Last year, I tried to Kickstart a game called Ninja Baseball. It fell flat on its face. And eventually, I stopped working on it altogether. It was a very public humiliation for someone as driven and competitive as I am. (though I did get good press out of it… even this great interview by Junglist at 5 Inch Floppy)

But this weekend… well, without further ado… the tiny revival of my dream!

It’s 100% new code, assets, etc. Of course it’s incomplete in some areas, but you can play a game and have a smile. In some ways, it’s more cohesive than the multiple versions and permutations (in full 3D) living on my hard drive. =p

And it’s all thanks to McFunkyPants. Cheers.

Direct link: http://oreganik.com/ninjabaseballnes/

For the 48 Charity mini LD, I just submitted my game called “Crazy Kart Flying”. A bit going passed the limits and using 3D, but I did
use the NES Palette and limited movement along the x and y axis. Programs used are Unity 3D and Paint.net.
Only 2 levels, but I like the idea and I’m extending on it so expect a 3rd level (hint: a “special” level )
Page to play would be here: http://www.charitygamejam.com/
Shoudl be able to find it.

Finished!

It still needs more levels (and some variation), but this time I have music. So gameplay still bad but certainly getting better.

Using Famitracker was fun! Making pixelart was hard!

With the funkytron I got those ugly scrollbars, so I have two links: to the .swf  and to the Funkytron version.

Maybe later I’ll do a postmortem or comic (maybe with J. McLeakyPants) .

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/minild-38/?action=preview&uid=14225

Whoohoo! I managed to make a game that actually feels pretty complete! This is unusual for me.

Heinous Yak Destruction is now available to play on the charitygamejam.com site. It has music, explosions, helicopters, and an actual lose condition! Huzzah!

I didn’t quite get the time to add online high-scores in. The backend is there, just not the stuff in-game. I’ll fiddle around with it tomorrow and hopefully get that included.

If I had more time, I’d have liked to add more buildings – I’d hoped to have big tower blocks and shops as well as the tiny houses. Never mind.

Tags: Charity Game Jam, complete, yak

I have finally finished a mini GOT clone for the charity game jam.

Here is the link: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/89733612/got.html or https://dl.dropbox.com/u/89733612/Got.swf

Was fun … but did not have enough time for levels. Probably will create more in the future if there is any positive feedback.

Sleeping off my cold this morning (and, er, early afternoon) prevented me from getting this done in time for the official submission. But it was killing me to have temp art in there… so… ta-da!

http://www.charitygamejam.com/

http://oreganik.com/ninjabaseballnes/

I uploaded my game to the cartridge library and over here as well, but It doesn’t seem to be showing up in the cartridge library.  Anyone know what happened?  I don’t want to re-upload for fear of having it upload twice.  Help!

I finally got the game done and submitted with 20 minutes to spare! I had a really fun time making the game as always. The game came out great and I only cut a few things from the final version.

Here’s an in action shot:

You can try out the game here: Play and on the Charity Game Jam site.

I recommend Firefox because the sounds don’t work in Chrome >:(

Good Job Everyone!

Tags: 8-bit, Charity Game Jam

So I’ve uploaded and submitted my entry for the Charity Game Jam. It was a fun experience and I learned quite a bit, but the game is far from complete. But considering I didn’t know about the competition until about 8 hours after it started, I think I did quite well.

I just submitted the 48 hour version of my Charity Game Jame game, “Dolphin Story”. I followed Ludum Dare compo rules – all graphics from scratch with the Gimp, engine is Unity + Orthello 2D. It uses the NES palette.

It looks awesome inside the Funkytron … but in reality it’s not really finished yet. There are still two scenes to be made to finish the mini-chapter of this mini-adventure game, and sound is still to come. I plan to do this over the next two days.

I went against all sensible advice and used Orthello 2D for the first time for this compo … as a result I ended up wasting some time wrestling with it, but now I have the simple ‘point-n-click’ adventure base code written expanding it should be easy (famous last words ).

You can play directly it here, or find it in the list on http://www.charitygamejam.com. If the Unity plugin starts flickering (like an old TV with bad vertical hold settings – authentic !), blow on the cartridge then try reloading the page. I’ve no idea what’s up with that.

Tags: 8-bit, Charity Game Jam, nes, Orthello

got this game done just at the deadline, and overlooked a very simple error that caused me to stress for the last 5 hours lol, figured it out, and have the game submitted! enjoy, and I look forward to checking out everyones games!

Controls:

Arrow keys,

*Wanted to use gamepad, but unfortunately my usb gamepad wouldn;t work with chrome

Play Lock N Key!

Tags: MiniLD, nes

Creating a RPG mostly from scratch is a rather crazy thing to do, but I did mostly manage to succeed. There is a lot of things I would like to add to the game, so it is going on my rather large revisit in the future list. My recommendation is to gain a couple of levels before entering the caves and before going into the castle. Mind you, death restores your health while leaving you where you died so this problem isn’t overly disastrous.

