This is my second LD and will be (hopefully) my first Compo. I'm very excited and I will be primarily competing against myself; my previous LD game (LD47) ended up in 1,445th place last time. Hopefully I can make the top 500 this time!
I wish everyone the best of luck and, most importantly, enjoy the ride!
PS also, hope that "Parasite" or "Automation" do not make it to the final theme :S
Hi everyone! Hope you had a great LD48. I did! It is always both stressful AND amazing to participate in game jams. This is my second LD and my first Compo (I actually submitted it on time!) so that in itself was breathtaking.
Shiny Depths Link here: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/48/shiny-depths
My submission is Shiny Depths, a game where you need to dig deeper and deeper into a mine, collecting precious gems and surviving. I was heavily inspired both by Spelunky 2 (especially the Moon Challenge part - play Spelunky 2 if you haven't!!!) and by a forgotten game named Miner Dig Deep.
This was my second idea after the theme was published. The first one was a fractal-based puzzle platformer (I've thought about this more than once), but couldn't bring the idea down to pen and paper with enough clarity and with a reachable scope, so I switched to the mining game idea.
I've entered a reasonable amount of jams before (~10 total), but this is the first time I am FORCED to do the art completely by myself. I draw really, really bad, so given how this turned out, I'm really happy with the result. Obviously my art sucks compared to even a beginner artist, but for me it was a great result. I used Aseprite for it.
My favorite part was trying to design the gem art, about two hours before the deadline... Oh boy, that was stressful! Google must think I'm an archaeologist or gemologist (is that even a name?)
I used Gamemaker Studio 2 as always. It was pretty uneventful to be honest, although I did get stuck for like 3 hours on a very simple script, just to find out I was missing a minus sign. I feel I've improved over the last 12 months or so, although I should be better given my academic background and job experience.
The performance of the game was an issue. I had to release a bug fix in order to improve it. The game procedurally generates a mine 150 levels deeps, each one consisting of 40 blocks, and gems. I did not optimize enough, although the fixed version (1.1) is much better (I used the instance deactivation outside camera trick). However, I just couldn't release an HTML5 build (the GM2 runner is really slow at the moment), so I had to stick with the Windows version.
I also used the Bulb lighting library for Gamemaker (available for free, link on the itch.io page) and some fonts from dafont.com (also linked there).
An experienced piano player myself, I had no problem composing and performing both songs myself, a few hours before the deadline. Which one do you like the best? I did not have time to multitrack it, I wanted to add more instruments to them.
Sounds are basic but do the trick, but I used the built-in instruments on my Roland GP-609 digital piano, as well as a simple hit sound using bfxr.
I did not have time for visual/particle effects when mining. I intended to show some small rubble/rocks when you hit a block, and dust particles in the whole dungeon to add to the ambiance.
I also wanted to have more block types and boulders which could fall on you and hit/kill you, as well as critters (spiders, centipedes etc.).
Finally, I wanted to add TNT or bombs that blew up a big area (especially for collecting those pesky gems lying above you!). Again, I ran out of time.
If you reach level 150 there is a hidden secret. I will reward the first player to post a screenshot with the game.
I'm a 40 years old guy from Mexico, I work full time in a Mexican bank, heading the Risk Data Infrastructure division. I am married and have two kids, 10 and 7 (side note: I should have allotted time for them to playtest!). My hobbies are programming, video games, music (as said earlier I play the piano and a bit of guitar) and I've recently learned how to ride a bike and now I love it!
I loved participating in LD48. This alone is my prize, and since this is the first time I manage to submit to the Compo, it is a win for me. I hope my rankings are better than my previous LD game, this will also show I've improved over time!
Thanks for taking the time to read my post mortem. Best of luck to you all with your games and see you in the next LD!
Love Every 10 Seconds and You Shouldn't Mix Those.
Hi all, I'm eagerly waiting for LD53. in the meantime these are my theme suggestions:
Hope you like them!
I've been joining Compo the last three editions I participated in, and I successfully managed to submit a Compo game each time, and consistently improved my rating as well. Finished 30th in the last one!
Unfortunately, this time around I won't be able to make Compo. I've still have a lot of work to do in order to get my game to a decent state, let alone polish it. I went for a game that was too complex for 48h and my skill level, on hindsight.
Plus, I have stuff to do tomorrow. I will do my best to submit it for the Jam on time...
It maddens me more since I suck at art and I've been steadily working on the art for the game. If I had done Jam I could have resorted to an asset pack.
Anyway... enjoy your Ludum Dare experience, no matter which one it is!
Hope everyone has a great Ludlum Dare again! Here's my theme suggestions, I'm actually proud of them and hope you like them too:
