I now have floor and wall graphics. This means I’ll need to change the text because it’s too hard to read.
The combat system also now works correctly. My next main task will be creating new monsters, because slimes alone are pretty boring. 😉
I’m actually not doing too bad! 
Here you can see a new monster that the wizard can summon: the skeleton. I want at least three more, and maybe healing spells. I’ve finished sound effects, and now I’m working on music.
I hope everyone else is doing well! Good luck!
Tags: halfway
What’s this? I’ve made a postmortem less than a week after finishing a game?! This has never happened before!
Mr Wizard was several steps forward and several steps backward for me. First, the steps forward (aka, what went right):
My art has never been great, but looking back over the games I’ve made in my life, I’ve seen some definite improvements. I think the art in Mr Wizard is some of the best I’ve ever done (and a friend agrees with me)! The same goes for music. Normally when making a game for a jam, I’ll leave music until last, or almost last. My reasoning behind that is this: A fun game that looks bad and has no music is better than a boring/bug-filled game that looks and sounds good. My skill with music has never been that good, so I felt that by including music the overall quality of the game would decrease. This time however, I sat down with a tool I had never before used (FL Studio), and managed to get some decent music finished.
Now for the bad (what went wrong). The user-friendliness is not as good as in some of my previous games. Look at this image: 
Can you tell what is happening? Probably not. I would have liked to give so much more information, hints, etc in the game, but ran out of time.
I do have some plans for a post-compo version. First, more information about what is happening needs to be displayed. Second, there needs to be an indication of which key spawns which monster, and what the cost of each monster is. After that, who knows? I’m planning to do some simple animation, tweak a couple of things, and maybe even what every game needs: an endless mode! If all goes well, I might even try to sell it!
To finish up, I’d just like to say thank you to everyone who took part in Ludum Dare 25. I hope to see you all next time!
Tags: mr wizard
It’s here! After a lot of hard work, I’ve turned my Ludum Dare 25 entry into January’s One Game A Month, and released it for sale!
Check out the page on my blog here for more information, as well as a link to purchase it. Among other new features is an endless mode in which, quite fittingly, you must defeat heroes endlessly until you are defeated. Go for a new record!
I have two codes, each for 33% off!
TTHHRRDD and MRFREE
Tags: #1GAM, mr wizard, SuccessStory
The title pretty much says it all. I’m very excited about this, more so than I can convey in a post like this!
I finished up Mr Wizard for my January #1GAM game, releasing with 3 difficulty levels and an endless mode. Please, check it out here: http://www.indievania.com/games/mr-wizard-vs-world
It’s pay-what-you-want ($1 minimum). If you can’t afford it, or just aren’t interested in that type of game, please just spread the word! I’d really appreciate anything: tweets, reviews, complaints, anything.
Thank you for taking time to read this. Long live the Ludum Dare community!
Tags: #1GAM, mr wizard, SuccessStory
Tags: motivation, nopotato
With all the potato craziness, I forgot to announce this fact!
I’m in for my 6th(!) Ludum Dare. I plan to use Haxe + NME + HaxePunk to make a game for web and mobile devices. I’ll use GraphicsGale or GIMP for art, bfxr and audacity and maybe something else for sound, and caffeine to keep me awake.
Have fun everyone! Remember: #NoPotato #YesMeat
I think I’ll take a break now, but first a screenshot of the title screen:
This also reveals the name of the game, so you’re getting two for the price (screenshot) of one! The mechanics are all coded and working, art is done, it’s possible to lose, and I’m happy with it so far!
After a break, I’ll finish the ending screen and win condition, and tweak the gameplay a little.
Tags: meat, screenshot, update
I’m nearly done. I think. All the art is in the game, the win/lose code works, mechanics feel fine, and I even have a title screen!
What’s left? I’ll record sound effects tomorrow, and add polish and simple transitions. I’ll leave you with a screenshot, in case you missed it earlier:
Look at that amazing yet minimalistic title screen! Now, sleep!
Just a short “I’m in” post that I should have made weeks ago.
This will be my 7th Ludum Dare (and all in a row too!), and I am IN! I was a planning to use Haxe + Openfl + HaxePunk again, but I’ve also been re-learning c++. SDL2 was also just released. There are so many choices, and I’m not exactly sure will I’ll use.
I do know I will use sfxr for sound effects, GraphicsGale for art, and caffeine to keep me going.
Good luck everyone, and may the Source be with you!
Well, I finally have a name for my game. It may or may not be named after me.
The protagonist, Jacob has a jetpack and a shotgun. Both of those are necessary to survive the difficult levels of the robot factory. That’s all for now. BACK TO ADV- I mean, back to work!
Read it on my blog here and play the game here.
“Another Ludum Dare has come and gone, and the jammers have emerged once again with a new game. This is the postmortem of my entry, called “Jetpack Jacob in The Quest For Time” (May or may not be named after me).
The basic idea is that you have a jetpack and a shotgun, and have to collect clocks while destroying robots. Yes, it’s another 2D platformer. With a jetpack.”