On a side note, the template page doesn’t seem to hold my game properly (even though it is the correct size) but adds scroll bars roughly the size of the scroll bars. The game is located at http://blazinggames.com/gamejams/ldmini38/index.html . Enjoy.

But close enough!

Certainly didnt get around to a few major features that Id really hoped for (like being able to steal a car – kinda important in a game that references Grand Theft Auto)

But I’m certainly happy with what I did get done over the weekend. ‘Super Theft Auto’ is a good start for an interesting little mini game.

You can play the current version of the game at the following link after installing the plugin (links/instructions are on the page- the only major OS not supported is OSX):

[LINK] (youll also find it on the CharityGameJam games submission screen of course)

Theres also a link on the page to a .blend download of the setup for the computer VideoTexture scene, youll need Blender 2.64a if you want to mess around with it.

Features:

• A game within a game – You start in a 3D world with a 3D computer, the (kinda) NES style game plays on the screen of the Funkytron computer (press space to zoom in and focus on the screen to actually see what youre doing)
• Large city area to explore (sadly only on foot at this stage)
• Pedestrians wander around the city (they make good target practice)
• Cars driving around (rare and very basic implementation)
• Gun ammunition to pick up
• Basic scoring system (you can score points for killing people)

Fatality!

Tags: AD-Edge, auto, BGE, blender, Burster, Funkytron, MiniLD, nes, retro, super, theft

It’s after the time, but I really wanted to add high scores, so they’re in! Let’s see who can beat me at yak-based urban demolition! As always, go to http://charitygamejam.com/ and then click the cartridge that says “YAK”.

And now, the post-mortem:

What went right:

• I chose something simple. This is by far the biggest help. I tend to want to do something fancy, with lots of procedural generation… this time, a simple game, which I had plenty of time to do.
• I used a language I was comfortable with, and which made me productive. I don’t know AS3/Flashpunk as well as I could do, but I have made things with it before, and this helped a lot.
• I found simple solutions for things. The city is a simple grid. You destroy the buildings where you land so you can’t get stuck in them. The enemies are helicopters, so I didn’t need to do any pathfinding.
• I made music, sound, and art that I’m pleased with! It’s nothing amazing, but the NES theme meant that I didn’t try and spend ages making it look and sound great, I could  just make things simple.
• I added little touches as I went along. As the game was simple, I had the time to add shockwaves, tween animations, and little people who run away, which made it more fun but didn’t take that long to do.

What went wrong:

• Not a lot! I could have been more prepared sound-wise – I had no experience of musagi, or audacity, so fiddling with those took longer than it should have. But it wasn’t a problem in the end.
• I didn’t get time to add the building variety I’d hoped to. Very few of the city blocks were planned to be empty grass. I wanted tower blocks and things, but by the time I could have tried adding them, it would have meant breaking the code probably.

What I’ve learnt:

• I can actually make music that I don’t think is terrible!
• I can make a 48-hour game with a decent level of polish!
• Heinous is pronounced “Hay-nuss”.

Tags: Charity Game Jam, post-mortem, yak

The Charity Game Jam was a huge success. Our initial fundraising goal was $250 and as you can see, we destroyed it! Mission accomplished. Achievement unlocked. Boss battle won. Princess saved. THANK YOU VERY MUCH, EVERYONE! I’m humbled and grateful for all your enthusiasm, hard work, and generosity. Should we do this again next year?
Play The Games Here! | Keynote Video | Announcement Post

Tags: 8-bit, awesomeness, Charity Game Jam, Funkytron, McFunkypants, motivation, nes, pixelart, retro, screenshot, SuccessStory

After 3 attempts, I completed a game  for the October challenge. Ironically, it is not the one that I set out to make when the month started. It’s also late, but I digress. I’m sharing it now because I got to work with a bunch of awesome dudes at the begging of October. We met and finished this game in one weekend in Chicago.

This is how it feels to RELEASE a game to the public:

Presenting ‘Bells of Steel’ a Christmas Tower Defense Game. In the game, elfs must sacrafice themselves to save the north pole from an alien invasion. Not fast enough? Santa will handle the job himself. The game is now live IN THE APP STORE! The gameplay is sort of tower defense meets action. It’s ad based, so would love some taps of the banner, but it is free otherwise. Enjoy, share with friends. Team Krampus FTW!

Thanks so much to this community! It shows that making games(and completing them) is possible. Thanks for lighting the fire under my butt daily.

App Store Link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bells-of-steel/id570914908?ls=1&mt=8

Shameless plug(s):

Two of my teammates from this project have other game projects going on. They both look cool. Give them a look if you’re interested in Bells of Steel.

Moby Dick Revenge: https://www.facebook.com/MobyDickRevenge

Hidden Treasure Games: Old School Adventure game; https://www.facebook.com/HiddenTreasureGames

Hi, Gravity Games here, and I can’t wait until the next Ludum Dare! I do however have a few questions about the rules if you don’t mind.

