Hello! I’m Frederick and this is my first time participating in ludum dare, and I’m very excited!
BUT, also I’m very lost!
If anyone could help me telling me the basics and where and how I can vote I would appreciate very much!

Tags: help, New, newguy

This will be my second time in Ludum Dare. I don’t like to decide the programs that I will use early on, but because Kongregate competition, I decided to use:

> Framework – Unity3D, free version

> 2D Graphics – Gimp and MyPaint

> 3D Graphics – Blender

> Sound – Aviary, Audacity and maybe other music program of http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/tools/ but I will try to keep with these two.

> Assets – I will use Unity build in assets, like character controllers and shaders. Maybe I will use some shader from http://wiki.unity3d.com/index.php?title=Main_Page, but still not sure.

That’s it!

Let’s have fun and make great games guys!

My record of today http://fred3erick.tumblr.com/post/30153375477/ludum-dare-24-day-1-evolution-1

Let’s see how it goes!

Tags: day 1, record, unity3d

My report of yesterday – http://fred3erick.tumblr.com/post/30239945195/ludum-dare-24-day-2-the-fall-and-rise-2

Tags: 3D, day 2, unity3d

Submitted game SS

Wasn’t this time that I achieve the ideal that I’m looking for, but I’m glad with what I did.

Now is time to rate the others’ awesome games and study more to the next LD!

Game > http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-24/?action=preview&uid=11311

Full report can be read here > http://fred3erick.tumblr.com/post/30326712447/ludum-dare-24-final-day-a-little-bit-of-victory

Tags: 3D, competition, compo, ld24, unity, unity3d

Well, my third Ludum, forth Jam.

I’m planning to use

Audio:

Probably, LMMS Studio, but not sure.

Engine:

Depends, many options, Blender, Unity3D or Gamesalad.

Art:

Gimp

Mypaint and Krita maybe

3D:

Blender

Maybe more some programs and resources for the sfx, if I use something else, I’ll list it.

As I always do, the development can be followed at http://fred3erick.tumblr.com/

In the end I decided give a try to the Blender Game Engine instead of Unity3D and sadly, I regret a little.

I’m learning a lot, but I miss a lot programing in unity than use blender logic bricks, they are usable, but still are very primitive.

But Blender have nice things, like, everything seens so smooth and make shaders with it is wonderful.

Tags: 3D, BGE, blender, first day, LD # 25

Because there are many doubts about BGE, Blender Game Engine, I decided to make a “review” about. Please understand that I just made one game with it, and made it without directly working with python, so it may be a lot better using it.

So, “Is it worth work with BGE?” to answer this question, first we have to understand how programming in Blender works. Blender has a system called Logic Bricks and their functionality is simple.

We have the sensors, that say what will trigger the action. The Controllers that are the condition that will say if the action will happen, and the Actuators that are the action itself. Beginning, middle and end, looks pretty straight forward doesn’t? And well, they are indeed very simple to understand, so I can say that anyone, knowing or not how program, can use Logic Bricks, being maybe, the simpler to “program” 3D engine currently available.

But this simplicity comes with a price. One of the biggest problems with Logic Bricks is that they are too simplistic. Because they are design with the logic “beginning, middle, end”, you can’t continue the logic after the end without make some tricks, making your logic much larger and complex.

Another problem is that you can’t use native variables, like object position, nor manipulate them directly, having to use python or tricks for that, making simple common tasks like make an property equal to another, overly complex.

One good thing that I have to mention is how smooth everything looks. The graphics are nice, the movements are fluid, everything looks and feels good. Because Blender is free, maybe be a cheaper option if you want project shadows in your game. Also, Blender have a truly awesome shader editor, enabling pure artists to make their own shaders.

A big issue when you finished your game is how you going to distribute, because, even with Blender Player, the people who will play your game will still have to have Blender installed. * There are alternatives to this, even making a functional web-player, but they are still being develop.

