Hello everyone, first timer here, I hope I’ll be able to squeeze enough time out of my weekend to get something together for my first LD.

I have a couple obligations on saturday, but as the time frame here (Belgium) runs until 3am in the night between sunday and monday, I think I should be able to make it.

Anyway, I suppose I’m going to go with :

• Language : Python
• Libraries : pyGame or Panda3D, depending on theme and inspiration
• Editor : Emacs
• OS : Arch Linux
• Sound & music : sfxr, Musagi, audacity, ZynAddSubFX, drums, guitars and bass…
• Graphics : The Gimp, possibly Blender
• Soundtrack : Probably a healthy dose of Spangle call Lilli line

That’s all for now, looking forward to having a great time during the weekend !

Finally did it, with still some bugs included, but anyway, having only half the time this weekend didn’t prevent me to make something wich is somewhat playable.

Any and all feedback is, of course, much appreciated

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-19/?action=preview&uid=3168

Very happy to have participated, anyway,  hope to be there next time !

Well, had some time to think over what I did right and wrong for my first participation in LD, or any game making sprint for that matter.

The good :

• I ended up with something playable. Sure, it lacks a lot of stuff, but considering I had to pretty much give up on more than half of the 48 hours thanks to “life”, it’s still a good thing.
• I managed to learn pyGame. I had sort of glanced over the docs before, but getting down to programming with it really is the best way to truly learn how to use it.
• I didn’t spend a single second fixing ‘code’ problems. That’s thanks to Python, but anyway the only bugs I had were logical ones, and not some weird case of the code behaving in strange ways. That was refreshing.
• I had loads of fun, which I see as an important point, that means I’d do it again.

The bad :

• I tackled problems in the wrong order. I spent a huge amount of time trying to fix my lighting system, and still didn’t get it right on time for the submission deadline. As I was making a platformer, I should have concentrated on getting a platformer first, and then add the light stuff.
• In relation to the previous point, I spent way too much time on a single problem. And by not changing and working on something else, I kept trying to push in the wrong direction. Case in point : on monday, I fixed my lighting problems in about 20 minutes, because my mind was clear and I could see the solution I’d missed (hint : I was trying to determine what areas were lit, I ended up computing the shaded parts instead…).
• I didn’t allocate time for packaging. I figured that Python and pyGame being cross-platform, it would work out, but I should have spent some time to properly package for MacOSX users and Windows users. I’m going to fix that as soon as I have some time, though.

So there you go, all in all I’m proud of myself, and I’ll be sure to continue working on the game. I think it has some potential, even if it’s very crude and barebones at the moment. I’ll post updates on my blog, so go there if you’re interested.

Thanks to those who provided feedback, it’s really helpful! And stay tuned for proper exe and app executables in the next few days (busy packing as I’m going to Canada on friday, but I’ll find some time…).

Going to participate for the second time !

The tools are going to be pretty much the same as last time, except :

• Pygame is going to be replaced by pyglet;
• I learned how to use PyInstaller (so yeah, real binary packages this time around);
• I have a concept in mind that would make me use panda3D… We’ll see if that fits with the theme…

That is all, I’m stoked !

…thanks to a Japanese exam that I most probably failed, but anyway, time to get started.

I’ve got an idea that may prove a little over-ambitious, but if I’m careful about limiting the scope of the features I implement, I think I should manage to do it.

Just a teaser before I have something to show : it’ll have a little of Canabalt in it…

That’s all for now. Wish me luck !

I tried to do a video capture of the game in its current state, but the upload to youtube failed… I put it on Dropbox though, so you can admire the laggy capture and the ugly placeholder obstacles over wich you must try to avoid tripping

BUT I have all the basic elements for my game now, including interactivity. I need to implement proper win/lose conditions, add some menus and context, and maybe record some music/sfx/whatever…

At least this time around things seem to be going my way. Let’s hope nothing bad happens tonight nor tomorrow !

So here’s the video for those who are curious : http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17113774/video-day1-20h21.ogg

…but I have now implemented a lose condition !

