Hopefully going for a second dare in a row.  The last one was my first attempt, and I had such a blast, so I’m really hoping I don’t have to work the weekend, but as it looks now I should be in good shape to compete.

My tools of the trade haven’t really changed much from the last competition, and are as follows:

Programming: Visual Studio, C# using XNA 4.0

Graphics: NES style (likely) using Paint.NET

Sound: SFXR, FamiTracker, Audacity

Misc: Tiled, Chronolapse

Base Code: Get it here.  This is a slight update from the version I used in the previous competition.  The only major addition was very based tiled based collision map code to make it easier to do collision with the level.  This was something I struggled with in the previous competition so it made sense to solve the problem before it happened.

Font: For any text display, I will likely be using a free font  from http://www.proggyfonts.com/, specifically Proggy Square.  I have converted it to a spritefont (PNG) for use in XNA (both full size, and something that fits in 8×8).  The original font and converted formats can be downloaded Here.

Additionally, I put together a new warm up game since I hadn’t really done much in the lines of game programming since the last competition (other than the base code update).  It’s a sequel to the first warm up game I did, and is probably a little more than I should have one for a warm up game (spent about 7 hours on it).  If you have a moment, give it a try. Feedback is always appreciated.

Hello there LD community! I’ve missed every single one of you (except for those who I’ve never met and the select few who have a fervent hate for me.)

As always, I’ll keep everyone informed of my progress on my blog.

Tools

• Javascript + HTML5
• Fruity Loops
• Beer

I hope that, like me, you’re all looking forward to this weekend. Until then!

I have always wanted to take part but haven’t done it, that is until now. I am graduating with a BS in Computer Science and a BA in pure mathematics on Saturday and I plan to celebrate it with taking part in my first jam. I plan to do the jam to adjust for the time Ill lose on the game but other than that it should be good. I am excited to graduate and participate and do what I love: Programming and video games!!!

Havn’t decided on tools yet, I’m a C++ and Java programmer primarily so I figure Ill prolly do a java applet but we will see. Javascript might be fun

Strangely enough, I wasnt going to compete this time. However, I somehow got those exact 48 hours off from work without even requesting it. It wouldn’t be right if I didn’t take advantage of what faith has left me ^.^

And with that, I will be competing with you all. ^.^

I’m in Ludum Dare for the first time ever! Wooh! I’ll be using adobe flash and coding on Action script 2 because I have difficulty understanding AS3* I’ll probably also be using various things from the tools page… My entry may become a jam because I’ve gor work during Ludum dare but who knows?!

DFTBA

*If anyone knows some good resources on getting started with AS3, let me know! thanks!

In regards to what csanyk said about campagining themes, I will avoid putting up most of my own votes.

Afterlife – This theme makes me think of things like various heavens and hells.

Chaos – This would be fun to program, there are so many ways this theme could be interpretted.

Claustrophobia – This would be hard I suppose to program into a game, however any challenge is welcome!

Growth – I think of plants and self replicating robots for this theme wierdly… This was also used in LD #7

Infection – This is a bit like quarantine but slightly broader so more ideas can come out of it. This was also used in LD #4

Inside – This reminds me of the Alone, Escape and Tiny world themes.

Parallel Worlds – Inter dimensional travel between parallel worlds? I’m there!

Science – Very broad, but may encourage people to make their games more scientific?

Shadows – I really would like this one to get through, there are so many things you can do with shadows!

Stranded – I think of an abandoned island or factory with this theme.

Surveillance – I can’t think of anything good for this theme yet, maybe a spy type game?

Time Loop – This may sound like a mechanic but it could also be easily used in a storyline. This one will definitely be hard and fun to program!

A very nice write-up about the never-released Hard Vacuum RTS game http://lunar.lostgarden.com/game_HardVacuum.htm

And, in excellent timing for LD25, the artwork is up for grabs!

Jam entries can use existing artwork etc.

And recently Command&Conquer was ported to HTML5 http://www.adityaravishankar.com/projects/games/command-and-conquer/

Surely all the pushing and hinting you need, right?

I have done three Ludum Dares and finished three games.  For that I am very happy.  However, none of these games were very “fun”.  I seem to have the mechanics down so I will do some soul searching this time around to see if I can find the fun.  This game design stuff seems easy but it is really hard!

• Language: HTML5/Javascript
• Libraries: Raphaeljs and maybe Craftyjs
• Graphics: Paint.net
• Music: musagi
• Sound: bfxr

I am going to use Photoshop instead of Paint.NET. I recently acquired a license for CS6 and so will be using it.

