I've got an idea. Time for bed.

So I've got most of my idea down in prototype form. The game feels sluggish and there aren't any visuals, but I feel like this is going to work.

http://i.imgur.com/u6BHMzf.gif

I'll post a mockup in my next update.

Follow progress on Twitter: @SeanNoonan

Also: I have no idea how to embed an image. Please help!

I thought it would be interesting to share my Day One plan for the jam...

Day One (Plan)

10-11: Brainstorm

11-12: Setup project

12-14: Initial prototype

14-15: Prototype review

15-17: Art mockup

17-19: Apply first pass assets to prototype

19-20: Art pass review

20-22: Art polish

22-24: Plans to expand scope/nice to have stuff

I feel like it was a noble attempt, and I wasn't far off. I just didn't realise how much of a time sink AI would be. Here's what actually happened...

Day One (Actual)

10-11: Brainstorm

11-12: Setup project

12-17: Initial prototype

17-18: Prototype review

18-19: Art mockup

19-24 Apply first pass assets to prototype

...

So yeah, the art isn't even all first pass yet. However, I'm way ahead on audio now. So that's something. My next post should be sharing a video of the build so far.

Thanks for reading and remember, you can follow my progress on Twitter: @SeanNoonan

Here's how we're looking at the start of day two.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcqtBrpIQF8

Next up I plan to finish the cliff tiles, then create the enemy sprites. I'll be back with a new video once those are done.

@SeanNoonan

I'm getting there, but at this point it's looking more like a prototype than a "game".

http://i.imgur.com/SmUadlN.gif

...it's not meant to be spinning :(

More at @SeanNoonan

You can reach the game page here: Oil Patrol

It's definitely unfinished, but I plan to come back to this once I get back from holiday. Aesthetically, there's still a bunch of level tile work left and particle effects are severely lacking, but I feel like I've made a solid start. Think of this as an early prototype.

I need to work on the feedback a bunch; there's a lot of work left to do on the HUD. I could do with reworking the messaging system (as well as the typeface it uses). The biggest piece of early feedback is that people fail to realise that the Spear throw can be charged. I will need to swap the charge number for a bar. That'll help.

I'm aware that the balance is quite off. The game is currently too long, and as a result, a little dull. I should have taken the time in the last hour to cut the length in half - make it a little punchier, you know?

Anyway, I'll await the waves of feedback before I start on a post jam version. Please let me know if you have any issues running the game too!

http://i.imgur.com/X8Cmlzv.gif

If you want to chat about the game or follow future progress, hit me up! @SeanNoonan

So a couple of people have played Oil Patrol now and there's a lot of similar feedback - which is great! It's definitely actionable. A lot of people missed the fact that you can charge your attacks and I've had a bunch of complaints at the length. With so few mechanics, the game can outstay it's welcome - I was aware of this, I just ran out of time to pace and balance the experience.

Another piece of feedback I've had a couple of time was about my lack of screenshots on the game page - I have now remedied this. Behold the lack of variety!

Thanks for reading, and please give my game a try: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/39/oil-patrol

I would love some additional feedback to add to the list :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iuV7BazwJA

Sorry, took a little longer than I planned to get this uploaded but I'm about to go on holiday, so I've been a bit busy.

Hope you enjoy the video, and please rate/comment on the game - https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/39/oil-patrol/

Thanks, @SeanNoonan

As I've been away on holiday/vacation I've not been around to play many Ludum Dare games or even support my own. I have to thank those of you that played and voted on my game, Oil Patrol. I only wish I could have returned the favour before the deadline (I'll play a couple tonight, so perhaps drop some links in the comments below).

I've not written a full postmortem as of yet, but I know that in future I will be making sure I have enough time to play games as well as participating.

Here's a little more information about my work process and tools used, along with a full development timelapse: http://noonan.design/devlogs/ludum-dare-39-time-lapse-oil-patrol/

@SeanNoonan

I'll take some time away from my current projects http://jackbnimblegame.com and https://twitter.com/nd2game in order to join this Ludum Dare.

I really enjoyed my attempt last year, so I hope I have a similar experience this time.

Here's a time lapse of last year's LDJAM:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iuV7BazwJA

Wish me luck!

@SeanNoonan

Let's go over how the first day went.

