Well, I just did a jam late last month, and I’m still kind of burnt out from that, but I also want to enter.
Hopefully the theme will motivate me enough to join. I am doing a warmup, so that might help as well.
I’ve only entered one LD before, and that was a dual entry with the GMC Jam, so I’m eager to do the LD compo for the first time.
The tools I’m using;
GameMaker 8.1
GIMP
Audacity
SFXR (Possibly, it might depend on the style of game I’m making.)
I got a bit done, but I was using a friend’s computer for the first bit.
I don’t have it here yet (He’s e-mailing it to me later), so I won’t reveal much, but let’s just say it has to do with stealth, paradoxes, and a malfunctioning time-machine.
I’ve got most of the tech done, but it certainly needs some meat on its bones.
Anywho, it’s 2:45 AM, so I’m signing off for the night.
Okay, so let me, for a moment, tell you what my game is about.
Basically, a mad scientist invents a time machine. Another mad scientist then kidnaps him, and smashes his time machine. The antagonist then throws the first scientist into a cell to rot for a while. Luckily, the protagonist (Mad Scientist no.1) has the materials in his lab coat to construct another time machine, but it has a glitch which sends the scientist back in time 10 seconds, every 10 seconds. The main goal of the game is to escape whilst avoiding guards, and most importantly, not causing a paradox by accidentally tipping off one of your past selves. It’s basically a strategy/puzzle/stealth game.
Here’s an early screenshot. It does need a lot of work, and the lighting is a bit inaccurate at the moment, but I think it’s going well.
I’ve added a lot of base stuff. The lighting engine is still a bit dodgy, but I’m thinking it’s good enough for now.
I’ve also programmed guards that shoot on sight.
Not really much time to right an extensive post right now, but I’ll just say that everything is going somewhat according to plan.
Here’s a screenshot of me being shot:
My game is going well! I’ve programmed in dying, doors, and several other things.
Unfortunately, due to the native slowness of GM and the immense inefficacy of the code I’ve been writing, the game starts to lag noticeably after only 3 or 4 intelligent entities are on the screen. This is a major problem, and after my break, I’ll need to do some serious optimizing.
Got 10 levels done, and I’m going to release a demo.
If you play it, please tell me what sort of FPS you got. (The fps is in the caption of the window in the new version -11:55)
Also, let me know how you feel about the lighting system. It’s basically a trade-off; framerate for accuracy.
The game is about a scientist with a malfunction time machine that sends him back in times 10 seconds every 10 seconds.
You have to escape the dank dark dungeon that you’ve been thrown in.
Tomorrow, I’m hoping to make a cutscene or two, as well as a few (at least 5) more levels, and a boss (That’ll be a doozy.)
So last night, I posted a demo, but nobody commented on it 
I’d appreciate it if you went to my previous post, gave it a try, and dropped a comment telling me what you think.
I’m getting back to work now. I’m hoping to have at least 20 levels and a boss. I’m currently trying to wrap my head around some more complex types of paradox so that I can make later game levels more interesting.
Not many new screens, but here’s one!
Progress is pretty slow. I now have 19 levels, and I think the final number will be 20 unless I have a stroke of inspiration and can do 25.
I’m planning to do an end boss as well, although I’m not sure whether I’ll have time.
Right now, I’m working on getting some tunes together.
I’m also doing the menu, and I really need a title for the game!
Basically, a mad scientist invents a time machine. Another mad scientist then kidnaps him, and smashes his time machine. The antagonist then throws the first scientist into a cell to rot for a while. Luckily, the protagonist (Mad Scientist no.1) has the materials in his lab coat to construct another time machine, but it has a glitch which sends the scientist back in time 10 seconds, every 10 seconds. The main goal of the game is to escape whilst avoiding guards, and most importantly, not causing a paradox by accidentally tipping off one of your past selves. It’s basically a strategy/puzzle/stealth game.
If you have any suggestions, drop a comment.
Since my last post, I basically finished the final level (As badly designed as they come), and made the menu, the sound effects, and the music.
Here’s a screenie of the horrible menu.
I have something to do an hour before the comp ends, which means I have one hour left to complete the game.
Let’s review.
I’ve done the first cutscene, and I must say, it looks awful. I didn’t have any time to do it properly, and I’m hot, grumpy, and I have a bad headache, so if you don’t like it, shut up.
Any chance of more than 20 levels, or an end boss, are now out of the question. I just have to concentrate on making an ending to the thing.
Anywho, bye.
Finally done with an hour to spare.
http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-27/?action=preview&uid=11050
Give it a play and tell me what you think! 😀
Alright, so my entry, Chrono Escape, is about a scientist kidnapped by the government, and has to escape using his time machine prototype.
