Embejeal finally made it - Windows build is done.

Go an play here : https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/50/embejeal

WebGL build will follow up the next days (or today when compiler is finished lol).

Today i managed to build and test the WebGl build (which now works and seems to be playable normally).

Go and check it out by yourself if you want https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/50/embejeal

Can you beat the levels until the healthbar rain down ? Everything needs health - jump, climb & shoot - while your normally lost health every second in this platformer game.

Play + rate it here : https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/50/embejeal

A Cat, a platformer and running out of health on every action. Sounds interesting ?

Then give it a try.

Play it here

awesome. Because that means that the theme slaughter round is not soooo big (sometimes slaughter around 3000 themes isnt really fun haha).

I thinking about: why not reduce it just to one ? I mean one theme you can suggest is enough. So people have to choose more wisely :)

Hey mates, folks, jammers, i am in.

Puh... now that i said this i feel much better :) Just kidding.

So this could be my 13th Jam (since LD39 in August 2017 i didnt missed any). Even in August 2018 when i was on holiday on a beach i had a laptop and was jamming.

So i have some small tips: - Don't participate when you are on holiday and are relaxing :). I am serios. This was my worst game and it wasnt worse the time. But was worse the lesson i learned. I never did it again haha. - When you dont feel that this game can be good or you feel "well i am not fully commit to it" it may be better to do something other. My April's jams were most the jams i didnt had good ideas or felt not much. April 2020 was were i thought "ok this was more time wasting after all as having fun". I didnt felt this often (mostly i had fun). - (The mandatory "overscope" tip) Don't overscope. Drop Features or write them down for the "Nice2Have" section. - Don't learn a new engine during the jam (that doesnt work well mostly). - Take breaks. Dont play games in the breaks - that doesnt get you anywhere :).

So here are some other FAQ.

A: Why not ? Sure you have no experience in it and you may not can estimate how long it could take. But sometimes you want to try different things out. But beware: if you are a 2d Game developer and want to make a 3d game and you didnt make one before this might not be the best idea.

A: Depends on how much time you need to make your game and if you plan to use third party assets. If you are alone and can make everything by yourself it is better to try to make it for the compo. Because in the jam category you might compete against teams that have seperate designers. But: if you see in the end of sunday that your game needs more time to be complete than don't rush and get the extra day.

I hope i dont miss anything.

The most IMPORTANT rule: have fun!

EDIT: i totally forgot to post my setup :D

• Engine: Unity 2020.3.25f1 (i thought about GoDot as i learning it but i think i have too less experience)
• Art: Aseprite
• Music: BeepBox / LMMS
• Sfx: BeebBox / Sfxr

I am not sure where this will be end this time. My idea isnt all the best and i try to make it even worse..wait what ? :D

Its another top down game where every 10 seconds an event will happen :D

First - my game Fire'n'Snail is finished and available for rate and play.

Lets talk about the Jam and the making.

I was willing to give up....

I upvoted the theme "Every 10 seconds" as it sound pretty good. I still think its a good theme. However i had not "THE" idea, just ideas and just thinks i can do.

So instead of writing down a complete concept i just start what was mandatory. - a top down player - a timer that reset every 10 seconds

The 4:44 Rule from Vlambeer, block out the game before making fine art...

Again - i didnt nothing from that haha. Some devs "greybox" the gameplay to see if it works. I didnt do this again. The problem is i think "i could greyboy, but drawing the player is faster than replacing it" or something hehe.

The other problem was that until yesterday i was not sure if i should go for this idea (i had backup idea in mind). Also i break my own rule or my own advice that i gave in the "Unofficial Keynote": if you dont commit to this idea, skip it or make nothing. I thought often if i should give up, but i dont wanted to give up and i was so far in the state then.

What went wrong?

Not so much at all - besides the feeling that i am not sure if i want to make this game. Level Design is not the best - i could do better.

What went good ?

