Hey hey,

This isn’t Ludum Dare news per se, but I figure it’s right up everyone’s alley.  I’ve been asked by the organizers to let you know about Global Game Jam, taking place on January 30th 2009.

http://www.globalgamejam.com

Unlike Ludum Dare, this is an actual event taking place in 49 (currently) locations all around the world.  RSVP, show up, meet some new people, form a team, and build something in a weekend.  True to the spirit of the compo.

Thanks,

Mike Kasprzak (PoV)

PS: Mini LD #6 is next weekend, hosted by matrin

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/2008/12/21/minild6-collab/

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/2008/12/22/minild-6/

Be there!

This entry was posted on Friday, January 2nd, 2009 at 6:51 pm and is filed under LD - Misc. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Hi everybody,

Theme voting has now begun! We usually prune the list, but since a few people asked for it, I’ve included nearly every suggestion. I did remove some that could be considered offensive, but almost every suggestion will get it’s chance. Stop by the site every day this week to make your choices heard.

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/

For Friday, I’ll be taking the best 5 entries each day Monday-Thursday to compile the final list. Then, as per usual, the theme will be announced Friday night (or whenever your timezone normally begins a compo).

That’s it from me. See you all this weekend.

– Mike Kasprzak (PoV)

Wow, and that was Ludum Dare 14.

A humongous turn out this year, with a whopping 121 entries for the deadline. Easily a new record for us. A great way to kick off year 7 of the competition.

As usual, voting will last for 2 weeks. Hit the “View Final Ludum Dare 14 Entries” link at the top of the page to view and vote for entries. Only people that submitted an entry will have the option of voting. If we get enough demand on the last few days of voting, we may consider pushing the date back a few more.

If there’s anyone that was maybe unable to upload or link their entry properly, respond to this post or contact the administration inside the IRC chat room, and we’ll give you hand.

The next major competition will be in August this year. Subscribe to the mailing list, or follow our twitter to stay informed.

Looking for more? In the off months we also do monthly challenges called the “Mini LD”, where Ludum Dare veterans give you a theme to try making something from. They occur usually on the first weekend of every month, but do stop by to double check. See the Wiki for more information.

Congratulations, and thanks everyone for making Ludum Dare 14 a huge success.

– Mike Kasprzak (PoV)

Hey everyone.

Since you’re all busy busy playing and voting for entries, I thought I’d open up a thread to collect some suggestions. We’ve already seen many great ideas come up in IRC, but they should really be written down. So, any thoughts on the voting process, submission process, or anything to improve how we run a compo, drop a comment to this post.

With such an big turn out for April, it looks as if we’ll have to start taking things more seriously to manage the growth. If you’re a PHP+Database+Wordpress guy (gal) that wants to help us out, stay tuned.

For now, I’d like your thoughts. Respond away.

– Mike Kasprzak (PoV)

Hey folks, Phil here .. So we’ve talked about this project for years, but I think it’s time we took action.  Enough of us have been getting shape that I think it’s time we showed the world that game developers can be totally ripped.

Here’s the deal, I’ll get the calendar on cafepress or something, and all proceeds will go towards supporting the website.  If we make lots and lots of money, we’ll come up with something way cool to do with it.  Like fly everyone out to some tropical island and have a spectacular LD party for 48 hours sometime.

So the idea is to get your photo rounded up by October, so we can have the calendar available for sale in November.  Photos should include yourself in a swimsuit as well as game related stuff in the background or something of equal or greater awesomeness.  We may include some baseball card-like stats of “wins in LDs” or other such stuff somewhere.  And maybe a brief bio.  We’ll want these to be 300 dpi or some kind of hi-res image.  When we get closer to the deadline we’ll work out more details on exactly how we want the pages laid out.

In the case that we have more than 12 people submit a page for the calendar, the entrants who have competed in more LDs will get preference.

Fine print: make it a current picture.  No using a picture from 4 years previous when you were in shape.  The idea is to get yourself into shape NOW so that you’re ready for the calendar!!

-Phil

Greetings Sports Fans,

Phil and I have been incredibly busy as of late, but it’s that time of year. Ludum Dare time.

The 15th Ludum Dare 48 hour competition is scheduled for this upcoming August 28th-30th weekend. As usual, theme voting will take place the week of, and the competition will start at the usual time.

Theme suggestions are now open, so share your ideas on the Wiki.

http://www.ludumdare.com/wiki/ld15:themes

Before I talk about the other stuff, I’d like to quickly let you know about Mini LD #11 this weekend… tomorrow actually. It’s hosted by Jovoc, so tune to the site tomorrow for the theme.

http://www.ludumdare.com/…/july-mini-ld/

Now, the other stuff.

