This isn't the most extravagant wallpaper out there, but I think it appeals to everyone's inner minimalist.

After seeing so many good themes in the slaughter, I was sorely disappointed in the first round of the voting. We can hope that the community comes through and selects a good theme, but that hasn't worked very well in the past.

Another round of mostly awful themes. The only themes I enjoyed are themes suggested many times over and that I've wanted to use in the past, so great job with the creativity there...

I have no words for these themes. I'll let you argue with me down below.

Since I'm mainly a coder, and not much of an artist, I've been messing around and doing some art to practice for this LD! (all these sprites are 6*11)

Though they weren't exactly my favorite themes out of the bunch, I think that there are some really solid choices in that list. Only one of the themes there I upvoted in it's respective round, but another look really sold some of those other themes that I 0'ed previously. While there are definitely some themes I don't want, they aren't as bad as a lot of others that were in the first 3 rounds.

After 3 solid hours of dev, I have finished the main mechanic of my game. My idea is a top-down RPG-style boss rush, but every time you attack, you sacrifice (WOW) some of your field of view, making it harder to see the bosses attacks.

Player Sprite:

Here's a screenshot showcasing the first boss and how he measures up tom my player.

My first boss is complete, and my second is halfway there. Tomorrow is for finishing the AI, finishing graphics, and doing audio. Keep it going everyone!

I'm usually not the greatest at rating games (I've never gotten a score in all 6 previous LD's I've completed), but here's your chance to get a rating. Of course, I would appreciate one in return, but I won't require it.

The Grassland Kings was my 7th published LD game, and one of my favorites. However, there are definitely some issues, as so many of you guys have helpfully pointed out, and a post-jam version is coming, just you wait!

What Went Well:

• Theme: The game provides you with the theme front and center, with you requiring an encounter with the theme to even damage a boss! Every time you swing your pathetically underpowered sword, you lose some of your precious field of view.

• Controls: The controls are fully functioning without bugs, and there's even controller support, which I've been wanting to add to most of my previous entries but just couldn't get done in time. For any of you that try the game later on, I highly recommend a controller. I tested it with an Xbox 360 wired, but any other controller should work fine.

• Feel: The feel of the game was perfect for the idea I had, at least in my opinion. The fast-paced yet spooky music fit the intensity of the boss rush and the creepy vibe of the decaying FoV at the same time, which I think works pretty well.

What Didn't Work:

• Balance: This is the biggest complaint with my game, one that almost every player has mentioned. The game is absurdly difficult, to the point where people can't even beat the first boss, let alone the second one. Another greatly requested feature was a health bar, just so you knew when you died, along with the boss's HP.

• Story: This didn't work, simply because there was none to be found. I, as the dev, have an idea of how I want the story to pan out, but that's not evident in the game itself. With a post-jam version, I'll be sure to have an overarching story that ties it together.

• Sound Effects: They don't sound bad, but in the moments you boot up the game and start fighting the first boss, the sound effects drown out an semblance of music there was. The sound effects need improved, and they also need a volume slider.

Could be Better:

• Graphics: While the graphics weren't bad by any means, they still needed some work. One point of concern is the golem sprite, the one used for the long-forgotten second boss that's almost impossible to get to. The way I did my run cycle didn't work as well for the golem, simply because his sprite was the same all the way around, with no clothing to differentiate the different parts of his body. Some graphics need to be tweaked, but the general style is here to stay.

Overall: While there are some spots that need some definite work, the majority of the harder-to-nail sections are good, and a post-jam version can easily fix some of the other problems.

Play my game here! https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/43/ludum-dare-43-entry

The Grassland Kings has officially become my most-rated game of Ludum Dare! I've struggled to even get 10 ratings in past years, and here I am now with 24 days remaining and over 15 ratings! Let's go for 20!

(Here it is if you want to help reach the almighty 20 ratings: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/43/ludum-dare-43-entry )

My LD43 game, The Grassland Kings, has reached 20 ratings! This is the first time I've gotten this far, and I want to thank everyone why gave me feedback along the way!

Many have complained of difficulty, and I have a solution for you! While playing on gamepad, there's a dev command that was left in that resets your light level when pressing the right button. While this isn't a permanent fix, it may allow some of you to experience the second boss without grueling over the first one for hours!

Here's a link if you don't have it anymore: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/43/ludum-dare-43-entry

I spent way too long getting this out, so here we are.

They're obviously not great scores, but I can definitely understand why.

Overall: A pretty low score, though a serviceable point average. (I, as most people should, use my point averages as my general basis on whether or not it's a good category.) Many people complained of absurdly high difficulty, though it was good otherwise. I completely agree. A post jam version is just about done with better balancing of the light loss and a ranged weapon.

Fun: Only slightly lower than Overall, in both score and point average. Again, people enjoyed it, but found it frustrating and thus didn't have as good of a time.

Innovation: A ~~score~~ point average I'm actually pretty proud of. My idea seemed pretty common, but apparently it hasn't been used very often. I'm glad it worked out, it's one I'm not sure I can top any time soon.

