Just starting out and googling around for some inspiration.

I just stumbled upon this.

Wouldn't be a bad basis for something interesting?

Here's my short horror story if someone still wants to try it out now that we're approaching the finish-line.

I already have enough ratings though, so you should also consider rescuing the games that are in danger.

Thanks to each and everyone who participated in LD44!

My moody little game Tabula Rasa takes place inside a notebook.

I thought I'd present the level-map if anyone happens to be interested.

It's surprisingly simple when you look at it zoomed out.

I guess most of the challenge comes from the eccentric controls, and the fact that half of your view is obscured by the other notebook page working as a HUD.

After removing the pages and testing the gameplay against a black backround, I thought it also looks kinda cool (and of course it gets easier because you can see further ahead). The notebook-border is surely a strong stylistic/thematic motif, but one could argue it comes at the expense of the gameplay.

If I ever go about releasing a post-mortem version, I think it would be nice to add the player a choice to turn the "notebook-view" on/off at will, along with other tweaks and additions.

If you haven't tried it yet, go give it a shot!

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♦ Reality can be weird sometimes ♦

♦ Although nothing is real ♦

♦ Let's walk together ♦

♦ In this nothingness we call life ♦

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I'm just going to leave this here.

If you're into eerie moods and a strange atmosphere, you might want to try out my game.

Thanks!

Can't get sleep? Here's a little bedtime story!

I was quite surprised I got this good results, especially about the overall-score.

But more than anything I'm really grateful to everyone who came and gave valuable feedback. Folks here have been really supportive and the observations and constructive criticism is crucial if one wants to go forward as a game-designer.

I think I've learned a lot every time I have participated, and gained much perspective regarding the elements in my games that work and those that need more effort put into them.

I've also learned a lot simply by playing other submissions and reflecting upon them. I think it goes to show that the living and breathing community here is unparalleled when it comes to developing your own skill-set and self-assurance.

I will continue to play and give feedback to other entries whenever I have the time, and I hope you will too. I think it's the best way to give back to the community.

See you next jam!

This will be my 4th Ludum Dare.

So far I've participated to the Compo alone, but this time it's gonna be a 2-man Jam.

My team-mate, @ankea pictured here. He is a very friendly chap, and will be providing graphical/multimedia assets.

Our team is already itching to get started...

So far we've both managed to avoid getting sick, so hopefully we'll be able to set up an IRL-studio.

Even though remote-work is apparently going to be the new standard in a post-Corona world, some of our methods require us to physically inhabit the same place.

So we kinda decided early on that we're not even going to try doing this remotely.

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We have some experience working together before, but we've yet to finish a game together.

Since both of us have quite of an experimental/artistic approach, it will be interesting to see if we'll be able to maintain a proper scope to our project. Time will tell!

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BTW, don't come hunting me down with torches & pitchforks, but I may be one of the horrible people to blame of suggesting unimaginative Covid-related themes.

This seemed like a relatively "fresh" idea 5 weeks ago. But to be fair, already then I had the feeling that this thing might blow out of proportions later. Goes to show that sometimes you'd be better off trusting your instinct!

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That being said: If we end up getting a theme that everybody hates (hah, like that would ever happen!), and whether some of you will find it hard to get inspired, here's an idea:

Consider generating the basis of your game!

Me and a couple of friends had quite a few laughs years ago when fooling around with this generator.

I dare you to name your game one of these: Return of the Jetpack Pimps Paranoid Cannibal Warrior Shady Hamster Temple Zombie Sailor Hospital HighSpeed Nazi Nightmare Dracula`s Stapler Epidemic Hillbilly Donkey Rocket Kinky Sandwich Encounter Amazing Punching Dungeon Inbred Chainsaw Unit

I'm not sure would combining generated ideas and a crappy theme just create more problems than make you inspired.

But you never know until you try.

So it begins...

My team-mate successfully traveled to the premises. He's going to be staying around for the duration of the Jam.

Somehow he managed to cram all his gear to a "movable unit" and hop on a bus. Quite a champ.

We set up our studio in advance too. This is how it looks.

David is our source of inspiration, and a "virtual boss".

His grim stare keeps us motivated.

We're not sure how will this Jam turn out.

Some technical problems have already surfaced, but we're determined and enthustiastic!

Have a great Jaaaaaaaaaaaaaaammmmmmm.

Apparently we're making a series of weird minigames.

Here's one of them.

Don't ask.

We’ve got some bad news. We ran out of time and some last minute hassle & screw-ups rendered the game unplayable.

You literally get stuck in the intro-segment before the actual game even begins! We still went ahead and built the game just before the end of the Jam. You probably won’t gain much by trying it in it’s failed state. There will be a post-jam version released soonish though, so look forward to experiencing it!

We failed to submit a playable build of our game in time.

The version we built literally in the last minute of the Jam had a nasty bug in the intro-segment that froze the game, so it rendered it de facto unplayable. We were very close to making it in time, but sadly we had to publish the game in Unfinished-category, meaning it will never be shown in the main feature-lists.

But after a few fixes, it's now completely playable!

If you're up for it, go give it a shot!

I I R O is a collection of four separate minigames, bundled in a spooky package.

Includes a short "visual novel" introduction, and a "level-hub" unlike any you have seen before!

Collect all the four tokens to set your soul to rest, and try not to get cursed in the process!

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The four games are:

• Flower
• Egg
• Apple
• Car

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We have released a completely playable and fixed build which was made one day after the Jam!

