First Ludum Dare. Gunnnnna be reet fun! Week is far too much to wait!

Excittteeeeeeedddd. First time for everything, plus I’m on holiday so it’s a great excuse to get the gamedev juices going.

I’m going solo, so I’m using some stuff that’ll hopefully speed up the process of game creation: (Although I’ve not used some of this stuff for a long time.)

Engine: MMF2.5

Graphics: Me (MS-Paint)

Audio: Cubase/SFXR

Looking forward to it, first time creating something in such a short amount of time, from scratch. :3 (Totally should be working though…)

So considering it’s my first LDjam I thought I’d just go super duperly simple. So considering everything is limited to one screen, I thought I’ll make a “avoid the walls” type of game.

The final product will have like the walls coming from all sides, with different patterns as well as increasing speed. Plus I’m going to work on some type of background to at least give it some type of depth.

I do have the feeling I’ve gone too simple though :S Hope everyone is having an awesome time with their jammin’!

-Joel

Finally got the bulk of the engine done. All that’s needed is to finish off all the patterns, add a end game code and work on some graphical yummyness. (And a moosic track.)

I think going simple was a good idea as I’ve not had as much time as I would of liked.

Why not. I thought that I won’t have time but sod it. I’ll make something quick for flash.
No idea what I’ll be using yet, if I want to use a time saving tool or not, but I know I’ll be using MS paint! 😀

-SinclairStrange

Can’t believe I’ve managed to finish it on time! It still might have some bugs ‘ere and there but it’s finished and that’s the main thing! YAY!

‘Ere have a celebratory crappy GIF of Bro throwing the coffin of his late Bro.

You can find the game over ‘ere on Ludum Dare: http://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-32/?action=preview&uid=44332

Anyway it’s time to play some games, (or have some rest.) We’ll see what happens firs…*facedesk*

-Joel

So I’ve been getting some questions about how I’ve made the art and what I used. Well for the most part I used good ol’ MSPaint!

There is nothing quite MSPaint paint for pixel artwork. I know I should move onto better programs but I’m lazy and I like what I’ve been used to for like fifteen years or so.

I also use Fireworks (yes I’m so super old) for some of the font and outline effects. I own PS but it’s easier to use the old stuff sometimes. Deluxe Paint for the Amiga anybody?

I’ve been having so much fun playing games lately! I’ve so far played and rated 60 and I’m not stopping tonight! I’m going to later on, publish my favourite games of this LD and why. But before I can do that, I must play more games!

And now to leave you have a old naked guy flying into the screen:

-Joel

So it’s the final few days of the judging process and I’ve had some right fun playing the games! I still need a few more so I can get to that lovely number 100! I guess I’ll take a day off tomorrow and get to that!

Anyway, it was a fun jam over all, tempted to carry on and make a post jam version of SUPER BRO THROW down the line if people are interested. (We’ll see if peeps are with the results!) Hope everyone had fun this jam and enjoyed playing me game, and other peeps games.

But I’ll leave with some screenshots and crappy quality GIF of me second LDjam:

Oh and remember, be safe when throwing your bro… Wear like a protective hat or something!

-Joel

But only for game devs. :3

It’s been an awesome Ludum Dare, looking forward to the results, hoping to beat my last entry’s score. Sadly I didn’t get around to playing that Golden number of 100, but there is always a next time! Looking around there has been so many awesome games and I think everyone has done an fantastic job!

So one last shameful plug of my LD32 entry, Super Bro Throw:
http://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-32/?action=preview&uid=44332

Until next time, keep on gaming and shiz! ^^

Just flown back from California to England today and I’m jetlagged as a hell, but will that stop me doing Ludum Dare? No way! ^_^.

Super Excited.

Not sure on what programs I’ll be using just now, but I’ll post them up in another post once I know what I’m doing…

I finished it, I can’t believe I finished it!
But now I can finally present to you, The Devil’s Daughter!

