This time we did a simple game, almost a walking simulator, little time and low energy for this jam sadly (i have been sick all week)

Welp! Thats it! I have work tomorrow so I can't continue to work on the game for the jam.

I'll be uploading it tonight so feel free to take a look at it! Its a Fast Paced Ranking system game where you beat the levels as quickly as possible!

Not going to make the deadline sadly, first time actually getting something 'playable' for any game jam so regardless going to dirty code my way to the finish line and release it whenever it is done.

Was gunning for an overcooked style game, would plant and sell crops but if you don't harvest them in time; they will rot and be un-sellable and have to take time to clear the plots and re-water.

Might chuck the code on github when im done ¯_(ツ)_/¯

We have a lot of beautiful buttons and icons to help you in the game.

Help the Rabbit !

Well we did our best this weekend, but it wasn't enough to finish in time. We are both busy tomorrow, so this is it for our attempt to enter the Jam. I've never not uploaded what I had after working on a game for Ludum Dare, so I'm sad, but I also don't want to feel pressured to put out something I'm not proud of. We may still enter the Extra if we have time in the next week or so to add some polish. I think the problem really started with our initial concept. It was going to be a tower defense type game, where you placed and configured farmers to defend a field of cabbages from rabbits, with the goal of saving enough crops for the harvest. I definitely did not realize how much coding time it would take to make a game like that (at least for me, because I've never made a game like that before). So sometime on Saturday we decided to pivot to just having one player-controlled farmer. Although I was able to re-use some of the AI farmer code for the rabbits, it still took me a long time to get them spawning and behaving how I wanted. So in the end, the game is mainly about walking towards rabbits. Which I don't think is a bad Ludum Dare game necessarily, but I think it would need a lot of nice art and animations to be worthwhile, and we don't have that yet either. While we could have pushed ourselves to get what we have done and published in time, without extra polish on the art and gameplay, we're just not that enthusiastic about the game.

So again, may still upload the game under Extra. We will definitely be back later this year, and we're planning on placing better than ever :)

-Ryan (and Anna)

I have finally finished my building system. The one thing holding me back was the ability to delete a building and clear the tile data to allow another building to be placed there. This too me ALL DAY. But I've finally done it.

The world ended years ago.. A winter storm is coming quickly, find all the food you can before it hits.

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/52/final-harvest

I can run it on itch.io no problem but the same WebGL build fails here. I've gone through the embedding guide and checked on the only setting they suggest. It's just a little 2D game with no external storage or local storage or anything... a few sprites moving around.

https://youtu.be/JokMby435U4

(Splashscreen TBA)

We have a logo, we have a game name, and we have an almost completed game. Just another few hours to get the last of the levels in, and we'll be good to go. This is definitely one of the smoothest Ludum Dares we've participated in. I'm still waiting for that last minute snag that almost undoes the entire project. lol

Aorta, a horror game inspired by The Backrooms and Slender:The Eight Pages.

The Good:

I was really close to quitting this jam. After I had accidentally deleted a big chunk of progress, I wanted to just throw in the towel and sleep. Luckily my girlfriend was SUPER supportive throughout the jam process and was the reason I finally finished my first Ludum Dare after years of entering but never submitting a complete game. She helped me manage my time, brainstorm ideas, and volunteered her heartbeat for sound effects. Super proud of myself for finishing and incredibly grateful for the support.

I always make shooters. I specifically restricted myself from being able to make one this time to learn something new. Aorta was originally going to be a game where you played as the monster hunting down human NPCs. This idea went entirely out the window as submission time got closer and closer. I was struggling with feelings of frustration because I really loved that idea going into the start of the jam. I'm glad I was able to pivot to an idea that enabled me to complete the jam in the end. While more simple in concept, I think my submission is pretty cool! I've never made a horror game before, lots to learn and a lot was learned, but I have now made one!

I think the overall atmosphere of this game came together really well. I spent the first portion of this jam setting a tone through lighting, post-processing, and running with the heartbeat sound effect. It created a great grounded base for being scared. The creepy bits of story, teasing where you are or why, were a lot of fun to make too. It was also a learning experience surrounding additional motivation factors to drive players.

The Bad:

I have a brain that loves to focus on the details. Being able to use tunnel vision on tasks has its strengths, however, in my most recent game jams, it has hindered my progress substantially. One of the best examples I can pull from this project is my choice to focus on the heart theme.

I spent a lot of time trying to animate a pulsing heart via code. I was going to render it on the player's body, so if you looked down you'd see your heart beating out of your chest. I didn't want UI elements breaking up the atmosphere I spent so much time on. I thought the visual aspect of this would be super important in relaying information to the player. The game had a lot of mechanics around the condition of your heart after all. Turns out... not that important! In the end, I got the same information communication by increasing the heartbeat speed.

Trying to figure out these little details forced me to cut some more important mechanics to submit in time. Being able to hide from the evil entity like in the Outlast games, for example, would have given players more time to figure out the maze. I am searching for strategies that help me break away from this detail-oriented state and do more with less.

I made a horror game that doesn't offer all that much horror. I learned that atmosphere is just one piece of the puzzle. The scary factor of the immortal evil entity slowly approaching starts to buckle from the weight after a few attempts. Even I started to tune it out more and more as I was trying to find my way out of the maze. This project has me thinking about what is and isn't scary and what other concepts are out there with high impact. I would love to hear some ideas and feedback here!

Didn't have a ton of time for this one, but I'm pretty happy with the result. Went for something more high-concept, hopefully you think it worked out in the end!

As per usual, if you leave a rating/comment on my game, I'll do my best to find time to play yours and rate it

Come try the game and find all the bugs you can! https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/52/$317987

I'm sure we'll see a lot of similar games, but here's my take on harvesting in space! You basically just go from planet to planet collecting wheat and returning it to the mother ship. You can also shoot enemies which will give you more cargo space. Play it here: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/52/space-harvester-1

We now have all three vegetables ready to run after our hero! Aren't they terrifying!?

Two/Three hours left before I have to submit - I'm working through the rest of the time I will have monday - and I'm happy with what I've been able to accomplish in my crunch time.

I have to work tomorrow so I had to finish it today. And I did! I'm pretty happy with the outcome, and I think I learned a lot more about working with Godot from this project.

Play it here: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/52/$314221

Four years ago I made my first game ever for LD 43 - a weird lil text-based adventure that Got. Me. ADDICTED to making games. Fast forward to now, I've learned to code (I knew a bit before then but not much), now work full-time as a software developer (not for games but that's ok!), and still absolutely love making games. I am nothing but grateful to Ludum Dare for getting me started on not only my biggest and very favoritest hobby, but my actual career path. I also love playing others' games and rating them - everyone here is so encouraging and supportive and constructive. Anyway, my game this LD is called Word Salad and is about growing wordfruit to create a story for the big county fair! Plus, there's a dog with cool catchphrases!

Check it out here: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/52/word-salad