I would like to participate October challenge very badly! But one month is not enough. That’s why I started personal October-November-December Challenge! It’s like October challenge, but it last the rest of this year. I have been improving my programming skills since the latest Ludum Dare, so I think it’s finally time to make something actual. Maybe not a full game, but an alpha version (alpha funding is the way to go!).

Here’s the list of my goals:

• Release a paid aplha version by the end of this year(the earlier you buy it, the less you must pay)
• Earn at least 1.00€

Well, two goals are more than one, right? I’m not sure whether I’m going to make a story-driven rpg or a multiplayer game.

I’ll make another post when I get something finished.

I first though I'd use C, but writing a game in C is not the best idea (the second best, sure, but definitely not the best), so I though why not use Go? I both hate and love that weird language, but it's something that allows me to write code quickly, and it doesn't have object-orientated features no one needs or metaprogramming or anything.

I still haven't decided what library I use. I'm currently writing a game in Go using SDL2, so that's something I'm familiar with, but I could also try Allegro of SFML, they are more suitable for higher resolution graphics. Of course I could build a simple 2D OpenGL engine and use it with SDL, but I don't have much time.

So yeah, I will go - ahahhaha - with Go and SDL2, Allegro or SFML.

Anyone else going to use Go?

Something I did within an hour.

If I keep this speed I might actually be able to finish this before the compo ends!

I told myself, "This year I'll focus on gameplay, not graphics", but I forgot that pretty soon, and then I realized I'm not good at making hi-res graphics. Once again I had made something ugly as hell.

So here's a video of the failure of this year:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98FC-Tm_oIk

Not worth finishing. Maybe next time.

Here's a gif for all the people who love gif for a reason or another

It will have something to do with the theme, don't worry. See that money counter...? The more money you have...

I'm writing this in C using SDL2 and my self-written software renderer (SDL2 is used only to draw the final pixel array and handle input etc.). This was the only working engine I had when the Ludum Dare started, so it was a logical choice.

As you can see, collecting more money will speed up the game. Later it will also affect the obstacle/enemy generation plus the sky color!

The idea of the game is that the game will constantly tell the player to collect more money to beat the game. And the player obeys. And fails time after time. The player must realize the true way to reach the goal is avoid collecting any money at all, and the game is just lying. Trolling? No. Unfair? Well...

Things I have added: - Game Over! screen - Changing sky - The flying fish will come more often when the player has more money (and the other obstacles have shorter intervals, too)

Also, now I have written 1,044 lines of C code during this weekend (including empty and comment lines), and I still have 17 hours left!

Game page

(or play on itch.io: https://jani-nykanen.itch.io/money-is-everything)

My first successful Ludum Dare in almost three years!

Didn't expect that, did you?

Anyways, I'm in, unless something terrible and/or unexpected happens (like an alien robot Goofy from outer/inner space materializes in my bedroom and steals my computer, you'll never know).

Since other people are listing their tools, here's mine: - Language: C - Libraries: SDL2, although I'm using my software renderer for graphics (SDL2 for rendering the pixel array, plus window handling etc). stb_image for loading png files - Compiler: gcc. mingw-w64 cross-compiler when building for Windows (no Mac build ever coming since I don't own an Apple device) - Code editor: vscode - OS: Linux Mint - Graphics editors: Pinta & GIMP - Audio: I doubt I have time for audio, but very likely bfxr & Audacity. For music... I don't know. LMMS or PixiTracker.

That's it. Let's try to have some fun, okay? (Nope.)

Here's (mostly) everything I have done today:

(It required over 1,500 lines of C code. Decent amount for a single day!)

As you can see, bullets can be collected but they are not shot. The shooting will be related to the other "incompatible genre" (although one would say side-view point-n-click metroidvania is enough) I have not yet implemented.

Last time I focused on graphics, this time I focus on gameplay and the content. Let's hope I have time to implement everything (I'm doing this for compo). I might have to leave audio out of this, and add it later in a post-jam version.

EDIT: There is no lives, but if you take damage, you'll lose precious seconds!

Every game needs some cover art

The outlines were made using good ol' pen and paper, but computer was used for coloring and that paper effect. Since I didn't have much time to make that, I didn't bother doing any shadings.

