I'll be here, and I'll be watching you while you sleep... I mean I'm going to participate on the upcoming LD. I'll use the awesome Love2D engine, the gorgeous GIMP for graphics, and the fabulous LMMS for musics and sounds. Wish me good luck, I wish good luck for all of you! :)

I can't believe I've just finished my game, right on time!

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/39/long-distance-runner

WOOT :smile:

My game is based on real life events.

I live at a place that gets super crowded during the summer holidays, so running at a place like this is quite challenging. The sidewalks here are really narrow: I can pass one pedestrian, but if there are two or more they always try to use the whole space up, so it's impossible to get through them. Sometimes there are other obstacles like garbage, a pile of bricks, a parking car, and so on. Another random encounter are eldery people, who just completely stop moving when I get nearby. With all my respect, but could they just at least... try, maybe? Occasionally??

But my all time favourites are dogs. Tiny, tiny dogs with very long dog leashes, preferably with their owners talking on their phone, looking at something very interesting far, far away. The dog is on the right side, its owner is on the other. What do you do? Do you jump the leash and risk hurting yourself and probably the dog too? Do you rather run over the dog, or the owner? Or maybe you choose to run on the road instead...?

Dogs, get outta my way!

From time to time I've felt more like a video game character who has to jump away to avoid hitting other people and stuff. I regard this is as a test of my willpower. I've felt like this was a perfect fit for the current Ludum Dare theme, "Running out of power". So, this is the back story of my game. :)

If you think you'do better (hah!), give it a try: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/39/long-distance-runner

It's always nice to see someone else playing your game, and this time Jupiter Hadley played my little game, Long Distance Runner. Thanks, Jupi!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYbvh0qo8Vs&feature=youtu.be

I also wanted to say thank you for all the people who has played and rated it! I've reached the magical 20 votes. Your feedback is really appreciated :)

Right now I'm busy porting it to mobile and adding new features and fixes based on your feedback.

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/39/long-distance-runner

I understand others pursuing their 50, 100 or even higher rating goals, but I say let's not forget about the friendly competition aspect of this event. For me this means that 'no one gets left behind'.

I see there are still a lot of games in the Zero and the Danger category. How about helping your fellow Ludum Dare participants by playing and rating their games?

I think it would mean a lot to them, and motivate them to participate in the upcoming events. Who knows, you might find some hidden gems?

Thanks :)

I'm back for my second LD, this time I'll use Godot for a change :)

My biggest achievement today is getting someting done:

TL; DR: Learning a new tool while jamming? I don't think it's a good idea any more... However, learning Godot was quite useful. :)

Let me share my experience about learning Godot while participating on Ludum Dare. Having a time constraint is frustrating by itself, but having a time constraint AND constantly bumping into minor annoyances is extra frustrating. I have been using Love2D for a long time (which is another excellent tool for LDs), but it's very different from Godot, so understanding the workflow here was a real paradigm shift for me.

I already had some experience with Godot from before (I've started porting my previous LD game, Long Distance Runner), but it looks like it was insufficient as I had to learn new concepts during the jam. Learning as in "trial and error... and cursing". :)

Once a new idea clicks though, it's a pleasure to work with Godot. Having a generic editor that helps creating tilemaps and levels, collision shapes, animations, user interface is a great plus in my opinion. I feel I can concentrate more on the content than on technical difficulties when making a game. The node system, the signals, and the "animate anything" are super powerful! Yes, there are tiny quirks here and there, but I think over time they will iron them out.

So my advice for You, and for my future self is: "On Ludum Dare, use the tools you know best."

The result of all these is a game with one level and an abrupt end:

If you want to play and rate my game, click here!

Thanks for reading!

I didn't know it was so easy to export a web version in Godot, so here you go!

Playing the game just got easier. :)

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/43/cosmo-buddy

Notice: In order to make the web version properly playable I had to add a Game Over screen where you can restart the game.

For those who had problems with the controls: you were right! There was a technical issue. I've uploaded a fixed version on itch.io (but I also provide the original version).

The new post-jam version will be updated from time to time. Now it contains the popular claim: different skins for the astronauts.

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/43/cosmo-buddy/