It’s not much, but I finished something, and after all isn’t that what this is all about? Sure learned a thing or two, anyway!

It’s an old-school Track & Field style 100-meter dash “simulator”. Not much gameplay, but hope it’ll provide a cheap laugh for somebody at least. I was planning on adding a new gimmick every stage, such as Mario-Kart style weapons and finally culminating in a side-scrolling shooter segment. Heh, there was really no way I could’ve crammed all of that in there in 48 hours. So here, have two people babbling about running and randomized haikus instead.

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-27/?action=preview&uid=25059

Now I let mr. sandman come and knock me the fudge out and don’t wake up for twelve hours. Then I’ll have to rifle through the backlog and see what manner of awesomeness the rest of you handsome guys and girls have been up to

And I even had enough time to make music for it, holy cod what happened.

Second Ludum Dare! Hello! ‘Tis a short old-timey RPG where you need to grind EXP until you reach Level 1. Then you take your brand new stats to beat the boss… and then start over again. Or close out the window. Whichever, really.

This time I managed most of what I wanted, which came as a surprise. But had I the time, I would’ve added more monsters, different encounters for different environments, defense stats (to differentiate magic from regular offense), procedural generation of maps and more level progression. And by that last bit I mean that each new map you would keep stats gained from earlier, and all of the enemies level up with you. Then, introduce some monsters which only appear at higher levels, maybe some spells and items (only one of each, of course) and you’ve got something that might be interesting to play for more than five minutes 😉

All in all, I think I managed much better than my last attempt. If nothing else, this time I’m actually not ashamed of letting folks see my source-code. Uh, yet. If someone tells me it’s horrible I might change my mind on that, but anyway-

I might not have a lot of time (or Internet) to be able to see what all you gentlefolk have cooked up, which is a shame.

Hoo. And now I realize that it’s past 3 a.m. and I haven’t eaten since lunch. Signing off.

I got a pretty polished little ditty this time!

This is my third time participating, and it seems like I get more efficient each time. This type of thing would have been absolutely impossible for me back in august. 😉

Dive into the endless sea, collect loads of treasure and use that to buy better equipment with which to get more loot. It’s like Diablo – except there are no monsters, and no weapons, and the only thing you really do is swim and pick up money. But hey, I’m pretty sure none of the Diablo series were made by a single person in under 48 hours, so I’m happy with what I got!

This could actually be made into something more real with a few additions. One: procedural destructible undersea terrain. Two: monsters. Three: weapons. Four: weapons and equipment as findable loot, and five: loads and loads of fun stuff to buy off of Santiago. And hey, whoever said diving was restricted to the ocean? How about “skydiving”? 😉

Maybe I’ll revisit this sometime in the future, but for now a packed schedule stands in the wings, waiting to assault me. I’ll make time to see what the rest of you brilliant boys and girls have been up to, though!

Everyone good luck – I’m off.

Around this time one year ago, I participated for the first time in the 48-hour competition. I remember my first entry being a complete mess code-wise; cutting corners and doing sloppy ineffective stuff just because at least it worked, far too stressed just figuring out how to get even my simple Track & Field-esque game running within the deadline. Let me take a few seconds to reflect on how I’ve probably gotten a wee bit wiser one year down the line…

So okay time’s up let’s do this introductory-thing-dealie

My toolbox:

• Code: Java, with LibGDX
• Sounds: Bfxr
• Music: Anvil Studio and/or GarageBand
• Graphics: Pixen

For the first time I’m also using a code base, which can be found in this general area.

My goals for earlier entries have been: Make cleaner code more efficiently, manage time so that I can fit a normal sleep schedule, and place better in at least one category than previous tries. So far I’ve hit all of the points with each new try, but since I placed really well last LD we’ll have to see how that last one goes.

Good luck to one and all, and see you again once all’s said and done!

Well, my 4th Ludum Dare entry has come to an end. This time I made a Box2D game with LibGDX called The MillionWood.

The basis of the game is that every now and then, another screen with another character is added to the game, and you have to control all of them simultaneously. All characters start at the same level, so soon enough you’ll be trying to finish old levels and new levels at the same time – and the farther you go, the more of the characters will reach the really trick levels! And if one character dies, the rest of them go down as well, so you’ll have to be careful.