You can play it HERE.
The Bad
I’m starting with the things that went badly, and I’ll begin with the big one.
Programming.
The programming is an absolute mess. I used GameMaker8.1, which isn’t fast to begin with, but I also use horrible lazy and inefficient programming practices to create the elements I didn’t know how to make.
For example; the lighting system. For that, I used a while loop to determine the distance from you to the block directly in front of your mouse. Next, repeat this 7 more times for the blocks at angles -20, -15, -10, -5, 5, 10, 15, and 20. Each while loop takes a relatively large amount of CPU, so it’s no wonder that the game lags so badly with 3+ people with lighting on screen. After doing this, it draws triangles between all the points given, then subtracts them from the black square drawn over the entire screen.
But wait; there’s more. Besides being horribly inefficient, the lighting was also inaccurate.
It was only accurate up to 5 degrees, and became very dicey at far distances. Now, to calculate if the guard sees you, it does the same calculating as above, with 8 while loops. And if he’s far enough away, you can still technically be in his site, but he still won’t see you because you “fell between the lines”
Cutscenes
I did all the cutscenes in the last hour of work, and they were, in a word, bad.
I mean, they convey a story well enough, but they don’t really fit with the rest of the graphics, they’re sloppily drawn, and they’re inconsistent between each other.
I really could have done them better, but I don’t see how in that time frame.
The Alright…
Music
The game’s music was an ambient track I recorded live off my keyboard in one take. That is, by far, the easiest way for me to get music, but the ambient style didn’t really mesh with the high-strung style of the game. I wish I’d had enough time to make a proper techno track that really would have done the game justice.
Level Design
I feel the early levels were very good, actually. It seems like I did a good job of guiding beginnings through the first steps under a controlled, yet extremely hard, environment. However, if a player is good enough to get past the first 10 levels or so, they might begin to notice a slow change. After I’m finished introducing the player to everything, my level designs became more and more hacky. I’d just throw a level together, test it to make sure it was possible, then throw it in the game. I’m also disappointed because I don’t think I did the concept justice in terms of complex, paradox based levels that are so clever that you’re astounded for minutes after you beat it.
The Good
Concept
Seriously, this is one of the best concepts I’ve ever come up with in my 7 years as a game designer. It’s really deep with clever puzzles, elements, boss fights, and a whole lot of other wonderful things. I might well continue the game afterwards just because it’s so damn fun to work on.
Graphics
Again, some of the best pixel art I’ve ever made. I think this is one of the first times someone’s ever complimented my graphics, without referring to it as an “interesting” style or somesuch.
So there you have it. My own, overly critical, opinion. I hope I do well in this LD, but I’m not sure I made the game for it.
Ah well. Just don’t forget to play the game HERE!
After a whopping 3 hours of work, Da Face is done! You can play it here!
http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-28/?action=preview&uid=11050
It’s a wonderful “Art” game, and when I say “Art” game, I mean I couldn’t be bothered to make it good. Enjoy!
Going to be using Javascript in lieu of my usual Gamemaker. Don’t expect too much, but I’ll try to get something done before the deadline.
Other tools:
Mspaint (Graphics)
SFXR (Sounds)
Anvil Studio (Music)
Notepad++ (Programming)
So after much ado, I managed to get movement, and a nice little collision system working. Next I’ll be intigrating platform elements. I’m also thinking ahead on how to include the theme. The screen above is all I have at the moment, but it has a lot going on under the hood.
So my relative novice and laziness have conspired to make my game a bit more interesting. You see, while programming this basic platform engine, I accidentally included a handful of bugs which actually make fairly good gameplay elements. Among these are the ability to teleport to the top of a wall by running into it, and the ability to stick to ceilings by jumping into them, but the inability to get down without sliding off an edge. I’m hoping to code in a few more elements, then start cranking’ out levels. I’m thinking I’ll make a quick level editor in Game Maker, just to make placement easier.
Finished up a couple of infrastructural things, then made some levels. Coming along nicely! The collisions still feel a little buggy though, and I still need to integrate the theme.
I haven’t done much in the way of level design since my last post, but I did take the time (Way too much time) sprucing the graphics up a bit. I currently have nine levels, but I want to ship the game with twenty.
Here’s a screen of the new, ever-so-slightly different graphics;
I added some more levels (Total of 15, I think that’s all there’s gonna be.), added a theme tie in (Sort of). Now all I got to do is do a quick main menu, think of a name, ???, and profit!
My rather cobbled together entry, Fretz, is done! You can play it here:
http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/minild-48/?action=preview&uid=11050
