Hello all! This is my first Ludum Dare, and the first time I’ve ever tried to make a video game. It was always a childhood dream to make games, so I figured I should give it a go. I’m giving myself the next two weeks to train before the main event. If I can make something that runs, takes input, and creates a result, then I’m doing alright.

I plan to use the following:

• Unity3D
• Photoshop/Illustrator
• jfrx
• abundant-music

I’m having lots of fun learning, and reading about the tools everyone else is using has been a huge help deciding how to proceed. I’ll be blogging about my training daily at my own site.

Originally published on my personal blog, including playable test.

A world above, a world below, and a handy jetpack to fly between them.

Wow. My brain is fried. The theme for this Ludum Dare, Connected Worlds, is a tough one. I spent a lot of today just brainstorming ideas. I’m still not sure I’ve chosen a good one, but I need to make something. My idea: a platforming game with two parallel worlds, one on the bottom of the screen and one on the top. You’re a spaceman exploring these worlds, and you can choose which world’s gravity is the one affecting you at any given time.

I’ve still got lots of stuff to add. I want to put in obstacles and puzzles that require the player to take advantage of switching between worlds’ gravity. And, of course, I’ll have to program in the ability to die. I still haven’t decided what Mr. Spaceman’s goal is, but I’ll figure it out. I think I can finish at least one playable level in time to submit it tomorrow night.

The hardest part of Ludum Dare so far was coming up with a game that fits this awful theme. Seriously, I hate this theme. But as a creative professional, I respect the power of arbitrary constraints to fuel innovative solutions. And I certainly wouldn’t have tried to program a dual-gravity game mechanic otherwise.

Tags: ld48, progress, screenshot, unity, unity3d