This is my first entry.  I have a dismal record of finishing games but I am optimistic that the two-day deadline will keep me focused.   What I plan to use:

• Language: HTML5/JavaScript
• Framework: Craftyjs
• Graphics: Paint.net, Pixothello, TiledQT
• Sound: Audacity, SoundManager 2

Mantra: I WILL keep it simple!

Just submitted my first Ludum Dare Entry.  I was sweating it this morning since I still didn’t know what my game was going to be.

Lonely Island

See it here http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-22/?action=preview&uid=7542

Now for some sleep….

Tags: final

Postmortem of “Lonely Island”, my first Ludum Dare entry.

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-22/?action=preview&uid=7542

The Good

I decided before the compo I would not make a game about killing things (having kids changes your thinking).  This helped me come up with something original (for me anyway).  Okay, so you kill the trees and you kill the fish when you cook it but hey, baby steps.

I took lots of breaks, got enough sleep, and ate healthy.  I think this made a big difference in my stress level.  I wasn’t even feeling that stressed when Sunday came and I still didn’t know what my game was going to be about.

I found an animation template that helped immensely.  My programmer graphics perhaps went from fugly to “charmingly ugly”.  I probably would have spend the whole two days just adjusting pixels to make the guy walk without it.

The Bad

I made the n00b mistake of committing my pre-competition thoughts to either Random Generation or Evolution themes, both having great possibilities.  I never thought Alone would win.  So when it did my mind went blank.  “How can I make an original game about being alone?  That’s like 90% of games already out there.”  I spent Saturday just making a generic game and hoping inspiration would hit me.  That might explain why you saw down trees by umm, punching them?

I waited until late the last night (GMT+1 here) to make most of my sounds.  My kids were sleeping in the next room and I was exhausted.  Not the ideal environment for trying to voice hilarious dialog.  Next time I will do this during the day and leave quiet night-time for coding and graphics.

Not enough playtesting. I got my wife to stop rolling her eyes long enough to try the game a couple of times so that helped.  Myself, I only played in easy mode (everything costs 1 log) to test all the features because building the boat over and over got tedious.  When your own game gets tedious to play after just a few times that should tell you something.  I missed the message because building the boat is still tedious.

Got too used to seeing my placeholder graphics for terrain.  The only piece of terrain that wasn’t created in the first 3 minutes of the compo is the freshwater, which is exactly one tile out of 300.  I should have looked at it with a more citical eye.  Spending just 20 minutes on terrain would have made the game look much better.

The Ugly

Not this time.  It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience.  Can’t wait for the next one!

Tags: postmortem

LD22 was my first attempt and I actually finished a game!  Was it a fun game?  That is up for debate but I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.  My goal for LD23 is to increase the fun level and increase my standing in the scoring.  I landed square in the middle of the pack  for  LD22.

• Language: HTML5/JavaScript
• Framework: Craftyjs, jQuery
• Graphics: Paint.net
• Music: musagi
• Sound: Audacity, SoundManager 2

Mantra: Keep it simple!  Focus on fun!

Velocigopher attacks!

The game:  Survival of the Leggiest

Help the little critters to evolve longer legs so they can escape their predators.

Frameworks:  Craftyjs, Raphaeljs, jQuery

Sounds:  bfxr

Music: Musagi (thanks Dr Petter!)

Art: Paint.net

I have done three Ludum Dares and finished three games.  For that I am very happy.  However, none of these games were very “fun”.  I seem to have the mechanics down so I will do some soul searching this time around to see if I can find the fun.  This game design stuff seems easy but it is really hard!

• Language: HTML5/Javascript
• Libraries: Raphaeljs and maybe Craftyjs
• Graphics: Paint.net
• Music: musagi
• Sound: bfxr

needs a dash more evil…

Hate elves?  Sure we all do.  Now is your chance for revenge!

The Evil Lair Construction Set

Design your very own Evil Lair.  Layout the rooms and hallways and set some treasure as bait.  Curious adventurers can’t resist those shiny baubles.  Raise their hopes and then have your minions close in for the kill.   As if the look of terror on their little faces is not precious enough, they often carry a few coins in their pockets as a bonus.

More treasure will lure more and stronger adventurers such as:

• the curious naive – not very filling
• the quick elf – the minions are always fighting over the chewy ears, the little scamps
• the hearty dwarf – delicious spread on warm toast
• the mighty knight – err… he looks kind of tough

Set traps, raise the dead and generally be awful.

Networking is functioning pretty well.  Implemented most of the game rules.  Finished all of the tile art.  Why is this going so smoothly?  Could it be that after 30-odd failed games it starts to get easier?

Ready for a castle assault.

Still to come…  Public demo.  Ability to regain lost units.  Sounds and maybe music?  Lots of bug fixing.

Respawn is working and so is basic account creation.  So that means a public test is possible!

Play here!

No king yet…

Still to do:

• unit experience
• sound fx
• show fighting somehow
• improve the map
• intelligent target selection during fighting
• music?
• chat?

I have had commitments the last few days but now I have time to add a few more features before the deadline.  The game now has chat and a slightly better UI.

Play MountainKing!

Still to do:

• sound
• unit experience
• show fighting somehow
• better map

We are Sanojian and JFeldt.  While I have done a few solo LDs before this is the first time trying the Jam and this is JFeldt’s first LD!

We will be creating an HTML5 game using:

• Editor: notepad++
• Framework: Craftyjs and/or Raphaeljs
• Artwork: Paint.NET and Photoshop
• Audio: bfxr and Audigy
• Music: FLStudio

Team:

• Programming: Sanojian
• Artwork: JFeldt
• Sound and Music: Sanojian

There are some great themes this time in the final round.  Its going to be fun!

Multiplayer game.  Grow bigger and eat your opponents before they eat you!  I need some testers if anyone has time.  The only server is in Europe right now so USA may be laggy.  Working on making some more servers now.

http://ancient-plains-7885.herokuapp.com/examples/space/exampleClient.html