I've been planning for the event for about a month already! I've already started thinking of practical general game ideas! I've learned a lot, even just during 2018 so far. I am excited to actually publish my first game!
How are the rest of you feeling? Spring's starting to show here, and I'm feeling great!
It's Thursday, my dudes, and the Jam starts on Saturday!
I will be using the following tools:
Unity as my game engine
Visual Studio as my IDE
Blender for modelling, unwrapping, rigging, animating, etc.
Paint.NET for image editing, like making PBR materials.
Audacity for recording my guitar (probably)
Shadowplay for recording my screen (at 4K, no less).
I will be entering the Jam, because I need the extra time and more lenient rules.
Though the competition stretches over 72 hours, I will get a lot less.
According to my calculations, I will only have about 28.5 hours for actual computer time. That's why it's so important that I've already started thinking about what to make. There is no way I'd make it otherwise. Well, to be fair, I will have a lot of time for thinking, and a lot of fresh air throughout.
Anyway, good luck to my fellow participants, and I hope your games turn out wonderful!
I am so proud to have made this!
10/10 masterpiece!
https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/41/tbd-3
I hadn't realised it was customary to make these entry blog posts, but I am in, just like I was last time.
I am working on my main project, computer stuff, and just trying to enjoy my summer.
I had an idea for a cool LD-appropriate game, but I have to forget about it or just make it on time I don't have, because it is bad to think of an idea before you know the theme. I'm sure you mirror this sentiment.
My LD 41 post-mortem video is in the works, and should be out before LD 42 starts. Be patient.
If you missed it, this is my LD 41 submission:
https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/41/tbd-3
The video does work. Just click on it. It's the release trailer for the game.
From discourse in the Discord server, it seems the most favoured idea is to hold LD late in December in order to ensure most people have finished their jobs/school for the semester.
This, however, interferes with Christmas itself, and would drastically lower participant numbers. For reference, a bit over 1000 people participated in LD 42. I believe it would get down to 400-600 if it were late in December.
Edit: Turns out it was about 3000. Regardless, I think it will drop to 40-60% of LD 43
Besides, many people don't finish for the semester until right before Christmas anyway. I finish on the 22nd.
Furthermore, the fairly plentiful Swedish participants, as well as any Italian ones, would be unable to participate if LD 43 intersects with Dec 13th, which is St. Lucy's Day, a very important day.
I believe we should do what we typically do with the April LDs. Have it over a regular weekend. We should have it early in the month when there isn't that much going on. We already know it will intersect with a Sunday, or in other words, an advent, but that's fine. I plan to scope my game to be very simple and small, and this is unavoidable anyway.
All of this is why I suggest we have LD 43 starting on Friday, Dec 8th.
I welcome your thoughts in the comments! Thanks for your time!
I'll be entering the compo.
I won't have as much time on Sunday, so my game will be very smol.
All I really know about my game is that it will be Christmas-themed, a web build, and made in Unity. It will of course also be coded in C# and if it's 3D, its models will be made in Blender.
Someone posted this strawpoll asking people which themes they voted for. If you're interested in answering, here it is!
https://www.strawpoll.me/16940384/
In TTGATQFTMC, you need to turn around to see the platforms once you enter the hut and come out through the other one! It's hard to develop for people who don't already know your game.
I bet you can't beat TTGATQFTMC!
https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/43/the-time-gnelf-and-the-quest-for-the-missing-golden-cogs
For the previous three Ludum Dares: 41, 42, and 43, I've made submissions. The first two were Jam games and the most recent was a Compo game. In fact, my LD 41 game, Rainy Day, was the first game I ever released, even if the title of my first finished video game goes to the unreleased Egg Hunt, made in two weeks in time for Easter 2018. That's big and important for someone who has been developing games since 2012 and in Unity since 2013. It felt so good to take advantage of the opportunity that Ludum Dare gave me to share my game and be a part of this community. It also gave me a good incentive to finish in the form of the strict deadline.
As the title proclaims, I will be participating in LD 44, but just as things have advanced before, e.g. moving to making a Compo game instead of a Jam game, there will be another advancement. For all my LD entries, I've worked alone. This is about to change! I will be collaborating with @Terabyte from the other side of the Earth! I first met him during the development of my LD 41 game, and we quickly became great friends! We will put our skills together and try our best to make something even better than Time Gnelf, somehow!
I will mainly focus on the graphical aspects of it: models, materials, animations, visual design, etc., while @Terabyte will mostly be doing the programming. We will share these responsibilities to some extent, though. If there's a mechanic I know exactly how to create, I will probably be the one to do so, and he will be giving me input on the visual aspects of the game.
The sound will probably be mostly from me, but it depends on what the game will be. If we need voice acting, it will probably help to have multiple voices instead of just one.
To see what else I get up to, please check out Helmersoft's itch, my more informal WFMG's itch, Helmersoft's subreddit, Skyways' subreddit, and Helmersoft's YT channel!
I look forward to seeing all of your innovative creations, and to working with @Terabyte for the first time! I know it will be great!
Hello! I'm still in! However, as it turns out, Terabyte and I and have very different goals for this LD and so we agreed that it would not be productive for us to collaborate. I will be doing another solo jam, which I'm alright with. Terabyte and I have not fallen out and we are just as good friends as before this decision came to pass.
I will try to aim towards making a compo submission, but the main issue there is time. I know I want to do something rather ambitious and something that could actually become a full game, perhaps sometime this summer. Thus, to enable myself to come up with and implement all these core mechanics, I will likely be making it a Jam submission, even if that Monday will be largely consumed by school.
Good luck, everyone! I am hyped for this jam!
:crab: To celebrate, why don't you play some right now?!
https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/44/$139594
Come on! You're not a Honder, are you?
Keep on rocking and play S:C:U:M: - The AutoVore Division today! https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/44/scum-the-autovore-division https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2blxZloebmc
Epic gamer moment. I will do the game jammin'. I hope it good. I do jam not compo I think and I use unity n all dat. Have good one! It 5 AM.
Sneak past enemy lines and reclaim your kingdom!
https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/45/the-pumpking
If you want to defeat the evil brussel king, you must act quickly, or you won't be able to rate the experience! Luckily for you, the game is quick to play, works well on the web, and is really fun! Try it now!
https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/45/the-pumpking
Play it right now, or the ghost of the brussel king shall haunt you for eternity!
https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/45/the-pumpking
Wus going on gamers I don't get it?
Anyway, I thought I'd do what everyone else is doing and make a special wallpaper, so here it is! I hope you like it!
You can play my LD 45 game, The Pumpking, right on the web or in a downloaded form. It's probably the most fun LD game I've made so far and the graphics turned out really pretty.
Tell me if you beat the game or found anything hidden in it! :monkey_face:
Join Timeline today to get the latest info and updates!
https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/47/timeline
[Promotional Gimmick, not real social media]
Alright! I got it all together in the end! It was so very easy-going to start with, and it ended up so tight after all. There are things I would've loved to have added, but I'm very happy with this game either way. The first one would be snow and wind sound effects. But for a game I spent about 13-14 hours on, I'm pretty dang happy. :)
Play it on Itch, btw. The embed is a bit funky on LD page. https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/54/the-little-house-that-had-been-very-good-this-year
And maybe the link doesn't show up. Not able to get images to embed and the link just showed some HTML code in the preview. If it doesn't show up, check it out on my profile.
