Ahh, Ludum Dare, I’ve missed you so.

Back in 2004 when my online handle was Spectro and I had little to do with my time except sleep through class and design games, I threw my hat into Ludum Dare #4 (Infection) with a zombie game called The Lobby. My usual development process took 7+ months, so the idea of making a game in 48 hours was ludicrous to me, but I had a ton of fun doing it, and strangely enough came out of it with what’s still one of my favorite games. I’ve been pulled away from game design over the past few years by the usual chaos surrounding graduating from college, but now that things have settled down and my weekends are free, why not dive back in with another Ludum Dare?

The only game-oriented programming language I knew in 2004 was Fenix, which was never very good to begin with and is now dead. My old Fenix games don’t even run on newer computers anymore, so that option’s definitely out. I’ve decided to throw my lot in with Pygame, because I’m already in the process of learning Python for my day job, and because I love the Python design philosophy — no boilerplate! I’m not sure yet if it’s a good idea to be committing to a 48-hour game when I still have only the barest familiarity with the language I’ll be using, but it’s happening.

Looking forward to the 17th.