First Ludum Dare, first post, EXCITING!
Can’t wait for this weekend, I’m looking forward to creating a multiplayer kitten game.
AHHHH!! How could I forget the one thing I needed. A CAMERA.
So there goes the first few hours as I had to implement a camera to move around the scene. Otherwise I have a basic idea of what I’m doing.
Let the game begin…
I can’t believe it’s been that long…
So I’ve got a world… I’ve got lighting… I’ve got a camera… Sound library… But no idea…
I even have multiplayer support! But the theme “Alone” doesn’t really suit that… I assume this is what they call “writers block”.
… After thinking for a while: I’m scrapping everything and starting again. Going back to 2D because I cannot for the life of me think how to make anything in 3D.
I even have a whiteboard with a kitty on top to help me with my idea ^_^
After restarting the project a few hours ago I finally have a concept and something that works!
That’s right! 10:15am – I slept a bit too much I think…
Oh well, coffee, ciders, and ham and cheese buns for breakfast and I’ll get right back into it!
I left last night with ‘light beams’ that the player must align correctly throughout the map in order to escape. I’ll think up some story aspect later 😉
Now, ONWARD TO VICTORY!
Finally have something nice coming together. Random sound created (Thanks http://www.bfxr.net/) and some blue lines that do stuff. Swheeet.
As we get close to the halfway mark my game is looking more and more functional!
The end is in sight, the game has some prettier graphics, and I’m getting stuck at level design.
Also, WTF MENUS. They don’t do what I tell them to and instead crash the game. So looks like I’ll be mashing away at the keyboard towards the end as I try and find a functional system for a menu and level selection.
See Video: Ludum Dare 17 Hours Left
Last SVN commit message: Added really crappy winning message.
Because a popup box really is crappy.
That being said – I’ve finished the most basic game ever. I created a very (read: VERRRY) basic menu which allows you to select a level and then play it. Contains some “How To Play” data as well. All very exciting.
Not much has changed from the halfway mark. What I thought I could implement turned out to be very time consuming and I had to scrap most of the cool stuff. So I’ve just added some prettier pictures and some cleaner functionality.
In the last few hours I’ve cleaned up the code a bit and now it is possible to create your own levels and play them! All it requires is a image editor like Paint and a text file with the coordinates for the light turrets. That might get me a few more points 😉
With this being my first Ludum Dare – I was thinking I’ll just use this as a learning experience to discover what I need to do BEFORE the next time. And it has been a VERY big learning experience. Also might enter the Jam next time and get a few people in and make a party of it. Because my lack of creativity and idea’s started to show about halfway though.
Now… On to discovering how I can package it up. 2.5 hours left!
(Also: look out for the source on GitHub. Because I know everyone loves to criticize hacky programming)
See submission: http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-22/?action=preview&uid=8080
HOW TO PLAY
You are a small guy who needs to escape from this place he is in (Great story, huh?). Lasers are set around the map and there is a portal somewhere that allows you get out. The portal must be powered for you to leave.
Using the WSAD keys you need to move around and discover where to go. When coming across a laser you need to either point it (use ARROW keys to direct laser) at the portal to activate it or direct it to another laser turret to power that and get to the portal that way. You will most likely need to direct lasers at multiple light turrets around the level to create a chain that can reach the portal.
Select the level from the drop down list at the top and click Play – you will be launched into the astonishing world that is SOLITUDE.
LEVEL DESIGNER
One of the features of this project is the custom level designer. While it does not include a GUI for creating your own, you can easily add data to the “levels” directory and create your own!
Create a new folder inside “levels” that is a number (yeah sorry – don’t know why I did that). Inside that folder you need 3 files:
# data.png
# bg.png
# level.txt
data.png – this image is purely black and white. White pixels define the space where the player and lasers can move in, black pixels define boundaries and inaccessible space for both the player and the laser.
bg.png – this image is the background display for the level. This needs to be the same size as data.png. It should show the boundaries and well as pretty background colours. For an example see the levels 0, 1, or 2.
level.txt – this text file is parsed when the game starts and allows you to define where all the laser turrets are (as well as exit portal and player starting position). Note that the levels 0, 1, and 2 do not have this as they are programmed into the game. You can, however, view an example test file in level 3.
The format for level.txt is as follows:
# this is a comment
# coordinates start at 0,0 from the bottom left corner
# all coordinates are pixel values
# the first coordinate is ALWAYS the portal that is the exit
740 300
# the second is the PLAYERS STARTING POSITION
75 75
# the next coordinates are a list of all the light turrets in the map
50 550
380 500
400 150
750 550
# any turret with a boolean value of ‘true’ after it means it is a source turret and is ALWAYS lit
50 50 true
# any turret with a string of ‘pulse’ next to it means it is a pulsing turret (one second on – one second off)
700 50 pulse
# yes – you can have a source light that pulses
300 50 true pulse
# and the last bit can be reversed
400 50 pulse true
Once you have created all those files and put them in a numbered directory in the directory “levels/” it should appear when you start the game!
Have fun creating 😉
ABOUT
Created for the Ludum Dare Compo #22
http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/
By xandrew
http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/author/xandrew/
With this being my first Ludum Dare – I was thinking I’ll just use this as a learning experience to discover what I need to do BEFORE the next one. And it has been a VERY big learning experience. Also might enter the Jam next time and get a few people in and make a party of it. Because my lack of creativity and ideas started to show about halfway though.
Can obtain the source here:
https://github.com/andrew-smith/Solitude-Ludum-Dare
(Yes I know – my menu design is terrible)
My 2nd LD I’ve decided to get a team together to make a really really good looking game. I also want to attempt multiplayer so we can get people running around together!
The team will be:
Technology:
View progress here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vf8cFt5LGhI
What we have so far:
We now have 4 people working on this!
48 hours to go! Time to prettify things!