It works good at all. I just invested not so much time as usual. I did slept more, do more real life stuff besides jam so i didnt feel like "ok if the game is bad, then it was not waste of time" and it was just a bit of crunch :). Also making art, coding without big struggle was something i didnt have often. It works more flawless as i expected.

Overall

There were better jams, but also more worse jams that i had in the past now 14th Jams that i participate in a ROW. I REALLY thought some moments "ok i should just stop right now and play some games" but then i got back to my desktop and i reflective start coding. So i had still fun in it - and that was important.

Now i will play some games from you :D

So i am begging again for ratings haha. Its not my best game to be honest but also not my worst game i made in a LD :D It doesnt take much time so if you have fun - why not ?:)

Play here

Play his game here https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/51/sweetheart-speedrun

i know a bit late but just my 2 cents on it.

The results are ok for my game - i didnt expext much so this is ok.

However what is important for next LDs : if your game has a good unique idea and would get a high rating in fun/overall it gets high rating in others too.

Autoball for example got 47th im audio but there is just some sfx. Or 50th in graphics with really minimalistic (but matching) graphics.

Dont get me wrong - autoball totally deserve it. It is a really great game.

Just the lesson we all learned again: if your game is great in gameplay it get goods score on others too becauase players get hyped :).

So lesson for me again - care much more about the idea and gameplay.

This time the jam has a really good time shedule for EU peoples - it starts at friday 9 o clock in the evening. I am really interested to see how many will participate as the time of the year is something new.

The last time i remember we had 3 times a year was april, august, december in 2019 or something :). Starting the new year directly with a jam is a good idea if you want to start something new the year.

I wish everyone a good time for the jam.

It is something special this time as it starts at 9 o clock here so my son can think with me about an idea. The last times he was in bed so we just brainstorm for every theme in the final round an idea.

And if we dont have a good idea ? ChatGPT haha.

Software

• Unity or GoDot (Decision will be on the fly as i still learning GoDot)
• Jetbrains Rider for C# (if Unity is used)
• Aseprite for Pixel Art
• Bfxr for Sounds
• Beepbox for Music

This will be my 13th time in a row (if i make something).

Tips for the Jam

• Dont overscope. I know EVERYONE says that and NO ONE really cares about.
• Greybox your idea and get some playable state as early as possible (i also not doing this really - i mostly draw first stuff but i really should).
• Gameplay over graphics. Means: try to polish your gameplay as good as possible and not the graphics. You can see it in the results of the last jams. The winners has really good gameplay. Players care more about that. If you have a ball and some lines and have a really good gameplay and polish that you have a great game.
• Sleep, eat, make pause - dont stress too much. If you are alone you can try to make the compo BUT if you feel you need more time, than take the time for the JAM.
• Unity Tip: WebGL Builds can have often side effects or not work as you expected. Windows Builds mostly work as you had in the Editor. So before you got into time shedule issue release the Windows Build first (you are allowed to release ports after the deadline ends).

So besides this - happy JAMMIN'.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqVy6eRXc7Q

To be honest - i really dont like this theme. But on the other side i never made a harvest farmin game so its a good idea to lean something like that.

My concept is ok but i must decide some stuff tomorrow as i have some ideas that might be better :)

but yes it is and his name is "Not another farmer game". It is some kind of Arcade style game where you have to seed properly to earn but also fast to get the level done.

Play HERE

Seed, harvest and reach a good high score and beat all levels.

Play HERE

but yeah it seems it is ;).

Please play and rate HERE

Btw. if you have Browserbased 2d Platformer games submitted, you can drop a comment with your game link. I would love to play and rate it :)

but yeah it seems it is ;).

Please play and rate HERE

Just a few are missing to hit 20 :)

If you like arcade like games then this might be for you. 4 different levels (more to come) to seed and harvest stuff.

PLAY HERE

..and leave your honest feedback :)

PLAY HERE

And leave your honest feedback :) Every feedback is very helpful.