Hi! I'm havana24 and this is my Ludum Dare entry called * Plug Me*! :grinning:

If you want to try the game Click Here!

I hope you like it! :grin:

I'm starting expanding my entry called * Plug Me* by adding new levels and maybe release it on Steam in a while...

Do you think it is a good idea or it should be relegated only to the flash market? I like the concept but I don't know if it is suitable to the Steam market. :thinking:

If you want to try the game Click Here!

I hope you like it! :grin:

I would like to thank you all for this awesome result! :smile:

Plug Me is my best Ludum Dare entry so far (here is the chart of my past Ludum Dare).

I will for sure expand the game and release it on Steam, so if you want to know when it is ready just follow me on my social (Facebook or Twitter) or just follow me on my main site havana24.net! :stuckouttongue:

Even if I think that the main prize in ludum dare is to have a brand new game in your hand I think that a better judging system will improve the overall experience for everyone. That's why I thought a new rating system that I want to share with you and maybe start a conversation in the comment section.

The main problem of Ludum Dare rating system

From what I see in the comment section of the results post the main problems are two: 30% of games doesn't get the 20 ratings and some complaint about people get to the top leaderboard with "just" 20 ratings.

To be more fair, in order to enter the leaderbord, LD should increase the minimum number of rating to like 30 or so. But as we can see LOTS of games don’t hit the minimum 20 ratings required, just because the developers don’t know they should leave feedback/ratings to other games in order to get other developers see their game.

So, to me, instead of increasing the minimum number of ratings, they should impose a minimum number of games that you need to review in order to enter the final leaderboard.

My idea to improve the Ludum Dare ratings

First part of the system. * You release the game in time for the competition. 2. You get redirected to a page where the system explain that you need to rate 20 games in order to enter the leaderboard (with like a fancy bar at the top that loads every time you rated a game). 3. You press a button and the system automatically redirects you to the next game you need to review. 4. Once you leave all the ratings and a feedback for that game the system allow you to press the “NEXT GAME” button in order to get all your 20 reviews done. * If you can’t test a game because you don’t have the required system (like you need Windows but you got a Mac) you can press the “SKIP BUTTON” and select why you didn't play the game (maybe the system can make a report to the developer so he know why people are skipping his game). * In order to prevent people skipping all the “bad” games you can implement a maximum number of skip.

Obviously you can also play and rate all the entries, but to be eligiable to the leaderboard you need to review games that the system gives you. In this way the system could choose the right games that needs to be rated and you can spread ratings on every entry.

But wich games the system should give priority?

Here comes my second part of the system. * *The first two weeks of ratings * the system will chose games with low ratings in order to get them to the right number of ratings, letting them to enter the leaderboards. * * The last week of ratings * the system will always choose games with low ratings BUT ALSO games that have a high score in overall category (and have less than 30 ratings) in order to reach a more higher and reliable data (like 30 ratings or a bit more).

Basically here the system is trying to avoid that games with exactly 20 ratings will get to the top without having enough data, spreading also ratings over all the top games in order to push them with near the same number of ratings. I'm sure that there is a point where if you get "X" ratings (I put 30, but it could be higher) or 50 ratings, or 100 ratings, or 300 the final result doesn't change. We just need to find this number.

Other things that could be implemented

• * Pass from a 5 stars based ratings to a 10 stars based ratings. * To me 5 stars are too restrictive, sometimes you need to give the same amount of stars (especially in the overall rating) between two games even if one of them is better than the other, just because there is no half-way. We don't want to pass from 5 to 10? Just introduce fractions (3.5, 4.5 etc).

• * Comments should be anonymous * With this system lots of people tend to be more accomodating and kind because they are afraid of a "revenge" (speaking about ratings). In fact lots of people complaint about their very low final rankings because they see many polite and good comments in their games that don't reflect the actual ranking. Basically commentators post "Good game" and put 1/2 star ratings in some categories without helping the developer, without leaving a comment to really improve the game. If we put anonymous comment we will get more true feedback that refects the actual rating, but we will lose the "back to back" ratings behavior.

• * Introduce a forced comment if you put 1 star rating or 5 star rating * (or 1/3 and 9/10 if we use the 10 star rating) This will provide more valuable feedbacks to the developer in case of a low rating and prevent a little bit the blind "5/5" without leaving a comment.

• * Let the "Theme" category influece the overall final result * To me in a jam the Theme should be the main focus. Because without following that theme you can "easily" make a great game (even before the jam start) and put yourself in a great spot in final results. So maybe make a median between Theme and Overall? Or a median where the higher weight is based on the Overall but also the Theme count?

That's my 2 cent.

What do you think about?

_ -havana24 _

Hi Guys! :smile:

I'm working on the Steam verson of Plug Me (ranked 4th in the last Ludum Dare 39)!

At the moment I created 50 brand new levels with Bosses.

Here you can see one of the Bosses, Mrs. Bobox:

Basically, because I have limited space per level, I add a new trap every time you hit the Boss! What do you think about it?

if you want to know when the game is ready just follow me on my social (Facebook or Twitter) or just follow me on my main site havana24.net! :stuckouttongue:

* _ -havana24 _ *

Finally I've done the Theme Slaughter! :)

I kept only the 8% of them... Am I a little bit too selective? Basically I kept only themes that were not too restrictive and not focused on one genre.