The fact that this was my first time fully implementing Box2D has me very pleased that I got something working this well. I should probably have eased up on the polish, though – I was done with the game well before sleeping time, but my drive to add “just this little detail” had me going almost all the way to the cutoff point at 3 AM. Still, I’m very happy with the end result!

With all that said, good luck with your games everyone! I’ll start rating within the week. : )

I’ve managed to take part four times in a row now, but this time it’s a no-go.

It’s a bit of a bummer… but on the upside, the reason I can’t participate is because I’ll be busy lounging around sun drenched tropical beaches this december. So I guess everything weighs itself out.

Anyway, if you’re thinking of taking part and you use LibGDX, I’ve put up the codebase I used last time on GitHub. You can use it if you want to. I’ll probably start adding some more stuff to it in the weeks leading up to LD32, but for now it’s the same stuff I used in LD30.

Good luck to all you jammers out there! And make sure to catch some sleep this time, will ya?

Alright, after taking time off in December it’s time to get back in it!

My toolbox:

• IDE: IntelliJ IDEA
• Code: Java, with LibGDX
• Sounds: Bfxr
• Music: Anvil Studio and/or GarageBand
• Graphics: Pixen

I keep my base code on GitHub here.

This weekend I’m gonna have a lot less time than usual and to top it off I’m working my first day at a new client on monday. The challenge this time around is going to have more to do with pacing myself and coming up with a fun but simplistic design. One that still gives me some time for polish. No staying up until 3 AM!

Right, I’m in! My toolbox will be slightly different this time.

• Unity
• Pixen
• GarageBand

Pumped for the first time I try making my own game with Unity! I’ve only practiced a bit, so I’ll try to keep my ambition low. I will expect having to read or watch one or two tutorials during development, so I’m gonna aim for a game with a very simple game loop. Probably none of that multiple level stuff I did the last couple times, boy was that time-consuming.

Good luck to one and all! May our Jam be sweet and righteous.

I’ve been a regular Ludum Dare’er (Ludumer? Darer?) for two years now, but this was my first try at using Unity3d. Overall, I’m pretty happy with it!

It’s a bit like WinRoids, except with monsters. You play as a creature, float around in space, dodging and shooting at asteroids and enemy ships in order to raise your score. Consume ships to grow your body, for protection and points. It’s not that special, but for my first try I’m pleased as punch!

I probably won’t revisit this, but if I were to do it I would most likely add some form of progression system. My thought is that every few waves of enemies you would spend some of your accumulated mass on upgrades. Once you reach a certain amount of mass you’d transfer to another level that better suits your bigger creature. Basically, make the player feel like a true galactic devourer.

I would also like to add a screen wrap, but I skipped it this time because that seemed like somewhat high level stuff for a Unity beginner.

Now, I’m super curious as to what all of you other entrants have thought up about this theme. My interpretation is fairly straightforward, but I know there’s bound to be some pretty interesting stuff.

Ready to go this weekend! Here’s my basic toolset:

• Unity 3d
• GarageBand
• Pixen

Gonna try to step it up a bit from my last Unity entry since I’ve learned a lot more. I haven’t got the most time on my hands though, so we’ll see how it pans out!

This time I’m participating with a friend! Really excited to get the ball rolling.

Tools:

• Unity3d
• Pixen for 2d graphics
• GarageBand for music
• Bfxr for sound effects

If we decide on using 3d I think I’ll go for Blender, but I haven’t used it in years so we’ll see.

Time for Ludum Dare again! I'll be teaming up for this one. Will attempt to limit the scope so we can try some pair programming!

Our tools: * Unity 3D * Pixen * Bfxr.net * GarageBand, if we can spare the time for music

Good luck to all the Darers out there!

We are done! The inspiration for our game Harvest Ninja was to take the basics of a game like Harvest Moon and add stealth mechanics. We mostly fit in everything we wanted - expect for one more type of robot sentry that would patrol along a straight line. We're super happy with how it turned out, especially considering how tricky the theme was this time around!