This morning I made some sprites for the game, and also created a couple of mockups. Next up: programming! Here are the mockups (sorry for the grid, I forgot to turn it off when exporting from Tiled): A grassland area. An area deep in the forest.

I'll post again later this afternoon, when I have more stuff to show.

This afternoon I didn't get a lot done -- I was fairly busy, and I encountered a major bug in a library that prevented me from continuing. Fortunately, that bug is gone, but all I have to show this afternoon is this: Sorry for the bad-quality GIF -- I was rushed to get this out to everyone. But yes, that's the player...

Anyway, actual progress tomorrow.

Unfortunately, there still seems to be a huge bug in the library I'm using that prevents me from initializing my world, so I'm stuck dropping out of the jam. I was honestly hoping this wouldn't get in the way, but I guess it did...I'll probably pursue this idea further (feel free to check on talk.pokitto.com), but I won't be able to do it for a while. Hopefully in 4 months, the library will be less glitchy :slight_smile:

Welp, looks like the time has come again for me to screw around with hasty game development! A few things have changed since last jam; mainly the fact that although I'm still using C++, I've taught myself rudimentary OpenGL, so I'll be making something using that.

I'm hoping that this time, I'll actually be able to finish my game. I was using the API for a DIY video game console last time, and it was still fairly early in development, so I had to cancel last jam's game because of technical difficulties. I'm fairly confident that I won't experience many issues with the graphics API I'm using this time (OpenGL and SFML), so hopefully I'll be able to put something out by the end of the jam.

I guess all that remains to do is wait for the theme to be announced so I can figure out what to build...hopefully I can pull off something fun!

Well, here we go again! I've decided on a concept for my game - it's going to be a turn-based platformer. Essentially, it'll be turn-based battles based on platforming; for example, to move, you'll have a set amount of jumps and you'll try to platform closer to the enemy. Also, when the enemy attacks, to dodge it, you'll have to platform out of the way.

I've also worked on some rudimentary art for the game. Here's a mockup of the test stage I'm going to make:

I haven't got a ton of stuff done yet, but I'll start coding tomorrow. I think this is going to be fun 🙂

I woke up today and decided it was time to start coding. I've made a bit of progress -- I've successfully implemented some basic platforming into the game. Soon, I'll improve scrolling and add the turn-based part of the game in -- for now, here's what I've got: I'm going to take a little break, get something to eat, and play some Fortnite with my sister, but I'll work on this game again later on.

First of all, I just so happened to post right near the 24 hour mark. So that's cool, I guess.

After ~6 hours of almost continuous work, I've been able to add some turn-based aspects to my game. First of all, I've implemented turns between the player and the enemy. With that, I've also added the enemy. When switching turns, the camera actually interpolates to smoothly pan to the other character. To put things lightly, the camera is much better now. Notice the test text I have on the bottom. This will be removed in the final release, but for now, it shows me information about how much of my turn I have left. It'll be replaced with bars in the future, much like the health, magic, and XP bars (which were originally text). I've also changed the font to a pixelated one I found on the internet. Here's a screenshot of the slime mid-jump: Also, I've implemented leveling up! Right now, it only increases your max life and magic, but in the future, it will unlock new skills. Here's an image of it in action: In addition to that, here's a GIF of the game so far (had to both record and edit this several times to get it under the 4MB mark): For whatever reason, my game didn't want to make the slime damage me. I'm going to look into that later. Also note that when I ran out of jumps, I'd either gain one more or three more. That's a prototype of the action system: gaining three is called dashing, while gaining one is called attacking. While moving (before taking actions) or dashing won't allow you to damage enemies, attacking will, at least once I add that in.

This evening I'm planning on fully implementing the action system, and then tomorrow the only things left to do will be adding more content and polishing up the game.

I didn't make a post last evening because I didn't actually do anything (I was playing games with friends), but I managed to get a lot done this morning. The core gameplay is pretty much complete! Here's what I did, in list form: - I added a menu for the turn-based aspect of the game. - You can now kill enemies! They have a health bar and will die once it reaches 0. - Jumping no longer gives you XP; killing enemies rewards you with XP and coins. - Coins! They're used to purchase items to restore health and magic. - You now have special attacks unlocked at certain levels, and they use magic. - There are now 5 types of enemies, each with their own health, color, damage, and fall rate. They're all slimes because I don't have time to implement other types of enemies. - You can now dodge enemies via platforming! - Smart platforming allows you to use special attacks to your advantage; some are limited in their range. Here's a few images of what I've done:

A look at the new action UI.

The Big Jump, a special attack that launches you into the sky and controls your character, guaranteeing that you'll hit the enemy.

The Mana Orb, a powerful but costly attack that allows you to instantly track down and kill an enemy.

The Shock, an attack that shoots a beam of electricity at the enemy, causing them to take 10 damage if they are at the same level as you.

The Item Menu, where you can buy and use items in exchange for coins.

This afternoon, I'm planning to improve the UI a little, polish up the world border, and implement the final special attack, the Fireball.

This afternoon, I didn't get a huge amount of progress done, but I did get some. I've cleaned up the UI, removing some of the debug text, and putting all loose text that I needed into nice-looking bars. My favorite is the status bar, replacing the "Turn" and "Jumps left" debug text. I also made the edge of the screen blue and non-collidable, so it gives the illusion that you're on a mountain. Finally, I added sound effects and music. You can't hear it in the images, obviously, so you'll have to wait for the game to be released tomorrow. Anyhow, here's some obligatory screenshots: A look at the new UI. Notice the brand-new turn bar in the bottom right, showing if it's your turn or the enemies, and how much of your turn you have left! For this screenshot, I used Shock, and you can see how the slime's health is going down while my turn progress is going up. Another part of the new UI: options that you cannot select (e.g. not high enough level, not enough magic, not enough coins) are grayed out!

Anyway, this evening, I'll try to add fireballs and the title screen. That's basically all I have left to do other than compiling and distributing the game tomorrow.

Well, I think it's safe to say that my game is now feature-complete! I've decided to give it the not-so-creative name "Platform Fighters," for obvious reasons (at least, obvious if you've read my previous posts). I've added fireballs and a title screen, as well as polishing up the game a little more. Have a look: This is the title screen I made. This wasn't a screenshot -- I took the image I had of the level, and I put some of the sprites on it. I think it represents the game well, though. Me spamming fireballs at an enemy. I say "spamming," but you can only throw 5 fireballs in a turn, and the enemy only takes 1 damage per fireball. Still, it's useful for range, and also for getting around, as there's no jump limit, but a fireball limit. Another fireball. I love watching things burn (in video games), apparently.

Also, since I haven't done one in a while, here's a GIF:

Anyway, tomorrow I'm going to try to get the game distributed, and I'll post my final update alongside the game. I won't do anything in the morning or early afternoon, since I have school, but I'll definitely get the game out by the deadline. Then I'll actually be able to say that I finished LD, unlike last time!

I'm about to release my game (probably ~15 minutes from this post), and there's no "spoiler" tag in Markdown, so I made a post to house my 8 screenshots.

Well, I finally did it. I completed Ludum Dare. Not as easy as it appeared at first glance, that's for sure.

I realized last-minute that I forgot to add dying into the game. I quickly added it, then discovered that my SFML stopped working and I couldn't build anymore. I didn't have the time nor patience to fix it, so there's no dying in the game. Oh well. It's hard to die anyway.

To celebrate the occasion, have some screenshots:

Also, if you'd like to play the game, you can find it here: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/41/platform-fighters

I very well might be participating in LD42...hopefully I'll be able to figure out SFML by then. Until then, I guess it's time to play other people's games and get my Coolness up!