So go over to my Ludum Dare page: HERE
You can download it and play it on Windows for the full experience of play a watered down version on flash. It’s up to you!

Can’t wait to get stuck into the games these next upcoming weeks, but for now my pillow is calling me!

-Joel

These are the best times of the year! I can’t wait to nearly kill myself making a game in 3 days! 😛

I have no idea what I’ll be doing or using this year, but it’ll most likely be the usual programs of MSPaint, FL/Cubase/SFXR, Clickteam Fusion/Flash/GMS and lots of tea.

It’s going to be a blast! Hope everyone has a great time this upcoming weekend!

-Joel

So I’ve decided what I’m going to do for this jam as it’s more relaxed is just make “one level”. Like a “what if” this game was actually made for the Mega Drive/Genesis. And if people highly enjoy it then I’ll carry on making it into a full game or something 😀

But for now, have a cheeky little gif of a cutscene 😀

Ah yes, my sleeping pattern is a little wonky right now :/ So it’s time to post up the obligatory after jam thoughts!

You can play Steam Heart ‘ere!
Or you can watch a playthrough if you want right ‘ere!

Dawn of the First Day

So waking up at 5am, I found out the theme was ancient technology which wasn’t any surprise considering the previous results. In a way I’m somewhat glad it was something broad/setting than a gameplay mechanic, as it allows me to create anything I want and set it with-in a universe based on the theme.

(Beta sprites/HUD As you can see it originally had a timer and only two switchable weapons.)

So in my head I fancied making something I love which is run-n-gun games as this jam was a little more relaxed without the ratings. I really fancied making a tribute to Treasure’s classic Mega Drive games and this jam was a great excuse to take some time out to do so! Anyway the first thing I did was to sprite up some characters, get a basic movement/shooting engine down. Originally the setting was set in a Arabian styled world, however when I came to spriting the enemies, they came out looking, rather Steampunk…

(Not many enemies to battle, I focused more on those delicious bosses! Yum Yum!)

So with that, I just completely changed my vision in my head, which in the long run I guess kind of worked, as it made designing the end bosses a lot easier and less time consuming. However I did have to re-sprite the main character as the original didn’t quite fit, however it didn’t take too long!

(Why do they always wear their goggles on their head and not around their eyes?)

Once that was done and basic engine was finished (with enemies, restarts, power-ups, the whole guff) I started in creating tile sets and building the first level. Actually a lot of time went into making the tile sets, I went through a couple of changes. It was gearing towards the end of the first day and I decided to get some sleep, the next two days were going to be tough.

(The tile set/colour palette for the destroyed city. Made of orange cheese!)

Dawn of the Second Day

So after having roughly six or so hours of sleep, I jumped straight back to it, I finished up the tile set and was well onto my way of creating the first area! Making and designing short little sections followed up by a boss is how I like to start my morning.

(This was the first area, look at those lovely explosions, mmm retro-explosions)

I actually spent a lot of time on the end boss on the first section, as I wanted to somewhat re-use its AI and destruction triggers for future bosses. After making the first section I knew then I wouldn’t have a “full game” ready in time as I somewhat planned. This is when I thought it’d be best to make it just one level that gave a taste of the past glory days of Treasure and Sega. This is where I decided to make some different areas/mechanics in the same stage so it wouldn’t all look boring and monotonous. This is why you see the blimps attacking in 1-2, the sewer parts in 1-3/1-4 and the whole town destroyed at the end of the stage.

(I utterly love boss fights. Tis why I based this game on Alien Solider/Gunstar Heroes)

In the first day I managed to create the first four bosses. I was aiming for 10-12 or so bosses but I just knew I couldn’t achieve that at the current level of polish. It was at this point I knew it was best to make good and interesting fights, other than cheap short ones. It feels better when you explode something up when it’s been a challenging and fun fight.

It was closing up on the second day and I just needed some rest. I had a long way to go the next day and I just knew it’d I’d create things better if I had some sleep.

