This will be my first Ludum Dare, really looking forward to participating. I’ll be using Photoshop and maybe Inkscape for art. My game development tool will be Game Maker Studio. For audio most likely bfxr.

I'm in. Lock n' load!

Here we go! I've signed up for some LDs in the past, maybe two or three. I only was able to develop a game for one and that one was unfinished and nothing to really play. This time around I intend to actually make something playable, finishable and uploadable. I'll be running my mainstay, GMS2, for this compo as I'm more comfortable with it than Unity at the moment. Photoshop will be my tool for art, Bosco Ceil for music and BFXR for sounds.

Looking forward to this and seeing what everybody makes, good luck!

Life is currency huh? I might as well make a game based off the movie In Time, where time is literally your life. Run out of time, you fall dead. People gamble time in order to gain more time. Sucks if you lose though. I think there's a social message there about how we use our time and time is money and how some people literally live minute to minute in order to make it in life.

In any case, I don't know if I will go that route though it's a good exercise in thought. I'm gonna spend some time brainstorming and see what comes up. Best of luck to everyone!

So after some brainstorming last night, I figured out two ideas.

One, Rejection: the player must continually dispose of equipment, power and ability in order to reach their goal, thing is those things are also tied to their life force. Each time they dispose, their life total decreases, which also makes them weaker in attack power and defense.

two, The Meta: You have 48 hours to make a game. Balance time with health while also attending to your responsibilities! Every action has an opportunity and effort cost. Work too hard and you just might die! Don't work hard enough and you won't make a game! Try not to anger your family or get sick while you're at it!

I'm digging the meta because it's so out of the box for me. Let's see what I can come up with!

Here's my board of ideas.

Here's a screenshot of my game, which is a game about making a game lol. Pixel illustration is a placeholder for now.

You have 48 hours to make a game, every time allotment you make has an effort and opportunity cost. Finish a game in 48 hours while keeping your health up! Failure to do so could cost you your place in the competition and even your life!

You can assign time into Game or Life responsibilities, doing so will cause a tug of war between your health and the game development progress. Skew towards one end or the other though, and well, you'll lose in more ways than one.

Current win statement: "Congrats! You made a game in 48hours! Well done! Current lose statement (there are 2): 1- You lose! Maybe next time you can finish a game on time! 2- Well damn, you actually worked yourself to death!

Still a few things left to do, but I'm hoping to have it done in time for the compo deadline! Fingers crossed!

Jam's over and I scored pretty high (low?). Gives me a good baseline however to work harder on next jam! Pleased with where I got to on Humor and Innovation though!