Theme: My highest score and point average. I like that I didn't have to tell people the theme connection, even people who didn't even read my page knew how I implemented the theme. This is a feeling I really want to duplicate in my future entries.

Graphics: One that I'm not particularly proud of. The graphics definitely needed some work, though the fact that you couldn't see the graphics most of the time probably didn't help.

Audio: Another lower point average. My 2nd highest score, however, probably because most people don't do any audio. It could've been better, some minor volume tweaks would've gone a long way.

Mood: A pretty solid point average. If you look at my post-mortem (which I'm not going to link because if you care you can search for it), you'll see that I felt like the music really helps convey the spooky nature of the low visibility. While I still agree with that statement, I also feel that the darker colors and general low saturation helped as well.

All things considered, a pretty solid entry, and I look forward to the next one already.

REDACTED

I'll likely be in for LD44, though under a significant time restraint. I'm in a musical currently, and performances are on the weekend of LD. I'll try to make something complete, but I can't guarantee anything, now can I. Hopefully the theme isn't... oh, who am I kidding, it's gonna suck no matter what. I have suggested some though...

Tools: - Construct2 (https://www.construct.net/en) - Piskel (https://piskelapp.com) - Abundant Music (https://pernyblom.github.io/abundant-music/index.html) - bfxr (https://www.bfxr.net/) - Audacity (https://www.audacityteam.org/)

I was bored, so...

(I just realized, I really don't have a consistent art style. I should probably work on that.)

Well I'm late on getting around to this, and two rounds of voting are already open, so I'm going to group them both here. It's gonna be a long one, strap yourselves in.

ROUND 1:

Space Exploration (0) - A mediocre theme, not bad, but also not good. One I'm willing to work with, but I would rather not win. It's open, and I like that, but theme is something I like to have control over, and I don't feel like I would get that here.

Everything has a price (-1) - Have you heard of a little event called LD43? Spoiler alert, this theme is almost identical.

No upgrades, only downgrades (-1) - See above.

Color changes everything (-1) - Just too complicated for a weekend based off of my ideas for it. I'm sure it could work, but I'll pass for now.

Four elements (0) - Another theme that is just barely on the edge between -1 and +1. I would be glad to have it over some other themes, but it wouldn't be my first choice.

Mutation (+1) - This is what a good theme is: a single word, very open to interpretation where everyone can have a different idea. More themes like this please!

Floating worlds (-1) - Take three guesses why I'm not a fan.

Limited memory (0) - I feel like a lot of people did that with "Running out of space", and I'm not anxious to see those again, but I still would enjoy the theme.

Your life is currency (-1) - A very specific theme that, while it could have variation in genre, the central idea isn't open to much interpretation.

Symbiotic relationship (0) - A theme that could end either with every game identical or extremely unique. I hope it's the latter, but I can't take the risk and give this a +1.

Control the environment, not the player (-1) - Both A.) too complicated and B.) I'm just tired of seeing this over and over. It's almost at "floating islands" levels of hate for me.

Old technology (0) - A good theme, but also the theme for LD36. I could go either way on this one.

You have 30 seconds (-1) - I prefer strategy-type games, and not action, so a time constraint isn't exactly what I want.

Unusual magic system (0) - It's a good, interesting, open theme, but it requires magic, and not everyone might want to do that.

You can't kill the enemies (0) - It could be interesting, but I'm not sure I fully get it.

Parallel Worlds (+1) - It requires nothing except two worlds, and they don't even have to be that different. Yes please.

ROUND 2 (aka the bad one):

Cards are your weapons (-1) - Painfully specific. No.

The butterfly effect (+1) - One of the few themes I liked in this hellhole of a round. Open to interpretation, and one that could have a variety of outcomes.

Only one enemy (-1) - Implies combat, not everyone may want to make a combat-based game.

Light as a weapon (-1) - See above

One room (-1) - Heard of an event called LD37? 1 million dollars to whoever makes the connection.

Regular Jobs, but in Space (-1) - First, use proper capitalization. Second, it just writes the setting for me. No thank you.

The environment is a weapon (-1) - See "Only one enemy"

Change the genre of a classic video game (-1) - This is painfully specific, and would require a derivative versus an original work.

Decay (+1) - See "Mutation"

Stay in the dark (0) - A good theme, but a little specific for my tastes. Not the worst, but not great either.

Side effects (+1) - Side effects to what? What kind of side effects? Allows any genre, style, setting, mood, without being too vague.

Two-button game (-1) - Sucks for makers of complex games (i.e. anything that's not arcade-style).

Time is the currency (-1) - See "Your life is currency"

Risky powerups (-1) - This one isn't actually all that bad, but there's something about this theme that just speaks to me in the wrong way. I can't reason myself here, but I don't like it.

Permanent damage (-1) - I have a tendency to make games too hard anyway, so enforcing a difficulty isn't ideal. Also implies some form of combat/life meter/obstacles.

Don't let it escape (+1) - This could be taken in so many ways that I can't count all of my ideas for it on two hands. A broad theme that can fit whatever a developer wants to do.

So these themes were good. Until round 2. Then they weren't. I look forward to round 3, and all of the themes that don't suck (but they probably will). See everyone around in 4 days!