This will be my first Ludum Dare. And I’m not entirely sure I’ll have the time this weekend to do it any justice, but what the hell. My basic plan is this: Create a cool little JavaScript/HTML5 powered game utilizing open source libraries as much as possible. I mean really utilizing those libs. Far be it from me to deny those who have worked and slaved on one or a few of the tremendously cool open source JS libs the joy of seeing me use their work to make ME look cool.

In any case, many of those cool libs are familiar to me, but a significant portion are not, so… I may end up pounding my head against my desk over and over and over. If I had any friends they would ask “But how would that be any different from your usual behavior?” Touché, imaginary friends, touché.

My development approach: Iterative, in the sense of always having a “complete” game as I develop it, not as in agile development, SCRUM, Kanban, etc. So, for instance, even if I don’t have a demo-screen that is feature complete or an inventory system that doesn’t cause people to tear their hair out and throw their feces at strangers (and possibly loved ones too,) I will still have those things in the game if they are in my original conception and if I plan on having them there, in a more refined form, later.

That might mean static graphics for some things or barely running code for others, but the idea is to have a complete… err… experience… come the deadline. I find this way of developing tremendously helpful in general. Too many applications, in my opinion, games or not, feel unfinished or end up missing out on UI/UX opportunities because the developers got caught up in something that seemed like the most important thing at the time, but wasn’t.

I ended up having to work all weekend for my “day job,” so no Dare for me. Next time I will clear my schedule in advance. Good luck to everyone who is participating!