The Theme

So, right off the bat, I didn't like the theme. It was one of the two or three that I downvoted. It's not that I couldn't come up with any ideas, it was more that the ideas I did come up with were too big and I felt that I couldn't execute on them with my limited solo gamedev ability. Basically, I kept coming up with ideas for interface heavy games - a real weakness of mine, and not one I want to challenge in this jam. However, once I had some breakfast and a coffee, my head cleared and I just thought about different "skins" for a plate spinning mechanic.

The Idea

I was thinking of the soviet era, propaganda and City 17. What if you were playing as a lone rebel, spreading the word and convincing the people to rise up against a dictatorship? That would be pretty cool, no? But the people are scared, so you need to keep them reassured. The more people you try to convince, the more people you need to keep reassured. Sprinkle a couple of enemies in there, and we have a game!

The Process

I'm actually timelapsing my process, so you'll be able to see that in a week or so. But for those interested in my tools, I'm using Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Audition, LabChirp, BSFXR, Bosca Ceoil, and building the game in Construct 3.

The Game

By the end of day one, I had something playable and something that resembles an oppressive look and feel. This is how the game looks now:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Hkx8lW8iBQ

The Future

Big things missing right now, or rather, my task list for day two:

• A success condition
• A working HUD
• AI that can patrol around corners
• Scrolling camera to show who reported the player
• Increase size of player size when 'spreading the word'
• Show enemy view cones (might not do this)
• Cars!
• A front end and title screen
• Locked areas (that can be unlocked with an item)

Wish me luck!

@SeanNoonan

Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you, my Ludum Dare entry, "Rebel Call".

Play it here:

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/40/rebel-call

I'm not really sure what genre it fits into; stealth/adventure, perhaps? But it's a simple little top down game set in an authoritarian city. Your job is to spread the word and fuel a rebel uprising to smash the state. By revealing your identity as a rebel, you are exposing yourself to the authorities. Here lies the complication; the citizens are fickle souls, and if you don't keep them reassured, they will turn you in to the state. Therefore, your mission is to spread the message with all of the citizens in a district without any losing faith in your message.

Here's a video of one of the (two) levels:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKs7Ihvq-mI

I feel like I came really close to achieving the visual style I was aiming for. I definitely wanted to do more, and had started some more dynamic artwork, but time wasn't on my side. Not a bad go at it though. I'm also super happy with how the audio turned out. It's not really my field, but I had a blast working out different methods to either synthesise or record sounds. You'll be able to see some of my process in a couple of days once I've had a chance to process the time lapse!

I'm really tired and getting the game uploaded in time wasn't easy. If there are a lot of bugs, I apologise. I have a super busy week ahead so I might not be able to fix any issues for a couple of days. Here's hoping everything is okay...

I imagine that there will be some menu bugs if you spam keys, and I think the gamepad controls might cause some issues. But at least they're there as an option.

Unfortunately I ran out of time to add the tutorial and objective screens - if there's much interest (or related feedback) I'll come back to this and implement the assets seeing as I've already built them in my mockups.

If there's much interest, I will write up a post jam task/wish list.

Good luck everyone!

@SeanNoonan

As I had so much fun putting together a timelapse for Ludum Dare 39, I thought I'd make one for my entry in Ludum Dare 40.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnli8MzLtOY

Hope you enjoy the video, and please play, rate and comment on the game - https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/40/rebel-call

Thanks,

@SeanNoonan

We're into the penultimate day of Ludum Dare judging, and I'd like to to take the time to thank everyone for playing, as well as the kind words and feedback provided.

I'm aware that the game may not be traditionally "fun" (as some of you have pointed out), but I hope I provided a worthwhile experience. I'll be honest, my primary intention was to create something that felt oppressive, and an attempt at an interactive constructivist propaganda poster. I feel that I was semi successful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKs7Ihvq-mI

I had a blast making the audio for this. The voice of the player, the soldiers and the propaganda guy on stage are all me on my microphone. I basically put some text into google translate (Russian), played it backwards, then tried to imitate that in my own voice, reversing some parts and splicing whatever sounded good. I then did the same but using Windows text to speech for the female announcer in level 2. I definitely spent a little too long on audio in some places. I mean, there's even some background music that plays in the alley in level 2... which was cool, because I've never written music before (hence why I hid it in the alley). I'll share a full postmortem some time in the new year.

I'm wondering if anyone would be interested in me extending this idea further - but perhaps it's just better left as an experiment?

You can rate Rebel Call here: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/40/rebel-call

You can play Rebel Call here: https://sean-noonan.itch.io/rebel-call

Thanks everyone for playing - looking forward to next Ludum Dare :)

@SeanNoonan