it: Quirky and amusing.  It’s fun, but you really don’t care that it’s difficult.

I wore my train driver’s outfit while I played.

Space Train (SupSuper)

12. Burger Beat (TrickFishPie)

What it is: A running game where you bash the keyboard to operate your runner.

Why I like it: It is so bizarre that you have to admire the mind that created it.

Is it wrong that I find it hilariously funny when your man fails to jump a hurdle?

Burger Beat (TrickFishPie)

13. Orange (JaJ)

What it is: A moral tale in a Zelda-esque world.

Why I like it: The use of colour is good.  It does not feel worthy despite the subject matter.

A thoughtful idea, burdened by an overly long maze.

Orange (JaJ)

14. PRISM (rantt)

What it is: A puzzle platformer where they keep changing the rules.

Why I like it: There is a heavy emphasis on the puzzles themselves, not the packaging (which is not missed).

When I first saw it, I thought “not another of these…” but its strength lies in its puzzles.

PRISM (rantt)

15. Savior: Saver of Souls (John Drury)

What it is: Like Super Crate Box with rising lava.

Why I like it: Fast paced, short, and a classic example of the genre.

If only I was as good at this game as I was at killing time with it.

Savior: Saver of Souls (John Drury)

Tags: best, LD30, picks, reviews, top

It had to be done. Snowman. Actually, I’m fairly happy with all of the themes, except for deja vu as I think I’ve seen that already.

I’m in. Again. My daughter won’t be taking part this time, as she has a trampolining competition. But on the plus side, perhaps I’ll get to use my main PC rather than the laptop.

This time I’ll be using:

• Unity 4.6 – game engine
• Visual Studio 2013 Community Edition – IDE
• Paint.NET – for dodgy programmer art
•  Audacity and bfxr – sound effects (stand by for recordings of the cat)
• BeepBox – music (don’t expect Handel)
• git – because you’d be daft not to

I would also like to declare some base code. It’s nothing more than a fusion of a hierarchical state machine with Unity 4.6’s new event system, but it means that I don’t have to start bolting a menu system onto the game once it’s done.

Of course I’m in. When am I not?

Tools:

• IDE: Visual Studio Community 2013 + Visual Studio Tools for Unity
• Engine: Unity (I may used my dirt simple tiled loader if necessary)
• Language: C#
• Sounds: bfxr
• Music: one or more of fake music generator, pulseboy, abundant music or beepbox. Or not.
• Graphics: paint.net

Looking forward to getting started and to playing everyone’s game. Unfortunately there will be no competition from my daughter this time as she has to revise for exams. And as I’m one of the 2.6% of participants who is officially an old geezer (>40) I will be taking the day off on Monday to recover. Not to mention that the competition closes at 2am local time, a mere three and a half hours before I usually get up.

I haven’t quite settled on an idea, but during my research I found this BBC news story from 2006 and just had to share it:

Pentagon Plans Insect Cyber Army.

And I thought my ideas for this theme were unconventional!

I have just uploaded Cornflake Ninja. It works, and it’s playable, but it isn’t finished. I was hoping to have got a bit further, but sometimes it just doesn’t work out. It didn’t help that my family thought it would be motivational to throw cereal at me while I was programming.

Besides, rather than going until the 2am deadline (local time) I am going to bed for a nice long sleep. And tomorrow, when I get up, I think I shall be having my cereal with coffee instead of milk.

Here is some random text posted from Jan 1st 2000. I’m supposed to be logging in via a dial up modem to make sure that my company’s UNIX boxes don’t fall over, but instead I’m rambling on about a thing called Unity3D that hasn’t been invented yet.

Anyway, here’s a state of the ark screenshot for your viewing pleasure.

Tags: final

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 1st, 2000 at 12:01 am and is filed under LD Test. 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.