Depending on if my workload increases massively or not, I'm tentatively in. There's only a finite number of other responsibilities I can ignore. This is the first time I've ever done something like this but I can probably come up with something in the time limit.

I want to try and put either a grappling hook or parry mechanic in somewhere, so fingers crossed on the theme making that easy...

My weapons of choice:

• Unreal (Engine)
• C++ (Code)
• FL Studio (Music/SFX)
• Near non-existent art skills
• Possibly misplaced optimism

I think I need a break from development for a bit; I should have had lunch a while ago. So let's do a progress blog post, shall we?

When I heard the word "sacrifice", my Super Best Friends Play addled brain went straight to "sacrifice X for more time on the clock." A little bit of brainstorming later, and I had my idea.

It's a single player, arcade style arena shooter. You're dropped into an arena filled with continuously spawning bad guys, given a time limit, and told to get the highest score possible before the timer hits zero. You earn points by killing enemies, and you can earn bonus time by picking up items that enemies drop on death (which I am calling widgets for lack of a better name) and returning them to a base station somewhere in the arena.

Here's the fun bit though: your score multiplier depends on how many widgets you're carrying, and returning several widgets in one go gets you more bonus time than returning them one by one. However, if you die, not only do you have to wait 5 seconds to respawn, you irretrievably lose all the widgets you were carrying. Furthermore, the only way to restore your health is by returning widgets to a base station.

So that's where the "sacrifice" bit comes in. Do you collect only a few widgets at a time, taking fewer risks at the cost of a lower score? Or do you collect a whole bunch and cash them in at the last possible moment, because you don't want to let go of the 20x multiplier you've got? The choice is very much yours.

As for current progress, I've got player movement done and a basic implementation of hitscan ranged and melee weapons. Right now I'm working on AI, which is to say "reading a bunch of tutorials and unreal support forums to try and figure out what on earth I'm doing". Currently the AI characters just move towards you while T-posing menacingly, and while that is intimidating, they need to pose some kind of threat to the player.

Once that's done, the plan of attack is Game Objects -> Game Logic (scoring, time limits, etc.) -> HUD -> Map Creation -> Music, SFX, Particle FX, Meshes, Other Graphical Stuff -> polishing and tweaking. I'm trying to get everything up to the HUD done by the end of today, but I think that might be wishful thinking.

But right now I've got a sub sandwich that needs eating, and it has definitely gone cold by this point. :/

It took much longer than expected, but I now finally have working AI opponents that shoot at you. Are they kind of stupid? Yes. Is my AI a Frankenstein's monster of blueprints and behaviour trees? Maybe. Is a lot of it based heavily on online tutorials?

...I plead the fifth.

I've also implemented the two game objects I'm going to need (pickups and dropoffs), as well as making the AI killable (and the player, come to think). I am so close to having a gameloop.

Right now I'm working on a game controller to handle enemy spawning, time limits, scoring, respawning, and so on. I've also made a bit of a start on the HUD, in as much as I've finally put in a crosshair.

Once all that's out of the way, all that's left to do is build a map and make the game look pretty. Which is most likely going to be more difficult than I'm making it sound.

I will be honest, I did not expect to get this thing submitted and uploaded in time. I guess I underestimate my own corner cutting abilities sometimes!

Check it out right here, if you'd be so kind.

This whole LD has been an absolute trip for me. The whole process of coming up with an an idea and making a game out of it within three days is amazing. It's been tremendous fun, and provided I don't have a whole bunch of stuff to do when the next one happens, I'm absolutely in.

I'll play and rate some games when I can, but for now I need pizza and sleep in that order.