I also manage to squeeze some time and compose a couple of tracks for the soundtrack I intend to record at some point during the afternoon. But first, I want to add some more types of obstacles, then the win condition, and the remaining context (start screen, backstory, etc…).

So, that’s it, this frantic weekend is over, and live from a train, I’m going to give you some thoughts about how the making of my entry went.

What went right :

• The coding itself. Once again, I used python, and everything went smoothly. Not having to spend time working around language limitations was a huge advantage, and helped me stay focused on getting things working.
• Using a new engine (Panda3D). Prior to LD20, I had never used Panda3D for more than just fooling around and display a couple of objects. But once again (as with pygame last time), the Ludum Dare constraints helped me to just take the plunge and get to grip with the engine. This learning aspect is probably the best thing about LD compos from my point of view.
• Time management. I’m really, really happy with how that turned out. I managed to get almost everything I had envisionned done, and even had time to record two tracks for use in-game. I had a good night sleep, and managed to spend some time with my girlfriend. And that’s with the first 8 hours or so of the compo lost to night and a japanese exam. So all in all it went well.

What went wrong :

• The packaging… Once more, I found out that packaging wasn’t as straightforward as I had hoped. Though a helpful comment prior to the weekend had made me research packaging means beforehand, I still find that packages don’t work as expected. For example, the easy windows installer present you with a “run the game” option that just doesn’t work. It’s a bit frustrating, really… For the record I may try a web-based game next time, Flash maybe (that is, if I can lake myself a nice dev environment on Linux… any tips ?)
• Making the game fail beautifully. Even though almost all of the planned features made it into the final release, I failed miserably to include any kind of checks to see if, for examples, shaders were available on the user’s GPU.
• Sticking to the theme. The problem was two-fold. First, I wasn’t inspired much by it. And second, I had a game idea of which OUT OF HERE is  a prototype in my head for a couple of week. The first reason then quickly became a justification to just go with that idea and simply try to somehow shoehorn the theme into the game. But well, at least I know have a prototype I can build upon. The code is really short, so tidying up shouldn’t be too much of a problem.

That’s it. Once again, Ludum Dare has been a blast (which means I’ll definitely be there next time around), and a tremendous opportunity to learn and, basically,  just go and make a game. All in all I’m quite happy with the end result, and while it’s not breaking any new ground, it gave me confidence that the much broader idea I have should be, basically a fun game.

Thanks to everyone for all the motivational/informative blog posts and project updates, I’m looking forward to continuing rating games until time runs out ! Here’s mine if you want to do the same. Cheers !

UPDATE : I finally managed to iron out this damned packaging thing 😀 So I give you a Mac OS .app and a Windows zip file (goodbye installers…). I’m also happy to announce that a previous packaging bug that omitted one of the models, making the game crash when you won, has disappeared. Sorry about that !

Hi there !

I got around poking through Panda3D to provide more installation option for my entry, OUT OF HERE. Here is the full array of links for quicker access :

Windows (zip)
Windows (installer)
Linux (32bits deb)
Linux (64bits deb)
Mac OSX (zipped .app)
Source code (dependency : Panda3D)
ArchLinux (32bits)
ArchLinux (64bits)

That’s it. I hope this isn’t seen too much as spam, but I made quite an effort to have an easy way for people to try out the game, and with the number of games to rate, I suppose most people won’t go back to an entry they had trouble installing. Now I can get back rating games 😀 Good luck everyone !

Hi all, I wanted to go for the highest number of consecutive participations I could, but it seems like I won’t get further than 2, as this time I fear life will get in the way. But on the other hand, 8 months ago I sorta finished with less than half the 48h free… So who knows…

And if I’m entering finally, the tools of the trade will probably be unchanged, meaning Python with either pyglet, pygame, or Panda3D (but 3D seems a bit over-ambitious). We’ll see ! Good luck to everyone in any case ^^

I am definitely in this time : I have taken my last days off to rest afterwards, and this time I’m doing the jam with a talented cg artist and one of my bandmates as ‘the music guy’.

As for the code, as usual I’ll be using Python and either Pyglet or Panda3D depending on if we go 2D or 3D.

Best of luck to each and every one of you !

Hi there !

