In my last “I’m in” post I mentioned putting together a collection of some common functions that I’ve used in previous LD games…

Well I’ve done it and named it “RocketBoots”. If you’d like to check out the Github repo, feel free to use the code or contribute. It’s all open-source, freely licensed — and a complete mess at this point.

I figure this will either help out my LD-31 game by giving me some useful generic functions for menus, sound, canvas, and 2d coords… OR will completely distract me, causing me to write efficient, reusable RocketBoots components rather than concentrate on the game itself. But at least this time I have some base-code to work with and I’m not start with a completely empty page.

Onward, upward! Good luck everyone! I hope you voted smartly. 😉

Completed my eighth Ludum Dare! Behold: A game where you get to cook food for hungry – and very grumpy – dwarves …plus you get to wear a crown — despite not having earned it.

TAVERN KING

Dwarven Walking Simulator

I definitely need to write a post-mortem about this game eventually… you would think that after so many jams I would know enough to limit my scope. “Complex crafting + A.I. + business simulation with a half-baked framework? Sure, I can do that.”

I’m still proud of the graphics though, despite not having enough time for animations. It’s also fun to just watch dwarves shove each other around.

I’m in for this weekend! I will be doing a game in the open web stack — HTML5 & JavaScript — like all my previous games.

I will make use of the following…

• Software:
  Chrome, Notepad++, Pickle, Photoshop, Bfxr, Bosca Ceoil
• js Libraries:
  jQuery, RocketBoots, possibly minor code copy/pasted from my previous games (all open source)

Using my previous scores as inspiration, here’s my plan: http://deathraygames.tumblr.com/post/116465730727/ludum-dare-32-plan

• Fun: “Clicker”/idle gameplay
• Graphics: Pixel/retro
• Mood: Cheery and clean
• Audio: repetitive music and silly sounds
• Humor: Silly sounds and cute animations

…entirely subject to change based on the theme.

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!

I’m in for Ludum Dare 33. …but will likely be busy for a good deal of the weekend, so I’ll be doing the insane, self-imposed limited 24-hour compo!

Same deal as last time (“I’m in” post from LD32): I’ll be using the open web stack — HTML5 & JavaScript — and will use some of…

• Software:
  Chrome, Notepad++ or maybe Sublime3, Pickle, Photoshop, Bfxr, Bosca Ceoil
• js Libraries:
  jQuery, Underscore, RocketBoots JS game framework, Minor bits of code copied from previous games (all open source)

Because I don’t have time to do anything too daring I’m going to stick with my plan from last time, and will likely make some kind of incremental/idle/clicker-type game since they are fairly easy to program, and get good scores for fun.

Follow me on Tumblr or Twitter — almost all my posts are about Ludum Dare!

Tags: deathraygames, html, html5, im in, javascript, rocketboots

I went through each theme and wrote up a game idea or a reason why I don’t like the theme: http://deathraygames.tumblr.com/post/142775660982/final-theme-voting-for-ldjam-ld35-and-my

7 green, 5 yellow, 8 red. I’m excited that there are quite a few good themes on the list!

In case it wasn’t obvious: I’m in. It will be my 11th consecutive Ludum Dare. I guess that makes me a veteran?

I’ll be working with my usual toolset:

• JavaScript, HTML, CSS, all written in a Sublime editor and tested in Chrome.
• For artwork I’ll be trying to do it all in Pickle (I loved Pickle 1, so I recently bought Pickle 2; I’ve seen a lot of bugs in it so far, but it’s too late to switch editors now).
• Libraries: probably just my open source RocketBoots set of game-building tools, with jQuery, and possibly another OSS js library if I get experimental.
• Sound/Music: Maybe bfxr for a few sounds, but it’s probably better off if I don’t attempt music and leave it quiet.

I’m also going to try to take on the additional challenge of limiting myself to 64 pixels x 64 pixels for the low rez game jam. I’m also excited to try out this color palette that I’ve admired for a while. We’ll see how it goes…

Good luck to everyone!

Tags: browser, deathraygames, html, im in, javascript

I’m in for this LDJAM! I will be my 12th jam (only skipped the last one).

As per usual I’ll be making the game in JavaScript, using my rocket-boots kit.

Likely other tools:

• Chrome
•  Pickle 2
• Bxfr
• Photoshop
• Sublime 3
• GitHub

I will be using my usual :globewithmeridians: web stack: JavaScript, HTML, CSS, RocketBoots game kit library, Lodash, jQuery, and possibly other open source libraries like Handlebars or Raphael.

:gear: Tools: Chrome, Sublime Text, GitHub, Pickle, Photoshop, Bfxr (although I almost always skip the sound).

:raised_hand: I'm sure this is an often-requested feature, but it would be really great to be able to filter based on the links provided in the game -- that lovely dropdown with HTML5, Windows, Mac, Commodore 64, etc. (Of course it would be even better would be if we could provide a comma-separated list of tags, and then allow people to search by tags.) I just want to be able to limit my search to games that are playable in a browser.