Tags: Jetpack Jacob, Jetpack Jacob Quest for Time, postmortem
Don’t worry everyone, I will be entering Ludum dare yet again! I simply forgot to make a post until now.
This will be my eighth(!) LD, and all without missing a main event since I started game jamming! This time I’m doing something different. I’ll be entering the jam, because this time I’ll be working with a partner, who will provide marvellous music, while I create cool code.
My tools will remain mostly the same as previous events. Coding in Haxe, using the OpenFL and HaxePunk libraries. I’ll be using GIMP to create graphics. My text editor is Sublime. I’ll be listening to Chiptune Radio and drinking coffee.
Good luck to all other Ludum Darers (Darees?)
I just realized I haven’t posted an update on the site yet!
I’m making a 2-player co-op fire-fighting game. Fire monsters appear and set trees on fire, and you can spray foam on everything! What could be more fun?
Here’s the title screen:
Not all the art is in the game, and I also have to add sound effects, actually save highscores, and do more playtesting. I’m glad I’m doing the jam this time! It’s been a good experience.
Tags: 2-player, co-op, extinguished, fire, fire extinguishers, jam, update
It’s hard to believe that this will be my 9th main Ludum Dare event! Time moves quickly…
Anyway, I’m in again, this time doing the “compo” after last event’s trial of the “jam”. Working with a team is fun, but sometimes people are busy.
I’ll be using HaxePunk to build my game, GIMP (and maybe autotilegen) to create the art, sfxr (and probably my mouth) for sound effects, and perhaps LMMS for music.
Happy 12th year of LD, everyone!
Alright, I couldn’t think of another original title right now, so I’m reusing one.
Anyway, I’m in for Ludum Dare 30! This will actually be my 10th LD (also 10th consecutive LD)! My tools will be mostly the same as what I’ve used for previous jams:
Haxe + HaxePunk (language and game engine)
Sublime Text (text editor)
Gimp (for all my art)
Sfxr (probably) (for making sound effects)
My mouth/voice (probably) (for making sound effects)
Audacity (for editing audio)
This time I’d like to make something more visually abstract, and perhaps some sort of puzzle game. I also might be jamming with friends, but I’m not sure yet.
I hope you all have fun, and may the source be with you, always!
Tags: im in
Wow, is Ludum Dare really half over already? I guess it is. I think I’m 70% finished with my game, which is good, because I’ll only have a few hours to work tomorrow.
My game is an arcade mashup of Pong, Breakout (also known by many other names), and Space Invaders. It all happens at once, and while each part is simple alone, playing three games at the same time requires serious focus! What am I calling this game?
The title is “When Worlds Collide”.
That’s all I have time to write. I still need to finish the menu, add the story, explain controls, add more enemy ships, and polish everything.
Tags: halfway, progress, when worlds collide
My game is called “When Worlds Collide”, and you can play it here. I had a lot of fun during the competition, and I learned a lot too!
What went right:
I had an idea before I started. Usually I try to think of ideas for each of the themes in the final round so that I am prepared. This time, I simply had two ideas that I liked, and fortunately could think of ways to fit them into the themes. So this is something that could have went wrong, but didn’t.
I succeeded in making my game’s code modular and clean early on. Sure, by the end of the weekend it was a mess, but because it began well-structured and easy to modify, I was able to make changes to the game and fix parts that weren’t fun or didn’t work well enough without using up a lot of time.
The game is juicy. Very juicy. The biggest issue my games have (whether they were made for a jam or not) is a lack of visual polish and feedback. I specifically wanted to improve in that area with this game, and I think I succeeded. Images just don’t do it justice.
The game is fun. That’s what is most important, in my opinion.
What went wrong:
I should have spent more time working. Honestly, I didn’t take a lot of breaks, but I submitted early and didn’t work until the deadline. I was tired. There are a few things I can think of that should have been better, but aren’t.
There are bugs. Well, all code has bugs, so of course this game has bugs. What I mean is that there are known bugs. The are known bugs that have taken so much of my time, and still aren’t completely fixed. In the past I’ve almost always succeeded in fixing every known bug before submission, so this is a huge disappointment to me.
Final thoughts:
In the end, I’m extremely happy with how the game turned out. Many things went right, only a few things went wrong, and the game is fun. I’m considering adding multiplayer cooperative and versus modes, but for now, you could always play cooperatively on the same keyboard. 😉
Tags: LD30, postmortem, when worlds collide
I’m in! This will be my 11th Ludum Dare, and I’m eagerly looking forward to making something. I don’t know what I’ll make, but I’m going to try to do something new and unique (for me at least). Maybe I’ll make a puzzle game.
I’ll be using:
Haxe + Haxepunk for programming
sublime text for editing
GIMP for art
sfxr + my mouth for sounds
possibly LMMS for music
coffee for energy
Good luck to all participants, and remember to have fun!
Well, I have an idea, and it’s actually turning out pretty well.
That’s a screenshot of the test level for my snowman-themed ice-sliding puzzle game. My only worry right now (aside from thinking of the art I’ll have to do) is the work required to make enough levels!