Hello everyone, this is my first time participating in Ludum Dare.
I’ve been looking forward to take a part in some compo. Just this morning, I found the LD15 is starting tomorrow. Having a free weekend, I decided to give it a shot 
My tools:
Good luck to everyone!
It’s 7am in Prague (2 hours since LD15 started), I’ve just sketched out three game ideas and selected the one that looks the most interesting and amusing to me
Time to set up a work schedule, doodle some basic gfx and dive into coding. Seems like a busy but exciting day for me
Good luck to you all!
Oh, BTW, my desktop mess:
Work-in-progress showcase.
The game should actually deal with a bit different theme, this is just a funny test of a simple AI to avoid obstacles
http://www.jarnik.info/pub/ld15/index_01.html (click to see a flash embed)
Another WIP demo:
http://www.jarnik.info/pub/ld15/index_02.html
Click onto a game canvas, to gain focus:
Still a long way to a playable mechanic, but I hope to finish it by the evening (8 hours).
And to refresh my mind a bit, I cooked myself a spaghetti with pesto sauce
Yay, my game has a title screen now (and a name, as it seems). An hour of doodling with a drawing tablet and here you go
And now I shoulf create more units and tweak the settings a bit.
Day 1 of my first LD is over and after almost 18 hours of work, I have some sort of a game.
I enjoyed doodling on a tablet after a really long time
Unfortunatelly, I underestimated planning and created a system that is too complex to balance in order to produce fun. It’s just too random – sometimes too easy, sometimes too hard. I’ll try to tweak it tomorrow and see if I can get it a little bit more enjoyable.
Music would be nice and also adding multiple levels could make it more interesting (they’re procedurally generated, so no sweat).
The frogdog character that keeps popping up is probably a product of my fatigue 😉
Goodnight, fellow LDers (2:24am in Prague)
It’s done!
Try the game here: http://www.jarnik.info/pub/ld15/index_04.html (flash)
Some more screenshots:
Title screen
Battle rage... in the caverns!
Fatbat squad trashing the tavern
Help screens:
And that would be all, I’m going to wrap things up and submit the game.
LD has been an amazingly exciting event, I’ll be back with a chronolapse and some sort of post mortem.
That’s right, LD15 is over for me It’s been the most exciting event for me in a really long time.
Check my submission here – http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-15/?action=preview&uid=1163
Features downloadable flash (.exe), on-line playable version and full sources (graphics included).
Tools:
– FlashDevelop (+Flex3), coded in ActionScript 3
– sfxr
– musagi
– Inkscape
– Gimp
– OpenCanvas + Wacom tablet
Libraries:
– Flixel v1.25
– TweenLite v6.21
Thanks to LD (and TIGS), I’ve discovered some really amazing tools.
Sfxr is a final SFX solution for me (at least as long as I stick with platformers) – lets you create wide variety of chiptune sound effects with a few simple tweaks (or a single “Randomize” click).
Musagi proved to be quite a handy tool. Although I have some musical background, I’ve never composed anything and was always a bit hestant about make music tracks on my own. Thanks to Musagi, I can set up a simple tune in a few minutes – nothing original, but just enough to break the silence barrier during the gameplay.
Flixel is also my new friend. It’s an AS3 library for Flash platformers and even though its quite specifically focused, you can tweak it your way, if you are a bit serious with Actionscript.
GIMP is an old acquaintance for me, so I used it to create pixel graphics for the game. For static things it’s quite OK, because sticking with it quite some time. But I feel it’s not the best solution for animations and tiles.
33 hours, one picture per minute:
Tags: timelapse
I am in for my second LD (previously LD15 – Caverns), all preparations done, ready to flip some bits
Here is where the magic is going to occur:
And these are my tools of choice:
My sweetheart volunteered to accompany me during the weekend to provide me with an emotional support and to inspire me
There will be some cooking, expect food photos!
Chronolapse is set, therefore a timelapse video is also to be expected.
Tags: deskphoto
LD17 started on 3AM at my place, so I’m a bit behind, but I’ll try to catch up on the rest of LDers. I woke up at 7am, read the selected theme, then returned to bed and comfortably contemplated about the game until 9am. This is the result that my half-sleeping brain was able to produce:
Neat breakfast followed (in co-op with my better half):
And here is the initial design
I wrote a simple TODO list:
I’ve also done some coding, here is what I’ve got so far (move using cursor keys):
And as a reward – delicious chicken with potatoes:
Tags: flash, foodphoto, progress, screenshot
After a while of banging my head against the desk I found a neatly hidden bug, so the legs don’t get stuck in islands anymore. Island inhabitants appear:
Also, snack time!
Tags: flash, foodphoto, progress, screenshot
Tags: flash, progress, screenshot
Added jump support (took me a while :/) so jumping up on the islands (by pressing the X key) is now possible.
… and dinner
Tags: flash, foodphoto, progress, screenshot
Title screen done:
Player-controlled character got a final skin (click for a flash):
No sounds or level content yet
Tags: flash, progress, screenshot
Spaghetti, tuna and black olives… tasty
I’m happy to announce that the coding is done and now on to creating some content and sounds.
Tags: flash, foodphoto, progress, screenshot
Cuzco the Goat (from LD17 Keynote Address) is such an awesome creature, I couldn’t leave him out. Also the Obelisk from 2001 plus multiple steps of human evolution, mutated sheep and Godzilla (Cuzco is off-screen, only his wagon can be seen):
Tags: flash, progress, screenshot
Now with some 5 basic levels, 7 evolution equations and 15 entities:
Map seems neccessary, gotta work on it.
Achievement list:
Also – dinner! “Casablanca” spice mix w/ chicken and basmati rice:
Tags: flash, foodphoto, progress, screenshot
Phew, 2 hours left, but I’m done (2 am here) . You can play my entry online here: http://www.jarnik.info/pub/ld17/
Latest updates: sound effects (via sfxr), one music theme (via Musagi), minimap, Redshirt, Starchild, Tribbles, monkeys…
Achievements now totaling 15:
And the last in-game screenshot (Cuzco the Goat with his wagon in top right corner):
I wish I had one more day to add some content – I always end up devoting more time to building the tools than actually using them.
Anyway, this was my second LD, I enjoyed it as much as I could. I took a lot of food photos, I had a great time (huge thanks goes to my sweetheart :*).
Chronolapse has been capturing my desktop for past 48 hours, so the timelapse video should follow.
Tags: final, flash, screenshot