Agree? :heart: :point_right:

What kind of space contraption will you build?

A big thank you to all the people who have played and rated my game! I got past 20 votes! :checkered_flag: So now you're welcome to just come play the post-compo version - with several bug fixes, a new UI, and other improvements. (Of course if you want to play the LD39 version and give more votes, that'd be great too.) :smile:

Thanks again to everyone who's played, voted, and contributed priceless feedback.

The game: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/39/star-hopper-crank

I'll be joining Ludum Dare 40, using an open web framework as usual. I'll work from my RocketBoots open source JavaScript toolkit, using techniques I've honed in my many other games. Since some of my games and tests ran into some performance issues while using canvas (such as http://deathraygames.com/projects/galGen/) I'm considering combining in Pixi.js to take advantage of its fast WebGL rendering.

My toolkit and past games: https://ldjam.com/users/deathray/

Apparently the nuclear apocalypse knocked humanity back so far that the only technology left is a simple campfire! :radioactive: :fire:

I had hope for adding more parts, and an entire airflow system, but that was way too ambitious and progress was slow. So the characters ended up as cavemen!

Give it a try and let me know what you think: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/40/radioactive-cavemen

I didn't have much time this weekend, so I made a quick HTML/js game that answers the question: What if you combined the super-simple clicker gameplay of an incremental game with the limited lifespan of a hardcore life simulation? Well, it doesn't end up being very compatible, as you'll find out.

:joystick: Play in the browser: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/41/mortal

The weekend has been set aside, so I'm in for LD #42. As always I'll be working with the open web stack - ECMAScript (JavaScript), HTML, CSS.

Possible libraries:

• RocketBoots for boilerplate game functionality
• PixiJS for graphics
• jQuery for basic dom manipulation
• Lodash
• AStar if I need pathfinding
• Three.js if I get really ambitious and want to do 3d
• Node.js, Express, and Socket io if I get crazy ambitious and want to do multiplayer gameplay
• Maybe other open source libraries

Possible Tools:

• Pickle for pixel graphics
• Photoshop if I need something that Pickle can't handle
• Bxfr for audio (but I rarely have the time to add audio)
• Chrome for debugging
• SublimeText for all typey-typing that will be needed

Plug for overlapping game jam:

The LDJAM weekend will fall within the time of the Low Rez 2018 game jam, so I encourage everyone to consider trying to add in the additional limitation of making your game in 64 x 64 pixels. For LD #35 I was able to submit my game Reptilian President for both jams, and I enjoyed the challenge of working in 64x64.

Good luck everyone!

I tried to prepare for the LD weekend and get some boilerplate base-code ready... but as usual, life got in the way and I didn't really get anywhere. Like previous times I'll just cannibalize parts of my previous games if needed, and likely spend much longer than I should updating generic components of my RocketBoots game kit while I should be writing game-specific code.

I do have a few links ready for reference at least: * https://github.com/rocket-boots/rocket-boots/tree/master/scripts/rocketboots - since I don't have docs for this, I often have to dig through the code to find the method I want * http://pixijs.download/release/docs/ and https://github.com/kittykatattack/learningPixi - I don't know pixi js off the top of my head, so these will be useful -- assuming I go with a canvas approach to graphics. * https://lospec.com/palette-list - Useful for all game developers to find a nice color palette * https://ldjam.com of course * https://twitter.com/ludumdare because of course the site will crash when the theme is announced (unless everyone forgets the new time)

I write a page like this up for every Ludum Dare. Here's my notepad ideas:

Feel free to steal any of them, including the one I'm picking -- rising seas. :wavydash: :arrowup:

Good luck everyone!

What's the best way to filter to only games that are playable in the browser? (Html/javascript, unity that works in the browser, etc.) I don't want to download anything, and also don't want to click on a dozen games before finding one with a web link.

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/42/deluge-of-doom

:whitecheckmark: :ballot_box: I made it to over 20 votes! (Ok, hardly a "flood" of votes...) Thank you all who played Deluge of Doom and voted -- and a special thanks to those who left constructive comments.

In honor of no longer needing votes, here is a link to the post-compo version of my game which has improved artwork, animation, and bug fixes :arrow_right: http://deathraygames.com/play-online/deluge-of-doom/ (playable right in the browser on a desktop)

Of course I'd still love more votes and comments, so you can find the entry and the relevant links here: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/42/deluge-of-doom

I'm in for Ludum Dare 43. I will be doing my usual: web-based game (JavaScript, HTML, CSS), probably with pixel graphics (using Pickle or Photoshop), probably with no sound, and probably using some libraries like RocketBoots, Pixi, AStar, etc.

I am hoping to make some kind of a "top-down" 2d type game with building elements, but if it looks like I won't have much time I'll resort to making an incremental/click game.