My First (Finished) Ludum Dare
Wow, this Ludum Dare was quite the experience — in many ways.
-Origin Story-
My history in programming actually started out in middle school when I discovered Qbasic and its “sample games” Qbasic Gorillas and whatever Snake game was there. Since then I always like programming and games in general. However, I haven’t in all these years complete many things, save some old Tetris 2 game in Qbasic.
I studied C and C++ on my own, but nothing much came out of it. I -was- however always following the programming scene, watching what others have done and how the game making process works. Because of this, I have a lot of information I didn’t do much with. Only recently in the past couple of years have I started to try to take my experience and make something become of it. Of course, I’ve only taken up game programming as a hobby.
Last Ludum Dare I thought I was gonna get my first finished game. I picked a poor time with school getting heavy at that point — I couldn’t finish anything. This time it’s different.
I got a horrible-looking SHELL of game, but it’s there anyway! I certainly want to get -legitimate- graphics into it and change the design. Music and fine tuning are required, too. I think I did a great job in not putting too many features in the game.
The scope of the game is what got me. I was trying to go for a story and I realize that it can easily get out of hand in a 48-hour competition. I think I’m really good at ideas, but implementing them is a different story — let alone in a short time table.
I think with better artwork and some design tweaks, I think it can be a compelling experience, even without more complicated programming. Still good, though. I’ll definitely do more contests.
If anything, my goal of getting a basic game out was accomplished.
Rough screenshots of first LD submission
