First time actually taking part in a Ludum Dare. Watched a whole bunch of them by now but never participated in one. Until now. Maybe.
This won't be my first game, however, the first one available in public.
Hardest challange will be Time Management and Music. Gotta teach myself how to make music in less then 5 hours...
So that was Day one. I’m definitely in by now.
“The more you have, the worse it is” wasn’t one of my favourite themes to choose from, but it works. I had 3 options in my mind for realizing this theme: 1. You have everything and want to get rid of it (as fast as possible) 2. You have a lot of things but want to keep them, although it’s some kind bad 3. You have nothing, want nothing but get stuff over time
I came up with corresponding ideas but option 2 was the most appealing one.
You play a sheppard which tries to get his sheep from one point to another. You start with 3 or so and guide as many of them as possible to the goal. There are multiple obstacles during the levels and you have to throw the sheep or call them so they may follow you.
As the Sheppard you can - Run - Jump - Double Jump - Pick up Sheep (even Stack them up) - Throw Sheep - Call Sheep
It took me a really long time to get this proto-prototype working as I had to implement everything from scratch in Java. Should have made some sorts of Platformer-Templates or something to save myself from trouble, but hey…
As for now, all images are simple placeholders. Had to implement the basic gameplay-mechanics first.
But after that much sheep I need to sleep.
Day 2 was about getting the game nearly done. At least that's what I had planned. Planned. In the end, I only managed to get the main graphics done. It took way too long. Note to my future self: Keep things simple!
Anyway, this is how the game looks like now:
The last 13 Hours will be used to make this more then just a working prototype. Hopefully.
Time to shift into maximum overdrive!
Finally.
https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/40/$58996
Another Ludum Dare, another Theme that I initially downvoted. But suprisingly, I had a lot of fun brainstorming for ideas with my brother.
At the end, we came up with the combination of Platformer and Card Game.
The Mechanics are as follows: You play as a little Robot / Android Dude, trying to get to the end of the level. But unfortunatly, you can only walk left and right. Cards or rather Data-Card-Chips will provide new features like Jumping to the Android. However, these will only last for a certain amount of time. After that you may equip other cards.
The goal is to get as much points as possible. Clearing levels will increase your score. BUT equipping cards will reduce it! The more cards you select, the more points will be subtracted from your score. Plan ahead and only choose the cards you really need.
This gif shows the current status of the game. The green boxes represent the "action"-cards. Only "Jumping" is available at the moment but I plan to add Dashing, Teleporting, Wall Climbing, etc.
After selecting 2 Jump-Cards you can run left and right and also jump.
When the timer hits 0, the next turn starts, and one has to select new cards. I didn't picked any of the remaining cards. That's why I can't jump in the next turn. The only action available now is walking.
Day 2 will be about making the game sexy i.e. adding sprites and stuff.
I also have to finish the gameplay mechanics so that Day 3 will be about polishing the game.
As for now, I need to sleep. Otherwise I end up falling asleep on my keyboaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Well you can! And I did.
You play as the Dedicated User Defined Entity (D.U.D.E.) Bot in a platforming kind of game. BUT unfortunately he can only walk left and right! Use Cards to enhance it's abilities with features such as 'Jump' or 'Dash' in order to clear the levels.
Try it out: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/41/dedicated-user-defined-entity-d-u-d-e
Actually one of the Themes I downvoted. But afterwards I enjoyed it. That's the Ludum Dare effect.
Can't wait to play all the other games with other crazy ideas! Gonna be awesome.