When brainstorming, I find that making quick sketches of my ideas in MS Paint helps me to visualize them better. The result was these little concept comics. I didn't intend for them to be amusing, but I found myself really enjoying the process and here we are. If the comics were this much fun to make, I'm sure the game will be too. Now to make the prototype...

I managed to get a basic prototype working and spent far too long on designing cute slime NPCs. On the downside, I'm low on time and energy. On the bright side, I'm high on inspiration. Hopefully I can cram it all into a finished game before the jam ends.

Here's the NPCs I designed initially.

Here's the NPCs after I touched them up and gave them accessories. Except for Orange, I didn't get around to him (which is why he's still angry).

The basic idea right now is that each slime type (represented by its color) has a mechanic they can take advantage of in the game, which the respective NPCs will teach the Player in exchange for gifting them Health or doing some quest or just because they're nice (in the case of Green). Green gives the Player opportunities to heal in combat, Yellow allows the Player to counter-attack, Orange rewards the Player with buffs for taking risks (think grazing a bullet in a bullet hell game, etc), and I haven't decided what Purple does yet. I just know Purple (the slime) will be a librarian... because reasons. It'll make sense after I sleep. All the slimes like collecting something in particular, she likes books, but I digress.

The plot behind the game is that you're just an ordinary slime, considered the weakest monster type in the world, inhabiting the very first room of a legendary dungeon. The Dungeon Master has proclaimed that whichever monster sacrifices the most Life Energy to him by the end of (insert arbitrary date here) will be made into the final boss of the dungeon. This comes with awesome perks like having your own floor to rule over, specifically, the last one, which means you're unlikely to be bothered by those pesky adventurers until they're fought everyone else. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity for slimekind.

How you go about gathering said Life Energy is up to you. Scrape it together by eating organics passively, feast on the remains of the recently defeated, hunt down adventurers yourself, or wipe out every other monster in the dungeon... all valid choices. That's the intent anyway. We'll see whether I can make this happen after I've gotten some sleep. Goodnight everyone, and good luck with your games!

My wife (@tinypredator) and I are entering the Ludum Dare together this time! This is my third time entering (second on this account, my first account was lost), and her first. We're excited to be working together and we brainstormed for every possible theme. Luckily, we had just the idea for this one. In short, you play a young Alchemist trying to keep Yggdrasil (the World Tree, to which all life is tied) alive after it's been bitten by Jörmungandr (big nasty Norse legend serpent). You're a novice though, and so there's no way you can cure the venom starting out. You'll have to travel between worlds using Yggdrasil's portals to gather ingredients, brew lesser potions just to heal small bits of damage or slow the venom down, and gain enough experience to produce an antivenom to Jörmungandr- stopping Ragnarok (the End of the World) once and for all.

If there's time after the base mechanics, I'd love to include the synthesis of other items besides potions, but we'll see how it goes.

I'm doing the programming and some of the art, while my wife is handling most of the art and design. She'll also be singing a song for the credits!

More details to follow after a good night's rest. Here's a preview of the Alchemist girl!

It took longer that I would've liked to animate our lovely main character, Calla, but she was certainly worth the effort! I've never animated a dress before, but I feel it turned out well considering. Let me know what you all think!

Now to get back to coding... On the note of which, I'm making the game with the Godot engine. I had to spend the first day learning all about it while my wife (@tinypredator) made a bunch of art (you can see some of it here). Now I'm finally getting the bare-bones of the game made, but we'll have to cut back on scope to get it done in the time we have left.

Hopefully I'll have some gameplay to show within the next few hours. Good luck everyone! :smile: