This is weird to me, being my first time entering Ludum Dare. I’m not even sure if I should be posting here.

I’ll be using Unity to make my game, and I have a few questions for anyone watching.

Am I able to use the assets that come with Unity? (such as image effect shaders, and such.)

Also, am I able to use free, royalty free audio that I find online? Or does it need to be created from scratch?

Also, if I shouldn’t be posting questions here, let me know.

I’ve decided to call my game I Need Someone, and it’s fitting given the theme and plot. I’m making great progress, with many thanks to the people who have helped me when I’ve asked questions. For a first attempt at Ludum Dare, it’s going very well.

So my game is going to be a first person adventure game, with collecting and fighting. I’m not quite sure yet what the enemies are going to be like, given that I don’t have much time to make them. (Feel free to leave suggestions in the comments ) but I do know that there are going to be a few different environment types, and two (possibly three) maps. It’s going to be black and white to make up for my lack of artistic ability, so we’ll see how well that works out.

Here are some screenshots so far:

Something I haven’t had much experience with is creating Enemies or AI. Add that to the fact that I’ve never written pathfinding code for 3D space, and you can instantly see the problem I may have in doing this.

Regardless, I’ve decided to give it a shot, so here I go.

Here’s a screenshot of what the enemies might look like:

During this Ludum Dare, I learned a lot about many different aspects of game development, and about myself. I didn’t enter the competition to win, nor did I ever think I might. My reason for entering was more of a personal challenge, and I managed to achieve my goal. That alone taught me a lot about my personal strengths and weaknesses, which I’ll be working on in the future. As a student working toward achieving an animation degree, I realized that beautification near the beginning of a production is vastly unimportant (to say the least) when compared to creating and shaping a great gameplay experience. While I don’t think my game is a jewel in any way, I appreciate the fact that I had the ability to go back and change things that I at first thought were going to be fun and appealing. These things turned out to be boring, and removing them seemed to make the game feel much more fun and playable. I believe this is an invaluable lesson to learn, for any game developer, and I’m glad I had the opportunity to learn it in this way.

For those wondering, my game can be found here:
http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-22/?action=preview&uid=8692

I managed to get it working on Windows, Mac, and in-browser.

Here’s are some screenshots:

Let me know what you think!

Note: If you wanna follow my future progress with noa noa or any of my other projects, follow me on twitter: @tonycoculuzzi

So it’s been a while since I actually participated in Ludum Dare, but I’m so happy I ended up participating this time. So here’s the story:

A few weeks ago, I was walking with a few friends, and the topic of old-school virtual pets came up. At the time, I felt a serious need to make one of my own, but I didn’t have much time. I decided that I might hold onto the idea for LD34.

The night before LD34 came around, and the last round of voting was open, and so I decided to vote. I figured I’d vote, with this idea in mind, and I’d participate if any of my votes were chosen.

The next day, I wake up to see the results. To my surprise, the only two themes I voted yes on ended up tying for first place.  So I figured it was a sign.

I kinda dropped everything and started working right away. Originally I intended to submit for the compo, but by chance ended up teaming up with @isyourguy, who did a fantastic job with the audio. Knowing that I was now not working solo, I decided to shoot for the 72h jam submissions instead.

I think it turned out super well! I was planning on having a lot more content (note the faded icons everywhere when you play) but I think the game in it’s current state really stands out! I’m planning on working on it more in the future. I’m really happy with how it turned out, and I have big plans for the future of noa noa.

Anyways, check it out if you’re so inclined!

Here’s the submission link: http://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-34/?action=preview&uid=8692

(Click the image for an adorable gif!)