I have some advice about the theme selection

Maybe @pov or @sgstair find something usefull to insert in this list. If you have other advice post them into the comment. :) - Merge repeated themes: Maybe before starting the slaughter round, lower case all the themes and merge the ones that match. In this way we don't need to vote 3300 themes (but maybe something like 2800) and maybe we will have less scattered votes. Also Instinctively I noticed that I slaughtered some duplicated entries. - You should not be able to vote your own theme. - Make edit possible: Sometimes I slaughtered a good theme by mistake with no way to edit it. - Hide buttons after put a vote and then wait the response from the site before re-enable them: With my smartphone I clicked 3/4 times on the button because of a non response of the LD site... and after that I noticed I voted by mistake 4 themes. - Insta-ban Snow/Christmas theme (joking lol). - A badge when you vote them all: Maybe a reward will push more user to vote all the themes.

BTW I'm in for LD40!

I'll be hosting a local jam in my mountain house with other two devs. I don't know if we will join the jam individually or as a team... we will see!

This will be my 4th Ludum Dare, yay! I hope to release something! XD

Good luck to everyone! :D

- havana24 (http://twitter.com/hav24)

Hi guys and Happy Easter! 😄

Do you remember Plug Me? It ranked 4th at Ludum Dare #39 "Running out of Power".

The game will be available on Steam the 5th of April! 😁

► Check the Steam Page for the trailer and wishlist

The game will features 50+ levels with 6 bosses! I’ve tried to put into it all your feedbacks from the last jam in order to create something that could be less frustrating and more enjoyable for everyone.

I hope you will enjoy it!

havana24

Hi guys, I finally did it after 7 months of hard work! 😄

Do you remember Plug Me? It ranked 4th at Ludum Dare #39 "Running out of Power".

Well, the Game is now available on Steam! Check the Steam Page to try it out! 😁

The game now features 50+ levels with 6 bosses! I’ve tried to put into it all your feedbacks from the last jam in order to create something that could be less frustrating and more enjoyable for everyone.

I would thanks all the great people that commented on my ludum dare page with feedbacks! :heart:

@blueman @wrexialmt @mennchen22 @phaix @thygrrr @kungkras @mrerdalural @reax @demi @tomdev @marin0104 @natwomb @jsmcag @bombjack @miro662 @ynk @wolderado @tbaudon @lishnor @c0nst4ntin @rulrite @neowhoru @larx @verysoftwares @turbogros @hishicorne @mathijs750 @strangeryann @theflyingkeyboard @svr-audio @n-feofentov @colozz @nofuel @flyingmeta @alien @mspawa @starlight-glimmer-is-best-poney @mianagames @lamm @selftitled @bveeramani @dietzribi @lerpish @peachtreeoath @badly-drawn-rod @le-slo @yopox @ruerob-hyky @sagarpatel25700 @gil4 @aayush @surovyi @shell-pirate @elit3dgaming @jusw85 @nuebomundo @nick-blackwood @saintheiser @michaeltwg @nezumi-games @eshudra @pedro-miranda @vkmicro @johngun @ludic-studios @besslaaneshi @risingoat @yetman @willdata @pablodap @leafo @split82 @keckles @simplepotential @unit684 @foomar @pbg @cttfow @franfox @gistnoesis @peter-jonsson @lereveur @theonethatneverwas @teddydd @saucygames @pkenney @saramartins @freedom-is-slavery @strega @coauctor @rosypenguin @pitpony @edwingamedev @zzq @fillefilip8 @jtn191 @stuffed-wombat @acoto87

And also thanks to those who streamed my game at the time! :heart:

@gamesplusjames @togis @aurel300 ElysiaGriffin

And at the end I would like to thanks Ludum Dare, because it’s a nice community and the whole idea of this jam site is just amazing! Have a good day guys and keep up the good work! :)

havana24

First of all congrats to all fellow developers that made a game! ♥️

Unfortunateley I didn't have enough time to finish it...

But at least I have a prototype that works! 😃

I think I will continue it in order to make a full game!

I will post more on my Twitter! 😉

havana24

The other day I put this GIF of my unfinished prototype for LD41 on twitter and got lots of love and support, so I decided to continue this project!

* Follow me on Twitter to stay updated on the development! 😃 *

I got lots of ideas for this, can't wait to create something unique!

havana24

Hi devs! Finally a new Ludum Dare! :heart:

Today I worked basically on the main character and its walk animation and basic movement.

This is the result so far:

* I'll post more update on my Twitter ! 😃 *

This will be my 4th Ludum Dare if I menage to finish the game!

So finger crossed! :fingers_crossed:

Good luck to everyone! :D

havana24

Want to know if Nature is really harsh? Well, try my puzzle-platformer entry Nature is Harsh. :monkey_face:

* Here is the link: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/43/nature-is-harsh *

Mama Monkey seems to have no problem sacrificing her own babies!

* Even squishing them and using them as a ladder. * WUT. 😨

Please, don't call the PETA. 🙈

havana24

Want to know if Nature is really harsh? Well, try my puzzle-platformer entry Nature is Harsh. :monkey_face:

* Here is the link: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/43/nature-is-harsh *

Mama Monkey seems to have no problem sacrificing her own babies!

* Even squishing them and using them as a ladder. * WUT. 😨

Please, don't call the PETA. 🙈

havana24

That's the result of my game Nature is Harsh, and I'm really happy that you guys liked it! :monkey_face:

Even if it's not my best placement in the overall spot, I definetly noticed an improvement in other categories, reaching for each one at least the top100.

I will release an improved version of the game with more levels soon...

So if you want to keep in touch just follow me on twitter.

See you soon for the next Ludum Dare! :smiley:

havana24