So, the main question is, it is worth making a game with BGE? And my answer is: it depends. First, I must say that is very simple to represent what you thinking with it, making a great prototype tool, but going beyond and make something that is suppose to work in some way is hard. Therefore, what I recommend is, watch a tutorial, try it out, with some hours you will already get it how to make a game with it, and if you don’t liked it, just wait a little more, there are many developers working and improving it, it will be better someday.

*I have been informed of people who got Blender Games to work even without Blender installed, but also, I have been informed of people that couldn’t play the game until they installed the newest version of Blender. I had searched for an answer but nothing definitive. Maybe it work with just python installed, if I find something more about, I will update this.

Tags: BGE, blender

We will gonna use Unity3D and Blender.

Our team will be me, Lucas White, Tobias Fuhr and Andre Ilges.

Let’s rock!

Tags: unity3d

I liked, looking forward our game.

Tools:

– Unity3D

– Blender

– Krita

and maybe something for the music, but still not sure what.

I’m gonna participate alone and only will work today and sunday, it will be tough, but I`ll try it!

My motto is do the most basic game that I can get, let`s see if it works…

Will use Unity 3D for develop, Lmms for sound and maybe Graphics Gale for art.

I’ll try use Unity’s 2D features, never had used, so I will learn to use while the event is going. 😀

Cheers and good luck everybody!

Hi guys!

Near to the end of the Ludum Dare 28 I had updated my entry, which you can play it here http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-28/?action=preview&uid=11311

Remember to play the entry sended to the comp too if you had not played before.

Also, unity-chan! Yaaayyyy…

A post-mortem will soon be made, stay with me guys!

Tags: unity2d, unity3d

If you didn’t played, please, here is the link http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-28/?action=preview&uid=11311 /o/

Don’t forget to play comp and the updated version!

Because it got so big, I decided to divide the postmortem, so, let’s get started:

How it was made:

Before the jam

The thing is, work alone is all about time management, how much time you will spend at which task will set how good will be, but in other hand, get more time to certain task makes the other tasks have less time, so, get the equilibrium is the real challenge here.

Roughly how I planned to spend my time at the jam. It is in portuguese, but I think you guys got the idea.

Before the jam started, I made a graphic to more or less know how to use my time and a list with when I should do what. The goal wasn’t to roughly follow these things, but to just make feel save to switch tasks, because I would know that if I took more one hour at some task, I would have less with some other and not just mindless (which WORKS with some people, just making it clear) do everything I can, until the deadline for example.

Again, how I planned to spend my time, this time, more detailed, day 1 I set for myself spend x hours planning the game and y hours programming for example.
There wasn’t specific tasks first because it wasn’t the objective and second because was made before the theme was release, so if I did specify, the risk of completly ignore this would be much higher.

Having the planning, I could feel save and wait for the theme came out.

The idea

As soon the theme came out, I started thinking in what I could do, so I made a mind map of theme using mindmup.

Again, in portuguese, sorry guys :(

Mindmaps, working relating everything you can think with the theme, this is very useful to not get stuck with the first idea and speaking of which, I almost did about a guy that would fight for a coin to a cola machine, crazy isn’t?

I abandoned the idea because for the idea work, I would necessary do some cutscenes to the player understand that he’s fighting for the last coin to the cola machine, because the coin itself would not make part at all of the gameplay, so, if I couldn’t make the cutscenes in time, I would be with a confusing game, that I would have to explain with some other way of what is going on, which is not ideal…

In other hand, the idea that I took worked very well, you would have a weapon and would have to throw it AND take it back, because you only have that ONE weapon. It would make it clear why I choose this idea because it would be clear just by playing it, even if I did less things, less art, one enemy, no sound, the core of what I was thinking would be reachable much faster. I think, the ideal thing that you will try to do when making a game, is to reach that “core” as soon as possible. Your game will work without that fancy menu that you thinking, but will not if the player don’t get it what you tried to do.

The idea being set, I started to do…

The programming

So, was still the first day, I decided to program a little before go to bed, that because if I had a trouble with it, I could think in a solution before and after the sleep. It is good to do this because you will have a fresh mind about the problems that you had before, also, I didn’t want to sleep very much at the end of that day.