As you may or may not have heard, Phil and I were both finalist in the IGF this year. We flew out to San Fransisco for GDC in March, and exhibited our iPhone games (Phil with Galcon and me with Smiles). Between everything that happened, we still managed to run a competition a month later in April. Somehow, that competition was our biggest one yet with an incredible turn out of 121 entries! So wow, it seems we’re surrounded by awesome.

Our hope was (and still is) to set some time aside to improve the site and how we run the competition. But wow… I’m not sure who’s to blame (the IGF or the “hotness” of the iPhone), but stuff since GDC and the IGF has certainly snowballed in to lots more work for us both (especially stuff right now). We’re going to do what we can to try and make things run smoother, but I wouldn’t expect the super-magical perfect revamp by the end of August. We’re both quite fond of and committed to the community, but timing is such a delicate thing.

As always, feel free to leave us comments and feedback (call us slackers, etc).

Regards,
Mike Kasprzak (AKA: PoV)

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 23rd, 2009 at 1:23 pm and is filed under LD #15 - Caverns - 2009. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

If you ever wondered why Ludum Dare keeps going after all these years, it’s for awesome news like this.

Ludum Dare veteran Joseph White (aka Lexaloffle, aka Lex… when I’m lazy)’s latest game Swarm Racer 3000 will be on display at this upcoming Tokyo Game Show. It’s one of several titles being featured at the indie friendly Sense of Wonder Night. You can read more about it here.

Lets look at some gameplay footage.

Pretty sweet looking ‘eh.

The Ludum Dare connection? For those of you that missed it, back in 2006 we had the very awesome theme Swarms. And back then, Lex produced this really great entry named Swarm Racer.

http://indygamer.blogspot.com/2006/05/swarm-racer.html

Since then he’s made it far more awesome.

http://www.lexaloffle.com/swarm.php

And today, the all new Swarm Racer 3000 is looking pretty freaking great.

So a great big congratulations to Lex, from all of us at Ludum Dare!

– Mike Kasprzak (aka: PoV)

Tags: press

Ladies and gentlemen, girls and boys, this — is Ludum Dare 15.  The big one-five.  And talk about big.

We have many many new things to share with you today, so read this post carefully.

New website look and Avatars

You’re seeing it right now.  A shiny new theme to compliment the shiny new version of WordPress.  And after some web hackery, we also have Avatars (i.e. gravitars).

To set your little picture, you need to sign up at www.gravatar.com.  Gravatars follow you around on all the wordpress blogs you post on, by hashing your e-mail address.  So all you should need to do is sign up at both sites (ludumdare.com/compo, and gravatar.com) using the same e-mail address.  Easy.

New Submission System

We have a brand new submission system.  Gone are the days of “Final” tags and confusing image upload problems (that I usually end up fixing).  Now we have a lovely brand new streamlined entry submission system put together by everyone’s favorite philhassey, Mr. Phil Hassey.  When you’re ready to submit your entry, hit this page.

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-15/

Again, that’s no more final tags!  Hooray!

NOTE: The submission system hosts images, but not downloads.  If you need help hosting your entry, ask in IRC or make a comment/post requesting help.

NOTE2: Please only create an entry once you have a download ready.  You are not required to declare your intent to enter.  Just show up, sign up, and submit once you’re done.

Keynote Address

That’s right.  What better way to say Ludum Dare 15 is a big deal than to say it in recorded digital video.  So without further ado, check out the Ludum Dare 15 keynote address with Mike Hommel (hamumu).

Voting Categories

We’ve gone ahead and refined the voting categories for the competition.  They are as follows.

Innovation – How interesting, original or unique an entry is.
Fun – Unique yes, but is it actually enjoyable?
Theme – Good, clever, or interesting uses of the theme.
Graphics – Is it pretty?
Audio – Does it sound nice?
Humor – Does the game amuse you. The concept, the presentation, etc.
Overall – Do you love it?
Community – Journaling, sharing workspace photos, meal photos, motivational posters, recorded a timelapse video, etc.  How well did they tastefully go above and beyond to participate, as well as tell and show you what they did?

Coolness (i.e. Voting) – This isn’t actually a category you’re voted on.  Rather, it reflects how well you voted on entries during the voting phase.  People that play and vote for 25%, 50%, and 75%+ of the entries get awarded bronze, silver and gold icon medals in the coolness category.

More Stuff

You can join us in IRC.  #ludumdare on irc.afternet.org.  You should be able to find more than a few people to answer your questions there throughout the weekend.

We have some common tags for types of posts. deskphoto for pictures of where you work. foodphoto for pictures of your meals. motivation for silly motivational posters you decide to make. timelapse for timelapse videos. Try to use those so people can more easily browse them.

Seth (mrfun) fixed the World Map (*cough*… that I broke).  You can  see where people around the world are entering from, and add yourself.  In addition, we collect humorous quotes from IRC throughout competitions and the off time.  We’re adults, so some of the things said may not be suitable for minors.  Those you can check out here.

