Noob here. 32 years old, going for my bachelors degree in Computer Science at UAT. I’ve done personal jams but this will be my first time in the Ludum Dare. Wish me luck!

so, Cipher  just posted a link to the world Ludum Dare map. I added myself and now I feel so lonely:

Really? No one out here in AZ?

Seeing as everyone else listing off their choices of tools for LD48, and this is my first compo I may as well tick down what I’ll be using:

• Engine: Unity3D, most likely with over use of Orthographic Camera
• IDE: MonoDevelope, Visual Studio 2010
• Images: Paint.net
• Audio: Audacity, BFRX
• Speed Boost: French Press, dark roast, 2 scoops per cup
• Cast/Recording: Justin.tv/Chronolapse. Not sure on the recording but will cast as I can

[Edit] Almost forgot, if I need a storyline or some other idea jogging I will be busting out Storyforge. It’s a great little tool for writing and highly recommending getting a deck.

To whomever did this, well done, had me giggling for a few minutes.

Oh Hell’s Yes! My first dare and the often suggested “Evolution” theme makes it through, and were at an all time high in participation? Damn good!

http://justin.tv/darkrowan, no sound for right now. Doing off laptop, from which mic sucks.

Took me about 30 or so minutes of brainstorming to get an idea. I’ll be using an assembla page (I prefer SVN vs GIT. Dunno why). Not doing too bad so far, need caffeine.

So I desperately needed to get sleep this morning. I didn’t realize that my day job had put me at such a disadvantage energy-wise until I tried to do a catnap that ended up lasting 7 hours. Anyways my first entry is taking shape. I have helpers that player will be able to buy and upgrade, and enemies that randomly look at the helper’s attributes at random and increase their own if the helper’s is higher. Here’s a quick screen shot, with sphere helpers and cube enemies (game on left, scene on right).

So I’m going to run off for food/small nap but my game is taking shape finally. I’ve added some preliminary art (READ: could end up being in the final game since… “I’m a programmer Jim, not an artist”). My mind rolled around to a space base defense game and I’m running with it. Still am going to have to make the ships/creatures/whatever the helpers and enemies are going to be.

I like how this is coming together. See you guys in a bit.

Oh MonoDevelop, you’re such a good guy. But I’m sorry, if you can’t tell me half the time that I’m going the wrong direct while Visual Studio (which I have access to for free) can tell me the moment I type that I can’t convert something, then we’re through. Sorry, better luck next time.
As and aside, I am neither and artist nor com

So I’ve come a long way since my last update, but I’m now tired and need to hit the hay for a bit.

Things Left to do:

• Texture Helpers (simple ones since you can’t really see them)
• Make/Texture Station
• Put in upgrade purchasing for helpers
• set up game over when station is destroyed
• implement music and sfx

I like how far I’ve gotten. Here’s a screenshot of the main menu, which also reveals the name I came up with (that has no bearing on gameplay)

The background scrolls even!

Things Left to do (to be scratched off as I go):

• Texture Helpers (simple ones since you can’t really see them)
• Make/Texture Station
• Put in upgrade purchasing for helpers
• set up game over when station is destroyed
• implement music and sfx
• Test for simple bugs

Less than 10 hours to go, I’m Excited!!!

[EDIT 9:42 local time] YATTA!!!!!!!!

I literally raised up my arms in triumph and yelled “YATTA” at my screen. I made it, my game is playable. We’ll see how the voting pans out but I consider this a success even from this point. I’ve never made a game from whole cloth by myself before, and certainly not within a 48 hour time frame. WOOOOOOO!

I had a class at my college this past semester (new semester starts Tuesday after next) where, after every project we did, we’d present our game and be asked 3 simple question: What when right, what went wrong, and what did you learn? So I figure I’d put together a small post-mortem for my entry in this manner.

• What went right? I chose my strong points, programming/scripting and emphasized them by making the game fairly small. I kept it with the scope of what I was capable of doing in 48 hours. Given I’ve done only a few jam/dare type contests I judged myself perfectly, getting my submission in with time to spare. There were a few moments where I wasn’t sure what the bug I was experiencing was but I managed to push past those tests with flying colors.
• What went wrong? Coffee is not an acceptable substitute for either sleep or food. About the half way mark (6pm local time yesterday) I was of a hazy mind. I hadn’t really eaten anything yet that day, subsiting on the sugar I put in my coffee, of which I was on my 2nd pot of Decapitated (“Strong enough to take your head off”). Game-wise I was also flying blind: I had no design doc, or even design goal. I’d come up with the initial idea (which mutated by the end of day one) within the first few hours of the compo and theme announcement.
• What did I learn? Many, many things. I’ve found out I can make a playable game in a 48 hour time span that isn’t (horribly) broken. I also figured out some of my weaknesses. I am not a 3D modeler, or artist for that matter. I can pull things together in Paint.net to texture but all in all my art assets are more of the “programmer art” type. I’m also not a composer or sound engineer, but Bfxr and iNudge allow me to skirt past that.
• Bonus: How do you feel right now? Happy, relieved, accomplished. This is my first Dare and I think it went well. I amazed at how much I was able to do by myself for this competition.

So I’ve come to understand that the default rating on list of games to play is calculated so as to be unaffected by a coolness above 100. Is there any point to rating games after this point, I mean, other than to help the community along? I’ve got a measly 51 ratings so far and I would love more feedback. However for each rating I get my DR goes up, which puts me further away from being even shown the by ratings page. Am I missing something here?

I’m under a bit of a workload at work, and it’s finals, so while I have been participating in the voting I’m not as free as I was in August to do the Dare. WHY OH WHY does this have to always coincide with my finals? >_<

I’m not quite sure I’ll be able to make it in for the Dare. It will be butting up right against finals, as usual. Last dare I just… yeah had way too much going on. If I can’t do it, I’ll just peek in at the theme, and maybe make a toy/game later on that theme. We’ll see.

So yeah, until day-before-yesterday I had forgotten that Ludum Dare was happening this weekend. I love the idea of doing game but haven’t really sad down for a LD since LD24. I’ll try, but may drop out as plans change.

I mean, the last time I did an dare I was starting as an intern for a studio at my school. Since then the owner of that, myself, and another programmer went on to found our own studio, and we’re setting off our first KickStarter on Monday. (Yes that’s a shameless plug but also something real to talk about) ^_^ I hope to be able to do the compo again!

Hell no. Also, if brain/ability/time permits I’ll be in. I know the last time I looked was LD 28 (which I chickened out on), and the last time I really participated was LD 24 (Evolution), so there isn’t too much hope for me in this one. But we’ll see, and maybe I surprise myself.