The idea of being a 2D arena was because I wanted to study the new features of the unity. Every jam that I work alone I have a goal of what I want to learn, usually on the fly.

I had some troubles to do the controller and with the 2D layer system of the unity, but, the 2D animation system is wonderful, one of the best I had seen I think.

However, I could not do the program isolated, mostly because of the mecanim system that unity uses, so I started to do the…

The Art

Do a pixelart game was because had been a long time that I wasn’t doing and be a demon at some kind of ritual was just because…well, I wanted to do demons. lol

More than the half of the first day the main character for example looked like this:

Yeah… I started to get nervous that I wouldn’t be able to make the art of the game…

When I started to make I took references like Frogatto and manly, Savant.

What I wanted to my game to look, maybe I was a LITTLE too ambitious? .__.

However, it didn’t worked as I planned. For some reason, I think small pixel art character in a big scenario looks wrong and because I didn’t want to lose time making a camera control, I wasn’t even sure if it would work with the gameplay, I didn’t zoomed.

Also,  hard to animate. I liked what I achieved but maybe it would be better a simple art but better animated? I don’t know for sure…

Having the art and the programming I hoped to make the…

Music and Sound Effects

This really made me happy. Music and SFXs were always, along with animation, my weak spot. I saved a good amount of time to do this, but really, I didn’t expect to be able to do something.

At day two, last day of comp, first I tried to put a bunch of samples together, but didn’t work. Then I tried again to compose the music, looking tutorials but mostly trying things out and for my big surprise, this time it worked!

Being the first ludum that I was able to compose the music and sfx by myself.

first “success” with music, yay!

The SFXs were made by using free generators. I’m not completely happy with them, but at least, they are there.

Having everything was time to submit! Yay! 😀

Finally

Wow! Are you still here? I will try to do a part 2 as soon as possible, telling what went right and what didn’t.

Thank you so much for reading and for playing!

If you still in 2013 when reading this, good holidays!

Tags: 2d unity, postmortem, unity3d

I know that everytime someone came to question this, but somethings have been bothering me for a long time:

The first thing is, there is no rule about the content in Jam event, so, I could use every asset I can find as long I have the rights to use it?

I mean…really?

So I could mod a game (I mean, use it’s assets to make another one), use personal libraries, use art that I made for other games and etc?

Just to be sure, it is really allowed?

I’m not criticizing, just asking if it really is like this.

About the Comp part, “4. All publicly available libraries and middleware are allowed”, so if I say before the start of the jam “hey guys, I’m gonna to use this package that has all the code that I need, you can download here if you want” it is allowed?

Again, I’m not criticizing, just asking.

PS.: I read the “For Jam games, you are free to use whatever artwork or content you like (preferably something you have the legal rights to), but you must accept all responsibility for its use”, just want to be sure.

Tags: rules

Well, actually I’m not very hopeful. Today and tomorow I will have my day full of anothers commitments besides the Ludum Dare. I maybe not even be able to finish my game…

But it is being good, I have been away of programming for a long time, it is good do something again.

So, the basics:
Audio – Lmms and others free procedural generator sounds that you can find here http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/tools/

Engine – Still thinking, maybe Godot or Unity 3D, if so, I will use all my previous entries as reference material

Graphics – Krita, Blender, Gimp

I think this is it, if I use something else, it will be very explicit that was added.
See you guys there! 😀

I’ll use Unity3D, Blender and LMS!

Hey guys! I found this site http://draeton.github.io/stitches/ that does sprite sheets online!
I thought it very useful! Check it out!

Tags: free propaganda, sprite sheet, useful

Hi folks!
I’m be in again! This will be my tenth time, the time flies!
I’ll be doing the comp and I’m organizing a gathering in Brazil too, maybe I’ll do a streaming of our development.
I’m thinking what I’m going to use, I want to try Unreal, but I still don’t know very much about it, so probably I’ll use Unity.
Other than that, I’ll use Krita, LMMS, Blender, Gimp and Audacity.
Good luck everyone!