As always seems to happen, my current game project has gotten far enough along that I’m compelled to start something fresh and new – perfect timing for my first try at LD.

I’m going to leave my current comfort zone (XNA), and try my hand at doing a Unity game (just downloaded the engine today).

I’m too old and lazy to pull all-nighters, so I’ll have to be focused and efficient. The only problem is that I’m too old and lazy to be focused and efficient. We’ll see…

I’m quickly falling into the trap of designing assets and not gameplay, but hey, I’m having fun.

Planet textures drawn in Gimp and displayed in Unity. Here’s a little video with a first shot at some background music (using Ableton Live):

Earth Flyby

Observatory has been submitted!

Windows (tested) and Mac (fingers crossed!) builds available.

I would like to make a web version available, but I’m not yet sure how to host the Unity web player…

While I haven’t yet gotten around to working more on my LD19 entry, Observatory, in the spirit of LD48 I took a few days after the compo and prototyped a little game in flash.

I thought the idea had promise, so I’ve been working on a Windows version of the game. The first section is now pretty much complete:

I just released an alpha version that you can download here.

Everyone who gives me feedback on the game gets their name in the playable credits, so give it a try and let me know what you think!

If you so desire, you can try the original flash version here.

Oh, and I’m planning on participating in LD20 – probably using the framework I developed for this game.

Spent yesterday evening coming up with a concept and knocking out some pixel art.

This morning I’ve been working on platforming. I’ve now got a tile-based map with a little dude running around and pixel-colliding pretty nicely.

Dinner last night was Baja White Sea Bass:

Working on the intro cutscene. The player is the little guy on the left.

Although my main theme is ascending a mountain, I’m starting out with some underground sections.

Here, our hero has found the first of his brothers and gets his first powerup.

I just finished adding a vine climbing mechanic that is working pretty well.

Now I need to hunker down in level-editing mode to get this game done.

Had a great, if exhausting time this weekend. I’m really happy with how the game came out – it is a complete, if fairly short, platform adventure.

Looking forward to checking out everyone else’s games!

It wasn’t pretty, but I managed to shoehorn my 2D game engine on top of Unity3D.

The process was ugly, but the result is better than I could have hoped – the game looks and runs almost exactly the same as the Windows version (bugs and all – I didn’t make any changes). Unlike other web platforms I’ve tried that have framerate issues (I’m looking at you, Flash), it runs butter-smooth.

So, Mac users and those averse to downloading .zip files can now give Ascent of Kings a try.

During the Dare weekend, I made a little adventure game engine.

In the course of doing so, I also went about making a little adventure game about a girl that just wants some peace and quiet.

Play the Web version.

Ludum Dare entry page.

Since making “Quiet, Please!” for Ludum Dare 22, I’ve taken some time to improve on it and add additional content. I was really happy with what I was able to accomplish in the 48hr time period, but I had a lot of ideas that I was not able to get to.

The biggest criticism of the compo version was its length. This updated version has new areas, new and improved puzzles, an intro and a lot more sound and art assets.

The new version of “Quiet, Please!” can be played in a web browser (Unity) here:

Quiet, Please! Post Compo Version

The original, 48hr entry is here.

Here are a few screenshots from the new version of the game:

An expanded version of the little adventure game I made for LD22 just came out on Xbox Indie Games.

I’ve added new areas, puzzles and polish since the original Ludum Dare version, but I’m still amazed at how much of the core gameplay came together in that one weekend. I’m hoping that LD23 will be as productive for me as LD22 was!

If you are interested, you can find “Quiet, Please!” here in the Xbox Marketplace. I also released a version for Windows Phone a while back.

Here are a few screenshots from the final version of the game:

Tags: LD22, SuccessStory

So far I have come up with the beginnings of a game idea, and this fish curry:

So far, so good…

Tags: food

Congrats to everyone who finished a game today for LD24!

I crashed and burned early this time round…

On a positive note, though, I just found out that my LD22 entry, “Quiet, Please!” went live tonight in the iOS App Store.

If you look back at my journal history, you can see the evolution of “Quiet, Please!” from the initial Ludum Dare entry, to the post-compo version, to an Xbox Indie Games release and then to Android.

I want to encourage people who have created games in the last 48 hours to not just leave it at that.

Put some more work in. Expand the game. Polish it. Release it to a wider audience.

You might just find that there is an audience for your game outside of the Ludum Dare community.

Making a game in 48 hours is hard – so if you do end up coming out of it with a game on your hands, considering moving forward with it.

Tags: SuccessStory

I haven’t done a Ludum Dare for a bit, so I’m going to give it a go this weekend.

Going for the Jam this time because:

– I’m old and can’t pull all-nighters.
– My lovely wife can help.
– I’ll have time for nice dinners like tonight’s Soondubu Jjigae.

Tags: food

So, my placeholder monster graphics are definitely creeping me out.

Almost makes me want to keep them…

In addition to making creepy placeholder graphics, we also made this Green Chile Cheeseburger.

It was delicious.

Tags: food

This is the intro sequence for “The Bookcase”, a game we worked on for the Jam.

We didn’t have time to finish enough gameplay to submit it, but we are very likely to turn it into a full game at some point in the near future.