Here are my tools:

• Unity3D 4.1.2 free
• possibly futile dev branch (depending on theme and ideas)
• CS6 Ai and Ps
• VIM
• Visual Studio 2012 and Mono Develop on Mac
• TexturePacker
• Blender (if I do 3D)
• Garage Band + Audition CS6
• ChronoLapse + VNC for viewing Mac when I use it (and my filename fix)
• QuickTime on iSight for PiP
• GitHub
• Python3 Idle for quick calculations and scripts
• Rackspace Cloud + Amazon S3 hosting
• Possibly “My Little Pomodoro” which I successfully use for real work

I probably won’t use them all.  But it all depends on the theme and what kind of game I think would be interesting for that theme.

Tags: im in

You may or may not know, but right now, there is a huge Java exploit going around.  And it’s in Metasploit, which means that you don’t have to be a hard-core hacker to use it.

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/security/javacpuapr2013-1928497.html

So, being that many LD games are written in Java, you should update Java now, before the compo.  So you can play all the cool games that are going to be made with more peace of mind that you’re not getting hacked.

Just run Windows Update, or “Software Update” on a Mac.  Or whatever your Linux distro’s update is.  Everyone’s got an update out, it’s that big of a deal.

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/7u21-relnotes-1932873.html

Tags: security

Here’s a Unity library I threw together that includes Futile patched for 2D and 3D simultaneousness.  Including the latest GoKit source instead of just a DLL that Futile used to use.  I also messed up the input preferences and tried to make something that feels balanced on the keyboard, mouse, and joystick, so you don’t have to spend hours trying to get it to feel ok.  But I didn’t use the character controller and now I think maybe the character controller is better.  Especially because you can mouselook above zenith.  So if you want to fix that or any other bug feel free to issue a pull request.  Or just fork it yourself and combine your own favorite libraries in your own game jam kit for the world.  http://github.com/robert-wallis/GameJamKit

I know it’s not great, but I might use it, really depends on the theme.

Tags: Personal Library

My PC is a $500 CyberPower PC from New Egg  and it’s perfectly powerful for all the games I’ve played on it.

My Mac is a 2009 unibody MacBook Pro 15″ and is awesome.  I’ve gotten more work done on this computer than any other.  And it’s still awesome after 4 years.

Tags: deskphoto, deskvideo

“you know, for kids”

work in progress friday night

Here’s my work in progress.  You can watch (not play yet) it at http://smilingrob.com/ld26/wip comment on the trello board.  And watch my livestream reruns which I’m ending for a few hours while I get some sleep.

All it does is travel infinitely into the distance.  The gameplay I’ll put in tomorrow afternoon.

Tags: work-in-progress

Here’s the game: http://smilingrob.com/ld26/

And the competition link: http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-26/?action=preview&uid=20689

The Good

* The biggest thing I learned was that it’s ok to sleep, eat well (no red-bull or candy), and do some normal things during the 48 hours.

* I think the audio came out good.  And the song I made was surprising because it was the first thing I played on the keyboard.  When I dropped it into the game the mood changed and made it seem like an art experiment more than a game.  So I was really pleased with that.

* The arrow puzzle controls are really satisfying.  Jumping is frustrating sometimes.  And typing letters would be better if I had time to highlight the individual letters.

* Analytics are built in, I’m tracking how far people get, and their score when they win.

* I finished something, and put it on my website.

The Bad:

* Another major thing I learned was the value spending time on just designing something on paper.  I was really stuck for an idea after the theme was announced, and I just ended up choosing a lame mechanic because I didn’t have time to think of some good one.  If I do this again, I’ll try to think of a cool mechanic first and then apply the theme to that mechanic.

* I’m disappointed that I didn’t spend an hour modeling some quick things to drop on the path besides blocks.   I wanted to have junk flying by to make things seem faster, and have stars moving over your head.  But I got stuck on a few bugs and ended up only having time to make it work.

* Aaron and Alex’s role aren’t really visualized as well as I wanted.  I set the audio to pan Aaron on the left and Alex on the right.  Good guys classically come in from the left.  Alex’s voice was much louder in my mic, so I had to boost Aaron’s character and I boosted him a bit too high.

* The capsule looks lame and beginner to anyone that’s used Unity.  I can model much better things in 3D, but I ended up just modeling some cubes.  So much for practicing UV mapping in Blender last week.

They say your prize is your game.  And I’m very happy to have made something to put in my portfolio.  Even if it’s not great, it’s way better than an empty portfolio and the excuse that most of my work is backend, behind a firewall, and an NDA.

Tags: postmortem, timelapse, video

I’m here to make games and chew bubble gum, and I’ve got a box full of bubble gum.

http://xkcd.com/1560/