We do mini Ludum Dare competitions in the off months.  Veterans take a month, pick a weekend, and provide a theme.  Check back regularly to catch the latest Mini LD.

And if you’d like to stay informed of future events, we have a mailing list.

From all of us at Ludum Dare, good luck!

– Mike Kasprzak (PoV)

Tags: keynote

That was it!  Wow.  If you haven’t already, get your entry in RIGHT NOW.

We’ll hit the switch in about an hour and you can start voting.  If you want to see the current entry list, hit this link.

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-15/?action=preview

Thanks everyone coming out and making Ludum Dare 15 such a big deal!

– Mike Kasprzak (PoV)

Wow!  At current count, we have a whopping 144 entries!  To start voting on entries, go here:

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-15/

For the rest of the world, hit this link to see the list of all the entries.

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-15/?action=preview

If you made an entry, but for whatever reason weren’t able to submit at the deadline (upload problems, used the old submission method), let us know (via IRC, or respond to this post).

Voting will last for 2 weeks.

Remember, this time you’re being rated on how many entries you voted for.  Users that play and rate 25%+ of the entries will see a bronze icon beside their name, 50%+ a silver, and 75%+ a gold.  There will be a final list showing the best voters, along with the rest of the results.

Windows Ports

Hurry up and get your Windows ports in! The longer you wait, the less time people have to play and vote for your entries. For more details on porting, see this post.

Also, some people need help porting their Python+PyGame games to Windows+Py2EXE. If you can help out, see the comments here. If you need a place to upload the ports, ask a moderator in IRC for the FTP info.

Timelapse Videos

Be sure to tag your posts with the tag timelapse. It’ll make it easier for others to find your videos, and for me to collect them all.

Suggestions

If you have any suggestions regarding the compo (things to change, little things to make things nicer, etc), post them in the comments here:

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/2009/08/30/suggestion-post/

Thanks everyone for coming out and making Ludum Dare 15 our biggest and best compo yet! Now go vote!

- Mike Kasprzak (PoV)

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 30th, 2009 at 9:14 pm and is filed under LD #15 - Caverns - 2009. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Ludum Dare 15 voting has finally ended, and the results are now available.

Top 10

For the press, we have a special link just for you. If you want to know who “won” Ludum Dare 15, go here for the top 10 games (expandable to the full 144).

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-15/?action=top

“Winners” are decided by the Overall category. To our surprise, we had two ties in the top 10. Neat!

Categorical Top 5’s

For us LD folk, the full categorical breakdown of winners.

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-15/

*NOTE*: Click on the titles of the categories for Top 10 style lists per category.

Ludum Dare 15 as Screen Shots

And since it looks cool, the full list of 144 entries, as screenshots.

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-15/?action=preview

Next Time

Our next major competition (Ludum Dare 16) will be in December. The exact date we’ll know as the month approaches. To keep informed of the latest news, you can sign up for our mailing list here:

http://www.gamecompo.com/mailing-list/

You can also follow us on Twitter:

http://twitter.com/ludumdare

Or alternatively, you can watch user news‘s RSS feed.

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/author/news/feed/

Can’t get enough? Then stop by next month for MiniLD #13 hosted by nilsf.

Suggestions

If you have any suggestions for the compo, we’re collecting them in the comments here:

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/2009/08/30/suggestion-post/

Thanks everyone for coming out and making Ludum Dare 15 such a huge success.

– Mike Kasprzak (PoV)

Ludum Dare entrants are really on a roll this year.

The latest in the continuing legacy is Seth “mrfun” Robinson’s Mind Wall from Ludum Dare 14. Mind Wall is on it’s way to China for the inaugural Independent Games Festival China competition.

IGF China Info: http://www.gdcchina.com/events/igf.html
Finalists List: http://www.gdcchina.com/events/igffinalists.html

Download Mind Wall: http://www.codedojo.com/?p=104

Mind Wall was created for the 14th Ludum Dare’s theme Advancing Wall of Doom, and took place in April of this year. Seth has since improved on his Ludum Dare entry, and even ported the game iPhone!

One of our favorite Mind Wall moments has to be this youtube video recorded by a player. His girlfriend captured this tense and tender moment as he conquered the unforgiving beast that is the Mind Wall.

So hey, Ludum Dare. Not bad ‘eh? First it was Phil and I at the IGF Mobile in March, Lexaloffle at the TGS Sense of Wonder Night last week, and now mrfun at IGF China. Not to mention our record breaking 123 and 144 entries the past 2 compos. A fantastic year for us all.

Lets keep that going!

The Independent Games Festival and Independent Games Festival Mobile are now accepting entries for 2010. We’d love to see more of you keeping this little streak of ours going. Both competitions require an entry fee, and for you to provide your own travel if you make it. But if you ask any finalist, they’ll tell you that attending is totally worth it.