Play it here

Finished! I'm so happy now. Or not, just tired, I'll be happy tomorrow. And fix the remaining game breaking bugs then, if there are any. And write a better description, too...

I wish there was a way to sort the games by platform (if there is, tell me!), but since there is not, I have to find games to play in a traditional way:

If you have a game that has Linux or Html5 build (or both), please tell me! I'll play them if I can.

I did better than last time (except graphics where I last time got place 32, but that's understandable since this time I did not focus on graphics). My goal was to get score better than 50% in every genre, and I guess I did (I don't know how many compo entries there were this time, but last time it was over a thousand, so I guess it was about the same amount this time, too EDIT: 1,031).

I still have some room for improvement in innovation and theme, but hey, I got much better score in those than the last time! My goal for next Ludum Dare: get in top 200 in both theme and innovation (probably won't happen, but that's a good goal!)

(I was supposed to opt out the humor, but apparently I forgot)

The most important lesson I learned in this Ludum Dare:

It does not matter what engine/programming language you use as long as you know your tool better than your pockets.

I first thought that I cannot compete Unity and Game Maker developers because they can create content so fast. I wrote my game in C using a self-written 2D software renderer, but since I had a lot of experience in C and I knew my engine very well, I managed to make a game that did pretty well.

So, I'll be using C next time, too!

I'm in. In the last two LDs I joined I used C and my own software rendering game engine, but it was not the most ideal option. This time, I will be using good old Html5 & Javascript. No WebGL, I don't want to run into incompatibility issues. Just plain Html5 canvas functions and Javascript (Typescript is a better language, but js is better for fast coding).

For art... GIMP, I guess. Nothing for audio, I don't usually have time for that anyway.

Here's the engine I've been programming for the LD: https://github.com/jani-nykanen/ld-engine It's a very minimal engine for lowres 2D pixelart games, but that's what I'm going to do anyway, so it's good enough.

And yes, I made one test game with it already. This one:

Play on itch.io (Yes, this is shameless advertising, what are you gonna do) It was supposed to be a warm-up game, but I ended up spending eight days making it...

I'm still planning to add a few more features to it, so maybe I'll make a proper warm-up game.

I got surprised that most of them are, if not good, at least tolerable. However, there are a few themes I have doubts about.

* Change the genre of a classic video game *

How can one do this without breaking copyright laws? Let's say I want to turn Pac-Man to a platformer. Clearly I cannot call it Pac-Man or use the pac-man character in the game. Should I just replace it with, say, a dog, pills with dog food and ghosts with something that eats dogs?

* Color changes everything *

What if there are people who cannot see colors properly (e.g. due to color blindness), wouldn't this be a little bad theme for them?

* Tiny town *

Didn't we have something like this just a few LDs ago? (It was small world or something).

EDIT:

* Limited memory *

A DOS game?

This is all I have done today. Last time I joined LD I made a metroidvania, but this time I had no time for such a big project, so I decided to make a simple arcade game, something I have made so many I can almost surely get it finished by the deadline.

Oh, and I'm doing compo, so only 29 hours left! Should be enough. Maybe not for audio, but for everything else.

(Also, don't make me explain the concept. There are some vital elements missing so it's hard to explain, so why I even try.)

Ludum Dare page (or play directly on itch.io )

My work here is done. I even added some self-made music, which I haven't done before in Ludum Dares! Too bad I don't know how to make good music, but like I would really care if you give me a bad rating in audio. If there is programmer art, why not programmer audio! (Also, bfxr sound effects, they are the best)

Other than that, the project was pretty successful. The game concept wasn't the most successful ever, but isn't the idea of Ludum Dare to try game ideas you wouldn't normally do?

I might write a proper post-mortem later.

We are having decent theme suggestions (some good, some bad), but then I saw this in the round 3:

Games that shouldn't be in first person done in first person

I just wanted to tell you that I'm going to use a simple 2D Javascript game engine I wrote. I really would not like to spend the rest of this week writing a 3D WebGL engine, just in case (well, I have one already, but it's not very general purpose - I could make it one, but it would still take some time).