I’m in!
Alma has turned 1 year old and is still not ready to take care of herself (god damnit!) so I’ll be putting about ~10 hours per day into this. =)

Language: Lua
IDE: Visual Studio
Libraries: MOAI and some small helpers to make everything go component-system-boom! (i’ll add them later)
Graphics: Fireworks
Sound: as3sfxr

I’m really looking forward putting MOAI to the test. I’ve been doing some experiments and so far it looks good. Other goals for this dare is

1. Create a “restart” button
2. Not make a platformer
3. Manage my time in a non-suck way =)
4. Reach top 100 in ANY category

That’s about it. Good luck all!

We are in, Thotor and I.

Thotor will code, and i will graph.
We also have Mathal, master musician:D

You can see our last Jam/compo here :

The Traveler

Promoted

We can’t waaaiiit !
Poh po pooooh!

Well, looks like we have a lot of newcomers again this time!

And as I appreciate all of the new guys, I’ll just welcome all of you! So have a warm welcome and a hug from me!

And now I’ll try my hand at a McFunkypants-style guide, which contains some  teaching and hinting and also motivation!:

• To get the most out of the compo, join the #ludumdare IRC channel on the AfterNET IRC network. (You need a IRC client for that. Check here or here or here for these.) – There are tons of awesome, and really nice people there who are willing to help you. If you want to talk to me directly just poke Folis. I’m there very often.
• Generally get involved with the community as much as you can! People love to see photos of your desk, food, a timelapse (you can use ChronoLapse by Keeyai for this), or just a screenshot with some text every now and then. Also, don’t forget to write a post-mortem!
• Check out the LD survival guide by fellow LDer Sol_HSA – It’s a very nice guide that helped me a lot during my first compo! You don’t have to follow every rule, but there are a few I can recommend: Sleep, tool preparation (use the Warmup for that!), and taking breaks. Those helped me the most. You should probably avoid alcohol too.
• Check the tips section, it contains many useful posts written by other LD veterans! They know what they’re talking about!
• And some general tips for the game design:

  KISS (Keep it simple & stupid)!

  Your game shouldn’t be a overly complex 3D turn-based online strategy sim! Try to get a small idea. Describe it briefly (about the size of a tweet. Thanks to Neonlare for that idea!)

  Cut features when needed! Sometimes there’s this great mechanic you have, and it takes AGES to implement. This is where a mental battle begins. If a feature takes too long to implement, you should consider cutting it (except if it’s your core mechanic). Sometimes that’ll help with speeding up development!
  

  Get something playable quickly! You shouldn’t waste any time getting some nice, solid engine going. You don’t need an all-rounder. Just get your core mechanic into the game as fast as you can. If all else fails, you can still submit something like that.

  Avoid feature creep. Yes, there’s this great feature, and that great mechanic, but you have a very limited timeframe, so forget about all the unneeded mechanics. Focus on the main idea!

  Playtest, playtest, playtest! Hop on IRC (see above) and let people play your game (there’s always someone who has time for this)! They will find bugs you might not see! And they can point out any balancing flaws, graphical hiccups and other problems (The experience of DLL hell isn’t exactly great.)

  Polish! If you have time left, replace the placeholder art with some pretty pixels. Compose some music (check the tools section!), add some bleeps and blops! Give your game that “finished” feel.

• But there’s one rule above all others: Don’t forget to have fun! After all, Ludum Dare is a competition just for the fun of making games! You shouldn’t force yourself to apply all of these rules, if you don’t feel comfortable doing so.

And after you read through this wall of text, here are some final words of motivation: Even if the time is limited, I know that you CAN do it! We all can do it!

Perhaps you are like me and have never made a game before Ludum Dare? Don’t worry! My very first game ever was made during Ludum Dare #19!

And even if you don’t manage to finish: There is always a next time.

Alright, that’s all I have to say for today!
Maybe you’ll come to IRC for a chat?

See ya,
– Folis

(P.S: Is there like a position for welcoming and helping the first-timers with their questions? If there is, I’d love to do that! *looks at PoV*)

Tags: tips

Im in for the second time!!!

This time I will use OSX, Java, libgdx, eclipse, gimp, tiled and bxfr and …

Unfortunately I will not be able to spend more than a day on the compo.

My second attempt at Ludum Dare, I last tried back in LD23, but never did finish.

This time I’ll be going simpler, and I’ll be trying with using Javascript and WebGL instead of Lua and Love.

