This is the first time I’ll be participating in the Ludum Dare. I’ve been working with computer graphics and game design for several years now, dabbling in bits and pieces of modeling, shader code, programming, etc. I’ve done game jams in the past, and I’ve always pushed myself to create a 3D game. This game jam will be no different, I plan on creating a full 3D game.

I’ll be using XNA, C#, and several other graphical tools (Photoshop) to create my game. Following the rules of the contest, I’ll be using no other frameworks other than the base XNA framework and possibly some code from the samples provided on the XNA website. All of my code will be from scratch.

I’ll be posting a timeline of my work throughout the contest on Ludum Dare, and on my blog, along with HD video posts on Vimeo.

A side note – I’ve also previously hosted my own game jam too at Michigan Tech, it was called the Houghton Game Jam which is now being hosted by Husky Game Development.

~ Good Luck

Garrett Hoofman aka Gambit Sunob

So because of jovoc’s post I started looking into Voxel modeling because I don’t have a Mac to use Sproxel. There are little to no free voxel programs out there. So after several hours of digging into it I found this solution, all free, and best of all, they’re all portable apps.

• Cube Kingdom Version 2.0
• Metasequoia (LE R2.4 Freeware)
• Blender 2.4x

So the first step is to download Cube Kingdom Version 2.0. With this you can create your own Voxel models, the menu is in Japanese but you can get the jist of it. Once you’ve created your model, save it as the Metasequoia file type (mqo).

Next start up Metasequoia and import the model. Then save the file as a DirectX .X file, make sure to select Vertex Colors if you want to maintain your colors.

Next start up Blender 2.4x (2.5 no longer has a .X importer) and import your .X file. Now you can export as .fbx, .blend, or anything else.

You can also use Milkshape3D but Blender imports the faces as quads whereas Milkshape3D imports the faces as triangles.

Also, my choice of food during the LD – Baked Oatmeal.

I managed to finish my game. This was a bit of a twist for me, instead of spending way too much time on the code, I spent way to much time on the art content.

In order to do a 3D game, you pretty much have to have animations, unless you’re making a space game, or a racing game. So that meant that I needed to do animated models for my game. I haven’t done much of anything for modeling, animation, or texturing. This meant that the process of creating the art assets took a huge portion of my time. I think they turned out pretty nice though.

You can see the video of them here : http://vimeo.com/23143112

And the finished game can be seen here : http://vimeo.com/23141263

I participated in the Ludum Dare 20 Challenge and I’ll be returning for Ludum Dare 21. I’ll be using the XNA framework again this time. I may however, if the theme and my idea allow, work with HTML5 instead.

The models from the above image were created in my Ludum Dare 20 Entry.

I’ll be using XNA along with a “semi” personal library. I’ll post a link to it later (currently at work).

My Website
http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-20/?action=preview&uid=4043

Good luck everyone.
(Please don’t let the theme be kittens…)

Meet Ort. Ort is an only child, and because he has no brothers or sisters he never has anyone to play with. This causes Ort to use his imagination to a much further extent than most children ever do.
Vimeo – Ludum Dare 22 – Alone

The OPifex team has been working on a gaming engine for the past year that I’m putting to use in the competition.

To comply with the rules, I’m putting the engine in its current form into the public domain. All binaries, header files, etc are available for anyone to use during the competition.

OPifex Engine Release 0.1

To get an understanding of the engine you can check out the following blog posts which cover its functionality:

OPifex Engine Part 1

OPifex Engine Part 2

To sum up:

• Initial project setup
• Input handling hooked up
• Very simple movement physics
• Very simple collision detection

This is Bot. He’s a bit primitive yet, and a little dinged up, but he’ll be going into training soon.

Put as much time as I thought I could spare into creating the little characters.

Still have a couple of glitchy moments here and there with the collision detection, but it’s better. The artwork, is programmer art for sure, but I’m decently happy with it for now.

No where near where I’d like to be as far as progress, but it’s coming along.

– Running out of time

I’ll be using the OPengine: http://www.opengine.io

This will be my 5th Ludum Dare and this time I’ll be joining the GamedevGR MeetUp group: http://gamedevgr.com

The GamedevGR MeetUp group is getting setup and ready to rock.

There’s a variety of tools, engines, and technology being used through out the individuals and groups.

We’re excited to find out the theme and see how everyone’s games turn out!