We ran out of time and submitted a faulty game we built literally in the last minute.

A bug in the unfinished intro-segment rendered the original submission unplayable since the game would freeze.

There were also a few fundamental game-states missing.

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The fixed build represents the game in a state that is VERY CLOSE to the original version we submitted.

But since we didn't finish a working build in time, we decided to publish it in Unfinished-category.

Sadly we won't be getting a rating because of this(?), so all feedback is more than welcome!

There will be more post-jam updates including content we had to cut due to time constraints, so stay tuned!

Thanks!

Stop-motion photography has become somewhat of a staple element in my LD-entries.

Your Money's No Good Here was a visual novel fully constisting of still photographs.

While Tabula Rasa represented an entirely different genre (platformer), I continued the tradition by including photograph-based intro and ending, while the game itself took place inside a notebook.

This time is no exception.

My first team-effort I I R O, features a stop-motion intro, and a level-hub that is based on videos.

That is a real physical mask you see in the picture BTW, sculpted by my team-mate Ankea!

And speaking of masks, they're also a recurring element in my games. My previous entry also had a real physical mask featured prominently in the game.

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The practice of utilizing photos/stop-motion in games came quite naturally to me because of my love of art and film in general. I've consumed and produced art in many forms most of my life.

I used to develop simple and crude games already as a kid. Art and music became more of a serious passion for me as I got older, but I never gave up games for good.

Lately my ambition has been to combine all of these elements into one harmonic entity.

I know "artsy games" have a bad reputation of being of low quality when it comes to gameplay and design. While it may be true in some respect (and some of my work admittedly suffers from this), my aim in the future is to create something that doesn't compromise gameplay for the sake of art, or vice versa.

I'm not quite there yet, but slowly getting closer to that goal.

My first LD-team-effort I I R O features four mini-games.

But to access them, you'll have to solve a nightmarish puzzle first!

If you want something completely different, this just might be your cup of incomprehensible bewerage.

However, maintaining your sanity after this is solely your own responsibility.

Enjoy!

I I R O is a surreal "horror-story" that utilizes stop-motion photography.

I I R O is also the name of this gallant mask, the star of the game.

As you can see, he can be a bit shy sometimes...

I I R O features four separate mini-games, but in order to access you'll have to solve a nightmarish puzzle first!

You wouldn't exactly call this your average game, to be honest...

Mundane characterization will probably not do it proper justice, so it's something you'll have to experience yourself.

It might not be for everyone, but you might also end up loving it!

Many have.

I thought I'd provide a little "documentary" of the development of I I R O.

This account focuses more on the artistic side of the project and some background.

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I've always participated by myself in the COMPO before, but this time was my first team-effort.

Our creative process was quite interesting you could say.

This is my team-mate @ankea and me in the studio we set up in my living room.

We kinda insisted early on that we're going to do this project IRL, so setting up a studio was a necessity.

And so we did! @ankea managed to cram all his gear into a "portable unit" and travel to my place for three days. I call that a major feat in itself.

Even though modern technology makes remote-working amazingly easy and efficient, being physically in the same place still has its benefits.

Some of the things we produced would have been quite difficult to accomplish remotely.

One such example is the intro-segment of the game.

I've utilized stop-motion photography in my previous entries too, but this time I could include an on-screen "actor" since there was two of us. This would surely be possible by yourself using a stand and a timer, but it would obviously be less efficient.

At first my intention was to shoot the stop motion-intro/epilogue in the beginning, but it ended up to be one of the last things we did. Our scheduling was admittedly a bit poor during the final day, so it's one of the reasons we didn't finish in time, and had to scrap some content. The intro-segment also ended up being somewhat clunky and visually incomplete due to this.

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This is a whiteboard we used for brainstorming ideas and taking notes. It proved quite efficient especially later on.

(The board was scribbled full and wiped clean at least three times in the span of the project).

Highly recommendable for projects like this!

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One thing I like to bring up is the background of the mask featured prominently in the game.

It's a real physical mask sculpted by @ankea, originally to be used as a prop in a student-film our friend was working on, where I also featured as an actor. That particular project apparently ended up being scrapped due to poorly shot material.

Sometime later, we cooked up an idea to shoot an amateur-film ourselves in a span of a weekend, and use the mask as a central element. There were only three of us, and we planned & shot the thing in only two days (not much unlike Ludum Dare!)

This was almost 9 years ago.

It was also somewhat of a horroresqué story, involving an abusive father, a misfigured son and a priest.

The film has never been published, and could probably use a re-edit, but we had fun working on it way back then.

Also, some of the material we shot is really amazing. There was a plan to recycle some of it in the game to a larger degree, but the only things we ended up using were few clips in the Level-HUB.

This is a mock-up poster I made of the short-film few years ago when revisiting it.

As you can see, the game shares (partly) the same name.

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Recently I've come to like the idea of re-using old material in new ways. I have so much creative output and drafts that have never been properly used lying around. The more time passes, breathing new life to them seems almost like an obligation.

And speaking of that, here's a fun detail in our entry.

It features a weird mini-game involving an egg. That you must rub.

Yes, you heard right.

Pretty strange already as is.

But I think most might find it surprising that we actually used an old photo of someone we know as an asset.

More particularly his head. Talk about hiding an easter-egg in your game. (Ha!)

He wasn't feeling all that well at the time, so that's the reason for the eccentric posture.

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But there you have it.

I guess the underlying point of my story here is that you can find new value in your old creations after they've been kept in the dark for long enough.