Here we are, jamming like crazy ! We have an idea firmly in place, and the base code (movement, camera, first collision physics) is in place. So behold, our first screenshot, while I wait for the 3D assets from my friend who is working on the 3D stuff

Isn’t that placeholder tree magnificient ? 😀 Good luck everyone !

I am fully prepared to make a kickass game next weekend !

It will be my fourth participation already, and unlike last time, I’m going for the compo and not the jam. I also plan on posting more regularly than usual, and hang around the IRC channel. I will probably also post more updates on Google+ (encircle me and tell me you want to be in my LD circle) or twitter. I will surely be doing a timelapse (even though I need to switch computers at some point during the weekend), and if you want music recommendations, you can see what I am listening to on my last.fm page.

As for the tools I’ll be using, I want to keep options open before the theme is announced, and could end up going 2D or 3D :

• 2D : Python with Pyglet/Cocos2D
• 3D : Python with Panda3D
• Graphics tools : Gimp, Blender, Pixexix (which can be used with Wine under Linux, by the way)
• Audio tools : Ardour, ZynAddSubFx, LMMS, sfxr, Midi keyboard, guitars, bass, drums…
• Programming tools : Trusty ol’Emacs

As usual I’ll strive for a cross-platform release right off the bat. I hope my experience with packaging issues will finally start to pay off. Also, I’m based in Belgium: I have seen at least 2 people mentionning the same thing, and I know at least another one. Maybe we could arrange a meetup place for future compos ? Cheers and good luck to everyone !

Hi all !

So, here I am, having set up Panda3D, put up a billboarding system, and finally got collision detection to work.

At this point I have a basic idea in mind, which will have you play a platformer on the outside of a tower. I can’t say much more, else I would be spoiling it. Here’s a screenshot of the placeholder art though :

Next, I will be implementing some proper platforming, before looking into animating my billboard to create a real sprite. My current goal is to get everything working today, and leave tomorrow for making the final graphics, the music, the sound effects, and most of the level design. Seems like a pretty ambitious plan, but I’m confident I can make it.

Best of luck to everyone !

So here is where I am : The character can sort of jump onto the platforms, but there are still some issues with the collision detection… Still, I am now going to move on to animating the sprite, before finally delving deeper into the gameplay features. Stay tuned !

Ok, so it’s already getting pretty late, and I’m only starting again now. I’ve given some tought to what I should do first,  and I will start by some pixel art, then I will produce some more assets and design the levels. I already managed to put in what will constitute the core gameplay, I only need to put in a way to die, then a way to win.

I still think I can make it, but I will need to be really focused, and I’m afraid the graphics won’t be up to par with what I had in mind. Anyway, here’s a quick screen

Unfortunately, I am going to have to declare my attempt a failure. As I said in my previous post, I needed to be laser-focused on my game, and it seems I was far too tired for that. I still learned quite a bit though, so I’ll make a postmortem of that, and maybe do a timelapse video of what I have accomplished so far.

Anyway, I wish all of you the best of luck if you are still working on your game! For me, it will have to wait until next time

So, after a jam entry that wasn’t completed on time last time, for the 25th LD I’m doing the compo once more.

I hope my past experiences will help me scope my idea correctly this time, but we’ll see…

As for my weapons of choice, well, it’s basically the same as always :

-Python, along with Panda3D or Pyglet
-Blender, Gimp, …
-Various instruments for music (if I have time)

I’m trying to keep my head clear of ideas until the last friday, when I’m probably going to do the same as last time, and quickly jot down 3 ideas for each theme up for voting on friday. Just to have something to start from at the start of the compo.

Good luck everyone!

It is now midnight where I am, and so 3 short hours remain before the battle against time begins. At least the battlefield is ready!

And here’s the desk proper. Cannot wait to start!

Tags: deskphoto

It has been almost three hours since I woke up and started thinking about an idea.

Now, I have a scrolling, tiled map procedurally generated. My idea is still solidifying in my mind, but I think I have got most of the concept ironed out. Hopefully I scoped it right this time, and I can finish up the gameplay today. I would love to have a full day dedicated to art, music, and polish.

Monochrome programmer art.

One can dream, heh ?