Unfortunately though, I’ll be losing a few hours on the Saturday, prior engagements and all, but I’m going to give it a go 😀

Last Ludum Dare I was the teacher supervising the Gbell Games team, a team made of high-school students from Colégio Graham Bell (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) who stayed at school in a weeked making a game for Ludum Dare. It was, for many of them, their first experience making a game.

This is what we managed to make:

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-24/?action=preview&uid=16030

It was an amazing experience for all of us.

This time around I won’t be able to spend the weekend at the school, but I’ll participate solo, working from my home. So while it’s not my first Ludum Dare, it will be the first where I actually do a game all by my own

I’ve been trying to convince my students to also try to make a game alone this time… instead of participating in Ludum Dare Jam as “Gbell Games”, they should try a new experience  and make a game solo, at their home. It would be a new experience for them, and I’m sure they will learn new things with it. (Some of them have already said they are in, others are complaining they would prefer to work as a team again :D)

My personal objective is basically to have fun with this. And  I hope I can finish at the top half of the overral ratings

As you may or may not know, the IndieSpeedRun-jam/competition is currently running, and will overlap with Ludum Dare.

The rules are somewhat similar, and after some inquiry the IndieSpeedRun-organizers have confirmed that games created in the 48hours of LD can be submitted. The vital part of the FAQ is

Q: Can I submit games created for other game jams?

A: Yes, with some major caveats. Firstly, your game will still need to meet our guidlines, meaning date of creation, adhering to our assigned theme and element, and including the Indie Speed Run creation slide. If you just so happen to time that with another game jam simultaneously, it would be an interesting feat, and techincally compliant with our rules except for one: not allowing your game to be published prior to our Free Play window. That being said, “dual game jamming” (which we define as creating one Indie Speed Run game that’s used for Indie Speed Run AND another game jam) is the single exception. If another game jam would require your game to be published ahead of our window, then as long as it meets all other ISR requirements, we will allow it. We cannot, however, speak for any other game jam and their thoughts on the matter, so please check with them before trying to create a game jamception.

Which means that once you are done with LD, you can also submit it to the IndieSpeedRun, If You Follow Their Rules Too.

If this is your thing, make sure to study the IndieSpeedRun-rules to get ready.

-Matthias

Tags: IndieSpeedRun

I had lots of fun during LD #22 and #23, I had to skip #24 and still I’m not sure if I will be able to join this Ludum Dare.
Just in case I may, here’s my setup:

• Language: C#
• Middlewares: Unity3D, my own open source 2D tools for Unity3D
• Graphics: Paint.net, Gimp, Graphics Gale, Art Rage or whatever
• Audio: SFXR for effects, Autotracker or probably nothing for music

UPDATE: Oh, I almost forgot: This will be my desk setup.

Tags: deskphoto, ld25, unity, unity3d

This is going to be my second Ludum Dare, im a 14yo wannabe game developer

• Language: Java or C++
• IDE: Eclipse
• Graphics: Paint.NET
• Audio: Femitracker, Tuxguitar and/or sfxr
• Stream: http://www.twitch.tv/dddbomber

Good Luck Everyone!

This will be my 3rd ludum dare I have entered in, and as always it will be a lot of fun 😀

Here are my weapons of choice:

• Language: ActionScript 3 or C++
• Libraries: FlashPunk or SFML
• Graphics: Paint.NET
• Audio: SFXR
• Food: Healthy this time around, but some junk food and coffee is present.
• Timelapse: Chronolapse

Even though this is only my 3rd ludum dare I have a couple tips for people:

• Eat mostly healthy food, if you only eat junk food chances are that you will start to feel sick later in the jam (happened to me)
• Drink loads of water or juice, keep coffee and soda to a minimum (really hard to keep myself from drinking coffee though)
• Sleep, don’t stay awake until 4a.m like I did. If the theme is announced really late (2-3am for me) I would recommend to sleep and look at the theme in the morning.
• Breakfast, don’t skip it.
• Loads of alcohol is bad for thinking. Unless you reach the Ballmer Peak:

I wish luck to everyone, and above all have fun!

After some persuasion from my co-worker’s I’ve decided to enter the LD compo for the first time. I have little experience in game development, created my first game ever just two weeks ago. But I figured, what better way is there to challenge myself to create more? 😀

My goal for this compo is to have lots of fun, learn lots of new stuff and to have an actual playable game done in time.

I will be using HaxePunk since well, that was what I used last time and it worked well

Looking forward to the weekend!

Tags: haxepunk, ld25