1) I saw in the rules that we ARE allowed to use base code if its mentioned before the dare, but how far would be considered base? Like, a basic routine to open a window and draw graphics? A basic engine with a level editor (though I’m assuming that this would be a little bit too far to be considered a base).

2) Continuing the above question, I have a level format that I tend to use for every project I start. I was wondering if it would be okay to copy and paste the same code that reads these files, or would I have to recode the same format from scratch. Or would I have to make a completely new format entirely?

3) Continuing from the level format question, I already have a level editor for this format. Is it against the rules to use this level editor presuming I use the same level format? If so, would it be acceptable to program a new editor, or should I just type in the levels with a text editor?

4) Is it against the rules to submit a game to the dare, continue to work on it for the rest of the hours of the jam, and then resubmit it for the jam?

5) Finally, I’ve never completed a game before (not 100% anyway), much less in 48 hours. Quite obviously this is a big challenge for me, so how would I start practicing? Would you recommend going to past ludum dares and completing them, or is there an ongoing challenge I can use for practice?

Tags: help, question, questions, tips

Create A Sokoban Turned out really great in the end
And Managed to Get it Updated Once During time frame of the Game Jam
Since then I have Updated it again With more Features that are not Normally Part of Sokoban these Include the Doors The Switches the stairs and Holes Its Pretty Awesome

Head Over to: http://www.charitygamejam.com And Look for Create A Sokoban its Awesome

Im Currently in the process of Updating it Once Again I Have Changed the way you select blocks and use the Menu into a Drop Down List and also Fixed a few bugs though don’t expect it to be updated for a while with these features 😀

So I’m going to do this. I first heard about Ludum Dare about a month ago on AGDG, but didn’t really know the specifics until last week. I probably won’t finish on time, hahaha. In the past I’ve completed projects between 3 days to 3 weeks and ‘started without finishing many more‘ using everything from LUA, Basic, Flash, to Java, C, Objective C, and recently C# in Unity. I figure if I actually buckle down and used every waking moment within the 48 hours, I could at least do something half-decent.

Depending on the theme I will either use vanilla Unity for a 3D game, or GLBasic for a 2D game. I’m more designer/artist than programmer. I have terrible memory when it comes to syntax/API so if I make a 2D game with GLBasic, I will be using my own Phoenix Framework available here for vetting/download and randomly referencing GLBasic API Documentation.

I never actually used it to finish a game before and don’t know if I can even remember how to use it (from a week of work in Sept. 2011 for the Pandora console, which broke) so I’m on the same foot as anyone else wanting to use GLBasic and this framework, with 2 weeks to figure it out. If I remember correctly, the framework just helps deal with display settings, auto scaling, bitmap fonts, organizing on screen graphics, parallax layers, vector animation/transitions, and virtual keyboard/mouse.

Update: Wow, so I actually took the time to get familiar with the Framework and I see I’ve really messed up on a lot of things. I guess that’s what happens when you stop developing and can no longer distinguish between what you thought you did and what you planned to do.

Okay so what I’ve done since is fixed a whole lot of stuff that didn’t actually work, like graphic alignments, scaling, and other neglected details. There are comments and examples of functionality now in the main delegate and files are separated into different sections that perform certain tasks. I added sound functions. Sprites can now be loaded from TexturePacker sprite sheets (exported with Ogre settings) and will animate. Box2D has been crudely implemented and can be attached to sprites so that they follow the center. The barebones of file saving/loading is included now. Will import Tiled maps.

Things it still needs:
Listeners still need some work if I want to actually detect clicks within an object’s boundary. That’s if whatever game I make will need a mouse.

I made a video giving an overview of how it works. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7xW9X8O9pA

Tags: glbasic

Once in a while I find something surprises me by both the fact that it exists and because I’m probably the last person to know about it, hell, why didn’t anyone tell me about this before?!?!?!?. As of recently, this something has been the Game Developer magazine.

The Game Developer magazine is a thin little publication – with both print and digital (PDF) versions – with articles on the craft of, well, game development. The surprising part, however, lies on the pure quality of the magazine’s content, packaged in what seems to be an independent, honest-to-god straightforward bag of game development goodness.

Consider this. You’re looking at your game elements’ life cycle update() and postUpdate() methods, and wondering how should each method deal with each specific step of the frame update cycle, and whether you’re doing the right thing. You’d like to discuss this with someone else. And then you open the magazine and you find someone talking about the same subject for 4 or so pages. It’s unadulterated programming porn.

(This actually happened yesterday.)

More importantly, you don’t have to be a professional game developer to appreciate the content offered in its monthly installments (hell, I’m not one myself). However, if you need to do any kind of visual programming, or if you’re really just interested in the art of game development, this magazine is the real deal; it covers it all, from art to programming to marketing. And because it’s so thin – it’s usually around 80 pages – it’s easy and quick to read it every month. The noise is nowhere to be seen.

The magazine is available in really cheap subscriptions. You can preview a sample online too.

You have no excuse. Go subscribe for it now.

(This is a cross-post from something I’ve posted on my personal blog earlier this year but that I find bears repeating)