Independent Games Festival (Due November 1st, $100): http://www.igf.com/
Independent Games Festival Mobile (Due December 1st, $50): http://www.igfmobile.com/

I’ll be there at GDC next year (perhaps with Phil). Not that meeting me in person is all that monumental an event, but hey. If we get enough of an LD crew out there, we’ll totally have to do something.

Keep up the great work everyone!

– Mike Kasprzak (PoV)

Tags: press

I’ve received a few requests now, so here’s the announcement nice and early.

Ludum Dare 17 is scheduled for April 23rd-25th weekend. Themes can be suggested on the wiki. Specifics will be announced as the date gets closer.

Theme voting has begun! Tune in every day this week for a new round of theme voting. Then on Thursday, we’ll tally the votes and begin a final round of voting for the best theme, to be revealed at the start time Friday night (see clock on ludumdare.com/compo/).

Theme Voting: Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Final Round

Final Round Theme voting has begun! You have roughly 48 hours to pick, change, and convince others to also vote for your favorite theme. The final theme will be announced when the clock on ludumdare.com/compo hits zero. Prior results here. Go Vote!!

Final Round Voting [Click Here]

New to Ludum Dare? [Click Here for Tips]

Ladies and gentlemen, Welcome to Ludum Dare 17! Our first major compo of the futuristic year 2010! It’s been a big year for us so far, so lets keep that momentum going!

The theme will be announced shortly, see above. If this is your first Ludum Dare, I’ve prepared a handy little guide you can read. More details can be found on the wiki.

Keynote Address

Now to get you fired up for 48 hours of game making greatness, here’s Phil Hassey.

From all of us at Ludum Dare, good luck!

Tags: keynote

We’re just about done here with Ludum Dare 17. This is a reminder that once you finish your entry, you must submit it via the submission system, otherwise we might miss you.

[ Submit Here ]

Feel free to continue working on your entry up until the deadline, then get it together for submission. Submit for whatever platform you can, then get to porting at your leisure. We’d like to open voting about an hour after the deadline, which means people will want to start playing your game. If they can’t run it, they can’t vote for you, so be sure to get your ports in ASAP!

If you have problems submitting, feel free to leave a comment here, or join us in IRC (#ludumdare on irc.afternet.org). Ask for PoV.

That’s it for now. We’ll let you know once voting has begun.

TIP: If you need last minute hosting, TenjouUtena posted a guide how to upload ZIP files to Google Sites.

Now that was Ludum Dare 17! Everybody exhausted? There’s no time to be exhausted! It’s voting time!

As usual voting will last for 2 weeks. And with more than 200 entries, we can’t expect everyone to play everything. Still, everyone has been randomly assigned 20 games, so we ask that you at least play those. More would definitely be appreciated, and the the more games you rate, the higher your score in the “Coolness” category. For an example of final ratings, take a look at Ludum Dare 16’s results.

From the Wiki, the categories you’ll be rating games based on, and what they mean:

1. Innovation – The unexpected. Things in a unique combination, or something so different it’s notable.
2. Fun – How much you enjoyed playing a game. Did you look up at the clock, and found it was 5 hours later?
3. Theme – How well an entry suits the theme. Do they perhaps do something creative or unexpected with the theme?
4. Graphics – How good the game looks. Nice artwork, excellent generated or geometric graphics, charming programmer art, etc.
5. Audio – How good the game sounds. A catchy soundtrack, suitable sound effects, voice overs, etc.
6. Humor – How amusing a game is. Humorous dialog, funny sounds, or is it so bad it’s good?
7. Overall – Your overall opinion of the game, in every aspect important to you.
8. Community – Journals, photos, timelapse video. Everything you do above and beyond just making the game.
9. Coolness – How many games you rated? Score a Bronze, Silver, and Gold by rating LOTS of games.

That’s all for now. Go vote!

Interesting Links: [ Torrent containing most of the entries ]
[ LD17 Keynote | Theme Voting Results | Leave us Feedback or Suggestions ]

PC Gamer (US) recently did a feature titled “50 games to play at work”.

Because you should be playing games, not working

And on that list, #32 is Notch‘s “Breaking the Tower” from Ludum Dare 12.

Pixels in print

Congratz Notch!

Also, thanks to MrPhil for sending me the photos.

If you see a Ludum Dare entry on a major news site or gaming magazine, let me (PoV) know! Thanks!

More Ludum Dare game sightings, this time in Retro Gamer.

One of the reasons why the UK rocks. A gaming rag dedicated to retro/classic gaming.

Ludum Dare 16‘s Humor winner, “Fuck Oregon, lets go find El Dorado” by Crackerblocks.

I'd recognize that green triangle anywhere

Thanks go out to doohan for the photos.