Ok. Since I started 7 hours ago (5:30 a.m. in France), I’ve managed to do everything except the core mechanisms of the game.
So here’s the least important thing:

That thing (called Zip) now earned the ability to move and jump.

Now that’s done, I need to code some collisions and gameplay mechanics
The gameplay will be about changing Zip’s color. He will be able to pass through obstacles that are of the same color than him. While the core gameplay isn’t really original (platform game, switching platforms’ state), I’m aiming for level design and progression originality.

A prototype version will always remain playable there:
http://www.teradem.net/HTML5/Zip/

I had a lot of fun prototyping on HTML5 this last year on free time (well, a few hours here and there), now’s the time to use what I’ve learned :p

Good luck to everyone !

Collisions work fine now, phew, that took me most of my afternoon (it’s now nearly 9 p.m here).

And the main gameplay mechanics work fine too
In the game, press Down to make Zip absorb the color of the tile below, changing his skin and allowing him to pass through obstacles of the same color !
The obstacle script will allow making minimalism-inspired level designs.

The example added doesn’t reflect quite well the possibilities of this gameplay, I’ll add a new level later, tonight hopefully.
Now remains the level structure (level objective, changing level obstacles), and minimalism-inspired special effects (win, lose, color switch).
If I can do this tonight, tomorrrow will be a pure level design day !

Here’s a link to Zip, playable in your favorite internet navigator:
http://www.teradem.net/HTML5/Zip/

Damn, I’m late on my schedule because of doing nothing useful and web browsing all night life events.
I don’t think I’ll have time to improve visual effects: those explosions are a bit too epileptic, the death FX is missing, etc…
I’ll see what I can do tonight. Still 10 h left before incoming real life schedule.

Meanwhile, the level transition is finished, collisions are now a bit better, I’m working on a 2nd level, and now we have minimalist explosions !

While the Red fractal level color palette seems ok, the Blue level’s palette is not quite right. This is where my Art skills fall short. I’ll see what I can do about it this afternoon.
But first, I need more levels !

As before, the latest update is available to play online in your favorite web browser:

>>> http://www.teradem.net/HTML5/Zip/<<<

About Zip’s movements and jump handling, it gives him a unique style combined with the animation. Though if it causes more frustration than the meaningful difficulty it would add to progression through levels, then I’ll cut that off. Less is more

Finally done !
I must stop here, so there will be only 11 levels. Most of them are a bit too easy and more graphical than a real challenge though.
Without a level editor, making those levels took me more time than I thought (~1h per level: 30 min to design, 15 min to code, 15min to test & debug).
I removed all restrictions I added on Zip (air control), it didn’t add anything useful to the game.

The most difficult level in the end was the most unexpected :

Some others were more difficult to design/code and less fun :

So in the end, it was a really interesting experience

The final “2-day Ludum Dare competition” will remain available here, I won’t edit this version any further:
http://www.teradem.net/HTML5/Zip/

Have fun !

2d or 3d ?
Why ?

24h since Ludum Dare 32 started: I don’t care about gravity anymore.

As usual I took too much time working on graphics/aesthetics (oops). I also spent too much time on controls and level generation but at least now all that works nicely.
Gameplay mechanics are only 50% finished and so is the gameplay loop.

The unconventional weapon will have two different uses: analyze and dematerialize :p

I may have to cut enemies from the design and keep it as a puzzle game if I want to finish it with some levels in 48h, and make a tutorial and some levels. If finishing the gameplay loop takes too much time tomorrow, I’ll have to go for the 72h jam instead :/

I couldn’t sleep last night due to the tension :>
After seeing the theme at 3am (UTC+2), I decided to stop trying to sleep and get to work.
After 8 hours, I made a playable prototype. There’s no way to win or lose but you can have fun with the controls and killing people because, well, you are the monster here.

www.teradem.net/LD/RollingRockRumble/index.html
Controls : mouse wheel (the faster you scroll, the better you roll)

I fear that the difficulty of the mouse wheel controls won’t be the same for everyone, so If you have time to play this please send me some feedback on that

I’ll get back on twitch after lunch 😀

Finished the menus of the game just in time, 5 min before the end!
For me, Time was the monster, the last 48h as well as the mains “character” of the game

This time, I wanted to create a game where the only controls would be the mouse wheel. It worked! Not with as much subtlety as I wanted at the beginning, but if it improves the gameplay then let’s just throw subtlety away.

What worked :
– Physics! It was easier than I thought to find the correct parameters to make it all work, just had to tweak gravity a bit to make loopings work as much as possible.
– Motivation! Twitch.tv sure helps to stay focused, though due to stuff (see below) I couldn’t maintain the live hours I’ve indicated

What didn’t work :
– Sleep! For some reason I got too exited/nervous and couldn’t sleep at all before the theme announcement (at 3am here in France // GMT+2/UTC+2). Thus, Saturday at 4pm I fainted and slept 6 hours, and woke up with nosebleed and headache. And had to go to sleep again later that night. 100% would do it again.
– Music! I totally forgot that for the compo you had to do even the music yourself! I had to lean how to use Audiotool in less than an hour and ended up with a 20s monotone soundtrack, though it’s better than nothing.
– Graphics! I had totally no idea how to improve visual design this time and give it a better overall look without ending with something else not finished properly. (well I could have slept less I guess… heh)

Overall, it was fun, motivating, and I’m eager to do all this again :>