Dawn of the Final Day

After a wonderful 5 hours of sleep, I woke up at 4am, made a curry and got back to finishing off this game. (Actually in hindsight I should of woke up later and not had that curry, I was somewhat lagging towards the afternoon and pace just went right downhill.)

Basically the last day was spent on finishing up the levels, so it had a nice end of to the stage, not too short, not too long. I did envision a part where you’re chasing the blimp on an anchor but I just didn’t have the time to put it in. >.< I did however add in a cutscene half way through the stage, I just wanted to show off that they is somewhat a story, even though it’s never resolved in this game. It was around this sleepy point in the afternoon where I decided to create music as I tend to make better sounding tracks when I’m dozing off oddly. Plus it re-perked me up into finishing off the game

(Added in for extra cuteness! Cheekily used Dynamite Headdy for extra lulz DAC files :3)

In the last half ‘n’ hour of the jam, I created the menus, intro cutscene and ported it to windows and flash. When that submission hour popped up, I clicked submit and went straight to bed. I felt I’d deal with bugs in the morning. (There were only a small handful I found which were fixed easily, *sigh*)

After Thoughts

This jam was so far my favourite one as it was so relaxed as there wasn’t any ratings to worry about. (Even though I never care about them, except trying to make top 100. It’s always been about what can I make in under 72 hours and having fun!) I have nothing much to say about this jam as it’s just been super fun making bosses and seeing lots of explosions. In hindsight, I’d prolly shouldn’t of had that curry and got more sleep. I think I could of added a couple of extra bosses if I wasn’t so laggy towards the end.

(Sad we didn’t get to see more of Mr.Genericsteampunkmonopolyman.png)

Overall though, I’m actually rather happy of the end result, it makes a lovely change considering the last LDjam was terrible for reasons.

Anyway it’s now time to start playing and rating others games. I hope everyone had fun jamming! Can’t wait until next time.

-Joel

Well, I have to say I was a bit stupid because on the night before the jam started, I got very drunk. Very very drunk, (it was our annual Christmas party.) So I did manage to lose around at least ten hours at the start due to partying and then sleeping.

So it’s been a bit rough game designing, hangovers and coding don’t go that well together. And it doesn’t help that I really don’t like the theme. It’s actually the first time where I’m actually very disappointed in the theme, it’s just so crap.

Anyway I’ve got my game on the go. I’m going to have many different levels but it’ll all take place in one room. Each time you beat that room, it repeats but it’s then a bit harder. That way I can have different stages and settings yet still keeping with in the theme somewhat.  Basically what I’m saying is that, “one room” doesn’t mean “only one level”.

‘Ere that obligatory example GIF:

I’ve already placed in six different enemies and plus five different characters to play from. I’m going to carry on adding in a few more enemies before I start work on making the rooms.

I’ve not finished the character art for the top part yet but you get the idea 😉

Anyway it’s time for a bit of a nap, refresh my brain and when I awake it’s straight onto creating different environments for people to play through

-Joel

Just a quick GIF showing off that the second level is very nearly complete.

At least I’ll have two levels for people to play, however I’ll just keep making levels/loops until the time’s up 😀 Hope everyone’s jam is going well ^-^
-Joel

Considering last times epic results I feel like I have a duty to enter and nearly kill myself on caffeine and lack of sleep for the weekend!

 
Hyyypppppppppppppppe.

Can’t wait, hope everyone has an awesome LDjam this weekend ^-^

Isn't it all nice and shiny. Wonder if we'll get three overall winners again like last time? :D :D :D

Remember everyone, have fun, lose sleep and make some excuse my language damn fine games!

Good lucks! ^-^

So the engine is complete, I have the all the moves, collectables and general guff like enemies and pause screens all finished. All there is now to do is to make the worlds. As you can see I’ve started with the hub world already. Going to get this finished and then have a wee nap! Not bad progress for the end of day one, but so much is still needed to be done!

Hope everyone is having a lovely game jam so far! 😀